Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room

Jesus Fucking Christ, this record. If there were no lyrics, I would really really love this. I very much enjoy this traditional style of country with its banjos and fiddles and delicious guitar playing. The duet with Buck Owens is particularly good and it's great to hear Maria McKee on Send Me the Pillow. But as so often happens, toxic masculinity ruins the party again. My dude, your lady-friend is allowed to leave you. She's allowed to leave to be with someone else or just to get away from you (and your gun) or for no reason at all other than she wants to. And, yes, I know it hurts. It's super painful and will make you sad and angry and humiliated and that is HARD. I get it. But eat some ice cream, binge watch some TV, take a bath, and get some freaking therapy. This multi-song revenge fantasy is a misogynistic horror show and it makes you sound like a fragile baby. I'm giving this a 2 instead of a 1 for Buck Owens and Maria McKee.

I was wondering how long it would be before I gave my first 1or 5. I’m a C&W fan - Hank, Steve Earl, Kristofferson, Cash but not this brother. Dwight sounds like he was born and always lived in comfort so he never got the obligatory raspiness. About 4/5 songs in there’s a cool Mexican sounding song with accordion but it was too late. The 1 rating was already locked and loaded.

Mercifully brief.

If all country music sounded like Yoakam, I wouldn't despise it so much. This is a terrific collection of songs, that have a great Tex-Mex feel and some great guests (like Buck Owens). I laughed, I cried, I gave it a four.

As a huge fan of 80s and 90s country, I find Dwight Yoakam to be a very interesting inclusion, and honestly, a pretty informed one. At this point in time, country was taking arguably its biggest turn yet, encompassing more pop and rock sounds as made popular in the 70s and breathing a new life into the country genre (this decision is still rippling through country music today, like it or not). While Dwight Yoakam followed that musical trend to a certain extent, he still kept one foot planted firmly in that classic country "honky tonk" world, using his unique, forlorn-sounding voice to lend to his lonesome country style. Yoakam’s music was also synonymous with Mexican border town cantinas, as he never shied away from infusing his music with that noticeable “tex-mex” flair. Because of the change in the country music landscape at this time, America's country capital of Nashville was critical of Dwight Yoakam, ironically referring to him "TOO country". This resulted in him spending most of his time as a country music outsider, earning is fame the long way around, not the least of which was by playing in L.A. punk clubs. This album was accomplished as a result of Dwight Yoakam relentlessly seeking country music on his own terms and finally gaining significant popularity among listeners, despite Nashville’s backlash. While I can think of country albums from the late 80s to mid 90s that I like better, I honestly don’t know if any of them would better encapsulate this particular era’s country music past and country music future in one album, not to mention Dwight’s reputation as a “cowpunk” outsider. Dwight Yoakam has always unapologetically been his own thing, and this album is probably his most shining example of that uniqueness.

I don't like most country music - from any time period - but I love Dwight. He is, in my opinion, the epitome of country music: Story telling, sweet guitar pickin, cool hat, undeniable "twang" - he's got it all. Still can't say I "love" this album, but it's the best of what it is.

We'll begin by talking about the music. Not being a country music aficionado, I've enjoyed spending a little more time exploring these artists and their albums. I was surprised how much more I enjoyed the music on this album than Steve Earle's Guitar Town, which came out around the same time. Not that I didn't like most of that album, but I thought it felt kind of generic 80s country. Dwight Yoakam's album was not only just more classic honky tonk sounding, but had much more variety and creativity with the instrumentation, going into Mexican-American styles and so on. I'm always a sucker for an accordion. But on the other hand, let's look at Earle's "Goodbye's All We've Got Left," a song about a painful breakup where the singer feels unable to pick up the phone and figures that maybe he can deal with his emotions some years down the road after some healing and they've gone their separate ways, etc. etc. It's a lovely song about heartache with an appropriate end. The title track of this album first enchanted me with what seemed to be a similar broken heart themed song. (Listen to that lovely accordion!) And then... and then... Oh my God! He just shot her! No, that's not okay! I'm not okay! I feel like the Kill Bill sirens should have sounded at that point! This guy is a murderer and this poor woman is yet another victim of a psychotically possessive monster! And wait a minute, not just in this song, but this murder has been foreshadowed in the previous songs, too! The songs that I was SO enjoying with their steel guitars and mandolins and all as I missed his jealous, murderous intentions. It really traumatized me and there's too much of this that goes on in real life for it to feel like I can deal with it as just some sort of romanticized fiction. No. Once we got past that, and the "Dixie" song (again, musically lovely, but I can write a whole essay on some issues I have with that one), I loved the accordion-enhanced duet "Streets of Bakersfield" (I was just recently in Bakersfield, which is the birthplace of my spouse, so I wish I'd had this to play as we drove around town), and I thought "Floyd County," "Send me the Pillow," and "Hold on to God" were lovely classic country songs with three very classic country themes and no explicit violence against women. Okay, so this album does have its merits! I really love a lot of it... ...And then my player starts the album over again. I remembered that this first song was kind of a witty take on poverty. Let's listen again. "I've had to buy back damn near everything I own/From a little man whose name is Saul and has a lot of money to loan." Oh. no.

