Discs; Earle reaches `Mountain'
* 02/26/99
Boston Herald
(Copyright 1999)
* STEVE EARLE AND THE DEL McCOURY BANDThe Mountain (E-Squared)4
stars
* Singer-songwriter Steve Earle's near-miraculous personal and
artistic recovery from the depths of heroin addiction culminates here
* in a pure bluegrass album that's not only thoroughly authentic, but
thoroughly great.
* Joining forces with Del McCoury's Cadillac of bluegrass bands,
Earle writes a passel of tunes that would have brought a smile to the
face of the late Bill Monroe, who inspired them. Though these songs
* are ever mindful of bluegrass tradition, they nevertheless are full
of the drama, detail, violence and psychological insight that have
always been Earle's stock in trade. Indeed, the "Harlan Man/The
Mountain" suite is, as Earle asserts in the liner notes, one of the
best things he's ever written.
And while Earle's rot-gut-and-rusty-nails gargle might come as
something of a shock to bluegrassers raised on generations of high
lonesome tenors, it's a refreshing change for a genre in which
adherence to tradition and polish can disguise a lack of soul. Earle
proves conclusively that that's one problem he will never have. -
KEVIN R. CONVEY
