Hear Dwight Yoakam Rework ‘Guitars, Cadillacs’ as Bluegrass Shuffle

Opening with a simple guitar strum and his unmistakable high-lonesome vocal, Dwight Yoakam’s new, stripped-down version of “Guitars, Cadillacs” captures the essence of the singer-songwriter’s upcoming bluegrass-based album, Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars. . . . (Listen to “Guitars, Cadillacs” below.)

Fleshed out by an assortment of deeper cuts from Yoakam’s vast catalog and an inspired cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” the record doesn’t shy away from the cowpunk progenitor’s more mainstream fare. “Guitars, Cadillacs” – Number 94 on Rolling Stone‘s 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time – covers that mark, with Yoakam slowing down the tempo to recast the radio hit as a backporch jam. His lament about being a “naïve fool who came to Babylon” sounds even more tortured in this more sparse arrangement.

“Guitars, Cadillacs” originally appeared on Yoakam’s similarly titled debut LP Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. The album celebrated its 30th anniversary last month.

Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars. . . will be released September 23rd via Sugar Hill Records. Yoakam is currently on the road in support of the album, playing shows in Verona, New York, and Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, this weekend.