[audiobook] Dwight Yoakam: A Thousand Miles from Nowhere (American Music Series) by Don McLeese at Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Best and only book about Dwight Yoakam Music.By CLThe best. the only biography of Dwight. Its a musical biography. with very good access to Dwight and other musicians. If you want something like Keith Richards talking about heroin instead of songs he wrote. records he cut. then go elsewhere. If you are into his music. vocals and lyrics. and his musical heritage. youre in business. I could not read anything else until I finished it. Its from a university press. so the writer knows his stuff. but its very clear and down to earth. Fascinating.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Highly recommendedBy JimmyBobFinally. a biography of Dwight Yoakam! Im so glad that the first one. is a really good one. This is all about the music so if youre looking for girlfriend gossip youll be disappointed. You wont be disappointed. however. about a fast-moving but well-told story of Dwights musical career.Through interviews. research and his own experience. Mr. McLeese tells the story of why Dwights first demo failed to excite people. how Pete Anderson sharpened the bands sound and allowed Dwight to focus on signing and songwriting. how Dave Alvin of The Blasters gave them an audience to hone their sound. and then with their enormous talent. great songs. exciting sound. steadfast professional. old-fashioned hard work and some good timing (coming between Urban Cowboy and Garth Brooks) they put "hillbilly" music back on country radio and went on to sell millions of albums. Theres a good discussion here about Dwight and Petes business strategy. how they were always aiming to be commercially successful and not an alternative act. and how they were not only planning for their first album but for their first three! McLeese also talks a lot about the music and devotes a chapter to each album. This book has got me pulling out old the CDs and listening to the entire albums again.A lot of the book also discusses the dynamic between Dwight and Pete and how they worked together for so long to craft great music. It also goes into quite a bit of detail of how that relationship ended. (I had no idea how financially disastrous Dwights western was and how it ended up affecting his music career.) While their business and personal relationship is now over. it was good to know that both of them still appreciate and have a lot of respect for what they were able to accomplish together when they started out.The last chapter goes into whats next for Dwight as we sit here in the spring of 2012 hoping Dwight releases new music this year. (Beck. Kid Rock. Happy love songs.)I knew a lot of the details about Dwights career. but McLeese has pulled them together for me and added lots of insight. Its a great read and provides lots of interesting material. Highly recommended. Heres to hoping that McLeese and the publisher. the University of Texas. make this a series. Whos next? Lucinda Williams? Steve Earle? Rodney Crowell? Lyle Lovett? Radney Foster?0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Awesome Look Inside the Mind and Musical History of One of our Greatest Country Talents.By Judi FryerI am a huge Dwight Yoakam fan. Unfortunately information and reading material about Dwight and his life is in short supply. This interesting book deals mostly with his journey as an entertainer and musical talent. However. there are enough insights into Dwight (through interview) history and thought process that I was able to get a much better sense of the real Dwight. The book includes a lot of details about Dwights ideas for how an entertainer should entertain and market himself. as well as how he came to create his on-stage character and the type of music he mostly performs and writes. The book detailed enough inside-Dwight information to reveal to me that I had been pretty much correct about Dwight as a person through the years.Dwight to me is one of the great talents in country music. a prolific. creative. and great song writer. an awesome performer. and a really smart fellow. This book revealed all that and much more. It was a great addition to my library and I am glad I decided to obtain and read it. If you are a Dwight fan or have an interest in how the music business works. I recommend this interesting-to-read. very detailed. musical history of one of todays top entertainers who has managed to by successful in the business for decades.