I hadn’t listened to BUENOS NOCHES FROM A LONELY ROOM before, although I have been partial to some of Dwight Yoakam’s other hits in the past. I expected to enjoy some country. I like the old-school Country sound. Some great guitar picking, fiddling and accordion here. Plenty of clever country lyrics in “I Got You”. This song bodes well for the rest of the album… Then comes a stream of songs reacting to the singer being cheated on and/or left by his lover. Lacking any apparent introspection, the reaction to this is an unpleasant mix of whining and murder. For whining see “One More Name,” “I Hear You Knockin’” and “Send Me The Pillow”. Blah. For murder see “What I Don’t Know” and “Buenos Noches From A Lonely Room”. Yuck. He does manage to handle the breakup better in “Home of the Blues.” Oh… Johnny Cash wrote that one. Dwight needs to check out Alanis Morissette for lessons on how to manage strong emotions around breakups without resorting to homicide. “I Sang Dixie” has the expected undertones of the south’s delusional rewrite of its history I find tough to enjoy, what with its glorification of “rebel pride” as a wholesome love of the south. Let’s not forget what and who the rebels were fighting for and against. Boo. Thankfully Buck Owens jumps in with a great duet of “The Streets of Bakersfield.” I love the accordion and Buck sounds great. “Floyd County” keeps things moving in a better direction as it laments the death of a coal miner. Whew. Things wrap up with some forgettable Christian country. Meh. Not seeing why this made the list of 1001 albums. There are much better country albums and songs (some from Dwight Yoakam) that I would rather listen to. Very little to enjoy here.

Purdy, bouncy and sentimental as funk; just how I like my country. Thematically, the intention still seems to be proof of virility through abundance of tears. Musically, the intention seems to be to break free of country radio--I don't think his heart's in it, though.

Yoakam? No, ma’am.

A very solid California take on honky tonk, with both traditionalist and modern influences. Recommended to country fans, but it's not likely to win any new converts.

This album has a lot of twang, which is/was a refreshing alternative to the "new country" that had taken over around that time. Nice accordian and violin arrangements and hurtin' lyrics. Bakersfield, Dixie & the title track are standouts IMO.

I've always enjoyed Dwight Yoakam's presence in country music. He stands out as an individual in a sea of artists who exist to sound exactly like each other. Yoakam developed his chops playing for the cowpunk crowd in L.A. when the mainstream country music industry had no interest in him. His authentic sound and commitment to his music took him from a cult following to the top of the charts, something which I’ve always admired and respected about him. I wasn't listening to any kind of country in 1988. But I imagine this must have sounded great at the time, given the landscape in country music in the 80s. I'm also a fan of a good Dwight Yoakam cover song. He's made quite a few of them over the years. He has several on this album, including a solid cover of the old Johnny Cash tune, "Home of the Blues," as well as covers of songs by Hank Locklin and Lazy Lester. The star of the show however is his classic duet version of Buck Owens' "Streets of Bakersfield" (with Buck Owens!). As someone who grew up with a lot of Tejano music in the background of my life, I really love the vibe of that particular song. I also feel like this song is a special appreciation of Owens and his music, who deserved all the attention after years of being pushed out of the country mainstream. The subject matter on much of the album gets really dark, even for country music. It’s belied somewhat by Yoakam’s rather crisp sound, but go check out those lyrics. I like the idea of this song progression from love to adultery to paranoia and murder. I’m surprised more artists don’t try something like this, except for the fact that it’s probably really hard to do without coming off as overwrought or corny. Yoakam makes it seem effortless. Fave Songs: Streets of Bakersfield, Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room, Home of the Blues, One More Name

the song about shooting his girl is a bit of a disqualifier

This was a twangy cosmic horror. Country and some songs had polka accordion. Why.

In which Dwight advocates killing unfaithful women. Maybe they'd have more respect if you weren't such a murderous shithead, Dwight.

trash as fuck

Yoakam makes an incredibly laid back country album that sounds at home in the background of your favorite imagined honky tonk late night joint.

A nice little country album. 1 star because I secretly like country 1 star because Dwight is great on that sliding steel guitar. 1 star because I love the melancholy lyrics -1 star because this is dangerously close to when country gets TERRIBLE. It's knocking on the door of mediocre country. -1 star for the... weird anti-Semitic lyrics?

I was going to make a joke about how this album hits all the country music tropes (broken down old cars/money trouble/cheating spouse) at lightning speed, but I’m pretty sure I just listened to someone confess to murder in the disguise of a country music album.

I just really enjoyed this album.

If you like country, you will love this. If you don't love country, you may still love this.

The Times-News in Hendersonville, North Carolina, ran a joke in their June 17, 1991 issue that eventually got a lot of publicity. Q: What do you get when you play a country music record backwards? A: It stops raining, your wife and dog come back home, you get your pickup truck out of repo, and your mom gets out of prison. Ah, the world of Dwight Yoakum’s 'Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room' (somewhat of a country themed concept album- think 'Dark Side of the [Harvest] Moon'), in which Dwight finds himself in prison right along with mama. Furthermore, he’s on death row, one angry son of a bitch who favors execution in comparison to a life filled with heartache over his cheatin’ gal. ‘What I don’t know might not hurt me,’ he sings on the third track. ‘But if I find out you’ve been cheatin’, what I don’t know might get you killed.’ Shoo wee, boy. On the LP’s title track, one of the best on this surprisingly good LP, the thrice repeated verse endings ‘she wore red dresses’ reveals 1) ‘…and told such sweet lies,’ 2) ‘…and left the wounded (Dwight) behind,’ 3) ‘… but now she lay dead (‘cause Dwight put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger.) Valuable takeaway on 'Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room': don’t cheat on Mr. Yoakum. The LP actually begins with a bouncy love song, featuring Pete Anderson on brisk, clean as a whistle lead guitar: ‘Hey, I know my life seems a mess. But honey, things to me still look real swell ‘cause I’ve got you to see me through.’ And the whole thing wraps up with a terrific blue grass gospel number (c’mon, it’s country, obligatory to give at least one shout out to the good Lord above), ‘Hold On to God.’ Good harmonies, except a strong, deep bass would’ve really put the gravy on this chicken fried steak of a tune. Fiddler Don Reed, though, makes up for things, as well as a mean Dobro offering from Al Perkins. My toes were a tappin’ and I was sangin’ my be-hind clean off. In fact, I sang along with most of the LP. A lot has been made about Dwight Yoakum’s nasally, yodeling vocal style, but I found it rather pleasant. He’s got a great tone, pitch on point, and at times- like on the opener, ‘I Got You’- displays an unusual, sophisticated(?), almost syncopated phrasing, somewhat uncommon in country, especially this neo-traditional hillbilly country that Yoakum has revived. It’s very different from, say, Garth Brooks, who I loathe. Most of today’s country sounds like more like the Eagles than Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakum’s mentor. But I happen to prefer Hank Williams and George Jones to Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. But back to the LP’s theme: as I wrote above, all’s well at the beginning and the end. But, boy, that middle! Things go south, and in a hurry. Dwight’s gonna need him some grace and mercy and the salvation offered through Jesus on the closer after all that killin.’ Along the way, he does redeem himself a bit on ‘I Sang Dixie,’ a real tearjerker about a drunk homeless fellow he cradled on a city street as he lay dying and people just passed on by. The bridge is a super clever redoing of the traditional ‘Dixie’: ‘Way down yonder in the land of cotton, old times there ain’t near as rotten as they are on this damned ol’ L.A. street.’ But, unfortunately, he’s right back to his sinning on the next number, an upbeat duet with Buck Owens, ‘Streets of Bakersfield.’ But he also reminds you not to judge too quickly unless you’ve walked those same streets the way he has. ‘Judge not lest ye be judged.’ Jesus sang that one on his debut LP, ‘Buenas Dias From the Kingdom of Heaven.’ Shoot, the players on this thing don’t get much better: In addition to the above mentioned (another shout out to lead guitarist Pete Anderson, all over this album with great fill-ins, like George Harrison’s crucial bits with the Beatles), Tom Brumley on pedal steel (I’m a sucker for good pedal steel- like cilantro on your street tacos, you gotta have it), and Flaco Jimenez on accordion (& I’m likewise a sucker for that and it’s muy caliente in his nimble fingers, too.) Love the sound, the production, the song placements, the movement of the whole thing. Pretty bleak lyrical themes but pretty lush musical accompaniment. This is some good drinkin’ music, if you’re into that. I’d say you should start with an ice cold beer and then move right to whiskey, until that final gospel number (and you’re going to need an orthodox Jewish pal for this) in which you take a stone water jar, the kind used for ceremonial washing, holding approx. 20-30 gallons… well, for those of you who are in the know… you know. The rest may refer to the second chapter of the gospel according to John in the New Testament of the Holy Bible for the surprise ending. 5/5 (& this from a dude who thinks the Ramones are the best thing since sliced biscuits.)

