I guess the natural corrective for my recent celebration of artists hailing from the big cities back east is to head out west.
In the case of Wylie & the Wild West, we should head Way Out West.
Recorded for Rounder Records in 1997, and produced by Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson, Way Out West was Wylie & the Wild West’s third album. By the end of the ’90s, the four piece outfit had gained a sort of cult following from the videos accompanying the singles from their first two albums, Wylie & The Wild West Show (1992) and Get Wild.(1994) Those albums were recorded for Cross Three Records, an independent Miami record label that was also home to The Mavericks 1990 debut album. For a while there, a wonderful window had opened for left-of-centre artists to gain exposure on CMT, even if country radio refused to embrace the same artists with equal enthusiasm. To date, it is wild that Wylie has not charted a single record on country radio.
Wylie Gustafson heightened his bands profile through their video work. Wylie & the Wild West released videos for “This Time,” “Doctor My Heart,” “Black Boots & Blue Jean,” and “Yodelling Fool” from their eponymous debut. Get Wild produced videos for “Ugly Girls Blue,” “Hey Maria,” and “Cattle Call.”
In 1998, a video for Wylie’s cover of the Del Reeve’s 1965 trucking classic “Girl on the Billboard” would be released fromWay Out West. All his videos highlighted Wylie’s lanky and joyful physicality, his Gumby-like legs all akimbo, twisting and stomping as though his bottom-half belonged to Dwight Yoakam on speed. The cover photo on Way Out West captures Wylie in a balletic leap while holding his guitar high against the backdrop of a wide open and blue Montana sky. Even Wylie’s upper half was vaguely psychedelic and goofy, from the tussle of thick orange hair to the prominent eye wear.
It was easy to dismiss all this frenetic motion and campy posturing as the point. Turns out they were natural and quirky aspects of a real singing cowboy once you hear that tight dance-hall band play and Wylie sing. And yodel.
In the album’s liner notes, Ranger Doug from Riders in the Sky said, “From out of the west, with the thunder of hooves, a cloud of dust, and a stratospheric yodel come Wylie and the Wild West, blending the cowboy sound of the 40s, the rockabilly of the 50s, country sound of the 60s, tossing in a little Texas shuffle and coming up with a unique and personal style.” It was a style Wylie admitted was not curated for the benefit of radio or Nashville but for the smiles on the faces of his fans.
Proof of that respect for his fans shows up for the first time in the liner notes on Way Out West when he briefly shares stories behind each song on the album. Its a lovely and intimate touch that respects his listeners and was certainly noticed and appreciated by a music-reader like me. He would continue to do this with future albums,
Way Out West represents an inflection point where Wylie first begins to gently bend from the hard twang of his Bakersfield influences toward a deeper appreciation of western songs and balladry. As traditional as his inclinations are here, there is a genuine sense of artistry and interpretation at play in his music. Where he is heading is no cowboy pastiche or playground.
The album opens with Wylie holding “Hello” for two unaccompanied bars before the band falls in, full of shiny sparkle and razor sharp twang, with a thumping bottom on “Hello Heartache.” This is the sound Wylie first cultivated in the late eighties while playing Ronnie Mack’s Barn Dance at The Palomino Club in north Hollywood and smaller country clubs in Los Angeles along with fellow country acts like Dale Watson, Rose Flores, Dave Alvin, Jim Lauderdale, and Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys. He maintains the Bakersfield energy and sound while covering Wynn Stewart’s “Rain, Rain.” Wylie acknowledges “Heartaches, Tears & Misery” as being inspired by Buck Owen’s west coast honky-tonk shuffles.
The influence of his working farm near Dusty, Washington shows up in the ballad “Heaven.” This may be were he begins to more fully appreciate the rolling hills and wide open space of the west in song. Later albums, and he has recorded 24 of them, will fully lean into songs of the west and horses. Appropriate, as Wylie is a farmer and a real cowboy. He is member of both the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Montana Pro Rodeo Wall and Hall of Fame. His most recent album Bunchgrass was released in 2022.
“Give Me a Pinto Pal” is an old Elton Britt song from the ’50s which gives Wylie the prefect opportunity to turn loose of his yodel. My favourite track is the wistful “Sidewalks of L.A.” comparing the dirt roads of Kern county with the paved sidewalks of Los Angeles. Wylie said, “I always wondered how Merle felt as he headed to L.A. To pursue his Capitol Record contract.”
The band that sounds so bright here includes Wylie on vocals and bass guitar. Mike Fried plays the steel guitar, dobro, and baritone, electric and acoustic guitars you hear. Ray Doyle provides harmony vocals and guitar. Larry Mitchell plays the drums. Guest musicians include Clint Strong on electric guitar while Floyd Domino and Tim Alexander play the piano.
Maybe you actually know Wylie best for his yodeling jingle for Yahoo. If one were to search up Way Out West to learn more about him or the album, you may just as likely bring up Marty Stuart Stuart’s 2017 album of the same name, recorded with his Fabulous Superlatives. Which would all be fine and well, as there is an unexpected shared spirit, sensibility and sound between the two acts.
Stay, however, with this album and listen to what a cool bit of country & western music Wylie & the Wild West recorded in 1997 when the CMA was celebrating albums by Deana Carter, LeAnn Rimes, Trisha Yearwood, George Strait, and Alan Jackson.
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