"Guitar Town" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Steve Earle. It was released in June 1986 as the second single and title track from the album Guitar Town. The song reached number 7 on both the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.[2] It was Earle's highest-peaking song to date on the country charts in both the U.S. and Canada. The album version mentions a "Jap guitar", which the radio edit changes to "cheap guitar".
| "Guitar Town" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Steve Earle | ||||
| from the album Guitar Town | ||||
| B-side | ""Little Rock 'N' Roller" | |||
| Released | June 2, 1986 | |||
| Genre | country rock, rockabilly[1] | |||
| Length | 2:33 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Steve Earle | |||
| Producer(s) | Emory Gordy Jr., Tony Brown | |||
| Steve Earle singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception
editKip Kirby, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that Earle "revives the tremolo-laden guitar sound of the early '60s for this song about music and love on the road."[3]
In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #146 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[4]
Music video
editThe music video was directed by Gerry Wenner and premiered in mid-1986.
Chart performance
edit| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] | 7 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 7 |
References
edit- ^ Conrad, Karen (2016). "Steve Earle - Guitar Town". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 558.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 113.
- ^ Billboard, June 7, 1986
- ^ "The 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 24, 2014.
- ^ "Steve Earle Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
 | This 1986 country song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |