Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle

by Lauren St. John

If Steve Earle weren't a living, breathing person he'd be a character in a blues song, a raucous ballad that would tell the tale of a gifted rebel who drank too much, lost his career and almost all of his women in a blizzard of heroin and crack-cocaine addiction, and lived wildly and extravagantly on the wrong side of the law. Along the way, Earle has welded rock to country, the Beatles to Springsteen, Celtic to Americana, punk to bluegrass and has produced multiple Grammy-nominated albums and one enduring Guitar Town. Like Hank Williams and Robert Johnson he has wandered across the American South; like Janis Joplin he has a huge capacity for self-destruction that matches an appetite for life in all its extremes. Like Stephen Foster, he is a storyteller and songwriter of rare skill and force whose sincerity echoes through all his work. A heroin addict since the age of fourteen, six times married to five different women, a man who took a four-year 'vacation in the ghetto', Steve Earle none the less survived. And he came back with an artistic and personal vision intact, determined to change society for the better even as he seemed set to live his life for the worse. Lauren St John has been allowed unrestricted access and cooperation by Steve, his family and friends. In exchange, she has written a hauntingly clear-eyed, unvarnished and uncompromising life of one of American music's talismanic sons.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Musicians

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Lauren St John grew up on a farm and game reserve in Africa, the inspiration for her acclaimed memoir, Rainbow's End, and her award-winning White Giraffe series for children. Dead Man's Cove, the first in her Laura Marlin mystery series, won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2011. Her bestselling One Dollar Horse trilogy for teenagers was followed by The Glory, a breathtaking YA adventure and romance about a long distance horse race across the American West. Formerly a sports and music journalist, Lauren is the author of Seve and Hardcore Troubador: the Life & Near Death of Steve Earle, a superb, gripping biography of an Americana legend. The Obituary Writer, her first adult novel, was published in 2014 and she is currently at work on her second. Both The White Giraffe and The Glory have been optioned for film.

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Motherfuckin' Earle, y'all. Bow down to my favorite socialist cowboy.

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an adventure and roller coaster ride, never a dull moment. You learn so much about who Steve Earle is through interviews with his family, friends and ex wives. He is all about family, and stops everything to be there for them when needed, got a groupie pregnant, had many lovers while married(no surprise, really)he loves children, but during his darkest point in his life he and fourth wife who he married twice had an abortion. His crazy wild marriages, especially to his second wife was a trip to read about.(Nutso!) And you feel really sorry for his first wife. His third wife who is his son Justin Townes Earle's mother seems like a very sweet woman. Steve had a bit of a crush on Emmylou Harris and she reminded him of her. If you're also a fan of JTE's music you'll get to know a bit more about him and his childhood. The book starts off light hearted about Steve's childhood and quickly gets darker and then when you think it can't get any darker, it takes you into the pits of hell that was Steve's life before getting clean. We all know he had a drug problem and that it was bad, but here you really see how so much worse it was than you can ever imagine, and leaves you wondering how he survived. Family and everyone interviewed for the book was extremely honest about the horrors, and it's very sad. This man went through a lot and put everyone he cared about through a lot. You get to understand why he has been married so many times, he could be very charming and very mean. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Steve's memoir "I can't remember if we said goodbye" i'm sure we'll get to see who he is on the inside and how he felt and deals with the things he's done and the life he lived.

[D.B. Pacini · Rating 5 out of 5]

SKILLED AUTHOR: I've read unauthorized accounts of the astonishing personal and incredible musical story of Steve Earl's life. I was particularly interested in reading this book because author Lauren St John was granted unrestricted and candid access to information by Steve Earl and his acquaintances. I imagined that such a book would be worth reading. It definitely was. St John did a fabulous and comprehensive job. If you know anything at all about Steve Earle you appreciate that being comprehensive about him is no small feat.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not generally a fan of music biographies but I really enjoyed this one. It's a fairly quick read and the story rolls along at a good pace. A must for Steve Earle fans. I really enjoyed reading it while listening to his back catalogue. Really gives you a sense of the breadth and depth of his talent.

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy stories from a crazy life that's somehow still goin'. Noteable quote:
"She could match me drink for drink and suck the chrome off a trailer hitch, and I was twenty-one years old, how the hell was I supposed to know it wasn't love?"

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle says it all: Earle is lucky to be alive. This was a great look at the career of Steve Earle, and the drug addictions that almost brought everything tumbling down in a heap.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earleby Lauren St. John (Fourth Estate 2003) (782.4216) (3503).

There is absolutely no reason that Steve Earle should still be alive.

This is the story of troubled country rock 'n roll bad boy Steve Earle of “Guitar Town” and “Copperhead Road” fame. His mentor and hero was the celebrated songwriter Townes Van Zandt who was best known for penning “Pancho and Lefty.”

