| 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 Owen's 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 singer-songwriter, musician, and actor, known for his pioneering style of country music. First becoming popular in the mid-1980s, Yoakam has recorded more than 20 albums and compilations, charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and sold more than 30 million records. He has recorded five Billboard No. 1 albums, twelve gold albums, and nine platinum albums, including the triple-platinum This Time.
If There Was a Way is the fourth album by Dwight Yoakam. 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 album by country singer Dwight Yoakam. 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 country music artist Dwight Yoakam's debut album. It was also the first of three consecutive No. 1 Billboard Country Albums for him. The album was the first of more than a dozen Yoakam albums featuring his collaboration with record producer-guitarist Pete Anderson.
Hillbilly Deluxe is the second album by 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 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 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 of new recordings by Dwight Yoakam. 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 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.
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.
"Honky-Tonk Man" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Horton. It was released in March 1956 as his debut single on Columbia Records, and the album of the same name reaching number 9 on the U.S. country singles charts. Horton re-released the song six years later, taking it to number 11 on the same chart.
The discography of Buck Owens, an American country music artist, consists of 39 studio albums, 16 compilation albums, 9 live albums, 97 singles, and 12 B-sides. After recording under the name Corky Jones and releasing a string of singles in the mid-1950s, Owens signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in February 1957.
Just Lookin' for a Hit is the first greatest hits compilation album released 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.
"Streets of Bakersfield" is a 1973 song written by Homer Joy and popularized by Buck Owens. In 1988, Owens recorded a duet version with country singer Dwight Yoakam, which became one of Yoakam's first No. 1 Hot Country Singles hits.
Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album is the seventeenth studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1974. Contrary to the album's title, this was his 17th studio album; however, the number 30 included his six collaborative albums, three live albums, one 'live' gospel album, one Christmas album, and two greatest hits compilations up to that point.
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.
