![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On the Shelf 186: Steve Earle
Sep. 8th, 2017 07:23 amSteve Earle has released his 16 th album So You Wanna Be an Outlaw.
Earle's career has had three parts. His trailblazing 80s work where he conquered both the rock and country charts, earning the title of the next Springsteen and writing a song that plays in bar jukeboxes every single night "Copperhead Road". His 90s work took it to the next level, with masterpieces of alt-country like "I Feel Alright" and "El Corazon" that defined the genre. His third act has been him doing whatever he pleases with the doors that open with celebrity. He's acted, wrote short stories and novels, hosted radio shows on Air America and Sirius XM. He's done albums of bluegrass, duets, and blues, with journeys into Cajun and World Music.
None* of his post Revolution Starts Now (2004) output is essential, but each record has songs that are. (*- Almost none -The Lost Highway is pretty close to essential, and although I am a minority opinion, I consider his collaboration with Shawn Colvin an essential purchase).
So, you can't blame Earle for doing a straight up "outlaw country" album that imagines he was picking up from 1990's The Hard Way.
Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell have made quite successful careers around the type of music Earle pioneered. Stapleton has crossed over big time into Mainstream Country airplay. Even in the wasteland of country music, Eric Church won a CMA award for album of the year with a record whose title track sounds like it could be on Exit 0, Earle's second disc.
No doubt, if Willie Nelson is the godfather of "Outlaw Country", the extent of the genre and the diehard fans wouldn't exist without Earle.
So, undeniably Earle can write a 'outlaw' record in his sleep and it will be a keeper. It may not bother the pop charts, but it's doing well.
With a critical ear, I must say this is a fun listen. So, it is hard to say, but though Earle can whip up outlaw country tunes in minutes. This sort of feels like that. It's all good, but nothing here that particularly stands out. "Lookin for a Woman" is a single, and it's great but it's pretty basic. Earle's duet with Miranda Lambert (another rare case of a great artist making country chart inroads) and the plaintive "News from Colorado" are beautiful, but like so many songs on this record, he's always done that. "Walkin in Los Angeles" isn't a country version of the Missing Persons song, but it would be a lot cooler if it was. "You Broke My Heart" is a great Hank Williams Sr style song, but pales to its brethren on El Corazon. "If Mama could see me" is a classic Earle song from the guy who wrote classic songs like "Devil's Right Hand" and "I Aint Ever Satisfied".
In short, a terrific record, that for anyone else would be a defining record. I have no real complaints, it's just that Earle has such an amazing body of work, it's impossible to compare. How do you compare songs like these to "Guitar Town" or "Someday" or "Fearless Heart" or any of the hits I mentioned above or anything off "I Feel Alright". You simply can't.
Of note, the title opener, appropriately features the Red headed Stranger guesting. If one was hoping for an all-time classic like "Pancho and Lefty", you're going to be disappointed, but it's still a rollicking fun time to see Willie and Steve record a song together. Big fun.
Earle's career has had three parts. His trailblazing 80s work where he conquered both the rock and country charts, earning the title of the next Springsteen and writing a song that plays in bar jukeboxes every single night "Copperhead Road". His 90s work took it to the next level, with masterpieces of alt-country like "I Feel Alright" and "El Corazon" that defined the genre. His third act has been him doing whatever he pleases with the doors that open with celebrity. He's acted, wrote short stories and novels, hosted radio shows on Air America and Sirius XM. He's done albums of bluegrass, duets, and blues, with journeys into Cajun and World Music.
None* of his post Revolution Starts Now (2004) output is essential, but each record has songs that are. (*- Almost none -The Lost Highway is pretty close to essential, and although I am a minority opinion, I consider his collaboration with Shawn Colvin an essential purchase).
So, you can't blame Earle for doing a straight up "outlaw country" album that imagines he was picking up from 1990's The Hard Way.
Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell have made quite successful careers around the type of music Earle pioneered. Stapleton has crossed over big time into Mainstream Country airplay. Even in the wasteland of country music, Eric Church won a CMA award for album of the year with a record whose title track sounds like it could be on Exit 0, Earle's second disc.
No doubt, if Willie Nelson is the godfather of "Outlaw Country", the extent of the genre and the diehard fans wouldn't exist without Earle.
So, undeniably Earle can write a 'outlaw' record in his sleep and it will be a keeper. It may not bother the pop charts, but it's doing well.
With a critical ear, I must say this is a fun listen. So, it is hard to say, but though Earle can whip up outlaw country tunes in minutes. This sort of feels like that. It's all good, but nothing here that particularly stands out. "Lookin for a Woman" is a single, and it's great but it's pretty basic. Earle's duet with Miranda Lambert (another rare case of a great artist making country chart inroads) and the plaintive "News from Colorado" are beautiful, but like so many songs on this record, he's always done that. "Walkin in Los Angeles" isn't a country version of the Missing Persons song, but it would be a lot cooler if it was. "You Broke My Heart" is a great Hank Williams Sr style song, but pales to its brethren on El Corazon. "If Mama could see me" is a classic Earle song from the guy who wrote classic songs like "Devil's Right Hand" and "I Aint Ever Satisfied".
In short, a terrific record, that for anyone else would be a defining record. I have no real complaints, it's just that Earle has such an amazing body of work, it's impossible to compare. How do you compare songs like these to "Guitar Town" or "Someday" or "Fearless Heart" or any of the hits I mentioned above or anything off "I Feel Alright". You simply can't.
Of note, the title opener, appropriately features the Red headed Stranger guesting. If one was hoping for an all-time classic like "Pancho and Lefty", you're going to be disappointed, but it's still a rollicking fun time to see Willie and Steve record a song together. Big fun.
