Chronicles [Box]

Performer: Steve Earle
Engineer: Chris Birkett; Chuck Ainlay; Mark J. Coddington; Julius Croaol; Tom Luane; Robbie Rose; George Shilling; Joe Hardy; Keith Odle; Russ Martin; Tim Kish
Producer: Emory Gordy, Jr.; Richard Bennett; Tim Devine; Steve Earle; Tony Brown
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Steve Earle (vocals, guitars, mandolin, harmonica, bass guitar, 6-string bass); Bucky Baxter (vocals, guitar, steel guitar, lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar, dobro); Philip Chevron (vocals, guitar); Spider Stacy (vocals, tin whistle); Harry Stinson (vocals, drums); Donnie Roberts (guitar, guitars, bass guitar, 6-string bass); Richard Bennett (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 6-string bass); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Shane MacGowan (banjo, bodhran); Jem Finer (banjo); Terry Woods (cittern); Emory Gordy, Sam Bush (mandolin); Edgar Meyer (bass violin); James Fearnley (accordion); Steve Nathan (synthesizer); Reno Kling, Kelly Looney (bass guitar); Custer (drums); Chris Birkett (drum programming); Ken Moore (vocals, organ, keyboards, synthesizer); Bill Lloyd (acoustic guitar, electric 12-string guitar); Neill MacColl (mandolin); John Jarvis (piano, synthesizer); John Cowan, Maria McKee, Radney Foster (background vocals). Additional personnel: The Pogues, Telluride. Audio Mixers: Chuck Ainlay; Joe Hardy. Audio Remasterer: Glenn Meadows. Recording information: Ardent Studios, Memphis, TN (1986); Emerald Studio (1986); Livingstone Studios, London, England (1986); Park West, Chicago, IL (1986); Sound Stage Studio (1986). Illustrator: Jim O'Connor . Photographers: Ron Keith; Alan Messer; Scott Bonner. Unknown Contributor Role: June Beard. For those who came to know Steve Earle's music through his Warner and E Squared recordings, this triple-disc box set containing his first three MCA albums will be a revelation. It contains remastered versions of Guitar Town, which is expanded, Exit 0, and the underappreciated Copperhead Road. Steve and his band, the Dukes, rewrote the Nash Vegas books by combining hard country, singer/songwriter-style folk, and roots rock that wove acoustic and electric guitars around songs that were not formulaic or necessarily catchy to the radio-friendly ear and still scored hits. Why? Simple: form and substance over style. Earle's early recordings were all produced by Tony Brown, who slicked them up a little, but not enough to cover the rough edges. The latter two albums could have been from the same session and boasted tunes that the songwriter still plays today, including "My Old Friend the Blues," "Guitar Town," "Someday," "Angry Young Man," and the anthemic "I Ain't Ever Satisfied." Copperhead Road was a small detour in that it engaged lean and mean electric rock & roll more, but still kept its literate, earthy approach and boasted some of the finest songs of Earle's long career, including the title track and "Devil's Right Hand." Taken together, these three records all stand the test of time and make for an excellent, even necessary package. ~ Thom Jurek

Steve Earle did for country in the 1980s what Waylon Jennings did for it in the '70s--released it from the shackles of commerciality and overproduction by introducing a bad-ass, rock-friendly outlaw aesthetic. Besides his talents as a singer/songwriter, Earle is a producer/entrepreneur who's worked with many other artists (some on his own label) and helped foster a new wave of progressive country. He's also a dedicated political activist who's done much for a variety of progressive causes.

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