Steve Earl(e) fans sound off!

[Wawannabe]

Woop Woop!
Don't you be comin down Copper Head Road John Lee Pettimore!
That orange m Fer gonna run you and your illegal weed down.
Ain't VietCong no more
Russian fucks done come to town!

Hehehe. That's all! (JanisJoplin)

[roscoeroscoe]

1. Um...

Steve Earle, right?

Hillbilly Highway.

Best ever.

[Wawannabe]

2. Excuse my faux paux

Spelling error
Can edit if it really bothers you.

You can spank me for trying to liven up the place.

[Hoyt]

3. Oh heck yeah. His Revolution Starts Now Tour got me out of funk after 2004 election.

He's got a new album coming out before long.

[Wawannabe]

6. Political angst

Makes for some tuff lyrics, eh?
2000 was worse for me!
Boy was there anxiety after that electoral fiasco! Stupid hanging chads! Or is that chadds??

👀😜

[Wawannabe]

4. Roscoeroscoe

I had a beautiful, white shepard named Roscoe. Loved to ride in the back if the truck. And I am pretty sure he was exposed to Earle's jams!

Nice to meet ya!
I'm on a mobile so seeing the whole screen during preview and editing is sometimes a problem.

[pdxflyboy]

5. LUV Steve Earl

[mopinko]

7. steve earle helps me stay glued to the planet.

have most of his albums on my phone, and i have shuffled through a brazillion times. it's always a different song that hits it right on any given day. but there is always one.

[Tbear]

8. Somethin' about a Monday

always makes me blue

[John Lee Pettimore]

9. Hey Wawannabe

Dixiegrrrrl started a thread about Joe III in the general discussion. Should we go and derail that one too? Being fairly new here I just wonder about proper etiquette. I do not want someone to feel left out.

[Wawannabe]

10. I like your style jlp!

I would NEVER want anyone to be left out either. (Sarcasm)
I do (once in a while) get annoyed on the derailments.
I felt I mighta started that small sidetrack so decided to put my big girl panties on and suggest the reconvene.

Btw. I have Joe III on my list to check out this morning.

PS. Have you heard of Hank III?

[John Lee Pettimore]

12. I was not very worried about the derailment.

I figured if anyone did not like it, I would just blame you. After all you started it!

I have heard OF Hank III but I have heard very little of his work. Didn't he try out punk rock or metal at the start? I am old and mostly trapped in a time zone when it comes to music. The real music of old time rock & roll. 60s & 70s to be exact. I do venture out of my bubble from time to time. It seems I have a hard time finding new music I like.

[The Polack MSgt]

11. This is my favorite SE rocker

[mr_lebowski]

15. I saw him on the Other Kind tour & he'z pretty spun ... also saw Copperhead Road a few years before

Saw him play Amoeba Records in the Haight (SF) circa 2001 and got my copy of Jerusalem signed, and again on TRSN tour in 2004 at the Warfield ... Love me some Steve ...

He is a bit of a 'one hit wonder' in a SENSE I guess, but that don't mean shit. Plenty of amazing artists w/brilliant careers that have exactly ZERO 'hits' ... Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen (unless you count Hallelujah which was never a 'hit' but has become well-known, mostly due to Jeff Buckley) come to mind. And shoot, has Lyle Lovett ever actually had a bona-fide 'hit'? Brian Eno? Did Television have one? Jonathon Richman?

There's also lots of awesome artists your average person could probably name only one song by (even if they've had many great albums over many years) ... Todd Rundgren (that 'Bang the Drum' song), Cheap Trick (I Want U To Want Me), Talking Heads (Burning Down the House), The Clash (Rock the Casbah), Kiss (not actually a good band, but ... Rock and Roll All Night), Flaming Lips (She Uses Vaseline), Cake (Going the Distance), Faith No More (Epic) ... I could go on and on ...

Anyway, though I love Steve, he hasn't really put out a top-to-bottom great album in a bit too long for my liking. Transcendental Blues (2000) is the last ... though Jerusalem was still pretty good ... things started getting real spotty with TRSN (the title track though is one of my all time fave songs of his) which was also the time when his voice started giving out (or something changed about it ... got more nasal for one thing) and he no longer really sounded like Steve Earle to me. The POWER has been going from it ever since TB ... That has depressed me when I listen to his newer stuff. Always end up putting on one from the string of 5 GREATS he put out just after jail ... Train A' Comin' through TB.

I Feel Alright and El Corazon were his apex though ... Guitar Town & Copperhead Road were also brilliant.

[Wawannabe]

17. Mr lebowski

You know your Steve, man. Whooo
Impressive write up and critique!


I haven't heard all of his stuff and probably have heard some and didn't recognize it was him.

[mr_lebowski]

20. Train A Comin', I Feel Alright, El Corazon ...

That string, immediately post-Jail, were his apex, so if you like Steve, you MUST hear those three ... ESP. I Feel Alright, his greatest imho though Corazon is damn close.

If you like Bluegrass, his next one 'The Mountain' is a brilliant BG album he did with the Del McCoury (sp?) Band. You gotta like BG though because unlike most of his albums that one could argue are a Rock/Country hybrid for the most part ... The Mountain is STRAIGHT UP start-to-finish twangy vocals and fiddles and banjos and songs about Dixieland and such. Talking BLUEGRASS. Hardcore. I love it but ... it's a departure.

