J.T.
by Steve Earle & The Dukes

From Mercury TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/04/2021 19:35 | #263832

85-90/100 (Excellent Americana album which uses all the sounds and styles available to it and churns out a brisk, touching, and gritty country rock experience.)

Steve Earle is one of the giants of country/country rock/alt-country/americana/roots rock etc etc... and I think his 1995-2000 run of 5 albums (Train A Comin, I Feel Alright, El Corazon, The Mountain, Transcendental Blues) is one of the greatest in country or americana history.

That said, I haven't come back to listen to Steve Earle since 10 years ago. I haven't listened to any of his new releases in a long while. I had not thought about him much until last year when I heard that his son Justin Townes Earle had died. I was wondering how much pain Justin's family and father was feeling.

When I saw this album on the queue I was anticipating a very sad and grief-filled release. I was anticipating a country rock Skeleton Trees. I did not get that. The grief and darkness is there but on the fringes. You have to look for the messages mixed in with the otherwise just genuinely great Americana set here. (Of course the final song "Last Words" is very directly addressing the death of Justin. Also the cover of Justin's most famous song "Harlem River Blues" is a pretty direct reference.)

On its own with no context, this album is excellent, luscious, country rock. The songs are all beautifully natural and short. The band is in top form and these songs all feel lived-in. The opener "I Don't Care" is a high-energy bluegrass barn burner. "Ain't Glad I'm Leaving" is an excellent old-time country jam, spiced up with that patented Steve Earle vocal charisma. "Maria" is a drunken country rock standout, with these really beautiful acoustic guitar touches which take the romantic sentiment to a higher level. "They Killed John Henry" is a raucous folk rock song which is irresistible (to me anyway). "Turn Out My Lights" is a sweet, romantic track filled with that same earnest loving sentiment that made some of his classic albums especially I Feel Alright stick out. "Champagne Corolla" is maybe the most badass rocker here. It has a grit and realness that can sometimes be fumbled on songs like these - but Steve fuckin Earle doesn't have to worry about fumbling that grit and realness.

And of course the cover of "Harlem River Blues" is the most gorgeous, crisp and touching moment on the whole album. That may be just due to me knowing the context, and maybe future listeners who don't know who he is covering, will think its just another good song. But there is an added emotional kick to this already sadness-drenched track. The way Earle plays it straight and fleshes out the song with excellently twanging guitars, accordion, the fiddle runs, the somewhat crunchy and distorted electric guitar parts, the way the back up vocals hauntingly end the song with everything else dropped out, oh my! It's so beautiful. When I heard Earle sing the line "Tell my mama I love her, tell my father I tried..." I got a little misty.

At its core, this is just a very very very good Americana album made by one of the best to ever do it. I won't say it is or isn't a "return to form" cuz I just don't know, as I haven't heard his albums that came just before this one. In a relative vacuum, this would still be a very good album and my favorite album of the year thus far. But add in the knowledge of what lead up to it and it hits just a bit harder.

Of course the last track "Last Words" stands apart from the rest of the album in an obvious way, lyrically and musically completely it's quite distinct. Its like this song had to be included as a final goodbye and acknowledgement of the major loss of the previous year. It's a sad, and haunting song.

"Now I don't know what I'll do
until the day I follow you
through the darkness to the light
'cause I've loved you for all your life.
Last thing I said was 'I love you'
Your last words to me were 'I love you too'"

Poor Steve Earle. Losing a son or daughter must be unlike any other heartache. Justin Townes, who went affectionately as "J.T." by his family, tragically passed in 2021 due to an overdose. Looking to channel his sorrow, Earle and his band quickly took to rehearsing and then recording JT's songs in the studio. Earle now has a trilogy of tribute albums for friends passed on: One for Guy Clark and one for Townes van Zandt, JT's namesake.

Despite the story behind the record, I don't see anything incredible about this album. Not even Earle's original song turns a head on this set.

A-Side: Harlem River Blues
B-Side: Saint of Lost Causes