The Train Whistle Wailed And I Wailed Right Back

The base root of the music of Steve Earle may lie in country music but he has never really been a strictly country performer, having much more in common with people like Dylan and Springsteen as a troubadour storyteller investigating the byways of American rural life. A champion of the underdog and the working man, he went through some very bad times of his own but has emerged successfully at the other side. This generously filled disk called The Collection is of selections mainly culled from his four early studio albums for MCA, the first three of which were groundbreaking and evolving, the fourth of which can be seen in hindsight as an indication of the downward spiral that was to occur at that point. Thirteen tracks are taken from these albums and there are also six live tracks which include a couple of nods towards Springsteen. Not that Earle need yield anything to his more successful New Jersey contemporary in the songwriting stakes. The songs here contain vivid cinematic style stories ( he has written a published book of short story prose ) such as Copperhead Road, The Rain Came Down, Johnny Come Lately and Justice In Ontario, together with tales of attempts to break free from the humdrum and everyday in Someday, Fearless Heart and the anthemic I Ain't Ever Satisfied. He's come a long way from Guitar Town as that song states but Steve Earle now stands as a well respected senior statesman and has similarly found personal contentment too. So not a bad result all in all after such a restless beginning.