And then the next one Transcendental Blues is about 85% awesome with a couple songs I don't dig that much. But like I say, something here starts changing w/his voice and it's not been the same since. Some might like it better now, it's subjective, but I don't.

I kinda feel though like if he waited longer between albums to really gather up his best material for each one, his 'streak of awesome' could've continued. The best songs from Jerusalem and Revolution Starts Now could have made up one BANGING album. Likewise, just the best ones from Washington Square and Low Highway ... though a bit 'less so', sadly.

Of the earlier stuff, of course Guitar Town & Copperhead Road are must-hear. The other two, Exit 0 I think it is, and The Other Kind have some real good tracks but aren't top to bottom great like the other two.

Also, the B-Sides compilation SideTracks is pretty damn good as well. His covers of 'My Back Pages' and esp. 'Time (Has Come Today)' with Sheryl Crow are def. highlights. I think it may also have 'Ellis Unit One' from Dead Man Walking soundtrack, I forget ... but it's arguably his most powerful song ...

[The Polack MSgt]

18. Steve Earle is a generational song writer

He is what he is. With no apologies to anybody.

One hit wonder? Not an accurate picture pf his career

[KG]

13. bit of a personal hero for his commitment to left-wing causes,

esp anti-death penalty.

[Wawannabe]

14. He is still committed too

Most think of him as a one or two hit wonder. Not me.
Personal fav is Copperhead Road - mostly because it stirs the "rebel from hell" in me!
And it is a bad ass tune!

[mr_lebowski]

16. My reply above was meant to be to your post lol (n/t)

[argyl]

19. Steve's been writing better songs than Dylan for over thirty years.

He's playing at the Dallas House of Blues July 6th and I'm there.

[mr_lebowski]

21. Now, I love me some Steve, but I dunno about THAT ...

The last 4 Dylan albums (I think there's 4) going back to Time Out of Mind ... have been pretty friggin' good ...

Have fun at the show ... I jelly. Is it with The Dukes or is he doing the Solo thing?

[argyl]

22. He's with The Dukes.

[mr_lebowski]

23. Just found something both cool, and sad ... Cover of Midnight Rider from a couple days ago ...

It's cool, but sad, in part due to the loss of Gregg ... of course ... but also because Steve's really struggling to make it through the song, breathing-wise. He's wheezing pretty badly between verses ...

I'd recommend anyone who WANTS to see him ... you better see him soon, because I don't know that he's going to be able to tour much longer ... it's sounding like a real touch of the emphysema kicking in here ...

Also I know that the intersection of 'liking Steve Earle enough to post on a thread like this' and 'not having heard Jason Isbell' is probably a pretty small population, but if you HAVEN'T ... You're in for a real treat. Another country-rock hero who cleaned up and starting writing some great albums, ala Steve & John Hiatt ... I wouldn't regularly try to 'introduce' someone to a new artist via a live recording, but this one ... it's just REALLY REALLY good. And it's really fun to watch Jason sing and play ... cause he's just a f***ing BADASS ... sound quality is awesome, camera-work is great, and his band is super tight.

Also, this show encompasses songs from his whole career, going back to his tenure in the Drive-By Truckers, when he wrote and sang some of that bands greatest tunes. "Never Gonna Change" in particular absolutely ROCKS on this video. Jason unleashes the most seriously fierce fretwork I've ever seen him pull off. Kid keeps getting better and better ...

By the way, the lovely lady on the fiddle Amanda Shires is his wife, who he credits with inspiring him to get sober, and a number of his songs are clearly inspired by, esp. Cover Me Up ... which they KILL in this video. BTW track 5, 'Dress Blues' is a war protest song Steve would be extremely proud to call his own, I can promise you that ...

Oh and June 16 his new album comes out ... CAN'T WAIT!!!

One of the upcoming tracks ...

[Wawannabe]

24. Sweet!

Man, again, f'n awesome info.
I enjoyed Earle playing Midnight Rider. The mix of people in that room was cool too. Thanks!
Just this morning I unpacked the Allman Bros cd and listened - my name is Melissa. Of course I own that song!!!!

Speaking of Bob D and twangy...
Enter Tom Petty
and "The Stories we could tell".
Petty live "Pack Up the Plantation" has a version that is so twangy!
I would post here but you know what to do and it isn't the same on youtube as on my cd version....

[Wawannabe]

25. Gonna tune me some Copperhead Road

Right now!
Play it bro!

[bbrady42]

26. Steve's awesome (and his kid is even better)

Justin Townes Earle

[Wawannabe]

28. Thanks for the info

On the kid. Had no clue!

[Leghorn21]

27. It is my contention that "Copperhead Road" is a/the quintessential "American Song".

It's about poverty, war, survival, outrunning, outgunning The Man/The Suits/The Law/Charlie, being crafty, fearless, ornery, hardened to the world's insanity while remaining kind and tender underneath all the anguish.

Bagpipes - ? Why do I find them so perfectly "American"?! Do they represent the immigrant in us all?

Oh, yeah, and that muthafukka ROCKS!!!!!

[Wawannabe]

29. Oh HELL yeah!

Spot on
Spot on!

Those bagpipes make the song 10 times mo BADASS!