Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Kentucky, the son of Ruth Ann, a key-punch operator, and David Yoakam, a gas-station owner. He was raised in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Columbus's Northland High School in 1974. During his high school years, he excelled in both music and drama, regularly securing the lead role in school plays, such as "Charlie" in a stage version of Flowers for Algernon, honing his skills under the guidance of teacher-mentors Jerry McAfee (music) and Charles Lewis (drama). Outside of school, Yoakam sang and played guitar with local garage bands, and entertained his friends and classmates with his impersonations, such as Richard Nixon, who, at the time, was heavily embroiled in the Watergate controversy.
Yoakam briefly attended Ohio State University, but dropped out and moved to Nashville in 1977 with the intent of becoming a recording artist. Later on, Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg, West Virginia awarded and presented Dwight with an honorary doctorate degree on May 7, 2005.
When he began his career, Nashville was oriented toward pop "urban cowboy" music, and Yoakam's brand of hip honky tonk music was not considered marketable.
Not making much headway in Nashville, Yoakam moved to Los Angeles and worked towards bringing his particular brand of new Honky Tonk or "Hillbilly" music (as he called it) forward into the 1980s. Writing all his own songs, and continuing to perform mostly outside traditional country music channels, Yoakam did many shows in rock and punk rock clubs around Los Angeles, playing with roots rock or punk rock acts like The Blasters (Yoakam scored a small video hit with his version of their song "Long White Cadillac"), Los Lobos, and X. This helped him diversify his audience beyond the typical country music fans, and his authentic, groundbreaking music is often credited with rock audiences accepting country music.
Yoakam's recording debut was the self-financed EP Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. on independent label Oak Records produced by lead-guitarist Pete Anderson; this was later re-released by Reprise records, with several additional tracks, as his major-label debut LP, 1986's Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.. It launched his career. "Honky Tonk Man", a remake of the Johnny Horton song, and "Guitars, Cadillacs" were hit singles. His stylish video "Honky Tonk Man" was the first country music video ever played on MTV. The follow-up LP, Hillbilly Deluxe, was just as successful. His third LP, Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room, included his first No. 1, a duet with his musical idol, Buck Owens, on "Streets of Bakersfield". 1990's If There Was a Way was another best-seller.
Yoakam's song "Readin', Rightin', Route 23" pays tribute to his childhood move from Kentucky, and is named after a local expression describing the route that rural Kentuckians took to find a job outside of the coal mines. (U.S. Route 23 runs north from Kentucky through Columbus and Toledo, Ohio and through the automotive centers of Michigan.) Rather than the standard line that their elementary schools taught "the three Rs" of "Readin', 'Ritin', and 'Rithmetic", Kentuckians used to say that the three Rs they learned were "Readin', 'Ritin, and Route 23 North".
Johnny Cash once cited Yoakam as his favorite country singer. Chris Isaak called him as good a songwriter that ever put a pen to paper. Time Magazine dubbed Yoakam "A Renaissance Man" and Vanity Fair declared that "Yoakam strides the divide between rock's lust and country's lament." Along with his bluegrass and honky-tonk roots, Yoakam has written or covered many Elvis Presley-style rockabilly songs, including his covers of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in 1999 and Presley's "Suspicious Minds" in 1992. He recorded a cover of The Clash's "Train in Vain" in 1997, a cover of the Grateful Dead song "Truckin'", as well as Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me". Yoakam has never been associated only with Country music; on many early tours, he played with Hardcore Punk bands like Hüsker Dü, and played many shows around Los Angeles with Roots/Punk/Rock & Roll acts. His middle-period-to-later records saw him branching out to different styles, covering Rock & Roll, Punk, 1960's, Blues-based "Boogie" like ZZ Top, and writing more adventurous songs like "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere". In 2003, he provided background vocals on Warren Zevon's last album The Wind.
In the 21st century, Yoakam released dwightyoakamacoustic.net, an album featuring solo acoustic versions of many of his hits; left his major label and started his own label.
2005 saw the release of Yoakam's well-reviewed album Blame the Vain, on New West Records. Yoakam also released an album dedicated to Buck Owens, Dwight Sings Buck, on October 23, 2007. His duet with Michelle Branch, a song titled "Long Goodbye", was released as a free download on Branch's official website in early 2011.
In July 2011, Yoakam re-signed with Warner Bros. Nashville and announced plans to release a new album. 3 Pears was released on September 18, 2012 with twelve new tracks. The album, produced by Yoakam, includes collaborations with Kid Rock, Beck, and Ashley Monroe. 3 Pears was released to resounding critical acclaim and earned Yoakam the highest-charting debut of his career on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Country Albums charts. 3 Pears reached #1 on the Americana Radio chart on October 29, 2012 and went on to break the 2012 record for most weeks at #1 on Americana Radio.[4] By the end of 2012, the album was named on annual best of lists by NPR, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, AOL's The Boot, Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice, and Rhapsody, and has been included in more critic's "best of 2012" lists than any other artist in the country genre.
