Steve Earle Album: “Guitar Town”

After an indie EP release and an aborted recording career at Epic (some of which saw the light on "The Early Years" after "Guitar Town" established itself as a hit), producer Tony Brown convinced MCA to pick Earle up, and the result is perhaps one of the greatest singer-songwriter country-rock LPs ever recorded.

Earle's early mentoring by Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker informs the brilliance with which his lyrics describe a character's emotion and turmoil from the inside, while the burgeoning neo-traditional Country (Travis, Yokam) and blue-collar rock (Springsteen, Mellancamp) give his music its kick.

Ten originals, nearly every one a classic in its own way. Even the trifles (e.g., "Little Rock 'n' Roller") add to the album's overall feeling of characters in need of release - emotional and physical. His tales range from kids stuck in small towns nurturing their big dreams (bringing to mind Brian Wilson's "I Get Around" and the movie "Footloose"!) to broken hearts that have nothing more to cozy up to than their own sadness. It's rare to find a writer who so transparently translates his emotions into words, and a songwriter who so transparently translates his words into music.

Recorded in Nashville with Tony Brown's guidance, Earle's LP debut is his most consistent and potent release to date.

"Guitar Town" is essentially a roots rock album with a heartland, hillbilly twist. Steve Earle wrote six of the ten tracks, and cowrote the other four. His voice cuts through the listeners ears, giving you chills. From start to finish, the record is filled with outstanding songs that you'll never forget.

As a songwriter, Earle uses razor sharp lyrics, particularly noticable on the title track: 'Everybody told me you can't get far on thirty-seven dollars and a Jap guitar.' He wrote that song after arguing with his girlfriend on the telephone while he was out on the road doing concerts! *Fearless Heart* is a fantastic rock ballad--watch for the spine-tingling guitar solo. Earle brings in jangly guitars on tracks like *Gettin' Tough* and *Goodbye's All We Got Left* and also includes some hard, natural country on songs like the bouncy *Think it Over*, the working-class *Hillbilly Highway*, and the acoustic *My Old Friend the Blues*. *Someday* is the best cut of the record. This wonderfull storytelling song includes a beautifull electric guitar solo after the second chorus, and a timeless hammered-chord acoustic strum. Steve closes out the album with the smooth *Little Rock 'n Roller* and the mandolin-drenched *Down The Road*.

Steve Earle delivers each and every song with all the confidence and conviction of the long-time veteran he was when this recording was released. Using studio musicians rather than his band seems to be the only flaw, but the remarkable high quality of the songs overcomes that. Definitely an essential recording for any alternative country/roots rock music fan.

Thank You!

Inspired by Earle's attendence at a Bruce Springsteen concert, this singer/songwriter masterpiece lovingly exploits the conflict between the hero's desire to stay in a small town and the need to leave. Set in 1980's Reagan-era America and featuring Duane Eddy-style reverberated guitar lines blazing through dangerously infectious melodies, Guitar Town's dusty, blue-collar vignettes relentlessly engage and tug at the heart strings, and Earle's stark character development revives desperate ("Someday") and exhuberantly hopeful ("Guitar Town") emotions from the listener's childhood. This 'Dylanesque-country' sound inadvertantly awakened a young, rock-loving, college-educated country audience yearning for the disappearing rock sounds of John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen. Earle set the mark on the top rung for this type of new country, and with the public expecting only the best, Nashville delivered its finest and most daring projects of the post-Hank Williams era. Easily the most groundbreaking Nashville recording since Waylon Jennings' "Honky Tonk Heroes" sessions, Guitar Town was named one of Rolling Stone's Top 100 Recordings of the 80's and was praised in the rock press (Robert Cristgau's "The Village Voice" and Dave Marsh's "Rock and Roll Confidential") long before receiving favorable country reviews. Guitar Town continues to exert a massive influence on songwriters 16 years after its release and is widely regarded as a cornerstone of the 1980's "New Traditionalist" movement in Nashville. Earle may never understand the full impact this recording will continue to have on future generations of songwriters. As his music continues to move towards exclusively political themes, it becomes clear he will not visit Americana territory again, but since he virtually defined the genre with this monolithic MCA debut, he can leave well enough (or, in this case, near perfect) alone.

When Steve Earle released "Guitar Town" in 1986, he was part of the wave of traditionalists who were bringing country music back to life. It was a brilliant debut album by a songwriter who was already well known around town in Nashville. Unfortunately, he soon found Nashville no longer had a place for him and moved on.

Thankfully, he gave us the wonderful gift of this record first!

Earle's voice is haunting. It carries the same type of pain that we found in the greats of country music like Lefty Frizzel and Hank Williams. When he sings "My Old Friend The Blues", the hurt in his voice is palpable. "Little Rock & Roller" is a song anybody who's been away from home a lot for work will feel.

This is a masterpiece. It belongs in your collection.

Hard to believe how much water has gone under the bridge since Steve Earle released Guitar Town, but the album has aged remarkably well. Earle has gone on to a long, sometimes troubled, sometimes triumphant career, but he already showed signs of great songwriting even this far back. Highlights include the infectious title track, the melancholy My Old Friend the Blues, and the astonishing Someday (having grown up in a small town in West Texas, I can tell you this song is right on the money). Worth a listen now and then for old times' sake.