STEVE EARLE – GUITAR TOWN LP – Nr MINT A1 UK 1986 COUNTRY ROCK

Steve Earle – Guitar Town
(MCA Records  1986  MCF3335)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

Steve Earle (born Stephen Fain Earle on January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author and actor. Earle grew up near San Antonio, Texas, and began learning the guitar at age 11.

Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. His breakthrough album was the 1986 Guitar Town. Since then Earle has released 13 other studio albums and received three Grammy awards. His songs have been recorded by Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Shawn Colvin and Emmylou Harris. He has appeared in film and television, and has written a novel, a play, and a book of short stories.

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.

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 state-of-the-art Mitsubishi X-800. Each of the album’s ten tracks was either written or co-written by Earle.

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 album ranked at #482 on a revised list. In 2006, it ranked 27th on CMT’s 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music.

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) – 3:36
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

Personnel

• Steve Earle – guitar, vocals

The Dukes

• Bucky Baxter – pedal steel guitar, guitar on “State Trooper”
• Richard Bennett – guitars, 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 Jarvis – synthesizer, piano
• Steve Nathan – synthesizer