Live From Austin Tx
Despite Dwight Yoakam's renown as a dynamic live performer and the reputation of theAustin City Limitsseries for bringing out the best in the artists it presents, this 1988 performance (also available on DVD) is surprisingly low-key. Featuring the fiddle of Scott Joss and the guitar of bandleaderPete Anderson, the band is in fine form throughout, but the pacing tends more toward mid-tempo melancholy ("1,000 Miles," "Always Late with Your Kisses," "I Sang Dixie") than the harder-edged honky-tonk that is Yoakam's strength. As special treats for the Austin crowd,Buck Owensand conjunto accordion kingpinFlaco Jimenezjoin Yoakam on "Streets of Bakerfield," while the cover of Elvis Presley's "Little Sister" gets a live-wire surge from Anderson's guitar. The taping otherwise seems to capture Yoakam within a transitional lull in his career.--Don McLeese