Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Bros. Years [BOX SET]

Dwight Yoakam

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 19, 2002)
• Original Release Date: November 12, 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 (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,697 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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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

From his '86 multiplatinum debut Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. through '01s South Of Heaven, West Of Hell, this expansive 4-CD boxed set culls material from Yoakam's entire Warner Bros. career. Presents 87 tracks circa 1981-2002, encompassing singles, album, cuts, previously unissued material, rarities, and soundtrack selections.

Contains 3 brand new recordings (exclusively available to this set): "Sittin' Pretty," "Louisville," and "Mercury Blues."

Includes a full disc comprised of nothing but previously unreleased material, including rare early demos from 1981, and live gems from various venues spanning nearly a decade, including renditions of "Truckin'," and "Mystery Train."

Also features Yoakam's contributions to tribute albums honoring Kinky Friedman, Merle Haggard, Bob Willis & The Texas Playboys, and ZZ Top.

Includes guest appearances by Buck Owens, Kelly Willis, Asleep At The Wheel, Patty Loveless, Bekka Bramlett, Flaco Jimenez, and Sheryl Crow.

Deluxe booklet features rare photos and tributes from Yoakam devotees including Dennis Hopper, Billy Gibbons, Dave Alvin, and Buck Owens.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Dwight, January 20, 2003

By	James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When Dwight Yoakam emerged on country radio in 1986 with a cover of Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man," few would have guessed that he would outlast goldenboy labelmate Randy Travis as a commercial commodity. Yet outlast Travis, the Kentucky-born, Ohio-raised, Bakersfield-influenced singer songwriter did, creating a sizable alt-country niche that continues in spite of increasingly reduced radio play over the years. Capturing the highlights of Yoakam's enduring, consistently high quality contributions to country music is this four disc, 87 track collection, containing all the hits, plus key album tracks, tribute offerings, duets, covers, soundtrack efforts, and a sizable sampling of live recordings (whew!).

Disc one chronicles Yoakam the hitmaker, with the CD comprised of tracks from his first four albums: Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. (1986), Hillbilly Deluxe (1987), Buenos Nochas From A Lonely Room (1988), and If There Was A Way (1990). With Pete Anderson on board from the start as producer and guitarist extraordinaire, Yoakam's lonesome tenor connects nicely - and charts highly - with everything he touches during this period, be it the honkytonkin' "It Only Hurts When I Cry," the tearjerker "I Sang Dixie," or the rockabilly Elvis fave "Little Sister." Through his chartopping, toetapping duet with Buck Owens on "Streets Of Bakersfield," as well as a faithful remake of Lefty Frizzell's "Always Late With Your Kisses," Yoakam was also able to introduce some of his musical influences to young listeners. The only omission of note from this early phase is his stark, soulful "Sin City" duet with k.d. lang, originally found on Yoakam's first collection Just Lookin' For A Hit (1989).

While the contents of disc one are predictable and satisfying, disc two (summarizing Yoakam's 1992 through early 1998 output) is an eclectic mix of varying quality. Yoakam's moving duet with Flaco Jimenez on Warren Zevon's sordid drug tale "Carmelita" (from Jimenez's Partners CD) gets it started, followed by a so-so live rendition of "Suspicious Minds" (his original take - available on Last Chance For A Thousand Years, among other places - was superior). Two scorching tracks ("Doin' What I Do," "Hey Little Girl") from the import-only La Croix D'Amour find Yoakam rockin' hard and effectively, then three recordings from his sub-par Under The Covers close the disc. They include the album's lone standout, a bluegrass take on the Clash's "Train In Vain," as well as a mismatched duet with Sheryl Crow on Sonny & Cher's "Baby Don't Go." These covers surround seven tracks from Yoakam's preeminent release, 1993's This Time. With the haunting jangle of "Ain't That Lonely Yet," the percolating "Fast As You," the sparse "Try Not To Look So Pretty," and the blaring "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere" among its gems, This Time is a modern country masterpiece that exploded the boundaries of the Bakersfield sound. Nice to see it so heftily represented here.

The equally diverse disc three covers Yoakam's most recent work (1998 to the present). As country airwaves became increasingly watered down with pop, his greatest radio success (aside from the shimmering "Things Change" from 1998's excellent A Long Way Home) lie in countrified covers of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me." Side projects (including the snappy Bob Wills' tribute "San Antonio Rose" with Asleep At The Wheel and the swampy ZZ Top tribute "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide") offered some fine diversions from recent albums: the sparse dwightyoakamacoustic.net (2000), the successful return to roots Tomorrow's Sounds Today (2000), and the noisy soundtrack South Of Heaven, West Of Hell (2001). Three new recordings (a mundane "Louisville," a hiccupy "Sittin' Pretty," and a shufflin' version of "Mercury Blues" - currently being used for car commercials - end the disc on a flat note.

Disc four is for the Yoakam collector, with its 21 previously unreleased tracks. Leading off is ten self-produced demos from 1981. All but "Please Daddy" would appear in slightly altered versions on his first four Warner Brothers albums and, while lacking Pete Anderson's polish, each track is far better than most of what is pedaled by today's country hitmakers. A pair of George 'n Tammy-type duets with Kelly Willis as well as a solo version of the aforementioned "Sin City" go down easy, if not memorably, followed by eight live covers. Aside from a drawn out, sonically impaired rendition of the Grateful Dead's "Truckin" (Yoakam's studio rendition from 1991's tribute album Deadicated was far better), these live recordings - especially the full throttle "Mystery Train" and "Can't You Hear Me Calling" - really hit the spot. They also serve to remind the listener that in addition to being one of modern country's most gifted singers and songwriters, Yoakam is one of its greatest performers.

Though this box set is fairly comprehensive, several of Yoakam's guest vocals over the years did not make it onto this retrospective (the recent Johnny Cash tribute album and Will The Circle Be Unbroken III for starters). Yoakam's 1997 holiday CD Come On Christmas was completely ignored as well. Look for their inclusion on the upcoming seventeen-CD Yoakam retrospective, also compiled by Rhino. If you can afford it.

21 of 22 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 (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

14 of 15 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)

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.