As he had on the commercially disappointing Gone two years before, Yoakam continued to challenge expectations with a mixed bag of covers, including songs by
The Clash,
The Kinks,
The Beatles, and the
Rolling Stones that betrayed the singer’s affection for
British rock. Two songs, "
Here Comes the Night" and "
Things We Said Today", were previously recorded for the 1992 compilation album La Croix d'Amour.[2] Various cuts, such as
Roy Orbison’s "
Claudette" and the Wynn Stewart hit "Playboy," fit him like a glove, with producer/guitarist
Pete Anderson supplying arrangements that work to Yoakam’s strengths, but the
Vegas lounge take of The Kinks' "
Tired of Waiting for You" likely baffled listeners, with Yoakam biographer Don McCleese deeming it "a
Rat Pack/Vegas miscalculation.[3] According to Anderson, Yoakam was inspired by
Louis Prima on the number.[3] Yoakam also cut
Sonny & Cher’s "
Baby Don't Go" as a duet with
Sheryl Crow.
AllMusic’s Thom Jurek contends that track "doesn’t really work either, because Crow is not a country singer and there's enough
countrypolitan in Yoakam's read that the two singers seem cold and at odds with each other."[1] Amazingly, considering how hot the radio-friendly Crow was in the Nineties, the single did not chart, although Yoakam’s reportedly sour relationship with his label
Reprise may have been a factor in it not getting pushed.[4] ("Claudette," the LP’s first single, only made it to number 47.) Far more successful was the radically reworked "
Train in Vain," originally recorded by The Clash but given full-on bluegrass treatment here with
Ralph Stanley singing background vocals.
Reception
Writer Don McCleese deems the recording "strange, even by the standards set by Gone."[5] AllMusic: "While this set is not perfect, it's still damn fine and warrants repeated listens to come to grips with Yoakam's visionary ambition."[1]