Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

1. Honky Tonk Man

2. It Won't Hurt

3. I'll Be Gone

4. South of Cincinnati

5. Bury Me - Maria McKee, Dwight Yoakam

6. Guitars, Cadillacs

7. Twenty Years

8. Ring of Fire

9. Miner's Prayer

10. Heartaches by the Number

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Both the introduction to hard country for a generation of college kids and a key entry in what became the neotraditionalist movement, Dwight Yoakam's debut was a near-perfect re-creation of Buck Owens's Bakersfield sound. "Bury Me" and "Miner's Prayer" are heartfelt homages to Yoakam's real Kentucky roots, while honky-tonkers like "South of Cincinnati" remind how many Kentuckians eventually headed to Ohio for good jobs. Most immediately striking, though, are Yoakam's covers--particularly versions of Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man" and Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"--which subtly tune up the Bakersfield sound with a rock & roll super-charge. --David Cantwell

Tracks:

This Drinkin' Will Kill Me
It Won't Hurt
I'll Be Gone
Floyd County
You're The One
Twenty Years
Please Daddy
Miner's Prayer
I Sang Dixie
Bury Me
Honky Tonk Man
It Won't Hurt
I'll Be Gone
South Of Cincinnati
Bury Me
Guitars, Cadillacs
Twenty Years
Ring Of Fire
Miner's Prayer
Heartaches By The Number

Tracks:

Can't You Hear Me Calling
Honky Tonk Man
Guitars, Cadillacs
Rocky Road Blues
Heartaches By The Number
I'll Be Gone
It Won't Hurt
My Bucket's Got A Hole In It
South Of Cincinnati
Mystery Train
Ring Of Fire
Since I Started Drinking Again

Amazon.com

Though most of these recordings have previously been anthologized, this two-disc set puts Dwight Yoakam's emergence and progression from the roots-punk circuit to the country mainstream in context. It begins with the 1981 demos that earned him a recording contract, showing that his artistry as a retro-hillbilly honky-tonker was already in full bloom, with both his singing and his songwriting conjuring an era that otherwise seemed long gone. Yet it was his pairing with guitarist/producer Pete Anderson for his debut album, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.--here remastered and reissued in its entirety--that gave Yoakam's music that hard-twanging edge that found him sharing fans on the L.A. circuit with the Blasters, Los Lobos, and X. For Yoakam completists, the real treat here is disc two, a 1986 performance in the wake of that album at Hollywood's Roxy (not exactly your typical honky-tonk). With nine of the twelve tracks previously unreleased, Yoakam acknowledges a debt to Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and the Bakersfield sound on "Guitars, Cadillacs"; pays tribute to the influence of John Fogerty and Emmylou Harris, apparently both in the audience, before "Mystery Train"; and then barely stops for breath before blazing into Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." The urgency of the live-wire performance makes it easy to see why the rock crowd embraced him first, but he ultimately compromised little as he conquered the country airwaves as well. --Don McLeese

Album Description

Produced by Pete Anderson, the disc's sinewy mix of traditional honky-tonk, red-hot Bakersfield twang and rock n' roll attitude spawned a trio of hits including a cover of Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man", "It Won't Hurt", and the title track. In the bigger picture, its stripped-down sound twisted together strains of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Elvis Presley, and more--with a roots driven rawness, it changed and revitalized country music.

Customer Reviews:

A Classic Album Gets the 'Deluxe Edition' Treatment.......2007-01-30

If Dwight Yoakam had never released another album after 1986's GUITARS, CADILLACS, ETC., Etc., he would still be considered a savior of traditional country music. When this album first came out twenty years ago in 1986, it was the swift kick in the ass that country music had needed. While the first single was a remake of Johnny Horton's 1956 hit, "Honky Tonk Man," Yoakam proved he was no slouch as a songwriter. Songs like "It Won't Hurt," "Miner's Prayer" and "South of Cincinnati" proved Yoakam was an artist to be reckoned with.

