Seemingly too traditional for Nashville's music establishment at the time, Dwight Yoakam moved to Los Angeles in 1977, whereby the early 80s his captivating performances at the Palomino Club, Club Lingerie, Hong Kong Cafe and other Hollywood venues earned him and his band-the Babylonian Cowboys-a loyal following among California's burgeoning cowpunk scene.
Rhino celebrates the 20th anniversary of ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ with a remastered version of his 1986 debut expanded with demos for the album recorded five years earlier. The double-disc set also features a live recording of Yoakam playing the Roxy shortly after the album's release and includes several unreleased live cuts. The deluxe edition of ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ will be available October 17th for a suggested list price of $24.98. A digital version of the album will also be available for download at all digital outlets.
‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ opens with 10 demos the Kentucky-born, Ohio-raised singer and songwriter recorded in 1981 at United Western Recorders in Hollywood, CA. For six months Yoakam recorded his original songs with guitar legend Jerry McGee and engineer, producer, and bassist Gordon Schyrock-who worked at the studio.
"I was twenty-four years old, and I went in there late at night after I'd get off my air-freight driving job," Yoakam recalls in the liner notes. "Gordon allowed me to gain an introduction into the world of professional recording in a way that permitted me to be left to my own devices-for better or worse, at any given moment." The demos include early versions of future hits such as "It Won't Hurt" and "I Sang Dixie" as well as the tearjerker "Please Daddy," the only demo track included here that hasn't been re-recorded on a Yoakam album.
After signing with Reprise in 1985, Yoakam returned to the studio to record his major label debut with his band-guitarist Pete Anderson; bassist J. D. Foster; Brantley Kearns on fiddle and drummer Jeff Donavan. ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ climbed to #1 on Billboard's country album chart for two weeks and remained on the charts for an amazing three-year run. The album's unique mix of traditional honky-tonk, red-hot Bakersfield twang, and rock 'n' roll spirit spawned a trio of hit singles including the title track, a cover of Johnny Horton's 1956 hit "Honky Tonk Man," and "It Won't Hurt."
Just before hitting the road for almost a year to support his major-label debut, Yoakam and his band delivered a defining performance at the Roxy on L.A.'s famed Sunset Strip.
"It feels like every note of that show is one of those cliff-diving moments," Yoakam says in the liner notes. "You can hear us and feel us seizing opportunity by the throat with the Roxy crowd that night. Finally, that musical hybrid I'd had bouncing around in my head for the previous nine years was coming to fruition in the Guitars, Cadillacs album and in those moments of live performance."
An exhilarating document of the band's set at the time, the show included originals from the debut album and favorite covers, such as revved-up versions of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire," Hank Williams' "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" plus "Rocky Road Blues" and "Can't You Hear Me Calling," a pair of songs written by Kentucky's Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe.
‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ is now available at Amazon . Visit the music database for more information and a complete track listing.
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