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| Rockin' debut from hard-working tuneslinger. Guitar Town, Goodbye's All We Got Left, Hillbilly Highway, My Old Friend The Blues, Fearless Heart, more. |
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| 1 Guitar Town |
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| 2 Goodbye's All We've Got Left |
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| 3 Hillbilly Highway |
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| 4 Good Ol' Boy (Gettin' Tough) |
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| 5 My Old Friend the Blues |
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| 6 Someday |
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| 7 Think It Over |
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| 8 Fearless Heart |
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| 9 Little Rock 'N' Roller |
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| 10 Down the Road |
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| 11 State Trooper [Live][*] |
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Album Review
Despite being a debut album, "Guitar Town", by journeyman Steve Earle, who was already 31 when it was released, sounded like the culmination of a veteran artist's career rather than a beginning. "Hey, pretty baby, are you ready for me?" Earle asked at the outset in the album's title song, and it was a fair question. Although he had been knocking around Nashville for more than a decade, it was only in the Prague Spring of the mid-'80s that Music City U.S.A. seemed to be in the mood for the blend of literate songwriting, traditional country, and rock & roll represented by Dwight Yoakam and a triumvirate of left-field talents -- Earle, Lyle Lovett, and Nanci Griffith -- signed and produced by Tony Brown at MCA. "Guitar Town" suggested that Earle was the most talented of the bunch, his songwriting skills sometimes recalling Bruce Springsteen's majestic musical style and romantic sweep (particularly on the Top Ten country hit "Goodbye'S All We'Ve Got Left"), but also steeped in country tradition (e.g., "Think It Over") and including such personal statements as "My Old Friend The Blues" and the title track, not to mention a moving lullaby ("Little Rock 'N' Roller"). He sang those songs with conviction in a twangy accent that marked them as country no matter how hard they rocked. "Guitar Town" topped the country charts, which in retrospect marked the high watermark of alternative country; within a few years, Earle and the others were being marketed outside of Nashville. The 2002 "expanded edition" of "Guitar Town" boasts a clean, sharp remastering, new liner notes by Earle, and, as a bonus track, a live rendition of Springsteen's "State Trooper" recorded on the "Guitar Town" tour of 1986. You can see how Earle would identify with the song, and it's a good addition. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
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• Biography
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Other albums by: Steve Earle |
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