Terrible

Dwight Yoakam's "Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room" is a true gem in the world of country music. Released in 1988, this album showcased Yoakam's distinctive blend of honky-tonk, rockabilly, and traditional country, earning him a well-deserved place in the pantheon of country music legends.The album kicks off with the energetic and infectious "I Got You," which sets the tone for the rest of the record. Yoakam's twangy vocals and his band's tight instrumentation immediately grab your attention. The track is a perfect example of his ability to infuse traditional country with a modern edge.One of the standout tracks on the album is "Streets of Bakersfield," a duet with the legendary Buck Owens. This song became a massive hit and remains one of Yoakam's signature tunes. The chemistry between Yoakam and Owens is palpable, and their voices complement each other beautifully. "Streets of Bakersfield" captures the essence of California country and showcases Yoakam's deep respect for the genre's roots."Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room" also features heartfelt ballads like "I Sang Dixie" and "What I Don't Know," where Yoakam's emotive delivery shines through. These tracks demonstrate his ability to convey raw emotion through his lyrics and vocals, making them relatable to anyone who has experienced love and loss.Yoakam's songwriting on this album is another highlight. He weaves compelling stories into his songs, painting vivid pictures of life's ups and downs. The lyrics are genuine and often laced with a touch of humor or irony, adding depth and charm to the album.The production quality of "Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room" is excellent. Pete Anderson, who worked closely with Yoakam on many of his albums, deserves credit for crafting a sound that feels both authentic and innovative. The mix of traditional instruments like pedal steel guitar and fiddle with a rockabilly edge gives the album a timeless quality.In conclusion, Dwight Yoakam's "Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room" is a classic country album that showcases his songwriting prowess, vocal talent, and deep respect for the genre's traditions. It's an album that remains relevant and enjoyable to this day, cementing Yoakam's status as one of country music's enduring icons. Whether you're a die-hard country fan or just dipping your toes into the genre, this album is a rewarding journey through the heart and soul of country music.

Great traditional country from the late 80s. Dwight Yoakem's voice is perfect throughout, with just the right amount of crack, yodel, and twang. Not a note out of place with a genuine swing that comes from a place of sincerity. Deep emotional content and some intriguing darkness that bears repeated listening. Almost Shakespearean at times. Excellent top to bottom, and I'm not a big Country fan, but I DO enjoy almost everything I've heard from Dwight Yoakem.

Nice. Sounds like classic country, familiar and comforting.

Love me some Yoakam...Streets of Bakersfield always makes me smile

I don't listen to a lot of country as a matter of personal preference, but this is good stuff. I like Dwight Yoakam's voice and guitar playing, and there's a bit more texture in the songs on this album than I usually hear in country. Not likely something I'll return to because the style is just not what I enjoy very much, but I did like giving this one a listen.

