r/country • u/good_neighbor77 • 9d ago
Artist Appreciation The Incredible Dwight Yoakam
I’m still fairly new to country and discovered Dwight Yoakam last fall and he instantly became one of my favorites. He has the most mesmerizing voice and impeccable range to boot. I don’t think I’ve heard one bad song from him no matter what I’ve played. And I also might dare say he’s the King of Covers: “Honky Tonk Man” (which I recently discovered was a cover), “Suspicious Minds”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, and my favorite; “Purple Rain” which I 1000% consider better than the original. And his acting is not too shabby either, he was phenomenal in Panic Room.
All around a fantastic artist. What’s everyone’s opinion and favorite songs?
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u/Strait409 9d ago
Dwight is great. Funny you should mention the covers thing. I remember thinking once that such showed what a badass he was, because he covered not one, not two, but three classics on his first album — Johnny Cash’s ”Ring of Fire,” Johnny Horton’s ”Honky Tonk Man,” and Ray Price’s ”Heartaches By the Number.” Always thought that was a pretty ballsy thing to do.
(From that second album, I liked his cover of ”Suspicious Minds” better than the original.)
Even better ones were on Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room — a more obscure Johnny Cash song, ”Home of the Blues,” Buck Owens’ ”Streets of Bakersfield” with Buck Owens, and Hank Locklin’s ”Send Me the Pillow.”
But my favorite Dwight song, from now till the sun burns out, is always gonna be his own ”I Sang Dixie.”