This deluxe edition includes the original 10-track Warner Bros. album recorded in 1986. In addition, disc 1 includes the original 6-song EP issued on the Oak label in 1984 along with four other tracks recorded at the same time. These tracks featured a different lineup of musicians, including Jay Dee Maness on pedal steel. [All 10 tracks first appeared on the 2002 box set REPRISE, PLEASE BABY.]

The real bonus is disc 2, a 1986 live set performed at the Roxy the same month the album was released nationally. Yoakam is backed by the Babylonian Cowboys, featuring producer/guitarist Pete Anderson. This is a killer live set. After performing a rousing version of Bill Monroe's "Can't You Hear Me Calling," Yoakam jokes with the crowd saying, "Well...it's just ol' hillbilly stuff." Don't believe it. This is powerful stuff. Nine of these tracks are previously unreleased. [Only "Can't You Hear Me Calling," "Heartaches by the Number" and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" were previously issued (on REPRISE, PLEASE BABY).] Yoakam and his crack band rip through originals like "Guitars, Cadillacs" and "I'll Be Gone," and in between do respectful covers of Bill Monroe's "Rocky Road Blues," Junior Parker's "Mystery Train" and June Carter and Merle Kilgore's "Ring of Fire." This live disc alone is worth the price of admission.

For fans of Dwight Yoakam and honest country music this rerelease is an essential purchase. [Disc 1 - 64:14; Disc 2 - 46:51 ] VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A Piece of History Just Got Better.......2006-11-29

Dwight Yoakam has probably done more to revitalize good ol' honky-tonk Country music than anyone, and this album serves as proof. My radio show, "How Music Changed," is dedicated to explaining how various facets of our musical culture change, continue to develop, or simply waste away. By the mid-eighties, Texas Swing, Hillbilly Country, and Honky Tonk music had fallen on hard times. It is possible that it could have faded away entirely. The only thing that keeps music styles alive is when an artist understands the genre and is talented enough to contemporize the style for a new audience. That is exactly what Yoakam does on "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc."
The `Deluxe Edition' of this disk contains the entire original album as it appeared in 1986, plus the original demos which were recorded back in 1981. Five years is a long time to wait for your vision to take hold, but Yoakam must have been dead set on realizing his without compromise. The demo recordings are fully realized songs that only benefited from the spit and polish of the album versions. Best of all is the absolutely incredible live show that takes up the second disk, recorded at Los Angeles' Roxy soon after the album was released. If it weren't for the stage patter and the rock and roll infusion of electric energy, this could have been a long lost document from a Texas roadhouse circa 1956. Yoakam's voice is a natural wonder. His band is stunning, too, sounding for all the world like they are ready and able to break out and reinvent Country music in the image of its heroes, rather than the pabulum that has been passed off as `new' country. Even if you already own the original disk, this edition is a must if only for the live disk; this is some of the best live country music I have ever heard in my life.
The best way to appreciate this album is to simply listen to it, but it wouldn't hurt if you compared it against its contemporary competition, either - If you ever listened to a radio show that focuses on music from the `80s, you can be sure that they aren't going to play anything from this album. Instead, you may hear Huey Lewis, or the Human League, or Phil Collins, or Wham! - only a few of the best-selling artists from 1986 - which proves all the more the miracle that is "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc." Today, those artists are about as fresh as a bowl of soggy corn flakes, while Dwight Yoakam's statement lives on, and may have even grown in stature. If you already loved it, then this copy will blow your mind, If your new to this, then prepare yourself, because this disk will stay crunchy for decades. A Tom Ryan

Outstanding Addition to my Dwight collection.......2006-11-21

This has not left my cd player since I purchased it. Truly a beautiful cd, I love the song Floyd County and Twenty Years. It has great booklets in it and all sorts of songs to listen to. I just love this damn cd.

Deluxe .......2006-10-30

Well worth picking up. The demos sound great. It is a total win-win.
At $20, how can you go wrong?

This first disc contains 1981 demos, many of which would appear on later releases. It just proves how good of a song writer Dwight is.
I always thought he was was underated in that aspect.

Disc two is a live concert from '86, with some more cool cover tunes, including Honky Tonk Man, Heartaches by the Numbers, Ring of Fire.