Excellent country album by my favorite country artist. There's a nice blend of country, rock, Southern hymns & conjunto featuring my hometown hero Flaco Jimenez on accordion. I've seen Dwight & Flaco play live in Helotes, TX at a watering hole/live music venue called Floores Country Store (more than once), and it's always electric. I love Dwight's twangy-nasaly style but this album isn't about the fun hits - there's a lot of storytelling here & some of it is dark as hell. Dwight is highly underrated, but he'll always be #1 in my heart. 4.5 stars P.S. I own \"Live from Austin TX -Dwight Yoakam\" recorded in 1988. Fun fact: After a lot of rejection from Nashville, Dwight's career started to take off in Southern California punk bars. No joke.

Slightly repetitive, hard to differentiate each song after one listen. I like the instrumentals. Lots of Latin influence. The lyricism is very good.

-Generally seems like every country album. Not too much bro-country theming but it sounds like completely generic country -Woah "Buenos Noches From a Lonely Room (She Wore Red Dresses)" just has murder out of nowhere -Acvording to the Wikipedia that murder was actually building up over the last 5 songs but on re-listen it still didn't really stand out to me -Third day in a row where the music wasn't unpleasant but the genre is just not that interesting ("Natty Dread" by Bob Marley & the Wailers (reggae) and "A Date With The Every Brothers" by The Every Brothers (old school 50's-ish rock) (I missed "Me Against The World" by 2Pac))

Really don't care for Honky-Tonk Country, but it's fine I suppose. Got annoyed to be honest but that is not emblematic of the quality.

6/10

wtf is dit zeg! Waarom staat dit in deze lijst? Echt niet te doen...

There's not a lot of room for originality in country music, but this record offers absolutely nothing. I hated it from the opening bar to the closing note. And what's going on with the cover art? I had to look at it for ages to work out that's a hat and guitar with a random pair of disembodied leather clad legs on the right hand side. Catastrophically bad with no redeeming features whatsoever. Rating: 1/5 Playlist track: Streets of Bakersfield Date listened: 03/06/23

Es muy bueno, es tan country pero tiene sonidos muy mexicanos jaja como el acordeón, la verdad lo recomiendo mucho. Te hace sentir como si escucharas corridos pero en Inglés jaja.

08/06/2021 Ricardo was here That's one of the best country album I ever listened

awesome

I like this

Excellent stuff, country crooner of the highest order.

while i lack a strong country music knowledge, i can recognize this project's absence of country albums! but dwight yoakam said, "hold my guitar." this was a fun album! a pleasant, easy listen. there were more than a few songs that became earworms after a few listens. i had fun singing along, even. it was a nice mix of original compositions and covers from old country songs. as i understand it, yoakam stood right between the old and the new country sound. i like that he took several old country songs (one as a duet with the original artist!) and created his own covers! it was a nice nod to the early country music.

done

Classic late 80s early 90s country sound. Easy to forget about Dwight but he had some great stuff

Such a fan

Très belle découverte j'adore

this was awesome lmao

Nice

gotta say, im not usually a country western fan but this album is excellent. Love his sound- much more traditional and not as "bubble gummy" as other popular country artists. Heard his name but never his work until this. Solid album.

beautiful

Well produced.

I wish more country music still sounded like this. The perfect amount of twang/yodel in the voice. Fun honktonkin' boot scootin' fun. Turns out I've been sleepin' on Dwight

I loved What I Don’t Know, I Sang Dixie & Send Me The Pillow ( although he didn’t write it ). I’m not crazy about him but he is a great performer & even better songwriter.

I was never a fan of country music but I'm starting to appreciate it.

Country music just hits sometimes and this album was well done. Top talent

The guy playing electric guitar is standout on this album. Nice tone, nice phrasing. The Tex-Mex sound from the accordion adds to the title track also. Solid album, no dud songs. The 37 minute run time is just exactly perfect.

idk honky tonk country? Surprisingly good. At least 8/10

Very good. Has a vibe to it that I really enjoy.

love a country album

только добрался, на 4 точно будет! такое true кантри

Good

That was fun ...

4.0.good

Really Starting to enjoy this one.

