Sidetracks

by Steve Earle

Overview

In his liner notes to Sidetracks, Steve Earle writes the following: "With the exception of the instrumentals...these (songs) are not outtakes. They are, rather, stray tracks, recorded at different times for different reasons that I am very proud of and are either unreleased or underexposed." In other words, Earle would appreciate it if you didn't call this another odds-and-sods collection and, given the consistent strength of his post-recovery body of work, he has every right to feel that way about this material. Sidetracks doesn't hold together with the cohesion of albums like I Feel Alright or The Mountain, but nothing here sounds like a leftover or something salvaged from the reject bin, either; these are solid and committed performances of good to very good songs, and they do indeed deserve wider circulation. Sidetracks also serves as a nice showcase for Steve Earle the Interpretive Singer. Since only six of the 13 tracks were written by Earle and two of those are instrumentals, for the most part you get to hear Earle try his hand at other people's songs, and for the most part he sounds great, bringing his own feisty stamp to tunes as diverse as the Flying Burrito Brothers' ode to draft dodging, "My Uncle," the reggae chestnut "Johnny Too Bad" (with Earle sounding like the first rude boy from Texas), the Chambers Brothers' psych-soul protest anthem, "Time Has Come Today" (featuring guest vocals from Sheryl Crow and ghostly samples from Abbie Hoffman; it was recorded for the soundtrack to Steal This Movie), and Nirvana's angst-fest "Breed" (actually the most faithful cover on this disc). Beyond a couple of minor quibbles (as much as one might enjoy "Creepy Jackalope Eye," the real keeper from Earle's EP with the Supersuckers was his high-attitude version of "Before They Make Me Run," which didn't make the cut here), Sidetracks is an impressive collection that makes clear Steve Earle's leftovers make for a better album than most songwriters could construct from their top-shelf work -- and that he can get over as a singer and not just as a songwriter performing his own work. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	03/12/2021
Label:	Music On Cd
UPC:	8718627232965
Rank:	146283

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Steve Earle   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Bouzouki,Mandolin,Harmonica,Harmonium,Choir/Chorus,Farfisa Organ,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Darrell Scott   Guest Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Tim O'Brien   Guest Artist,Vocals,Bouzouki,Mandolin
Abbie Hoffman   Guest Artist
Sheryl Crow   Guest Artist,Vocals
Garry Tallent   Bass
Greg Morrow   Drums,Percussion
Doug Lancio   Guitar
Joey Spampinato   Bass,Vocals
Patrick Earle   Loops,Percussion,Choir/Chorus,Drums (Snare)
Jeff Bills   Drums
Paxton Sellers   Bass
Jonathan Norris   Choir/Chorus
Dancing Eagle   Drums
David Steele   Guitar
Bill Wright   Bouzouki
The Fairfield Four   Vocals (Background)
Ken Coomer   Drums,Percussion
Kenny Vaughan   Guitar,Vocals
Dennis Crouch   Bass (Upright)
Mic Harrison   Guitar
James Blennerhassett   Bass (Upright)
Eddie Spaghetti   Bass,Vocals
Liz Kane   Fiddle
Yvonne Kane   Fiddle
Jim Murray   Guitar
Brady Blade   Drums
Brad Jones   Bass (Upright),Bass (Upright)
Joyce Redmond   Bodhran
Kelly Looney   Bass
Scott Miller   Guitar
Jerry Douglas   Weissenborn
Ray Kennedy   Guitar,Soloist
Casey Driessen   Fiddle
Noel Bridgeman   Drums
Micheal Smotherman   Choir/Chorus,Organ (Hammond)
Mary Shannon   Banjo
Danny Bland   Vocals (Background)
Charlie Chadwick   Cello,Bass (Upright)
Dan Bolton   Slide Guitar
Will Rigby   Drums,Percussion
Sharon Shannon   Accordion
Rontrose Heathman   Guitar,Slide Guitar,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Twangtrust   Compilation Producer,Mixing,Producer
Geoff Walcha   Assistant
Patrick Earle   Loop,Engineer,Assistant
Ciaran Byrne   Engineer
Brad Talbott   Design,Art Direction
Hylton Beckford   Composer
Tony Fitzpatrick   Cover Art,Illustrations
Kurt Vitolo   Management
Steve Earle   Composer
Bob Dylan   Composer
Kurt Cobain   Composer
Chris Hillman   Composer
Charles Sussman   Management
Hank Williams   Mastering
Winston Bailey   Composer
Derrick Leapold Crooks   Composer
Donna Gay   Assistant
Jon Dunleavy   Engineer
Joseph Chambers   Composer
Ray Kennedy   Engineer
Nirvana   Composer
Matt Svobodny   Engineer
Keith McDonnell   Assistant
The Slickers   Composer
Gerry Parchment   Remixing
David Fisher   Assistant
Lowell T. George   Composer
Sharon Shannon   Composer
Supersuckers   Composer
Delroy Wilson   Composer
Lowell George   Composer
Cesar Ramirez   Assistant
Brian Scheuble   Vocal Engineer
Dave Fisher   Assistant
Willie Chambers   Composer
Gram Parsons   Composer