This book pulls no punches: Steve Earle was once one of the two biggest dope fiends on planet earth. Heroin and crack cocaine were his drugs of choice; he was a junkie with a capital “J”. The only comparable addiction I have ever heard of was that fool David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and sometimes Young. (David Crosby has since been written off by his sole remaining apologist Graham Nash. Graham Nash alone stood solidly in support of David Crosby at the lowest point of Crosby's addiction to heroin and cocaine, and Nash saw Crosby through to recovery. I'm not sure what Crosby has since done to alienate Nash, but it had to have been something major and something awful.)

Steve Earle eventually survived his drug addiction.

If there was ever a book which spelled out in no uncertain terms the dangers and the heartbreak of substance abuse, this is it.

The trail of destruction, ex-wives, abandoned children, and splintered relationships left in Earle's wake is just a small part of this terrible saga.

My rating: 7/10, finished 1/30/21 (3503). I purchased a used PB copy in very good condition from McKay's Books in Knoxville, Tennessee on 1/21/21 for $1.50.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

[Michelle Arthington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a hard slog through Steve's early years and drug years. I am waiting for the day when he writes his own autobiography, as the writing/editing was not close to par. I learned some things about one of my favorite singer/songwriters during the course of this book, including many stones which I wish had been left unturned.

I was there at the Backstage in Seattle during the final "Train A'Comin'" show. I have been to one of his incredibly honest book signings, and we have chatted after shows, and even at the Nashville airport. He is a survivor, and an incredibly talented human being. Rock on, Steve Earle.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Steve Earle, and this biography goes into the life events happening around each album, which is terrific. However, there were so many drugs and guns and booze, etc. that it made me decide not to read any more biographies about druggies, as I always can't help but put myself in the protagonist's shoes and this was almost too much. Goes to how well-deserved the subtitle really is. Thankfully, this artist has been clean for many years and will hopefully be around a while longer.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally don’t bother with writing reviews - I just rate the books and move on - but I felt like I had to say something about Hardcore Troubadour. Steve Earle has got an incredible story, but I’m not certain Lauren St. John was the voice to tell it. An English writer of children’s animal stories somehow doesn’t capture what, in my mind, Steve Earle is all about.

St. John’s writing is awkward at times and at other times veers into the strange, such as when she quotes Earle as using the word “bonnet” in reference to a car hood. I obviously don’t know Steve Earle, but I have lived in Texas and my guess is that he has never in his life used the word bonnet in the context of an automobile. St. John also annoyingly refers several times to the band Tesla as Tessler and spells Steven Tyler’s first name as “Stephen.” Whether this is sloppy proofreading or an overall lack of familiarity with her broader subject is a question I was left asking.

I very recently read Rocks, Joe Perry’s autobiography, and I think Earle could have benefited from writing his story his way guided by a co- (or ghost- ) writer. I realize Hardcore Troubadour is 10 years old now, but my hope is that at some point Steve Earle will write his own story in his own, truer, voice.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography is well-researched, full of detail, and well-written. Lauren St. John does her best to keep up with the frenetic pace of Earle's life, and she does a good job capturing the energy of Earle's life and music.

However - like many music biographies - this book could definitely have used a stronger editorial hand. In addition to numerous copyediting problems (random typos, alternate spellings, and several pages where paragraphs are not indented), the chapter breakdown doesn't seem to make much sense. Many of the chapters drag on, and don't seem to make up any meaningful division of content or theme. Some material is repeated, and it's sometimes hard to keep track of the timeline of events - especially in the early chapters. Finally, there are numerous characters introduced, then dropped until they're brought back in by first name several pages later. I almost had to make a chart to keep track of the characters.

That said, this is a fantastic introduction to the life of a living American legend, and arguably the most talented songwriter of his generation.

(Edited 6/4: Corrected my typo, underscoring my point about the need for good editing -bmk)

[Kevin]

Really enjoyed this; read as I dig into Steve's catalog as homework for seeing him headline a festival in about a week and a half. Surprised this isn't a 4+ average here because I thought it was really well done. Would be interested in an update on the last twenty years of his life, but I gather that's a story that Steve himself will tell, especially in the light of Justin's passing.

Every other chapter or so I was reminded that the author was raised outside of the US with phrases like "hit her for six" and the like, which was a fun bonus.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Steve Earle's music, so I got his biography as soon as I heard about it. It's always great to read a detailed account of the life of an artist I really like. His music and opinions reflect the struggles he's faced, and the book makes me appreciate his songs even more. He's a bad-ass romantic. And he guest stars on the Wire (best show of all time), so the man's practically a god in my opinion.

[Vic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about one of my favorite singer/songwriters. As I've found with most books about musicians with addictions(Eric Clapton, Warren Zevon), they're real assholes. Until they recover.

However, this book desperately needed an editor. Misused words, misnamed Nashville landmarks(Lime Balls, instead of Linebaugh's.... jeez...)... and these are just some that I caught.

