Steve Earle: Guitar Town (West German Pressing) CD Track Listing

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Steve Earle Guitar Town (West German Pressing) (1986)
Guitar Town (West German Pressing)\n\nOriginally Released March 1986\nOriginal CD Released March 28, 1988\nRemastered CD Released January 29, 2002\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: On Steve Earle's first major American tour following the release of his debut album, Guitar Town, Earle found himself sharing a bill with Dwight Yoakum one night and the Replacements another, and one listen to the album explains why -- while the music was country through and through, Earle showed off enough swagger and attitude to intimidate anyone short of Keith Richards. While Earle's songs bore a certain resemblance to the Texas Outlaw ethos (think Waylon Jennings in "Lonesome, Orn'ry and Mean" mode), they displayed a literate anger and street-smart snarl that set him apart from the typical Music Row hack, and no one in Nashville in 1986 was able (or willing) to write anything like the title song, a hilarious and harrowing tale of life on the road ("Well, I gotta keep rockin' while I still can/Got a two pack habit and motel tan") or the bitterly unsentimental account of small town life "Someday" ("You got to school where you learn to read and write/so you can walk into the county bank and sign away your life"), the latter of which may be the best Bruce Springsteen song the Boss didn't write. And even when Earle gets a bit teary-eyed on "My Old Friend the Blues" and "Little Rock 'n' Roller," he showed off a battle-scarred heart that was tougher and harder-edged than most of his competition. Guitar Town is slightly flawed by an overly tidy production from Emory Gordy Jr. and Tony Brown as well as a band that never hit quite as hard as Earle's voice, and Earle would make many stronger and more ambitious records in the future, but Guitar Town was his first shot at showing a major audience what he could do, and he hit a bull's-eye -- it's perhaps the strongest and most confident debut album any country act released in the 1980s. -- Mark Deming\n\nAmazon.com essential recording \nOn this 1986 debut, Steve Earle burst on the scene as a fully formed songwriting master, synthesizing effortlessly the finest parts of country-folk troubadours like Townes Van Zandt and the anthemic, working-class rock of Bruce Springsteen. "Someday," a country-rock masterpiece about a kid stuck pumping gas in a dead-end town, remains the perfect realization of this style, and with the exception of the slight and silly "Little Rock 'N' Roller," most everything else here (especially "Hillbilly Highway" and the heartbreaking ballad "My Old Friend the Blues") comes awfully close. The 2002 reissue, overseen by Earle and original producer Tony Brown, offers fresh remastering, new liner notes by Earle, and a bonus live version of Springsteen's "State Trooper." --David Cantwell \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nStill Essential 16 Years Later, January 31, 2002 \nReviewer: Steve Vrana from Aurora, NE USA \nI bought this album on vinyl when it was first released in 1986--the same year that Dwight Yoakam debuted with Guitars, Cadilacs, Etc., Etc. While both artists used different approaches (Earle filtered his music through rock, while Yoakam leaned more toward honky-tonk and the Bakersfield sound), both artists brought an honesty and integrity to country music that had been missing from mainstream country. All tracks were written or co-written by Earle with the exception of the bonus track, a live version of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper." [This bonus track was originally released in 1986 on an EP and is also available on the 2-CD anthology Ain't Ever Satisifed.] Earle has put out a string of excellent albums over the years, but his debut is arguably his strongest. He's never fit in with the hat acts of the past two decades--Earle is too much of a rebel for that--but as he sings on the title track: "Hey, pretty baby are you ready for me/yeah, it's your good rockin' daddy down from Tennessee." Country radio may not have been ready, but they sure needed him. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nOne of the most endearing and moving records ever made, November 9, 2000 \nReviewer: RedTunicTroll from Earth, USA \nAfter 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. \n\nEarle'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.\n\nTen 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.\n\nRecorded in Nashville with Tony Brown's guidance, Earle's LP debut is his most consistent and potent release to date. \n\nHalf.com Album Credits\nJr. Emory Gordy, Producer\nTony Brown, Producer\n\n\nAlbum Notes\nSteve Earle & The Dukes include: Steve Earle (vocals); Richard Bennett (guitar, bass); Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar); Emory Gordy, Jr. (mandolin, bass); Ken Moore (organ, synthesizer); Harry Stinson (drums, background vocals).Additional personnel includes: Paul Franklin (pedal steel guitar); John Jarvis (piano, synthesizer); Steve Nathan (synthesizer).Producers: Emory Gordy, Jr., Tony Brown, Tim Devine.Reissue producers: Steve Earle, Tony Brown, Andy McKaie.Engineers: Russ Martin, Chuck Ainlay, Steve Tillisch.Includes liner notes by Steve Earle.All tracks have been digitally remastered.A much-loved album that is one of the key records in the development of "new country". The image of the immaculate, conservative, singing cowboy was completely ruined by Earle. He was bad, he loved substance abuse and he played loud, dirty, rock 'n' roll-laced country rock. Through all the past excess he has emerged a survivor, and is in reality the Bruce Springsteen of "new country". He sings of ordinary life and pick-up trucks instead of pink Cadillacs. "Someday" highlights the perils of being trapped in a small town, with the last line giving some hope: "someday I'll put her on that interstate and never look back".\n\nRolling Stone Magazine (11/01/1989)\nRanked #79 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Albums Of The 80s survey.\n\nRolling Stone (11/01/1989)\nRanked #79 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Albums Of The 80s survey.Mojo (6/00, p.43) - ...The rock edge and attitude that [he] brought to the table marked him out from the country crowd straight away....a landmark debut.\n\nMojo (06/01/2000)\n...The rock edge and attitude that [he] brought to the table marked him out from the country crowd straight away....a landmark debut.
This country cd contains 10 tracks and runs 34min 33sec.
Freedb: 7308170a

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