A Good Year for the Outlaw

Two more underrated acts today

Dwight Yoakam

Big country star in the late 80’s and early 90’s, driving women wild with his tight fittin’, full of holes jeans and his sexy little dance steps, Dwight Yoakam was big. But now, like so many other great artists who are still putting out viable country music (Hank, Jr. and Mark Chestnutt immediately come to mind), he can’t get a sniff of airplay in the world of country radio, because they’re not the consultants’ “chosen few”.  Don’t get me wrong, I have appreciation for what Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw do, but I challenge anyone to listen to Dwight’s recent album “Blame the Vain”, and then listen to Kenny or Tim’s latest album, and tell me why Kenny and Tim have 8 number ones between them and Dwight hasn’t broken into the Top 20 in years. It is incomprehensible to me, and I’ve been around this stuff for 25 years.

Dwight deserved his early success, with songs like “Guitars, Cadillacs” and “Little Sister” and “Streets of Bakersfield”, the legendary duet with Buck Owens.  Yoakam was chart gold for several years. Why? Because he was talented, his songs were hooky and smart, and his players were always among the best. Well, guess what? His last three albums have been just as good as his first three. He’s still talented, his songs are still smart and hooky, the musicians are incredible, the production first rate. Dwight Yoakam hasn’t changed, radio has. And that’s really sad. Sickening. Disgusting.

Among Dwight’s best albums are “This Time” (1993), which featured three straight #2 hits (someone obviously was already turning against him…you don’t have three straight #2’s without someone making sure you DON’T get a #1), and none of those three were even the best song on the album, a darkly-humored dirge called “Two Doors Down”, and a great set called “Under The Covers”, where he gives surprising renditions of songs from artists as diverse as Sonny and Cher, The Clash, Johnny Horton, and Roy Orbison.

His three discs from the current decade, “Tomorrow’s Sounds Today”, “Population Me” and “Blame The Vain”, are full of songs just as clever, just as hooky, just as good as all of his previous work, but he hasn’t gotten a chart single higher than #26 since 1999. Dwight Yoakam is still out there, people. Just turn off your out-of-touch country radio station and go buy one of his CD’s.

Three Dog Night

Along with BTO, one of my favorite unappreciated 70’s bands. More poppy than rocky, this band had some decent single success, and enjoyed a nice run in the early 70’s, but still come up on the list of underrated because of how they’ve been forgotten. This band made sing-along music with signature harmonies, and some nearly-novelty hooks that you couldn’t get out of your head. “Joy To The World”, “Black and White”, “Shambala”, “Celebrate”. Once you heard ‘em, you were singing those hooks all day long. Many a summer day in 1973 I rode around my small Minnesota hometown howling…”ah…ah…oo….oooo….oo…oo…oo…yeah…on the road to Shambala”. This was pre-walkman days, folks, but it didn’t stop me, or my buddies for that matter, from crooning while biking, which I believe is now a misdemeanor.

Led by the three-headed lead singing combination of Danny Hutton, Corey Wells, and Chuck Negron, the band could do many styles of music, and would just go with whichever vocalist was more suited to a song when it came to deciding lead and background parts. They seemed to be a true team.  The band could be soft and gentle, or loud and rowdy, sometimes (”Never Been To Spain”) in the same 3 minute song.

They performed songs from legendary writers like Hoyt Axton and Paul Williams (”Just An Old Fashioned Love Song”) and even Randy Newman (”Mama Told Me Not To Come”). A band with this many single hits, and some solid albums like “Naturally”, “Harmony” and “Hard Labor” should be better remembered today. I wish radio would play more of their stuff.