Steve Earle Album: “Early Tracks”

This disk has it's moments. If you look at it from the right perspective. Here's a young Earle finding his place and doing so with some mighty big shadows close by. Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark we're mentors and friends at this point of his career. And if you listen you can hear their influence. But you also have to know that here's a great voice being muted by the Nashville music machine at the same time.

Personally My Baby Worships Me, Open Up Your Door and Breakdown Lane show some great style and potiental. As well there is some amazing humor stuck in there too. If you are a fan give it a listen. Just don't expect it to be I Feel Alright!!!

This collection of songs is straight-ahead rockabilly. Taken as that, and not a comparison point for later Steve Earle, it's an excellent assortment of contemporary rockabilly tunes. Every song is not a classic, but, after hearing the vinyl album over 20 years ago, I can still mentally hear a fair number of the songs because they were that refreshing, distinctive, and enjoyable. I really liked the guitar playing and the pre-Dire Straits not-overly-processed Strat sound. The version of Devil's Right Hand on this recording is superior to any version that followed. Oddly, Steve Earle's southern accent is LESS evident here than on more recent recordings where his twang is almost annoying. Maybe he took diction lessons from Gillian Welch after this album, I don't know. Anyway, if you listen to it for what it is- rockabilly- it's a very enjoyable collection of songs.

This compilation, recorded in 1983 at the now-defunct LSI studio in Nashville, was the product of Earle's record deal with CBS. "The Devil's Right Hand" and "A Little Bit In Love" show writing promise, and Earle's impressive, gritty Texas guitar and sparse rockabilly instrumental arrangements (particlarly "Nothin But You") make this piece appealing for Earle die-hards and collectors, but was deemed unfit for country radio and the finished project here was unceremoniously shelved. (Ironically, "A Little Bit In Love" would later surface on Patty Loveless' second MCA CD.) For the most part, however, Earle's singing is not up to par and the few rays of light contained here did not prepare the listener (or Nashville's music heirarchy) for the monolith that was to come.

I See Track 4, 11, and 10 They Were All Skipped At The Whole Time