Dwight Yoakam – And Then I Wrote…The First Three Albums Of The 90’s (Warner/Rhino)
In case you missed it, for Record Store Day Black Friday, Rhino Records released a new box set compiling Dwight Yoakam’s first three albums from the 90’s, titled, And Then I Wrote…The First Three Albums Of The 90’s. The highly-prolific singer-songwriter, musician and actor was a fixture in the Top Ten of the Country charts with his albums, If There Was A Way, This Time, and Gone, and those albums are represented here along with an extra LP, featuring 12 rarities and covers.
The Kentucky born but Ohio raised Yoakam made his debut in 1986, bringing a seamless blend of traditional Country & Western, honky-tonk and a little bit of rock and roll; and he continued that rebellious streak into the 90’s country music scene which was slowly starting to lean towards more pop-oriented sounds.
The multi-platinum If There Was A Way was released in 1990. Yoakam’s fourth album was led by five Top 40 singles including, the album’s closing ballad, “You’re The One,” the lonesome “It Only Hurts When I Cry,” the rollicking and danceable “Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose,” “The Heart That You Own,” and “Nothing’s Changed Here,” along with his beautiful duet with fellow Pikeville, KY native Patty Loveless, “Send A Message To My Heart.”
Released in 1993, This Time stands out with a couple of his most identifiable tracks, “Fast As You Can” and the Roy Orbison-inspired “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere.” Another highlight is the Buck Owens-inspired rockabilly groove of the title track, “This Time.” At a time when Country music and the Nashville scene was being criticized by outsiders for having too many vocalists that just sing what is written for them and do not write for themselves, Yoakum stood out from the pack as he wrote or co-wrote all of his songs on This Time except for his cover of “Ain’t That Lonely Yet.”
The last album represented here is his 1995 album, Gone, which featured the singles, “Nothing,” “Heart Of Stone”, “Sorry You Asked?” and the title track, “Gone (That’ll Be Me).” While this album didn’t quite chart as high as the others, fans still love the album, it also proved to be a transitional period for Yoakam, as he began his acting career during this time with his breakthrough role in Billy Bob Thornton’s Sling Blade.
In addition to the three albums, the box set includes a booklet with an introduction by Bob Dylan, a foreward by Chris Isaak, an essay by Holly Gleason and tons of photos. But the best part of the box set is the inclusion of a fourth LP, titled …And Beyond. It is loaded with rarities and covers such as Dwight’s faithful yet rockabilly take on the Grateful Dead classic “Truckin’” and his famous Elvis Presley-inspired Queen cover, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” Also included is the great, Presley-like “Suspicious Minds,” fittingly taken from the Honeymoon In Vegas Soundtrack.
This new Dwight Yoakam box set is the perfect way for his longtime fans to revisit their 90’s heydays and a way for new fans to immerse themselves in one of country music’s most prolific songwriters. –Justin Kreitzer for Icon Fetch