Dwight Yoakam (25 page)

After Warner Bros. itself spent the spring of 2011 “in play”—with various suitors competing to buy the label—the denouement after the dust settled led Dwight to re-sign with the label that had always given him the creative freedom he needed. Though the production schedule for a book doesn't allow a manuscript to change as quickly as the music industry, Yoakam's management strategy, or Dwight's mind can, there were all sorts of provocative possibilities on the table as this manuscript went to press.

While Warner Bros. Nashville will continue to market Dwight as a country artist to country radio within the country music industry, he had already begun some collaborating with Los Angeles hipster savant Beck (best known for his “Loser” breakout hit) and was exploring the possibility of doing some work with hip-hop-metalhead Kid Rock (who had previously found favor among country fans with “Picture,” a duet with onetime Yoakam singing partner Sheryl Crow).

And there was talk that he might co-produce with Joe Chiccarelli, who has established his reputation with acts such as the White Stripes, My Morning Jacket, and the Shins, bands that have been dubbed “indie” or “alternative” but have topped the charts in this topsy-turvy era of music industry upheaval. Warner Bros. Nashville even confirmed much of these details, with a press release dated July 5, 2012. In part, it read:

“Dwight Yoakam is country music. His voice is immediately recognizable and his artistry is iconic,” said John Esposito, Warner Music Nashville's president and CEO. “When I heard his current music, I was blown away. I think that it is some of the best music he has ever done and I'm incredibly proud to have him back at Warner Bros. Records.”

Yoakam's highly anticipated new record is set for an early 2012 release and is expected to be co-produced by Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, the Shins, the Strokes) along with producer Yoakam, who has recently finished recording several tracks with musician Beck.

Yet the very day after the press release, an e-mail exchange with manager Laura McCorkindale suggested that things had already changed. She cautioned that any mention of Chiccarelli or Beck would be inaccurate by the time the book reaches print, not reflective of the album that Yoakam would record. She advised that it's “safest to just say Dwight will produce the entire new album himself. And if he brings another person on to do it with him—as I expect—it wouldn't be safe for you to put in print until it's completed anyway. That's January!”

And that's another day in Dwight World, where tomorrow's developments render yesterday's press release obsolete. And six months could see hundreds more changes. In mid-October, at the last possible moment for manuscript revisions, the word was that Dwight was mainly producing and writing alone, although the album would include a cut or two co-produced by Beck and one co-written with Kid Rock. Release was now shifted to early summer, 2012. Stay tuned. It will be interesting to see how much has continued to evolve concerning his studio strategy. What's most significant is that he seems no more likely to adhere to mainstream country formula than he did before his exile from country radio.

In any case, whatever benefits there might be for Dwight to return to a major would seem to be greatest at Warner, which already has such a vested interest in his career, and would reap additional sales of older music from his re-emergence. The same year that Dwight released
Blame the Vain
on New West, Warner Bros. celebrated his illustrious past with the deluxe, twentieth-anniversary expansion of
Guitars, Cadillacs
. The head of the label (not the Nashville division, but the Los Angeles corporate headquarters) when that album was initially issued was Lenny Waronker, who coincidentally had returned to working with the label as a consultant as well as informally advising Dwight.

“He's been godfathering a little bit for me lately, and I'm very grateful,” says Yoakam, who treasures the support he received from Warner Bros. when he launched his album with that performance at the Roxy. “After the set, Lenny had said to me, ‘You don't know me, other than meeting me last night. And here's my only advice to you: If anybody at this label ever wants you to do anything that goes against your instinct or intuition, don't listen.'

“Lenny was president of the label then, and he said, ‘I'm as proud of everything I ever did with Ry Cooder, Van Dyke Parks, and Randy Newman as I am of Fleetwood Mac. I brought them all to the label, and I'm proud that we have you.' I never received a better piece of advice from a record executive.”