This was another album that I liked in general but can’t really pick out a specific song I really liked. It was just a solid blues, country, honky think revival album. Fav song: I got you

Went damn hard.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW

wow i did not think i could like country music. my favourite song would be the one with the same name as the album.

Country boy, yee haw

dark songs of honky-tonk life, beautifully crafted

som country muito agradável, curti

Really enjoyed this album. Chicken Pickin at it's best. Love the slide guitar and the fiddle. Found his voice pretty agreeable as well. Helps me start to bridge that gap between Folk/Americana/Traditional music and contemporary pop country.

This album makes want to marry my cousin...

Happy, relaxed country. A good time.

good country album

4.25

Great ole country, sad songs by Dwight

I wasn’t in the mood, but could tell this was a great album.

I have learned more and more over the years that the country style rooted in Bakerfield honky-tonk is most likely my favorite style. This album hits all those notes, along with some Tex-Mex accordion sounds as well. Really enjoyable record.

The cover of Home of the Blues is better than the original in every way, the solo is very inventive with the use of harmonics. Good album with great guitar work.

An excellent slice of some great country music. Dwight has a classic voice and some great songs.

Good old country

Some good ol honky-tonk.

Surprisingly, I liked it quite a bit despite not being a huge country fan - overall pretty solid.

Dwight Yoakam! I haven't heard that name since I was a kid. I know it's country, but I don't think I've ever heard him before. Only thing I really know about him is that he was going out with Sharon Stone when basic instinct came out, and dumped her when everyone else saw her moot hahaha. Ok, that was way more old school than expected. I really enjoyed it? Some was upbeat, some slower numbers, some of it even sounded like volksmusik... of all things. Great production, plus he can sing and play really well. Pleasantly surprised. 4/5.

This was interesting. I had never really listened to country before so it was nice to get a chance to.

Sounds more of a rock album than I would have expected - maybe cos he was not in Nashville. Still plenty of country music tropes though, from listing all the ways his life sucks (in the opener) to clear threats to kill a cheating lover (in a couple of songs!)

I don't like this style of music, but for some reason, I enjoyed this album quite a bit. It's still old-skool country to me.

That fiddle, and that voice, are the soundtrack in my mom’s Ford Escort in 1991! I enjoyed the first half of this Dwight Yoakam album and thought the second half was kind of corny and stale. Good memories…my mom loved this brand of country music. The golden age of country for me, too.

Nice to get some country on here. Dwight Yoakam has such a unique voice. I liked learning about his history a little, and how he does everything on his own terms.

Not really a country guy but I dug it

i will likely never become a regular listener of Dwight's brand of country, but man he does it well. great voice, great music.

This album was a fun surprise! The songwriting was pretty good and sometimes reminded me of the storytelling of John Prine. Dwight's voice is very nice, you can see that he sort of became the blueprint of sorts for lots of modern country music. The production is VERY 1980s, and it shows. The duet with Buck Owens was nice, sort of bridging the gap between different eras of country music. That being said, nothing particularly mindblowing for me here, just a pretty alright album.

Cool old school country vibe with some great musicianship.

Very solid entry in the "sad sack" genre of modern but very roots-oriented country. I'm not sure it brings anything much new to the table. But so proficient that's maybe a nit pick.

Swinging country music. I don’t remember listening to Dwight Yoakam but knowing him as Julia Roberts’s ex-husband. This is a good country album, catchy. Kind of higher than a 3.5 and slightly below a 4. I’ll round up because I wasn’t expecting much and got a lot more than I expected.

Now this is what I love about this app. No way I'm ever on my own accord checking out a 80s country album from an artist I'm not familiar with. Loved most of the songs on here. Still an adjustment to properly enjoy the slow soft country ballads though. Can't shake the feeling that I'm an alcoholic that's lost his family in a bar in some shithole highway town. Other than that though - absolute ripper. Also love that he loved his pants so much he needed the whole pair on the album artwork itself. Props.

liked this one

It was refreshing to get a country album after so many rock albums. There are some fun songs on this album. It's classic 80s country, which, for the record, I hated in the 80s but came to appreciate in the 2000s. This will never be a favorite for me, but it's a solid take and it's good to see different genres on this list. 4/5

Love this era of country so much