Steve Earle: Behind The Music

Steve Earle: Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet
By David McGee
Backbeat Books

David McGee's new biography "Steve Earle: Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet," the second installment in Backbeat Books' "Lives In Music" series (B.B. King was No. 1), promises to examine the singer-songwriter's life and music. For the most part it does, but the examination is weighted more toward his music.

Focusing on Earle's music is a good selling point, particularly because Lauren St. John's 2003 bio "Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle," delved deeply into Earle's troubles with the law, drug addiction, jail time and six marriages (seven since publication of her book) as well as his artistry and activism. McGee's reasons for playing up the music over Earle's personal life are twofold: The series is called "Lives in Music" after all, and, unlike St. John, he didn't have unfettered access to Earle.

McGee claims that Earle offered his complete cooperation in the summer of 2004 only to disavow any knowledge of the author or his project in the spring of 2005. Earle finally gave McGee his blessing to talk to his family, but an interview conducted for barnesandnoble.com in 2004 stands as McGee's only direct conversation with Earle. As a result, St. John's book is listed in the endnotes as source material for 14 of the 18 chapters in "Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet."

Limited access doesn't mean that McGee's book ignores Earle's trials and tribulations. They're all in there, just not to the extent that they were covered by St. John. It isn't necessarily a bad thing. "Hardcore Troubadour" sometimes reads like an "E! True Hollywood Story," where "Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet" is more like conventional music criticism with the focus on the songs and the musicians who recorded them as well as the insight of family, friends and professional associates.

The absence of Earle is the book's obvious weakness, but McGee mostly overcomes it. After covering basic biographical information, "Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet" starts playing to its strength, which is in-depth analysis of Earle's albums from his rockabilly "Pink & Black" EP in 1983 through the politically motivated "The Revolution Starts ... Now" in 2004.

McGee does a good job of setting the scene for Earle's ascension to stardom with his 1986 classic "Guitar Town." He even touches on the influence of the Outlaw Country movement of the 1970s and gains perspective from an interview with one of Earle's most notable peers, Rodney Crowell. Crowell, a fellow Texan who cut his teeth in Nashville with Earle, provides insight into Texas songwriters' bond as well as their desire to be the alpha male in the songwriting community. Crowell's interview provides a touchstone for McGee, who often revisits the idea of the "alpha male ascending" in the book.

For the uninitiated, "Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet" provides a thorough look at Earle's body of work. The discussion of each album begins with its cover art, a track listing and the personnel who participated in the recording. For those who are already fans, a wealth of useful information still is provided. Many of the albums are analyzed song by song, and key players such as Tony Brown (co-producer of "Guitar Town," "Exit 0" and "Copperhead Road") and Richard Bennett (associate producer/guitarist on "Guitar Town," co-producer/guitarist on "Exit 0" and co-producer/guitarist on "I Feel Alright") talk at length about the sessions. Bluegrass stalwarts Peter Rowan and Norman Blake are sought out for their recollections of making 1995's "Train A Comin'," Earle's first album after serving three and a half months of an 11 month, 29-day jail sentence for failing to appear at a hearing on a heroin possession charge.

McGee even includes a couple of handy lists for all you completists: One is a collection of domestic anthologies, compilations and miscellaneous recordings. The other is a list of songs written or co-written by Earle that have been covered by other artists.

As for non-music issues in Earle's life, McGee scores a few points through perseverance and timing. Much has been made of Earle's acrimonious split with Del McCoury during the tour for their bluegrass collaboration, "The Mountain," in 1999. Some said it was over who got top billing for the shows. Some said it was because Del McCoury was upset that his band played the Merlefest main stage with Earle but was relegated to a smaller stage without him. Some said it was over Earle's use of profanity. The McCoury camp wasn't commenting on the split when St. John wrote her book, but McGee scored an interview with mandolinist Ronnie McCoury, who said that the foul language and a "generation gap" between his father and Earle indeed caused the schism (not to beat a dead horse, but comment from Earle and Del McCoury would have been helpful here). Because it was published at the end of 2005, "Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet" also includes Earle's marriage in August 2005 to singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. You can't get much more current than that.

Though it lacks the access to the subject that made "Hardcore Troubadour" an entertaining and often harrowing read, "Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet" digs deeper into the art rather than the artist and gives a more fully developed picture of that side of the story. Put them together, and you'd pretty much have the definitive Steve Earle biography. Perhaps we'll get it someday. We'll likely have to wait for Earle, who has published a collection of short stories and seems unflinchingly honest in interviews, to give us the whole story, in his own words.