Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars... is an album by the American musician Dwight Yoakam, released in 2016.[2][3] Yoakam considered it his first bluegrass album.[4] Aside from the cover of "Purple Rain", the album is a collection of bluegrass versions of older Yoakam songs.[5]
| Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 29, 2016 | |||
| Genre | Bluegrass | |||
| Label | Sugar Hill Records[1] | |||
| Producer | Dwight Yoakam, Gary Paczosa, Jon Randall | |||
| Dwight Yoakam chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard 200.[6]
Production
editThe album was produced by Yoakam, Gary Paczosa, and Jon Randall.[7] Yoakam and his band recorded their cover of "Purple Rain" on the day that Prince died—Yoakam saw the news on television as he was leaving for the studio.[8]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [9] |
| The Sydney Morning Herald | 3.5/5[10] |
The Sydney Morning Herald called Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars... a "slightly urbanised, perfectly played bluegrass album."[10] The Morning Star thought that the rendition of "Guitars, Cadillacs" "doesn’t have the impact of the original or the twang, but it has the sway of the fiddles that play off Yoakam’s reverb-laden voice sweetly."[11]
The Knoxville News Sentinel praised the "A-list players," but concluded that "in the end, Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars ... feels more like a lovable novelty than a lasting statement."[12] The Seattle Times determined that "what is clear is the care Yoakam and his cohorts took in translating some fairly deep cuts into satisfying bluegrass tunes."[13]
AllMusic wrote that "while the notion of Yoakam doing a bluegrass cover of 'Purple Rain' might sound like a high concept hipster joke, he wrings loneliness and loss from that tune with a delivery that's moving without becoming histrionic."[9] The Santa Fe New Mexican also praised the cover, writing: "Without a trace of irony he finds the soul of the song and makes it into the perfect hillbilly tribute to the ascended master from Minneapolis."[14]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "What I Don't Know" | 2:52 |
| 2. | "Free to Go" | 3:49 |
| 3. | "Sad, Sad Music" | 3:16 |
| 4. | "These Arms" | 3:57 |
| 5. | "I Wouldn't Put It Past Me" | 3:38 |
| 6. | "Listen" | 4:25 |
| 7. | "Two Doors Down" | 4:17 |
| 8. | "Guitars, Cadillacs" | 3:21 |
| 9. | "Home for Sale" | 3:07 |
| 10. | "Please, Please Baby" | 2:43 |
| 11. | "Gone (That'll Be Me)" | 3:28 |
| 12. | "Purple Rain" | 4:42 |
References
edit- ^ Krings, Mike (Winter 2016). "Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars ...". Utne (193): 89.
- ^ "Dwight Yoakam Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ McKenna, Brittney (November 17, 2016). "Watch Dwight Yoakam's Ferocious 'Gone' on 'Colbert'". Rolling Stone.
- ^ Hight, Jewly (September 15, 2016). "Review: Dwight Yoakam, 'Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars...'" – via NPR.
- ^ Caramanica, Jon (18 Sep 2016). "New Chapters From Our Pop Dreams". The New York Times. p. AR109.
- ^ "Dwight Yoakam". Billboard.
- ^ Thanki, Juli (3 Aug 2016). "Back to bluegrass". The Tennessean. p. A2.
- ^ Devlin, Mike (January 28, 2017). "Yoakam's rebellious streak burns bright; Country star to play Manitoulin Country Fest in August". The Sudbury Star. p. C3.
- ^ a b "Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars... - Dwight Yoakam | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ a b Zuel, Bernard (21 Oct 2016). "Dwight Yoakam SWIMMIN' POOLS, MOVIE STARS". The Sydney Morning Herald. Shortlist. p. 12.
- ^ Gordon-Smith, Dean (October 14, 2016). "Street Sounds: Yoakam brings twang to Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars". The Morning Star. p. B2.
- ^ Bledsoe, Wayne (October 16, 2016). "Hancock, Tiersen, Yoakam albums worth hearing". Knoxville News Sentinel. p. D7.
- ^ Smith, Owen R. (January 12, 2017). "Dwight Yoakam lets his music speak for him". The Seattle Times. Entertainment.
- ^ Terrell, Steve (November 11, 2016). "Country boys (and girls) can survive". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Terrells Tuneup.