Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Bros. Years [Box set]

Dwight Yoakam | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00006WL2D
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,045 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #73 in Music > Country > Classic Country > Bakersfield Sound

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Honky Tonk Man

2. Guitars, Cadillacs

3. It Won't Hurt

4. Miner's Prayer

5. Little Sister

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Carmelita (Flaco Jimenez featuring Dwight Yoakam)

2. Suspicious Minds (live)

3. Doin' What I Did

4. Hey Little Girl

5. Ain't That Lonely Yet

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Only Want You More

2. Same Fool

3. Things Change

4. These Arms

5. A Long Way Home

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. This Drinkin' Will Kill Me

2. It Won't Hurt

3. I'll Be Gone

4. Floyd County

5. You're The One

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Though Dwight Yoakam casts himself as the classic outsider, no contemporary country artist has been able to achieve more mainstream success while retaining more alternative credibility. This four-disc set (including more than an entire disc of previously unreleased material) documents the uniqueness of Yoakam's musical legacy, as he combines a core commitment to the hard twang of honky-tonk--in breakthrough hits such as "Guitars, Cadillacs" and the Buck Owens duet "Streets of Bakersfield--with a stylistic expansiveness that knows no limits. In addition to his underrated strength as a songwriter, no other country artist could extend himself from Queen ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love") to Cheap Trick ("I Want You to Want Me") to the Clash ("Train in Vain"), while paying the obligatory tributes to Elvis Presley, George Jones, and Merle Haggard. The three new recordings may be inconsequential (a shuffle rendition of "Mercury Blues" holds the most interest), but the archive of previously unreleased material includes a 10-song demo from 1981 (before Yoakam's pivotal pairing with guitarist/producer/bandleader Pete Anderson), two duets with Kelly Willis, and the eight live performances that conclude the set. --Don McLeese

Product Description

Full Title - Reprise Please Baby The Warner Bros. Years. From his '86 multi platinum debut Guitars, Cadillac's, Etc., Etc. through '01s South Of Heaven and West Of Hell, this expansive 4CD boxed set culls material from Yoakam's entire Warner Bros. Career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is Required Listening, December 18, 2002

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Bros. Years (Audio CD)

This 87-track collection from the artist who single-handedly kept alive the spirit of honky tonk music has something for everyone. For those who only know Dwight Yoakam from his radio hits--they're all here from 1986's "Honky Tonk Man" through 2000's "What Do You Know About Love."

For the serious fan, you get his one-off tracks like "Carmelita" (from Flaco Jimenez's album PARTNERS), "Holding Things Together" (from the Merle Haggard tribute album), "Rapid City, South Dakota" (from the Kinky Friedman tribute album), "New San Antonio Rose" (from Asleep at the Wheel's tribute album to Bob Wills) and "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" (from this year's ZZ Top tribute album). The only songs missing are "Suspicious Minds" from the Honemoon in Vegas soundtrack and "Truckin'" from the Grateful Dead tribute album. [They are, however, both included on disc 4 in live versions.] You also get two tracks ("Doin' What I Did" and "Hey Little Girl") that previously were available only on Reprise's international collection LA CROIX D'AMOUR. In addition there are four new recordings: "Louisville," "Sittin' Pretty," "Mercury Blues" and a solo reworking of "Sin City," which first appeared as a duet with k.d. lang on JUST LOOKIN' FOR A HIT.

Disc 4 is ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MATERIAL!!! Tracks 1-10 are from Yoakam's 1981 demo recordings. Except for "Please Daddy," they would all show up in slightly different form on his first four studio albums. After hearing these demos, it's amazing it took five years for Yoakam to get a recording contract. Tracks 11 and 12 are superb duets with Kelly Willis. The last eight tracks are live songs from 1986, 1991 and 1995.

