Guitar Town

Guitar Town is the debut album from singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released on March 5, 1986. It topped the Billboard country album charts, and the title song reached #7 on the country singles charts. Earle was also nominated for two 1987 Grammy Awards, Best Male Country Vocalist and Best Country Song, for the title track.

For the song, see Guitar Town (song).

Guitar Town
Studio album by Steve Earle
Released	March 5, 1986
Studio	Sound Stage Studios and Emerald Sound Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	Country rock, rockabilly
Length	34:35
Label	MCA
Producer	Emory Gordy, Jr., Tony Brown Associate Producer: Richard Bennett
Steve Earle chronology
Guitar Town (1986) Exit 0 (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	A− [2]

Production

The album was recorded in late 1985 and early 1986 in Nashville, Tennessee, at Sound Stage Studio. Overdubs were later recorded at Nashville's Emerald Studios. It was one of the first country music albums to be recorded digitally, utilizing the Mitsubishi X-800. Each of the album's ten tracks was either written or co-written by Earle.

Reception and legacy

In 2003, the album was ranked number 489 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2012, the magazine ranked it at #482 on a revised list, calling it "the rocker's version of country, packed with songs about hard living in the Reagan Eighties."[3]

In 2006, it ranked 27th on CMT's 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music. In 2016, the album was re-released as a 30th Anniversary Edition with a corresponding tour.

The title track was later covered by Emmylou Harris.

Track listing

All songs written by Steve Earle unless otherwise noted

1. "Guitar Town" – 2:33
2. "Goodbye's All We've Got Left" – 3:16
3. "Hillbilly Highway" (Earle, Jimbeau Hinson) – 3:38
4. "Good Ol' Boy (Gettin' Tough)" (Earle, Richard Bennett) – 3:58
5. "My Old Friend the Blues" – 3:07
6. "Someday" – 3:46
7. "Think It Over" (Bennett, Earle) – 2:13
8. "Fearless Heart" – 4:04
9. "Little Rock 'n' Roller" – 4:49
10. "Down the Road" (Tony Brown, Earle, Hinson) – 2:37

Bonus track on 2002 Remastered CD

1. "State Trooper" [live] (Bruce Springsteen)

Personnel

• Steve Earle – guitar, vocals

The Dukes

• Bucky Baxter – pedal steel guitar, guitar on "State Trooper"
• Richard Bennett – guitar, 6-string bass, slap bass, associate producer
• Ken Moore – organ, synthesizer, keyboards on "State Trooper"
• Emory Gordy, Jr. – bass, mandolin, producer
• Harry Stinson – drums, vocals
• Reno Kling - bass on "State Trooper"
• Michael McAdam - guitar on "State Trooper"

Additional musicians

• Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar on "Fearless Heart" and "Someday"
• John Barlow Jarvis – synthesizer, piano
• Steve Nathan – synthesizer

Technical

• Chuck Ainlay - recording, mixing
• Alan Messer - photography

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1986)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	1
U.S. Billboard 200	89
Canadian RPM Top Albums	82

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US Country	CAN Country
1986	"Hillbilly Highway"	37	46
	"Guitar Town"	7	7
	"Someday"	28	31
1987	"Goodbye's All We Got Left"	8	10

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – USA	Gold	March 29, 1999

References

1. Deming, Mark. "Guitar Town - Steve Earle". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
2. "CG: Steve Earle". Robert Christgau. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
3. Wenner, Jann S., ed. (2012). Rolling Stone – Special Collectors Issue – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. USA: Wenner Media Specials. ISBN 978-7-09-893419-6

External links

• Guitar Town (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)