[Courtney Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book of a greatly underappreciated musician.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I am incredibly interested in the life and times of Steve, I felt the writing to be much too dry. I prefer Steve Earle's own 'I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive'.

[Esteban Stipnieks · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old cross-country teammate plays fiddle for him..... Eleanor Whitmore. She posed single finger extended wearing a rainbow lettered T-shirt abort Abott. Had she found out what another set of classmates who knew as well a Latino the P-I-N-C-H-E Gruene-ga would have had heart attack had she known what Latinas and Lationos who walked New BRaunfels high with Leigh Nash thought of O'Rouke. When I had a visceral reaction to Garth Brooks, Ricky Van Shelton this musc SUCKS. Well it was because in the 1980s I was familar in part with Steve Earle. Hearing Guitar Town well many an hour has been spent on the roads between New Braunfels and Harrogate TN. The book was interesting considering I bought it within spitting distance of a sleazy motel off Broadway in where he did Heroin for the first time... An enlightening biography

[Josh Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are unfamiliar with Steve Earle, I suggest you listen to Guitar Town, My Old Friend the Blues, Copperhead Road and Goodbye as a primer. He was amongst the first alt-country (The un-shitty country) artists in the 80's along with Rodney Crowell, Roseanne Cash, Ricky Skaggs and Lyle Lovett. His music was "too rock to be country and too country to be rock." It was hard to find an audience at first because neither format would play him on the radio. A lot of rock autobiographies discuss their drug use, none of them that I have read to this point, break down entirely the process and the withdrawals like he does here, it's pretty graphic and detailed. He also is a hard-core anti death penalty advocate and discusses that in great detail. There are some minor grammatical and editing errors, but, overall, this is a really good book about a fascinating, off the fringes artist.

B

[Chip Rickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about a larger than life figure in the music industry. It was a very thoroughly researched biography with unlimited access to Earle's family, friends and wives. I wish the book could have covered more of his recent life but that was obviously impossible. Reading this book you marvel why he is still alive. The author is English and some of her syntax is different and I understand there's a few errors in there but these things happen. Another reviewer called it a "roller coaster ride" and that's what it was.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I read about one of my favorite performers I am hit with the thought that most of these people are NOT great people and have done some bad things...oddly enough, only Keith Richards' autobiography read by Keith himself is the only one in which the performer seems better to me by the end of the book than he or she was at the start.

This book ends before the present Steve is a thing (TV, movies, death of son Justin).

[Brian Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wild book. By all accounts Steve Earle should be dead. Hooked on drugs and in and out of jail. A wild man with immense musical talent. Steve is my favorite country singer even though I am not a communist like he seems to be. I recommend this book even to people who have never heard of him. One ironic thing many years after this book was published Steve's son who was a musician died from a drug overdose.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating biography on Steve Earle, country rocker who has been married seven times and narrowly escaped his addiction to crack and heroin after spending time behind bars in the early 90s. Earle embodies the rock and roll lifestyle which makes a biography on him so fascinating. This was well written and fun to read.

[Eric Facon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a life one of America's best songwriters has lead. Even though I met the man a couple of times, this added new insight. A bit short on the music past the first album, maybe, but that's a minor grumble

[Mark Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Bio from one of America's great songwriters. Hard to put down.

[Dayva · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only this book never ended! So good, but, so much has happened since. Really loved it!

[Alec Downie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love Alt/Outlaw Country and tales of guilt, redemption and the truth, then this well wriiten auto-bio is well worth the effort.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

My suggestion: Listen to Earle's music and marvel at his talent. And they to ignore the misery he created for 30+ years for everyone around him.

[Charlene Gottfried · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book to read if you are a Steve Earle fan.

[Peter Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If Steve Earle weren't a living, breathing person, he'd be a character in a blues song -- a raucous ballad about a gifted rebel who drank too much, lost most of his women in a blizzard of crack and cocaine addiction, and always came out on the wrong side of the law. Somewhere in the midst of all this, he also managed to weld rock to country, the Beatles to Springsteen, and bluegrass to punk, establishing himself among the most thoroughly original and politically astute musicians of his generation. Granted unrestricted access to Steve and his family and friends, Lauren St John has given us a sometimes shocking, often moving, and completely unvarnished biography of one of America's most talismanic sons."

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hardcore Troubador," subtitled "The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle." Steve Earle is another of my songwriting heroes. The author, Lauren St. John, originally from Africa, doesn't soft-peddle or hide Earle's drug addictions and 6 marriages, but at the same evidences great appreciation for his lyrics and great musical skills. This is a really good book, for those who would know more about the Americana/Folk-Rock/ Texas Country genre. Unlike my earlier panning of the dude who butchered the name of Townes Van Zant (Earle's mentor and friend), this author did a fine and honorable reflection. I commend it.