Yoakam won the Grammy Award for "Best Male Country Vocal Performance" in 1993 for the song "Ain't That Lonely Yet". He was also named "Artist of the Year" by CMT Europe in 1993 and given the International Touring Artist Award by CMA in 2007.
In 2011, Yoakam received the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award for his trailblazing achievements in the country music genre.
My Bucket's Got a Hole In It
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yea! my bucket's got a hole in it
Yea! my bucket's got a hole in it
I can't buy no beer.
Well I'm standin' on a corner
With a bucket in my hand
I'm waitin' for a woman
'Cause my bucket's got a hole in it
Yea! my bucket's got a hole in it
Yea! my bucket's got a hole in it
I can't buy no beer.
Well, I went up on the mountain
I looked down in the sea
I seen the crabs and the fishes
Doin' the be - bop - bee.
Well, there ain't no use
Of me workin' so hard
When I got a woman
In the boss man's yard.
Well, me and my baby
We just bought a Ford
And now we sit together
On the running board...
Dwight Yoakam's "My Bucket's Got a Hole In It" is a fun and catchy song with a somewhat melancholic theme. The verse "Yea! my bucket's got a hole in it" is repeated several times throughout the song, serving as both a chorus and a metaphor for poverty. The singer can't buy any beer because the money is leaking out of his bucket - a symbol for money troubles that just won't go away. The singer turns to seeking out a woman who doesn't have a man, presumably to fill the void left by his empty beerless bucket.
The singer also takes a break from seeking out love to observe nature, comparing the movements of "crabs and the fishes" to the be-bop-bee of jazz music. The poem is a reflection of the simpler times when people didn't have money and had to find other means of having fun. It's a reminder that the little things in life can bring us happiness, even during times when money is tight.
Line by Line Meaning
Yea! my bucket's got a hole in it
My container for carrying things has a breach and is not functional as intended.
I can't buy no beer.
I am unable to procure alcoholic beverages due to my equipment's malfunction.
Well I'm standin' on a corner
I am situated on a street corner.
With a bucket in my hand
I am holding a container.
I'm waitin' for a woman
I am anticipating the arrival of a female person.
That ain't got no man.
Aforementioned woman is not accompanied by a male partner.
Well, I went up on the mountain
I ascended to a high peak.
I looked down in the sea
I peered into the body of water below.
I seen the crabs and the fishes
I observed the crustaceans and aquatic creatures.
Doin' the be - bop - bee.
Engaging in a lively, musical activity.
Well, there ain't no use
It is pointless.
Of me workin' so hard
For me to exert myself excessively.
When I got a woman
As I have a female companion.
In the boss man's yard.
This companion resides on the employer's premises.
Well, me and my baby
My significant other and I.
We just bought a Ford
We recently purchased a motor vehicle.
And now we sit together
Currently occupying a position side by side.
On the running board...
Seated on the ledge which lines the exterior of the aforementioned vehicle.
Contributed by Layla T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Rocco9457
Eddy Shaver was and always will be in my book, one of the great guitar players of our time. May God rest your soul Eddy Shaver. We miss you.
Carl Prince
So good too see so many who know the great player Eddy Shaver . Rest in peace your work here is done.
Kelvin Smith
That's what a Telecaster sounds like !...Worlds greatest guitar hands down.
MJT 55
There are so many great country pickers. But I don't think any of them had a thing on Eddy. He was special.
Mike McKenna
Eddie is the best. Wicked licks and tone 😃😃😎😎
goat 68
good song ! eddie is a guitar playing badass !
Rebel Rouser
Eddy...One of the best Telecaster players ever..
Aaron Patrick
Rebel Rouser He was better with a strat
Strick nine
I know this is getting kinda out there and may be a stretch but I get the sneaking suspicion that Eddy Shaver can play the heck out of any brand guitar.
Maybe he would possibly just do the same thing with another guitar that he did here...I know it would be difficult since they all have 6 strings, spaced apart about the same, fret wire spacing very similar, I don't know.
MAGA MAN PATRIOT
@Strick nine Eddy could do just that..as Lee Trevino the golf pro used to say if someone blamed their club he'd say "hey pardner it ain't the arrows its the indian"...young Mr. Shaver made a different sound than the average picker. I swanee sometimes I'd look for the 2nd guitar picker then I'd realize ahh hell he's showing butt with his gitfiddle. He was a Fender man but believe me he picked up other brands and you could tell, he made a joyful noise playing..