[.ca] Mountain

Amazon.com essential recording:
Even if it does begin with a jokey incantation of the Mickey Mouse theme song ("M-I-C-K-E-Y..."), The Mountain is Steve Earle's most traditional album, pairing country rock's most notorious miscreant with the best working band in bluegrass. Earle was inspired by a chance meeting with the late bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe, and this is his self-declared stab at musical immortality. It is easy to imagine these 14 songs sounding as good 40 years from now as they do today. The mood varies widely from triple-time breakdowns to bluesy shuffles to meditative waltzes, but there's not a missed note or strained chorus anywhere. As Earle states at the outset, "If you want to be in the band, you have to put your hat on," and the one he's wearing, at least figuratively, is 10 gallon-plus. --Keith Moerer

When country-rock icon Steve Earle teamed with blazing bluegrass act the Del McCoury Band, the result was more invigoratingly intense than even die-hard fans could have imagined. These energetic songs somehow sound innovative and timeless at the same time, merging the finest, first-person-narrated politico tunes of Springsteen or Dylan with the plaintive, hard-driving mountain wails of the Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe. Whew. --Mike McGonigal

start or end your bluegrass collection here:
I am writing this as a fan of Steve Earle, not of bluegrass. So I can't comment on whether or not Steve will attain the immortality in the genre that he admitted to striving for. He will, however, achieve immortality as one of the most undeservedly neglected songwriters of this generation though. After leaving this CD on the shelf for a number of years, and thinking of it as lesser, non-canonical Earle work, I took it out recently, and was blown away. It's a shame that Earle and Del had a falling out, because the musicianship on this disc is amazing. I like to call it banjo-fueled rock. Earle's voice is what it is (some of us love it), but there is no denying the genius of a man who can just sit down and compose an album, in a genre that he is not known for, and create an album like this. Every song is great, and some are real standouts (Texas Eagle, Dixieland, Pilgrim, etc). For my part, this album has piqued my interest to check out more bluegrass, and only deepened my appreciation for Steve Earle.

Steve brings bluegrass to a wider audience:
I was already familiar with bluegrass music when Steve recorded this album, but a lot of people who weren't also bought this album and most were pleasantly surprised at what they heard. To create an authentic bluegrass sound, Steve teamed up with the Del McCoury band, one of the finest bluegrass groups you're ever likely to hear. Steve wrote all the songs, declining the opportunity to include any covers of bluegrass standards. Given all the praise he gives Bill Monroe in the liner notes, it would have added a nice touch to hear him cover one of Bill's songs. Steve covers a variety of topics on this album, delving into American history to find inspiration for such songs as Dixieland (about the civil war of the 1860's), Leroy's dustbowl blues (set in the 1930's) and Texas eagle (about a train that runs no more). As a contrast to all the songs inspired by history, the title track describes how a mountain is stripped of trees then mined for coal, leaving a trail of environmental devastation - truly a song for the times in which we live. Harlan man is another coalmining song. There are love songs here too, including I'm still in love with you, a brilliant duet with the under-rated and under-recorded Iris DeMent. Another fine song is Carrie Brown, is about a jealous man who kills her lover and is sentenced to death for his crime. The album closes with the road song, Long lonesome highway blues, followed by the metaphorical road song, Pilgrim, which features a long guest list of harmony singers including Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch and Marty Stuart among others. This is one of the most important albums in bluegrass history. Together with Dolly Parton's Grass is blue (also released in 1999), it helped bring bluegrass to a wider audience before the further boost provided by the O brother soundtrack. If you listen to this album, you'll understand why.

Steve Earle should have left the singing to someone else.:
This would be 5 stars from me if Steve Earle had left the singing to a real bluegrass vocalist. He has the best back-up band with Del McCoury, and the songs he composed for this production are fair enough. He needs to back off the "corn" accent in his singing because it sounds contrived. And leave out the "Mickey Mouse" intro. I'm glad I bought this second-hand. I hate to think of Steve getting royalty money from me for what I take to be a little joke he is pulling over on the bluegrass fans out here.

Perfectly meshed:
Even though the style is a departure from Steve's normal work, Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band mesh perfectly on this groundbreaking album. Clearly Earle is a musical genius. He attended bluegrass camp in order to make this album and it certainly paid off. With tons of landmark songs including a few guests and an entire chorus of artists on the title track, The Mountain may very well be one of Earle's best ever. More than worth the price, this is a must-have for any Earle fan, McCoury fan, or plain lover of Americana music. This is the album that turned me on to bluegrass and Americana. Do not pass this record by. A musical achievement.

Mine, Forever Blue:
Personally, I have a deep connection to this album. I gave the cd to my dad to listen to on his way back to San Diego from LA. He called me about an hour after he left and told me that when he dies he wanted "Pilgrim" to be played at his funeral. He died suddenly in May and it was "Pilgrim" that was played at his funeral and reception afterward. The album has several other gems, as well, but this one will always live on in me. I will forever associate it with my dad's spirit. Other than that tune, the rest of the album is also excellent. The dueling banjos, the deft fiddle playing, the hearty mandolin picking all complement Earle's songwriting genius. Here's to Steve...

• Texas Eagle
• Your Forever Blue
• Carrie Brown
• I'm Still in Love With You
• Graveyard Shift
• Harlan Man
• Mountain
• Outlaw's Honeymoon
• Connemara Breakdown
• Leroy's Dustbowl Blues
• Dixieland
• Paddy on the Beat
• Long, Lonesome Highway Blues
• Pilgrim