Waiting for “Washington Square Serenade”

Next week’s release of “Washington Square Serenade” more or less marks a significant music anniversary for me: My 20th year as a Steve Earle fan.

The first time I heard Earle was the summer of 1987. I walked into my part-time job at DeOrsey’s Records and Tapes in my hometown of Lewiston, Maine, and heard “Nowhere Road” on the house system. I didn’t know the song title. Nor did I know the singer. It sounded twangy, like country, but the keyboards threw me.

After I expressed interest in hearing more, my boss made me a tape with the album from which the song came, “Exit 0,” on one side. On the other side was a record that in time I would grow to appreciate even more – “Guitar Town.”

I’m sure I said it then, but I’m repeating it now. Thank you, Tom Munsey.

“Exit 0” and “Guitar Town” opened my mind to the idea that country music could be cool. From there, many more great discoveries were made. The chance hearing of the former album also started me on a two-decade journey during which I’ve snapped up every new release from one of America’s great singer-songwriters. There have been several twists and turns along the way, not all of them anticipated but almost all of them enjoyable.

It takes a special kind of musician to hold a fan’s interest for 20 years. As I write this, I’m not wondering what The Outfield is doing these days. OK, that last sentence made me curious. I looked them up on All Music Guide, and discovered that they released a disc last year. Anyway, I drifted away from The Outfield (and a lot of other bands) after the mid-’80s, but I stuck with Steve Earle. And he stuck around, sometimes against the odds. The quality of his work isn’t a mystery; he learned at the feet of two master craftsmen – Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt.

As I began to anticipate the release of “Washington Square Serenade,” I pulled Earle’s back catalog off my CD shelves and put the albums back in heavy rotation. Listening chronologically, three distinct phases of Earle’s career began to emerge. I could go into much more detail about each album, but this isn’t so much a career overview as it is one fan’s observations. What I noticed was three periods of intense creativity, each followed by a break and then step in a different direction:

1986-91: Good Ol’ Boy to “Vacation in the ghetto”
The first phase, and the one during which I got my introduction, was kick-started by Earle becoming a major-label artist on MCA. “Guitar Town” introduced him as one of the new wave of country stars, along with Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis. The record was rooted in small-town stories and dreams of getting out. The title track is largely autobiographical, as he proves in concert by punctuating the line “Everybody told me you can’t get far / On 37 dollars and a Jap guitar” by yelling, “Watch!”

“Early Tracks” was compiled with the hopes of capitalizing on the buzz Earle created with “Guitar Town.” Unfortunately, the material he recorded between 1982 and 1985 had little in common with his newfound success, because he was being marketed as a rockabilly artist.

“Exit 0” had more in common with “Guitar Town” than did “Early Tracks,” especially in subject matter, but it too was a bit of a departure. The album was made with his touring band, the Dukes, and the presence of organ gave it a bit of a rock-and-roll touch. This was particularly true on the Doug Sahm-like “San Antonio Girl” on Side 2.

With “Copperhead Road,” Earle was already pushing away from country music. The title track, a story-song about a descendant of moonshiners, gave Earle a presence on rock radio. So did “Back to the Wall,” which addressed the plight of the homeless.

“The Hard Way,” made while Earle was descending into heroin and cocaine addiction, is a ragged rocker, though it also contains his first death-penalty ballad, “Billy Austin.”

By the time the live “Shut Up and Die Like an Aviator” came out in 1991, MCA was ready to cut ties with Earle. It’s little surprise, given his drug addiction and sales that failed to match his reviews. What’s surprising to me now is that at the time I didn’t realize what bad shape he was in. It’s kind of like the revelation that Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford is gay. At the time it was shocking. Now, it makes sense. Listening to this album today, it’s obvious that Earle’s voice is shot. This was his last hurrah before his “vacation in the ghetto,” and the jail term that probably saved his life.

