, No. 50 in Best Country: its debut-album origins, songwriting credit, producers, and official music video.){kind=link}
No. 50 in our Best Country Songs countdown. “Guitar Town” is the Steve Earle song that gives his 1986 debut album its name. Earle wrote and recorded the title, bringing his own songwriting to the front of the record that introduced him to a wider audience.
Official source: Recording Academy — 1987 Best Country Song credits.
The song and the 1986 album
Guitar Town was released on March 5, 1986, and produced by Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr. The title song opens the original ten-track album. Other songs on the record include “Goodbye’s All We’ve Got Left,” “Hillbilly Highway,” “My Old Friend the Blues,” and “Someday.”
Official source: Universal Music Canada / MCA Nashville — release history and original track list.
In its account of the album’s history, the label describes Earle’s combination of country music and rock ’n’ roll, alongside songs about working lives, small-town ambitions, and being away from family on the road.
Songwriting recognition
“Guitar Town” received a nomination for Best Country Song at the 1987 GRAMMY Awards. The Recording Academy credits Steve Earle as both songwriter and performer. Its artist archive separately lists Guitar Town, the album, as a nominee for Best Country Vocal Solo Performance, Male, that year.
Official source: Recording Academy — Steve Earle’s awards archive.
Steve Earle’s breakthrough
Earle’s official biography identifies Guitar Town as his 1986 breakthrough record and places it within a career shaped by the songwriting of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. The album’s place in his story is also documented by MCA Nashville’s thirtieth-anniversary release announcement.
Official source: Steve Earle — official biography.
The No. 50 used here is the position in the Best Country list reproduced by Aztechin, which attributes the selection to Rolling Stone USA.
Ranking source (secondary): Aztechin — list credited to Rolling Stone USA.
For another song nominated in the same 1987 songwriting category, explore Dwight Yoakam’s “Guitars, Cadillacs.” Continue through our Best Country selections, Nos. 41–50.
Watch the official music video
Official video: SteveEarleVEVO.