Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle - Hardcover

St. John, Lauren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007149425 ISBN 13: 9780007149421

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2003

Synopsis

A biography of a legendary singer and song-writer, written with his exclusive and unfettered cooperation, this is the life behind the award-winning and bestselling albums of Steve Earle, rebel, rocker, Nashville legend.

Steve Earle is the musicians’ idol – ‘my hero’ to Emmylou Harris – who has said of his life that ‘If I’d known I was going to live this long I’d have taken better care of myself.’ He was taking heroin at thirteen, and by the age of forty was mired in a seemingly permanent ‘vacation in the ghetto’ as he described his life then. In and out of jail for a variety of offences, Earle seemed determined to make good on his boast that when the end of the world came (and it seemed pretty close at times) only he, Keith Richards and the cockroaches would be left standing. Not yet fifty, he has been married six times, twice to the same woman, and amazingly forgiven by almost all of the ex-wives. In moments of consciousness he has, through sheer musical ability, shared a stage with, among others, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, the Pogues and Bob Dylan. He’s a legend, and one of the most gifted songwriters of his generation. He has poured a lot of living into those songs. Nashville just wouldn’t be the same without him.

About this title

Review:

"Could be I'm just some Big City sucker for a hard-rocking, Nietzsche-reading, Che Guevara-quoting redneck country singer, but ...if Steve Earle isn't a Great American, he'll have to do until the real thing comes along."- Mark Jacobson, Men's Journal reviewing Steve Earle's bestselling story collection ‘Doghouse Roses’.

From the Publisher:

Howard Frank Mosher, author of A Stranger in the Kingdom writes 'The Dixie Chicks tell us in their latest album that the gritty, authentic tradition of Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Sr. is 'a long time gone' from today's sanitized studios on Music Row. But as Lauren St John makes abundantly clear in Hardcore Troubadour, her wonderfully spirited and sympathetic new biography of Steve Earle, Earle is a worthy successor to the all-time greats of country and Americana music. Hardcore Troubadour is a fast-paced, clear-eyed celebration of a superb singer/songwriter and a marvelously generous man. Over many years of tumult and triumph, Steve Earle has had the courage to explore places in his heart that most songwriters only dream of reaching.'

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0007149425
• ISBN 13: 9780007149421
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416