Yoakam had his first country No. 1 in 1988 with “Streets of Bakersfield,” a cover of a song by Yoakam’s longtime idol Buck Owens that featured the singing and playing of Owens himself.

Dwight Yoakam ... embedded in Yoakam's music since the beginning; In the 1980s, he pursued a career in Nashville, but soon decamped to California, soaking in the influence of Buck Owens and ...