1986 Top Ten Songs: Guitar Town (#3)

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Oh, no, not another country song! Yep. 1986 was a great year for breakouts in country music. Many of my favorites from that year were more “traditional sounding” people like Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam, but this guy broke out in ‘86 as well, and that first album of his is still an oft-played classic. Linda? No! Here we go! #3: Guitar Town - Steve Earle I hurt for Steve Earle. It’s a horrible tragedy that his son, singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle, died of a drug overdose at the age of 38. Justin had been in and out of rehab nine times in his short life. Steve got clean from his heroin addiction in the early 90s after it landed him in prison. You couldn’t tell any of that on his first album, though. It just sounded like solid country-rock. The country CMT cable channel named Guitar Town the 26th best album in country music history. No, it’s not. It’d make the top 20 of best albums of 1986, though. This title song was a top ten hit, and Earle’s biggest charted single. The life of a road musician is played out in three minutes. It’s a great song. Side note: Emmylou Harris covered this song on her Live At the Ryman album. She should NOT have. Guitar Town Written by Steve Earle Recorded by Steve Earle From Guitar Town, 1986 Love to hear the steel belts humming on the asphalt: