Dwight Yoakam - Reprise Please Baby, The Warner Bros. Years [2002] (4 x CD's)

DWIGHT YOAKAM

Dwight Yoakam - Reprise Please Baby, The Warner Bros. Years [2002] (4 x CD's)

Randy Travis sold more records and George Strait was a purer country singer, but Dwight Yoakam was as influential as either on country music in the 80's. A Kentucky-born, Ohio-raised refugee from Nashville, he headed out to California where he managed to play Bakersfield country for L.A. punks, laying the groundwork for the Americana movement of the late '80s and '90s by not only revitalizing classic country from honky tonks to country-pop ballads through his traditionalist readings, but treating rock songs in a similar fashion. Nowhere is this more apparent than on Rhino's excellent four-disc box set Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Bros. Years, a superb chronicling of his time at Reprise/Warner Records. What makes this set so successful is that it doesn't focus simply on the hits, though they're all here. Instead of just the hits, they're interlaced with key album tracks, covers, duets, and songs cut for compilations, all necessary to understanding Yoakam's music and his influence. Take his superlative duet with Flaco Jimenez on Warren Zevon's "Carmelita" and how it blurs the lines between country, punk, classic rock, and singer/songwriters, creating the sound that would come to be known as Americana. Nearly every alt-country artist sought this expert balance of self-consciously classic instrumentation, contemporary subject matter, stylized yet sincere delivery, and clean production -- a delicate balance many sought to replicate, yet few succeeded in capturing. It's a brilliant moment, but one that wasn't on any Dwight album, and this rightly presents it, among other rarities, as key parts of his legacy. Among the revelations on Reprise Please Baby is that Yoakam had this balance perfected from the beginning, from before he released his landmark debut, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.; his ten-track demo from 1981 is included here on the all-previously unreleased fourth disc, and it holds its own among his best albums in both its songwriting and performance. This entire disc -- which also contains two fine duets with Kelly Willis and a string of covers, recorded anywhere from 1986 to 2002, all very good, with a nimble "Oh Lonesome Me" and a rip-roaring "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" standing as particular highlights, makes it necessary for collectors, but the set wouldn't be much if it was just for the completists. What makes it such a success is that it presents Yoakam's full achievement through a sharp, thorough examination of his prodigious output, turning in a convincing case for his greatness while being a hell of an entertaining listen. He produced his share of great albums, but Reprise Please Baby tells everything country fans of any stripe need to know. (AllMusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Dwight Yoakam Honky Tonk Man 2:48

02 Dwight Yoakam Guitars, Cadillacs 3:05

03 Dwight Yoakam It Won't Hurt 3:05

04 Dwight Yoakam Miner's Prayer 2:19

05 Dwight Yoakam Little Sister 3:02

06 Dwight Yoakam Little Ways 3:20

07 Dwight Yoakam Please, Please Baby 3:34

08 Dwight Yoakam Always Late With Your Kisses 2:11

09 Dwight Yoakam This Drinkin' Will Kill Me 2:34

10 Dwight Yoakam Streets Of Bakersfield 2:49

11 Dwight Yoakam I Sang Dixie 3:48

12 Dwight Yoakam I Got You 3:29

13 Dwight Yoakam I Hear You Knockin' 3:15

14 Dwight Yoakam Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room (She Wore Red Dresses) 4:33

15 Dwight Yoakam Long White Cadillac 5:19

16 Dwight Yoakam Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose 3:25

17 Dwight Yoakam You're The One 3:59

18 Dwight Yoakam Nothing's Changed Here 2:58

19 Dwight Yoakam It Only Hurts When I Cry 2:34

20 Dwight Yoakam The Heart That You Own 3:10

21 Dwight Yoakam The Distance Between You And Me 2:42

22 Dwight Yoakam Dangerous Man 4:17

23 Dwight Yoakam Send A Message To My Heart 3:15

24 Dwight Yoakam Takes A Lot To Rock You 2:58

CD2

01 Dwight Yoakam Carmelita 3:25

02 Dwight Yoakam Suspicious Minds 6:55

03 Dwight Yoakam Doin' What I Did 3:26

04 Dwight Yoakam Hey Little Girl 2:31

05 Dwight Yoakam Ain't That Lonely Yet 3:18

06 Dwight Yoakam A Thousand Miles From Nowhere 4:29

07 Dwight Yoakam Try Not To Look So Pretty 2:55

08 Dwight Yoakam Pocket Of A Clown 2:57

09 Dwight Yoakam Home For Sale 3:38

10 Dwight Yoakam Fast As You 4:47

11 Dwight Yoakam King Of Fools 4:05

12 Dwight Yoakam Holding Things Together 2:37

13 Dwight Yoakam Nothing 3:52

14 Dwight Yoakam Don't Be Sad 3:20

15 Dwight Yoakam Sorry You Asked 3:23

16 Dwight Yoakam Gone (That'll Be Me) 2:48

17 Dwight Yoakam Claudette 2:55

18 Dwight Yoakam Baby Don't Go 4:00

19 Dwight Yoakam Train In Vain 3:22

20 Dwight Yoakam Rapid City, South Dakota 2:49

CD3

01 Dwight Yoakam Only Want You More 3:22

02 Dwight Yoakam Same Fool 3:01

03 Dwight Yoakam Things Change 3:45

04 Dwight Yoakam These Arms 3:31

05 Dwight Yoakam A Long Way Home 2:55

06 Dwight Yoakam Crazy Little Thing Called Love 2:21

07 Dwight Yoakam Thinking About Leaving 3:55

08 Dwight Yoakam New San Antonio Rose 3:03

09 Dwight Yoakam Two Doors Down 4:38

10 Dwight Yoakam Bury Me 3:12

11 Dwight Yoakam Love Caught Up To Me 3:50

12 Dwight Yoakam What Do You Know About Love 2:56

13 Dwight Yoakam Free To Go 4:48

14 Dwight Yoakam A Place To Cry 4:35

15 Dwight Yoakam I Want You To Want Me 3:27

16 Dwight Yoakam Alright, I'm Wrong 4:16

17 Dwight Yoakam Who At The Door Is Standing 2:32

18 Dwight Yoakam The Firs Thing Smokin' 3:40

19 Dwight Yoakam I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide 4:13

20 Dwight Yoakam Louisville 3:03

21 Dwight Yoakam Sittin' Pretty 2:24

22 Dwight Yoakam Mercury Blues 2:26

CD4

01 Dwight Yoakam This Drinkin' Will Kill Me 3:11

02 Dwight Yoakam It Won't Hurt 3:46

03 Dwight Yoakam I'll Be Gone 3:25

04 Dwight Yoakam Floyd County 2:37

05 Dwight Yoakam You're The One 4:02

06 Dwight Yoakam Twenty Years 3:02

07 Dwight Yoakam Please Daddy 3:19

08 Dwight Yoakam Miner's Prayer 2:43

09 Dwight Yoakam I Sang Dixie 3:45

10 Dwight Yoakam Bury Me 3:00

11 Dwight Yoakam Golden Ring 3:15

12 Dwight Yoakam Take Me 2:20

13 Dwight Yoakam Sin City 4:02

14 Dwight Yoakam Truckin' 7:21

15 Dwight Yoakam Grand Tour 3:41

16 Dwight Yoakam Oh Lonesome Me 3:29

17 Dwight Yoakam Today I Started Loving You Again 4:29

18 Dwight Yoakam Mystery 3:11

19 Dwight Yoakam Can't You Hear Me Calling 3:19

20 Dwight Yoakam Heartaches By The Number 3:41

21 Dwight Yoakam My Bucket's Got A Hole In It 4:12

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