If you do not own Guitars , Cadillacs, Etc....
You are missing out on some great Country Music.

Average customer rating:

Rock-A-Billy Dwight
Hillbilly music is the only thing that keeps me hanging on.
Re-issue coming in September '06
One of the greatest country records I've ever heard
Where it all started

Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Dwight Yoakam
Manufacturer: Reprise / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000002L8V
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Honky Tonk Man
It Won't Hurt
I'll Be Gone
South Of Cincinnati
Bury Me
Guitars, Cadillacs
Twenty Years
Ring Of Fire
Miner's Prayer
Heartaches By The Number

Amazon.com essential recording

Both the introduction to hard country for a generation of college kids and a key entry in what became the neotraditionalist movement, Dwight Yoakam's debut was a near-perfect re-creation of Buck Owens's Bakersfield sound. "Bury Me" and "Miner's Prayer" are heartfelt homages to Yoakam's real Kentucky roots, while honky-tonkers like "South of Cincinnati" remind how many Kentuckians eventually headed to Ohio for good jobs. Most immediately striking, though, are Yoakam's covers--particularly versions of Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man" and Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"--which subtly tune up the Bakersfield sound with a rock & roll super-charge. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews:

Rock-A-Billy Dwight.......2007-03-31

Classic this is a great album! What more can be said.

The Mean Eyed Cat
The Rock-A-Billy Review
KNON 89.3 Radio
Dallas, Texas

Hillbilly music is the only thing that keeps me hanging on........2006-10-13

This was Dwight Yoakam's major label debut album. He previously had released an independent label album, which had several of the same songs that are on this one. (Good luck finding a copy of THAT album.) Dwight wrote seven of the ten songs himself. The remaining three songs are covers of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", Ray Price's "Heartaches By the Number" and Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man" (which became Yoakam's first hit). Out of Dwight's original songs, "Guitars, Cadillacs" was a big hit and "It Won't Hurt" was a minor hit. Yoakam was a breath of fresh air at the time this album came out, playing a more traditional "honky tonk" sound, at a time when Nashville was embracing a slick "urban cowboy" sound. This is a solid debut album by an important artist. One peculiar thing about the album is that it ends with Marlon Brando asking "What Indian reservation is this?"

Re-issue coming in September '06.......2006-07-27

There'll be an expanded re-issue coming with lots of early live tracks plus liner notes from Dwight himself. "Hooray!" she typed.

One of the greatest country records I've ever heard.......2006-03-21

Sometime in the mid-80's,when I first heard "Guitars & Cadillacs" blasting on the sound system of a country bar/restaurant near Fayetteville GA, I was blown away. Along with 2 or 3 other artists of the past twenty years Dwight Yoakam deserves an honored place in the pantheon of country music immortals, next to George, Merle, Buck, Willie, Ray Price, the Man In Black, etc. Even if you don't generally like "country music", especially what passes for it today, give a listen to this, or any other Dwight album. I can't imagine fans of most any kind of American roots music - rockabilly, Buddy Holley, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison , Bob Wills - not liking at least some of Dwight's stuff. I would especially recommend this to newcomers, particularly the title song. It still gets me rockin' almost twenty years later.

Where it all started.......2005-09-23

This is the album that started it all for the revival of true honky-tonk music. Unlike many (if not most) first albums, this record lacks any filler; there is not one single cut that could not be considered a true classic. Personal favorites include: "Miner's Prayer", "Guitars, Cadillacs, etc", and "It Wont Hurt". But, folks, my absolute favorite is Dwight's cover of "Heartaches by the Numbers"....I always believed this was a great song, and by God, Ray Price had a great voice, but Price's recording lacked true down-in-the-dirt country sound. I've noticed lately that many Classic Country Radio stations and those classic country shows, are playing Dwight's version vice Ray's. This album was just a hint of what was yet to come in following years from Dwight; They broke the mold when Mr Yoakam arrived on the scene, and staying true to form, Dwight continues to use the same formula in his musical releases as he did with this first album. It's well worth your time and money; give it a listen.

Music Album:

Music Album