Dwight Yoakam – Guitars, Cadillacs

“Guitars, Cadillacs” is a song written and recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was released in June 1986 as the second single and partial title track from his debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc.

Living in Los Angeles at the time, Yoakam was writing and performing songs that he referred to as “honky-tonk hillbilly” music, as they were more in line with the rock-inspired Bakersfield Sound of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard than the polished crossover country from Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Alabama and others that was dominating mid-Eighties radio.

Yoakam was also routinely sharing the bill with local L.A. punk and rockabilly acts, including the Blasters, X and Lone Justice. As such, he often found himself in the too-country-for-rock, too-rock-for-country trap set by traditionalist critics and fans alike. However, while he didn’t exactly find an exclusive home in either genre, it was clear enough to see whose couch he would be crashing on the most.

Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. opens strongly with the neon-buzzed bounce of “Honky Tonk Man,” Yoakam’s take on the Johnny Horton mid-Fifties rockabilly classic. Also released as his debut single, “Honky Tonk Man” spent 24 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, making it all the way to Number Three. Along with being his first hit, Yoakam’s “Honky Tonk Man” has the unique bragging rights of being the very first country-music video ever played on MTV.

Dwight Yoakam – Guitars, Cadillacs (official video) of Dwight’s album, ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’

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Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs

Guitars, Cadillacs (Official Video) - Dwight Yoakam