As to whatever medium might help the artist and his label take his new music to the marketplace, Yoakam, as always, has been thinking four or five steps ahead. When he left Warner Bros., there'd been talk of him forming his own label. Instead he tried the indie route. Now he sees the future still very much up for grabs.

“I believe the four major labels will always remain, like the four major [movie] studios, as conduits for whatever shape or form delivery of recorded music takes,” he says. “I think there'll be CDs for the next three to five years. But I really believe we're entering the age, with satellite radio, which is all I listen to in my car, and with smartphones, that it'll just be streaming. And if it's a stream, we'll monetize it the way songwriters do through BMI or ASCAP, where we're paid for the property we created. Having said that, it seems to be sorting itself out a little more clearly.

“And we're at the point that we're closing in on 200,000 [fans] on Facebook. I do believe that social networking is a good bet. Twitter, I don't think so much. Twitter is very ADD. But Facebook, or whatever's the next incarnation, is a more wholly invested access point for fans. And I think that may be the place for branded artists to continue to interact with their fans.”

And make them aware of new music and get them to buy in, whatever form it takes. So as possibilities continue to crystallize with his return to the majors, the future remains wide open. He'd even talked at one point about concentrating on single tracks, downloads, instead of worrying about albums. It's a brave new world for the music industry, or whatever remains of it. And, yet, for Yoakam, the position he finds himself in feels oddly familiar.

“In a strange way, I feel like I'm getting ready for my first album again,” he says. “There've been plenty of frustrations with all the delays, arguments with myself, but if it's not right you just have to wait. So in some ways this feels like the nine years in L.A., leading up to finally releasing my first album on Warner Bros.”

Could the ascent possibly be as dramatic once again?

Maintains his manager, “Although I'm not fond of the term, I think Dwight is long overdue for a comeback. I think his new album will be incredibly well received. And I think the third act of his artistic career is likely to surpass—commercially and critically—the stunning success that he has had thus far.”

Managers are supposed to talk like that, and believe like that, against all odds. But if Dwight can't beat the odds (and I wouldn't necessarily bet against him), and he has to rest on the legacy that he has established thus far, he's already made his mark in musical history. He has accomplished what so many others have attempted—combining country tradition and rock credibility—and none have come anywhere close to achieving on a commercial level that he has. With one foot firmly planted in the country mainstream and the other just as firmly in alt-country, roots-rock progressivism, Dwight stands alone, straddling two worlds that otherwise don't have much to do with each other.

Let's leave the last word to Chris Hillman, the most country-minded compatriot of Gram Parsons in the Byrds, and the co-founder with Parsons of the Flying Burrito Brothers (as well as co-writer of much of that band's material). The late Parsons remains revered as the embodiment of this sort of music, a seminal force in the merging of country and rock, but Hillman maintains that what Parsons merely promised, Yoakam has delivered.

“[Gram] could have been a Dwight Yoakam, but Dwight worked real hard,” he says (in
Hot Burrito: The True Story of the Flying Burrito Brothers
, written by John Einarson with Hillman). “Gram didn't. Dwight had the drive, the focus, the work ethic, and the professionalism. Gram had none of that.”

Yet there have been so many books analyzing and celebrating Parsons's artistry, impact, aura, and legacy. Now there's one on Yoakam.

The
Dwight Dozen

A Selected Discography

Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
(EP, Oak, 1984; LP, Reprise, 1986; Deluxe Edition, Reprise/Rhino, 2006): One title, three incarnations. The best place to start is the Deluxe Edition, which documents the development that led to his breakthrough and lays the foundation for everything that followed.

Hillbilly Deluxe
(Reprise, 1987): Now an established mainstream country star, Dwight avoids the sophomore slump with a follow-up as strong as the debut.

Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room
(Reprise, 1989): The artistry matures (and darkens), as Dwight brings Buck Owens back to the “Streets of Bakersfield” and the top of the country charts.

If There Was a Way
(Reprise, 1990): Dwight's first attempt at Nashville co-writing reaps the benefits of collaborations with Roger Miller and Kostas.

