Steve Earle & The Dukes: Live At The Continental Club In Austin Texas
Steve Earle & The Dukes
Live at the Continental Club In Austin Texas
The opener of Steve Earle & The Dukesâ Live At The Continental Club In Austin Texas, a cover of âAre You Sure Hank Done It This Way,â roils up off of one chord progression. Itâs not very hard to get grabbed, locked, and deeply infected by Earleâs tunes. With his chunkinâ 5- piece behind him, thereâs no getting out of this mess not that youâd want to anyway.
Tunes like the smashing guitar jangle of âGuitar Town,â âHillbilly Highway,â and the truly perfectly sad, âMy Old Friend The Blues,â are included on this 2-sided, 21-song, run-through of Earleâs long career.
The raucous anti-gun tune, âThe Devilâs Right Hand,â the mandolin/fiddle jig of âDominic Street/The Galway Girl,â and of course one of Earleâs biggest and baddest, the low roiling âCopperhead Road,â are all here. âGoodbye Michelangeloâ is real basic, built mainly round Earleâs acoustic, his stained jangle sneer-of-a-vocal, and his wonderful band laying back subtly. Kelley Looney is on bass, Brad Pemberton, drums, Eleanor Whitmore, handles fiddle, mandolin and vocals, Chris Masterson is on guitar and vocals, Chris Clack plays keys, accordion, and acoustic guitar, and Ricky Ray Jackson plays pedal. Itâs one of the better tunes here, out of a whole bunch of great tunes. And âAmanda,â a plodding love song, sees Earle laying himself pretty much bare with some beautiful female backing vocals from Whitmore. Itâs another standout.
Near the end of the record Earle manages more covers, a noisy electric stompinâ âHey Joe,â and an even louder âWild Thing,â the very last song here and the heaviest of the bunch.
Steve Earle & The Dukesâ Live At The Continental Club In Austin Texas is a great live recording of what one of Americaâs greatest is still capable of.