THIS MUST BE THE PLACE: “STREETS OF BAKERSFIELD”- DWIGHT & BUCK

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This Must Be The Place: “Streets Of Bakersfield”-Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens.
“Streets Of Bakersfield” was written by songwriter Homer Joy in 1973 and was recorded by the father of the Bakersfield Sound- Buck Owens. Buck’s version is great but it wasn’t a country hit. It wasn’t until 1988 with some slightly changed lyrics that Dwight Yoakam got together with Buck Owens- one of his heroes and re-recorded the song. It went to #1 on the country chart. I have never been to Bakersfield- a agricultural hub that lies in Kern County -the largest oil producing county in California. Bakersfield will probably always be most famous for the Bakersfield Sound in country music- Buck, Merle Haggard, Wynn Stewart [who is credited as being the pioneer of the sound} are among the artists from the Bakersfield area. The Bakersfield Sound was influenced by rock and roll music and relied on electric instrumentation and a defined backbeat. It was always said that the Buck Owens sound was a freight train sound. Merle and Buck are among my Top 5 favorite county artists of all time. Note- here in the first week of this feature on places- I haven’t intentionally meant to feature California  but three of the five I have done- have- with Los Angeles, San Jose and now Bakersfield…

You don’t know me but you don’t like me,
You say you care less how I feel
How many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

 

 

6 responses to “THIS MUST BE THE PLACE: “STREETS OF BAKERSFIELD”- DWIGHT & BUCK”

  1. It’s interesting to listen to each version. I like the picking in the Homer Joy one and the steel in the Buck solo, but I think I like Dwight/Buck version best because their voices sound good together and the accordian gives it a nice festive flavor. Those two look enough alike to be father and son.

    • I knew who wrote the song but that was the first time I had heard Homer Joy’s original… yes I like the Dwight and Buck one too the best.

    • I like it when an artist who has people’s attention- like Dwight did at that time- shines a light on an older artist who has kind of fell out of disfavor-as Buck had at that point in his career….. Merle is #1 on my country music list..

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