This Time
(Reprise, 1993): A popular breakthrough well beyond country. His best-selling album and arguably his best.

Dwight Live
(Reprise, 1995): The live-wire charge shows how Dwight distinguishes himself onstage from the mainstream country pack, while the homage to Elvis Presley is more explicit than ever.

Gone
(Reprise, 1995): A big creative leap results in a commercial downturn. This is the most polarizing album of Dwight's career.

A Long Way Home
(Reprise, 1998): As the title suggests, the music returns full circle.

dwightyoakamacoustic.net
(Reprise, 2000): Dwight's artistry distilled to its essence: voice, songs, acoustic guitar.

Population: Me
(Koch/Audium, 2003): Dwight takes the indie route on the last album with producer Pete Anderson riding shotgun.

Blame the Vain
(New West, 2005): Dwight's first self-produced album and his last to feature original material (for six years and counting).

Dwight Sings Buck
(New West, 2007): An inevitable and inspired tribute to Dwight's late mentor, followed by the longest hiatus of Dwight's recording career.

To be continued . . .

Acknowledgments

WORKING WITH DWIGHT YOAKAM made this a rich and revelatory adventure, an opportunity to immerse myself in not only his music but also his monologues (as interviews with Dwight quickly become). He attached no strings to his cooperation, neither asking for nor receiving any editorial control. He said more than once that he appreciated the interest a university press was showing in his artistry.

Though I recognize and respect the distinction between music journalism and fandom, I don't think it's possible to be an effective critic without retaining a fan's passion for music. After two years, I'm even more of a fan of Yoakam's music, more convinced of the singularity of his achievement, than I was when I began this project.

As Yoakam's manager, Laura McCorkindale not only served as gatekeeper to Dwight, but as a valuable resource in her own right, providing context and insight, as well as contacts for others involved with Yoakam's career. She balanced a manager's protective instincts with a former journalist's nose for a good story. In fact, one of her early concerns was that Yoakam might one day want to write his own story, and she didn't want this to compromise his publishing prospects. From talking with Dwight, I know that we just scratched the surface, and I eagerly anticipate reading the Joycean memoir he might compose.

As co-founder of
No Depression
, Peter Blackstock served as my editor at that late, lamented publication, and he was my friend and fellow music journalist in Austin well before then. Peter's talks with the University of Texas Press generated this project. He also provided a typically astute first reading of the manuscript for editorial review. I trust that Peter and I will continue to work together, and I look forward to it.

I value the commitment and the patience that the University of Texas Press has shown throughout my dealings with them. I had most frequent contact with sponsoring editor Allison Faust and manuscript editor Victoria Davis, and I would like to thank them in particular, as well as all others at UT Press who have been involved in the acquisition, editing, production, and promotion of this book. It takes a village . . .

In the critical final stages, copy editor Laura Griffin brought a fresh eye and keen instincts to the manuscript, saving me from embarrassment, imprecision, and repetition. Any flaws that remain are, of course, my fault.

Since I originally conceived of this as a critical biography of Dwight's music—with more analysis than reporting—I wasn't sure at the outset how much interviewing I might do. But even before Dwight agreed to talk with me, I knew that I needed context from those who had discovered and supported his talent before his recorded music could tell its own story. Bill Bentley and Dave Alvin were both early and crucial sources, ones who gave this project a big boost, just as each had given Dwight during those critical early stages of his career.

Pete Anderson proved a key participant, invaluable in the perspective he provided, as I tried to sort out how the Yoakam-Anderson collaboration had worked, who did what, why it became so successful, how it fell apart. As with Dwight, I wasn't sure when I began this project whether Pete would talk with me (and since I hadn't read anything since their split in which either discussed the other, I figured silence might be part of a legal settlement). But he was gracious with his time and generous with his reflections, never attempting to settle grudges or grind axes. It was partly because Pete figured so heavily, prominently, and repeatedly in Dwight's own telling of his story that Pete's voice proved all the more necessary to this project.