| Dwight Sings Buck | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 23, 2007 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 47:03 | |||
| Label | New West | |||
| Producer | Dwight Yoakam | |||
| Dwight Yoakam chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Dwight Sings Buck is country music artist Dwight Yoakam's 17th studio album, and a tribute album to Buck Owens. The album was released on October 23, 2007 (Yoakam's 51st birthday), by New West Records.
Buck Owens and the Bakersfield sound that Owens helped establish had a profound influence on Dwight Yoakam's musical artistry. In the liner notes to his second album Hillbilly Deluxe Yoakam wrote: "VERY SPECIAL THANKS: to Buck Owens for all his records that still serve as an inspiration for the California honky-tonk sound", and the opening track of that LP, "Little Ways", was an obvious homage to Owens' unique vocal style. After enjoying a run as one of the top country stars of the 1960s, Owens was crushed by the 1974 death of his guitarist and best friend Don Rich, and by the 1980s, after hosting the critically savaged but popular television show Hee Haw , was semi-retired until Yoakam – one of country music's hottest young stars – began touting his records in interviews. Like Owens, Yoakam was considered an iconoclast by many country music industry insiders at the time, and he later recalled:
We sat there that day in 1987 and talked about my music to that point, my short career, and what I'd been doing and how he'd been watching me. I was really flattered and thrilled to know that this legend had been keeping an eye on me. [2]
The pair would record Homer Joy's "Streets of Bakersfield" and it would become Yoakam's first #1 country single, and Owens toured with Yoakam and also made several TV appearances promoting the song, reigniting interest in the country legend. The pair reunited on record in 1996 to sing with Merle Haggard on the song "Beer Can Hill" for Haggard's album 1996, and Owens would sing two songs on Yoakam's 2000 LP Tomorrow's Sounds Today.
When Owens died in 2006, it seemed inevitable that Yoakam would record a tribute at some point, although the singer insists the songs took shape organically at sound checks and onstage after his hero had died. Ironically, although Yoakam recorded many songs by the likes of Johnny Horton, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley, he had not covered Owens's numerous hits. He later recalled to an interviewer:
I’m very proud of that album. I hope it does justice to his memory. I never touched his material before he passed, other than material he brought me. We weren’t mimicking and copying the Buck records. We were making it fresh for 2007. It was really in the spirit of what Buck did. [3]
This was the second album that Yoakam produced without Pete Anderson, the guitarist and artistic foil who, like Don Rich with Owens, enjoyed a long creative partnership. The recordings are buoyant and crisp, with AllMusic's Jeff Tamarkin commenting, “ Yoakam's love for these anthems is palpable in every track. He doesn't set out to imitate Owens' style or delivery, but he does capture the essence of each song, playing them as Buck intended: no frills, no foolin' around…” [4] He plays it mostly straight with the arrangements with a few exceptions, such as the percussion-heavy “Close Up the Honky Tonks,” which stretches to over six minutes, and the atmospheric “Only You,” which begins with a lone organ and slowly builds in a style reminiscent of Roy Orbison. The influence of The Byrds, who also covered Owens's songs, is apparent on “Think of Me,’ while Yoakam's vocal on “Down on the Corner of Love” has traces of Buddy Holly.
Yoakam biographer Don McCleese calls the LP "an essential work within Yoakam's recorded output – a milestone of sorts, even a capstone." [5]
Popmatters states, "Yoakam manages to sound like he's channeling Owens at his peak, while his band eerily summons the spirits of Don Rich and the rest of the Buckaroos with classics like 'My Heart Skips a Beat', 'Cryin' Time', and 'Above and Beyond'." [6]
AllMusic notes "Is there any singer better suited to record an album of Buck Owens covers than Dwight Yoakam? ... this is a tribute in the purest sense of the word, and an album no fan of either artist should miss." [4]
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Dwight David Yoakam is an American country singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.. Yoakam had considerable success throughout the late 1980s onward, with a total of ten studio albums for Reprise Records. Later projects have been released on Audium, New West, Warner, and Sugar Hill Records.
Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music chart. He pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, named in honor of Bakersfield, California, Owens's adopted home and the city from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call "American music".
If There Was a Way is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam, released on October 30, 1990. Five of its tracks would rise into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1991 and 1992. They were "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose" at No. 11, "You're the One" at No. 5, "Nothing's Changed Here" at No. 15, "It Only Hurts When I Cry" at No. 7 "Send a Message to My Heart", at No. 47, and finally the No. 18 "The Heart That You Own".
Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room is the third studio album by American country music singer Dwight Yoakam, released on August 2, 1988. The album contains Yoakam's first two No. 1 Hot Country Singles singles. The first was "Streets of Bakersfield," a duet with country music veteran Buck Owens, who had originally released a version of the song in 1973. The second was an original composition of Yoakam's titled "I Sang Dixie." A third song on the album, "I Got You," also an original composition, peaked at No. 5. The title song, "Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room ," also charted, but only to the No. 46 position.
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. is the debut studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam. This was Yoakam's first time working with long-time collaborator, record producer-guitarist Pete Anderson. The album became the first of three consecutive albums by Yoakam to reach number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Hillbilly Deluxe is the second studio album by American country music singer-songwriter, Dwight Yoakam. Released in 1987, it was Yoakam's second consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Four tracks were released as singles with each becoming Top 10 hits on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1987 and 1988.
This Time is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam, released by Reprise Records on March 23, 1993. Three of its tracks barely missed the top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts, each peaking at #2: "Ain't That Lonely Yet", "A Thousand Miles from Nowhere" and "Fast as You", the latter being his last Top 10 single. Two other tracks also rose into the charts: "Try Not to Look So Pretty" at #14 and "Pocket of a Clown" at #22. The album itself peaked at #4 on the Top Country Albums chart. Yoakam wrote or co-wrote all except for one of the tracks on this album.
Gone is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam, released on October 31, 1995, by Reprise Records. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. It produced three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts: "Nothing" at #20, "Gone " at #51, and "Sorry You Asked?" at #59. The final single, "Heart of Stone", failed to chart in the United States. This was also the first album of his career not to produce a Top Ten country hit.
A Long Way Home is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam, released on June 9, 1998. It reached No. 11 on the Billboard Country Album, with two of its tracks charting on the Hot Country Singles chart. "Things Change" reached No. 17, while "These Arms" peaked at No. 57. Yoakam wrote all the songs on the album himself.
Tomorrow's Sounds Today is the eleventh studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam. This album was released on October 31, 2000. It rose to No. 7 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. There were two charting singles among its tracks: "What Do You Know About Love" at No. 26 and "I Want You to Want Me" at No. 49 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Also included are two duets with Buck Owens, who was a big influence on Yoakam's musical style. It was also Yoakam's last studio album for the Reprise label. After that album's release, Yoakam left Reprise for Warner Bros. in 2001.
Population Me is the 13th studio album by Dwight Yoakam. It was released in June 2003 via the Audium Records label. The album spawned two singles, "The Back of Your Hand" and "The Late Great Golden State".
Blame the Vain is the 16th studio album by country music artist Dwight Yoakam, released in June 2005, and his first not to be produced by guitarist producer Pete Anderson. Yoakam wrote all the songs and produced the album himself. He also directed the videos for "Intentional Heartache" and the title track.
South of Heaven, West of Hell is country singer Dwight Yoakam's 12th studio album, and the first soundtrack album to the motion picture of the same name in which he starred, co-wrote and directed. Yoakam portrays a lawman in the early 1900s in the "wild west" of the Arizona Territory. Half of the tracks in the album are country music tracks. The other tracks are short snippets of straight dialog scenes from the film itself. There are many well-known co-stars in the movie, including Peter Fonda, Bridget Fonda, Paul Reubens, Billy Bob Thornton, Warren Zevon and Vince Vaughn. This was also Yoakam's only album for Warner Bros. after leaving Reprise.
The Very Best of Dwight Yoakam is the third greatest hits compilation album of songs recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. The album comprises twenty hit singles from his career.
Pete Anderson is an American guitarist, music producer, arranger and songwriter.
Under the Covers is the seventh studio album, and the first covers album recorded by Dwight Yoakam. It peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, and No. 92 on the Billboard 200.
I've Got a Tiger by the Tail is an album by Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, released in 1965. It reached Number one on the Billboard Country charts and Number 43 on the Pop Albums charts.
Just Lookin' for a Hit is the first compilation album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It includes eight singles from his 1980s albums for Reprise Records, as well as two newly recorded cover songs: "Long White Cadillac," originally recorded by The Blasters, and "Sin City," originally recorded by the Flying Burrito Brothers.
3 Pears is the 18th studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was released on September 18, 2012 via Warner Bros. Records. The album, which includes collaborations with Beck, Kid Rock and Ashley Monroe of Pistol Annies, has been one of the most critically acclaimed recordings of Yoakam's career.
21st Century Hits: Best of 2000–2012 is the fourth greatest hits compilation album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was released by New West Records on October 1, 2013. It includes songs from the albums Tomorrow's Sounds Today, Population Me, Blame the Vain, Dwight Sings Buck and 3 Pears, as well as a previously unreleased duet with Michelle Branch and a cover of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" from his previous greatest hits collection, the 1999 Last Chance for a Thousand Years, that also appeared on the soundtrack to the 2006 film The Break-Up.
