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 HΓΌsker DΓΌ, 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.
Sorry You Asked
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That she's not here with me tonight
And I know you were probably just acting polite
But you'll be sorry you ever asked why
We started having problems in August last year
So things have been kinda rough for quite awhile
And you know how you think it'll work itself out
You'll be sorry you asked me the reason
That she's not here with me tonight
And I know you were probably just acting polite
But you'll be sorry you ever asked why
I mighta, shoulda seen
That we were drifting apart
But I was in what I guess you'd call denial
And I always heard they say that you're the last one to know
Well buddy I was last by a long, long while
You'll be sorry you asked me the reason
That she's not here with me tonight
And I know you were probably just acting polite
But you'll be sorry you ever asked why
Okay we both have the tendency to overreact
So I can't really tell you who's at fault
But there were certain third parties, well her sister for one
Who helped bring our reconciling to a drop-dead halt
You'll be sorry you asked me the reason
That she's not here with me tonight
And I know you were probably just acting polite
But you'll be sorry you ever asked why
Aren't you sorry you ever asked why
I'm sure sorry you ever asked why
Did I tell you how she tried to have me locked out of the house
I had to go hire a lawyer and all
But I know that it was mostly her family's idea
I could hear 'em tell her what to say every time I'd call
You'll be sorry you asked me the reason
"Dwight Yoakam's Sorry You Asked," is a song about a man who is tasked to explain to someone the reason why his wife is not there with him that night. The song begins with the singer warning his interlocutor that they will rue the day they asked him the question. He then explains that he and his wife had been having issues since August the previous year, and he had been in denial about how severe the problem was. He knew that eventually, the problem might sort itself out, but it didn't, leading to their separation.
Line by Line Meaning
You'll be sorry you asked me the reason
I'm warning you, if you want to know the reason she's not with me tonight, you'll regret asking.
That she's not here with me tonight
She's not with me tonight, and you're asking why.
And I know you were probably just acting polite
I understand that you're just trying to be polite, but you don't really want to know the answer.
But you'll be sorry you ever asked why
I'm serious, you'll regret asking.
We started having problems in August last year
Our problems started in August, so it's been a while.
So things have been kinda rough for quite awhile
Things have been difficult between us for some time.
And you know how you think it'll work itself out
You know how people often believe that things will just work themselves out?
Well mister that thought's wrong by a long, long mile
Well, let me tell you, that idea is very far from reality.
I mighta, shoulda seen
Maybe I should have seen it coming.
That we were drifting apart
It's clear to me now that we were growing apart.
But I was in what I guess you'd call denial
I was probably in denial about how bad things were.
And I always heard they say that you're the last one to know
People often say that you're the last one to know when your relationship is in trouble.
Well buddy I was last by a long, long while
Let me tell you, I was about the last person to realize that we were in trouble.
Okay we both have the tendency to overreact
To be fair, we both have a tendency to overreact.
So I can't really tell you who's at fault
It's hard to say who's to blame.
But there were certain third parties, well her sister for one
But there were some outside factors, like her sister's involvement, that made things worse.
Who helped bring our reconciling to a drop-dead halt
These outside factors contributed to our failing to reconcile.
Aren't you sorry you ever asked why
See? You're probably regretting asking now.
I'm sure sorry you ever asked why
I'm definitely sorry you asked.
Lyrics Β© CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: DWIGHT YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Celestechantel
Fun fact about this video: my dad is the announcer at the skating rinkπ RIP dad we miss you
@wallflower8212
I am so sorry for your loss.
@danaayers1489
Cool!!!
@erinthompson4739
Sorry for your loss. Great memories keep your dad with you forever.β€
@Celestechantel
@@wallflower8212 thank you β€οΈ
@Celestechantel
@@erinthompson4739 yes!! Thank youβ€οΈβ€οΈ
@matty2x302
In 1990 I was 24 years old with a beautiful brunette by my side ( who is now my wife of 30 years ) a 76 Chevy Scottsdale Pick Up with a 350 Holly four barrel & glass packs. And 3 Cassette tapes, Guitars , Cadillacs - Buenas Noches & If There Was a Way. Ah yes the good ol days. Thanks Dwight πΈπΆππΊπΈβ€οΈ
@francesmoore5789
Love all the songs on this album. Dwight is a delight. Great humour, beautiful voice , intelligent and insightful man. Love everything he does. Wish I had found him earlier. Thank goodness for YouTube.
@sartoris9439
Dwight Yoakam saved modern country music.
This video is just fantastic. Harry Dean Stanton and Dwight Yoakam? What more do you want?
@TheSlowoldman
Bo Hopkins is alright too..... everybody wants to be a Pharaoh.