If you're not already a fan of country music, it's not likely that you would associate it with California. But California has a rich history with country music, especially with the artists whose families fled the Dust Bowl during the years of the Great Depression and came to the Golden State in search of work. These sharecroppers and migrant farmer workers brought the traditional music of America with them on their Westward trek, but something magical happened to it once they settled in a city in the central part of the state.

The Bakersfield Sound began in the 30's and 40's with those migrant farmers and their offspring, but it cut its teeth in the honky tonks of the 50'sand 60's with artists like Merle Haggard, Lefty Frizzell, Buck Owens, and Bonnie Owens. It was during this time that the Bakersfield Sound became both unique and identifiable as a sub-genre of traditional country music.

With the popularity of John Tavolta's 1980 movie, Urban Cowboy, country music became "cool" and popular among the younger crowd. However, the old sounds of country were quickly replaced with crossovers that fit equally well in the pop genre. The result was that the Bakersfield Sound was all but forgotten except by diehard fans like me. That is, until Dwight Yoakam came along.

Dwight's love of the Bakersfield Sound and his association with it, helped to bring Buck Owens out of musical retirement. He revitalized the genre, reintroduced it to the newer country fans, and made people like me thrilled to hear it on the radio once again. It is this song that sparked a renaissance in the Bakersfield Sound. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!



Dwight Yoakum and Buck Owens





Lyrics

I came here looking for something
I couldn't find anywhere else
Hey, I'm not trying to be nobody
Just want a chance to be myself

I've done a thousand miles of thumbin'
I've worn blisters on my heels
Trying to find me something better
On the streets of Bakersfield

Chorus:
You don't know me but you don't like me
You say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

Spent some time in San Francisco
Spent a night there in the can
They threw this drunk man in my jail cell
Took fifteen dollars from that man
Left him my watch and my old house key
Don't want folks thinkin' that I'd steal
Then I thanked him as I was leaving, and
I headed for the streets of Bakersfield

Chorus:
You don't know me but you don't like me
You say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

You don't know me but you don't like me
You say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

How many of you that sit and judge me
Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

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