Watch Out is the title of a 2005 Yoakam song and current staple of his live shows. That's what the giants of Country music must have thought after this milestone in Yoakam's remarkable career. He burst onto the scene with two albums that though steeped in tradition put him squarely on the cutting edge. His articulate and accurate critiques of the Nashville establishment didn't help, but it was his innovative sound that set him apart from the field. Somehow he was too Country, but also rocked too hard. It was like being too strong and fast to play football.
So Yoakam famously moved to California where he gained attention and a record deal. This album features his only number one Country hits, "Streets of Bakersfield", a duet with Bakersfield's King, Buck Owens, and the Yoakam original "I Sang Dixie". But to me the strength of this album is the first half. Which, if owned when released in 1988, would be Side 1 most likely for many on cassette or LP. Kicking off with the great "I Got You", featuring lines like "I got a letter from the folks over at Bell, just to let me know my next phone call, I'll have to walk outside and yell", through his Johnny Cash cover "Home of the Blues" which far surpasses the Man in Black's original, and into his paranoid lover's rant of "What I Don't Know", some have said the first side has an overall theme as if the artist is taking the listener through a doomed relationship.
There have been rumors in Hollywood amongst Yoakam enthusiasts I'm sure (he has many - Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Vince Vaughn, Billy Bob Thornton, to name a few) about a film based on this half, particularly the title track, "Buenos Noches from a Lonely Room (She Wore Red Dresses)". When I first heard the song, I actually had to pause the CD when it finished. I just sat there with my mouth open. Not just the lyrics, but the arrangement! Absolutely Yoakam's first bona fide masterpiece.
This had to be the album that made Merle Haggard say, "Dwight Yoakam is the most original thing in Country music". This is probably when Dwight Yoakam officially became Johnny Cash's favorite singer. And a few other people's favorite too, I bet.