Country star Dwight Yoakam to release ‘3 Pears’ on Sept. 18 _ with assist from Beck

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, July 19, 6:41 AM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Credit Beck with shaping the sound of Dwight Yoakam’s new album.

The casual acquaintances finally got together in the studio after a few years of talking about it, and the two songs they did together helped point Yoakam along the way to “3 Pears,” his first album of original material since 2005.

“It really acted as a springboard I think for how I approached the execution of recording the rest of the album,” Yoakam said in a phone interview. “We kept it very simple in terms of offense, just myself, a drummer and a bass player — three of us laying the basic track down. I was doing what might be a scratch electric guitar and ended up in many cases being kept or being overdubbed by me to fully realize the emotional intent in how I was playing.”

Yoakam’s first album in his return to Warner Bros. Records comes out Sept. 18. He’s been working on the 12 songs for “3 Pears” since 2008 and jokingly describes the process as “reaaall reaaaallllll sloooww.”

He started recording the album at Beck’s home studio in California with “Heart Like Mine” and “Missing Heart.” The rock ‘n’ roll performer and producer is known for his authenticity and he convinced Yoakam to keep things simple and honest. Yoakam told Beck he had “no business” leaving his scratch guitar lines on the record, but the producer disagreed.

“He said, ‘You and I both know five guys we could call right now who would play circles around this maybe, but it won’t be THAT,’” Yoakam recalled.

Yoakam said the recordings reflected the emotion in the song, rather than the precision of the notes, which was key. The entire album is full of emotion and offers Yoakam’s first love songs in 25 years.

“Love is something you don’t demand — it shows up on its own terms,” Yoakam said. “So every song on here I think at some point turns back to the emotion of love, toward someone in a relationship. In the case of me there are personal touchstones in my life. Things are composites a lot. I don’t generally detail my personal life verbatim. There’s a certain, you know, romance about life in the large sense of what we’re all experiencing together that I’m trying to communicate to whoever is listening.”

“I actually did a cover version of ‘Dim Lights, Thick Smoke,’ which was an outgrowth of Joe and Rose Maphis [authors of Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)] driving to Bakersfield to see this new band this guy had at the Blackboard, I think in 1958. I thought it was hilarious that Joe said he went in and watched this young band, this guy Buck Owens. At the time, Buck was not a solo artist on Capitol yet … [Joe] said he watched for an hour or so, and couldn’t take much more, because it was the loudest band he had ever heard in his life. I had to laugh, because when Buck came on stage with us, there was an explosion of sound.” *

DWIGHT TO RELEASE FIRST NEW STUDIO ALBUM IN SEVEN YEARS
POSTED AT 04:10PM ON JUL 19, 2012
3 PEARS - ON WARNER BROS. RECORDS - SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

On September 18th, 2012, Grammy-Award winner Dwight Yoakam will release his first all new studio album in seven years, 3 Pears (Warner Bros. Records). The 12-track release, his 26th, is produced by Yoakam, along with two songs co-produced with Beck; “A Heart Like Mine” and “Missing Heart” (full track listing below). Fans can hear a teaser of the track, “Trying,” now on Yoakam’s newly launched website http://www.DwightYoakam.com.

3 Pears exemplifies Yoakam’s ability to incorporate multiple, competing influences into a piece of cohesive art. It balances his country core with a fiercely independent embrace of rock, Americana, pop and soul and builds on his trademark edginess with a notable, growing positivity. 3 Pears contains heartfelt love songs, which showcase Yoakam’s authentic country vocals while maintaining his unmistakable classic sound.

One of the most respected singer-songwriters in music, Yoakam has sold more than 25 million albums, has 12 gold albums and nine platinum or multi-platinum albums, including the triple platinum “This Time”. Five of his albums have topped Billboard’s Country Albums chart with another fourteen landing in the Top 10. More than 30 singles have charted, with 22 Top 20 hits, which include “Honky Tonk Man,” “Please Please Baby,” “Little Ways,” “I Sang Dixie,” “It Only Hurts When I Cry,” “Fast as You” and “Thousand Miles from Nowhere.” Yoakam has won two GRAMMY Awards and earned an impressive 21 nominations.

Yoakam will be honored by the Academy of Country Music with the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award at the 6th Annual ACM Honors event on September 24th in Nashville. The prestigious Award honors individuals who are pioneers in the country music genre. Past recipients include Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Sr. and Hank Williams, Jr. Yoakam also recently narrated the current exhibit at The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum; The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California County, showing through the end of next year. The exhibit explores the roots, heyday and impact of the Bakersfield Sound, the loud, stripped-down and radio-ready music most closely identified with the careers of Country Music Hall of Fame members Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.

3 Pears Track Listing:

1. Take Hold Of My Hand
2. Waterfall
3. Dim Lights, Thick Smoke
4. Trying
5. Nothing But Love
6. It’s Never Alright
7. A Heart Like Mine
8. Long Way To Go
9. Missing Heart
10. 3 Pears
11. Rock It All Away
12. Long Way To Go (Reprise)

This brings me to ask a question that has nagged me for years. Why did he and Pete Anderson part ways? I always felt Pete was Dwight's zing.

Is "Ring of Fire" a different version than the one released on "Guitars, Cadillacs, etc, etc"? If so, is it a studio re-recording with his current band, or a live version?

I haven't listened to the whole album yet, but I did take a quick listen to "Ring of Fire," which is a studio re-recording, with the band that plays on the rest of the new album, and sounds good...a little heavier and more "rock" than the "Guitars, Cadillacs" version.