I've never been a huge country fan, but in 1986 I bought debuts from three artists that I thought would bring some integrity to country music. They were Steve Earle, Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam. What they have in common is a sincerity and honesty in their music that makes them stand head and shoulders above the rest of the country music landscape. ESSENTIAL

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A testament to Yoakam's greatness, November 27, 2002

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Bros. Years (Audio CD)

In his time at Reprise, Dwight Yoakam made a fascinating round trip. His earliest albums, as excerpted on disc one of this four-disc masterpiece, revitalized the commercial fortunes of hardcore honky-tonk music. Though he tipped his cowboy hat (and syrupy twang of a voice) in a decidedly backward direction, his music, created with ace guitarist and producer Pete Anderson, never felt particularly retro. Though he owed a big debt to Buck Owens, and others of his era, Yoakam's music was never a carbon copy, and as it progressed, it began to meld non-country influences, including jazz and Beatle-esque pop, with his foundational honky-tonk Bakersfield sound.

Some of the earlier experiments felt heavy handed (and some of the sidetracks, such as the "Covers" album, contained some out-and-out duds), but by the time "A Long Way Home" rolled around in 1998, the balance Yoakam and Anderson struck was, simply, incredible. Yoakam ended his tenure at Reprise with a string of interesting experiments, including the nearly all-acoustic visit to his own songwriting catalog, "dwightyoakamacoustic.net," a film soundtrack ("South of Heaven, West of Hell"), and the full-circle return to his roots, "Tomorrow's Sounds Today."

This four-disc set is stuffed with highlights from most of Yoakam's studio albums (his 1997 Christmas album is passed by), and provides previously unreleased live tracks in lieu of selections from his 1995 live LP. More interesting for Yoakam's fans are the cuts collected from his extra-curricular activities, such as guest appearances with Asleep at the Wheel and Flaco Jimenez, contributions to tribute albums, and a trio of new tracks (exclusive to this set) at the end of disc three, including a cover of "Mercury Blues" originally waxed for the automaker's advertising campaign.

Disc four contains all previously unreleased material, starting with the ten tracks that comprised Yoakam's pre-record-deal demos. Anderson's deft touch as producer is sorely missing here, as Yoakam's songs (many of which would reappear in re-arranged form on his Reprise LPs) and his voice are often subsumed by the playing. A pair of duets with Kelly Willis are surprisingly bland, but the remaining live tracks hold several gems, including a solo reading of Gram Parsons' "Sin City," and a wonderful take of Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me."

Given the riches here, it's difficult to knock this set; it's a fitting tribute to one of the past couple of decade's most important American musical artists. Still it's hard to identify exactly who the audience is. Yoakam's fans will appreciate the disc of unreleased material, as well as the interwoven contributions from non-Yoakam projects, and the informative, newly penned essay. On the other hand, fans are unlikely to be fully satisfied with the track selection from the regular albums -- not that it's unrepresentative, just that anyone who already has the regular albums will know what's missing. Those new to Yoakam will find this a compelling introduction to his work, but, in the end, will want to accumulate the full studio albums. Perhaps that's the marketing genius of this set -- it's perfect for those who have all of Yoakam's albums, and should entice those who don't to buy them.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rhino Does It Again! But Pete Anderson Deserves More Props!, February 3, 2003

By 

Clark Paull "(Sleepin' with the TV on)" (Murder City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Bros. Years (Audio CD)

At the risk of making this review sound like the Rhino Records Appreciation Society, is there anything this company can't do when it comes to the world of re-issues, compendiums, and best-ofs? There's nothing really fancy or gimmicky about this Dwight Yoakam box - no hard-to-store novelty packaging, no DVD's, and no gristle. The first three discs draw the cream of the crop from Yoakam's studio releases, his guest appearances on the albums of others (including a surprise take on Syndicate Of Sound's "Hey Little Girl"), and three brand new recordings, while the fourth disc is comprised entirely of previously unreleased studio and live material, including demos cut in 1981 before earning his first recording contract. The three new cuts, "Louisville," "Sittin' Pretty," and "Mercury Blues," all carry the magic imprint of Yoakam's secret weapon - producer, arranger, and lead guitarist Pete Anderson - whose signature twang is every bit a part of Yoakam's sound as Dwight's own hiccuping, hillbilly croon. Throw in a booklet full of photos, testimonials and classy liner notes by Holly George-Warren and you've got another no brainer courtesy of the compilation geniuses at Rhino.