1995-2000: The train to transcendence
Earle emerged from jail clean and sober, and 1995’s acoustic “Train a Comin’” got him back on track as a recording artist. Cut for independent Winter Harvest Records,” the album featured songs he had written years earlier and some choice covers. I was actually kind of lukewarm about this album when it came out, probably because I was used to Steve Earle the roots-rocker. In time, though, “Train a Comin’” has become one of my favorites.

By 1996, Earle was back to his old, prolific self. “I Feel Alright” proclaimed as much, and it proved that he had his swagger back. He was just getting warmed up.

In 1997, he proved that he was back to stay with the eclectic “El Corazon.” The opener, “Christmas in Washington,” has been a mainstay in Earle’s set lists since. It’s got many other high points, including the bluegrassy “You Know the Rest” (with the Del McCoury Band), the R&B-tinged “Telephone Road,” the hard-rocking “N.Y.C.,” and the touching tribute to Van Zandt, “Ft. Worth Blues.”

The more diverse Steve Earle dipped into the bluegrass well again in 1999 with “The Mountain.” After having the Del McCoury Band guest on “El Corazon,” Earle made a whole album of bluegrass originals with them. He showed that he had a knack for that genre as well, and they were a popular draw on the festival circuit. Unfortunately, a falling out between Earle and Del McCoury has prevented further collaborations.

Earle continued to explore his own musicianship with 2000’s “Transcendental Blues,” and album that brought to light his devotion to the “Revolver”-era Beatles as well as his country, rock, bluegrass and singer-songwriter forebears. Then he took a break for a couple years. He released the stray-dogs collection “Sidetracks” in 2002, the same year he started to really apply his activism to his music.

2002-04: Ringing of revolution
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, 2002’s “Jerusalem” brought Steve Earle into the spotlight in a big way. “John Walker’s Blues,” written from the point of view of notorious “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh, had people up in arms and had Earle making the talk show circuit to explain that his story-song wasn’t taking sides. But the album made clear that Earle was plenty disillusioned with America just the same. “Ashes to Ashes,” “Amerika v. 6.0,” “The Truth” and “Conspiracy” posed tough questions about a United States that was far from holding together, with a widening gulf between rich and poor. Still, it ended on a hopeful note with the title track, a prayer for peace in the Middle East and beyond.

“Just an American Boy,” an “audio documentary” to the 2003 Amos Poe documentary film of the same name, captures Earle live on the “Jerusalem” tour. Unlike “Shut Up and Die Like an Aviator,” it captures him at the peak of his powers. Everything you know about Earle as a performing artist is here: the activism, the progressive politics, the preaching to the choir the colorful stories and the great songs.

“The Revolution Starts … Now” was in many ways more pointed politically than “Jerusalem.” There’s a good reason for that: Earle was aiming squarely at the 2004 presidential election with its release. It’s for that same reason that it’s a bit of a disappointment. You can’t help but get the feeling that he rushed it out before the election, even though it was aimed at fans with liberal leanings. It’s not a bad album, especially as calls to arms go, but three years later and with little changed – Bush still in office, America still at war and another election on the horizon – it’s natural to wonder about what this album might have been.

Goodbye, Guitar Town
Now, after a three-year hiatus, Earle is recharged and seemingly ready to head in yet another direction. Like the man’s song says, he ain’t ever satisfied. He has said in interviews that, for the first time, he has “tested positive for Pro Tools.” Production methods aside, early reports indicated that “Washington Square Serenade” is a more personal, less political record. Articles about the album all seem to focus on the opener, “Tennessee Blues,” in which Earle, who has settled in New York City with wife Allsion Moorer, bids goodbye to “Guitar Town.” In spirit, at least, Earle bid Nashville farewell long ago.

I’ll be picking up “Washington Square Serenade” somewhere on Tuesday. Hopefully, there will be many more release dates to relish in the future. Whether the destination has been “Exit 0” or Greenwich Village, the ride has been fulfilling.