Live from Austin, TX; (New West, 2017)

In this 1988 Austin City Limits program and nearing 32 years old, Dwight Yoakam was approaching his commercial zenith. His third album, "Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room," had just been released, bringing him his only number one country singles "Streets of Bakersfield" (included here in duet with Buck Owens along with Flaco Jimenez) and "I Sang Dixie," also included.

His second ACL appearance, Yoakam delivers a generous, 14-song reminder of how freakin' unusual the Kentucky native was when he exploded on a country scene populated by Lee Greenwood and Barbara Mandrell. At turns playful, flirtatious and hardcore, honky tonk troubadour, Yoakam runs through his essential songs from the time, ones that still rank among his finest -"Guitars, Cadillacs," "This Drinkin' Will Kill Me," "Little Ways" and "Honky Tonk Man." "What I Don't Know" is menacing, and features a tasteful fiddle interlude from Scott Joss, who is well-represented throughout the set.

This performance was a significant touch point in Yoakam's development as he was able to acknowledge the Owens' influence while establishing his individual path. As good a songs as Yoakam had written to this date, "Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room (She Wore Red Dresses)" took things to a new level, and the performance contained herein, again featuring Jimenez, is simply stunning.

Yoakam's band - Joss, Pete Anderson (guitar), Jeff Donovan (drums) and Taras Prodaniuk (bass) - frames each song as one would expect, while delivering touches not captured on the studio recordings.

This dual audio/DVD reissue captures typically well-framed

The audio album and DVD were originally released separately in 2005 by New West. It has been remastered for 5.1 surround sound, but if you don't have that technology nothing much is noticeably changed from the previously released editions that may already be on your shelves.