Hillbilly Deluxe is proof that beyond a shadow of a doubt,
Dwight Yoakam's
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. was no fluke. There's no sophomore slump here, and while
Hillbilly Deluxe may be seen as an extension of his debut, repetition 'taint necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be heard and viewed as
Yoakam and producer/guitarist
Pete Anderson cementing the commitment to Bakersfield-styled honky tonk music.
Yoakam's voice is a dead cross of
Merle Haggard's early voice and
Lefty Frizzell's -- a fine cover of the latter's "Always Late (With Your Kisses)" is included here -- and as such, it is one of the purest, most soulful voices in this era. But as displayed on his debut,
Yoakam is one hell of a songwriter as well. Cuts like "Little Ways," the album's first single, "Readin', Rightin', Rt. 23," and the amazing "Throughout All Time," with its dancing fiddles and lapsteel guitars entwined with
Anderson's lead, are worthy of serious consideration as among the finest country songs written in the preceding five years. An added bonus is a killer version of
Doc Pomus' classic "Little Sister" that rivals
Elvis Presley's -- yeah, that's right -- and blows
Ry Cooder's tepid cover of it away. The only other cover here is the classic "Smoke Along the Track" by Alan Rose and Don Helms, and in true hardcore troubadour fashion,
Yoakam makes it his own, swinging it in the best
Johnny Cash and Tennessee Three fashion rhythmically and with
Haggard's winsome railroad vocal that he took from
Jimmie Rodgers. While there can be no doubt about
Yoakam's "hillbilly" roots in Kentucky, this disc is deluxe in virtually every way. ~ Thom Jurek