Steve Earle – Feel Alright

Every so often, I always go back to Steve Earle. When he first came out, rock and country stations would play him. I was way more of a rock fan than a modern country fan, but artists like Earle and Dwight Yoakum changed that for me. They brought in the Merle Haggard and Buck Owens Bakersfield sound, which I liked. Earle also brought in a Townes Van Zant and Texas songwriting approach. I saw many of my musician friends who were songwriters starting to pick up this approach, which was great to see. 

This came off of his 1996 album I Feel Alright. It was his 6th album, and he had signed to Warner Brothers. I heard of him in the late eighties with a song called I Ain’t Ever Satisfied. I first saw him in 1989, opening up for Bob Dylan at the now-demolished Starwood Ampitheater in Nashville. He was one of the best opening acts I’ve ever seen, to that point. That night, Bob was sick (we found out later), and he only played for 45 minutes, but Steve Earle made the show worth it. I do remember someone yelling as Bob was leaving the stage, “I know you are an old son of a bitch but 45 minutes?” Bob was 48 at the time!

The album was released after Earle had successfully overcome heroin addiction and incarceration, and the lyrics matched that:  Yeah, but be careful what you wish for friend ‘Cause I’ve been to hell and now I’m back again. One critic said at the time that this album was Earle telling people in the 90s: Don’t feel bad about feeling good. The album was critically acclaimed. 

The album charted at #38 in Canada, #106 on the Billboard 100, #29 in New Zealand, and #44 in the UK in 1996. This song was released as a single but didn’t chart. 

Steve Earle:  I’m a folkie. I come from coffee houses just like Gram (Parsons), Townes (Van Zandt), Guy (Clark), and Chris (Hillman). We’re all post-Bob Dylan coffee house bred songwriters. South Texas was a great place to grow up musically, but then things really busted open when I moved to Nashville. I was still only 19 and got to see bluegrass music up close for the first time – and old-time music, music that was more from the Appalachian Mountains versus western swing – one of the main components of rock and roll in the first place. 

Feel Alright

I was born my papa’s sonA wanderin’ eye and a smokin’ gunNow some of you would live through meThen lock me up and throw away the keyOr just find a place to hide awayHope that I’ll just go away, hah

Well, I feel alrightI feel alright tonightI feel alrightI feel alright tonight

And I’ll bring you precious contrabandAnd ancient tales from distant landsOf conquerors and concubinesAnd conjurers from darker timesBetrayal and conspiracy, sacrilege and heresy

And I feel alrightI feel alright tonightI feel alrightI feel alright tonight

I got everything you won’t needYour darkest fear, your fondest dreamI ask you questions, tell you liesCriticize and sympathizeYeah, but be careful what you wish for friend‘Cause I’ve been to hell and now I’m back again

I feel alrightYeah, I feel alright tonightYeah, I feel alrightI feel alright tonight

Ywah, I feel alrightFeel alright

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

48 thoughts on “Steve Earle – Feel Alright”

  2. Nice to hear that tune again. I have not listened to Steve Earle in awhile so you no doubt have sparked a come back! He has a pretty big following in Canada, especially around my area where he has played numerous times. I have only seen him once on the Copperhead Road Anniversary tour but it was very memorable. He a surely SOB but one the most brilliant songwriters around, who I think to be honest has surpassed his heroes/mentors like Townes and Guy.

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    1. You know…whenever I post him…the readers from the UK seemed to like him just as well also. Clive from the UK just said about the same thing. It amazes me how he has translated all over.

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      3. Hang in there…my brother & his family down in Texas goes through this & power loss it seems several times in that time frame that you just gave. Here in the ‘Chicagoland’ area it’s not that extreme but severe thunderstorms & some tornado watches…just not as often as you folks in the south.

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  4. I agree that Bakersfield and Texas did a good job of shaking up the hidebound country world.

    If we’re gonna call 48 “old”, then there’s still no excuse for Pink Floyd. I saw the first show of the “Dark Side of the Moon” tour. I was expecting a long show and psychedelia like the album “Ummagumma”. We got a note for note rendition of the new album. It was over in 45 minutes. Hardly enough time for the drugs to kick in 😉

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    1. Things sure have changed. I remember when the Stones toured in 1981, it was mocked as the old man or Geritol tour. They were in their 30s at the time. Little did we know…older Blues guys had been doing it for a while but not rock guys.
      I agree with you! 45 minutes is not enough time! That surprises me about them.

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    1. It suprised me on how many people from the UK really follows him. Not sure if you are one of them but I would have never guessed that.

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    1. Yes it is…totally down to earth. I’ve had this one scheduled for a while…after the 90s he got lost in the mix with me…but later on I caught up on some. It’s cool that Canadians and people in the UK really support him.

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      2. I like backtracking like that because you can hear everything at once. I’ll wait til a HBO or whatever series is over and then I’ll get it. So I don’t mind in music either.

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  7. He is an interesting guy and helped shake conventional country up a little in the late-’80s like punk did with conventional pop in the ’70s. That input of new energy & ideas is rarely a bad thing for music.
    So what is the Texas style of songwriting you mention? Blues rock?
    Hope you keep your power there! And all your trees. This time we avoided the worst of the winds and blowing dirt here, unlike last week’s big storm

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    1. Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark…that was his two biggest idols from what I gathered. More storytelling Dave basically is what I get out of it…better written songs than just a regular pop song.
      Its BAD here right now…I don’t see us having power by the time it’s over. I hope by a miracle it goes around us but I don’t think that will happen.

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  8. dig into that movie/doc with Earle, Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark and others in something called Heartworn Highways…when they were really young and Earl still had hair (lol)…..
    speaking of Earle, his sister Stacey released one of my favorite albms of all time, dancin’ with them that brung me…I interviewed her way back when, what she went through when her brother was suffering through addiction no one should have to go through

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    1. Yea I’ve been a fan since the 1980s…he did got through a tough spot there.
      It’s terrible Warren. We had a drummer who turned into a heroin addict. Stealing, lying, and everything in between. I’m happy to say he did get off of it…not before taking off with a Fender Amp of mine to pawn it who knows where.

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      1. oh those Fender amps…I had a beautiful Princeton that I bought for $100 back in the early early 70s….I sold it when I was in Vancouver in the late 80s, I hardly used it……for fun look at how much that amp is selling for now lol?

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      2. Warren….guess what kind my was? A Princeton but not the vintage…it was from the early nineties. Oh I can only imagine how much now for your amp now. Mine is probably worth quite a bit as well…but yours would be through the roof.

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  10. Great lyrics! From the 2nd album after he kicked the drugs, Train A Comin’ (my favorite) being the first. The man has a way with lyrics and with setting a mood. I love him being in the series, Treme, also, as a street musician.

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      2. Yes he did…it was my first time seeing Dylan and I went 7 more times and Bailey and I have tickets to see him in AND Willie in June!
        You know I’m Mr Off Topic but it has Josh Brolin in it…it’s quick…under a minute about his mom and a guerrilla

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  14. Hope you’re doing OK with the storm situation. The first song of his that I was aware of was “Copperhead Road”, and I did hear it on a Classic Rock station. I worked in a restaurant at the time and we always had that station playing. The thing is, back then they would play Classic Rock, but throw in newer artists that fit the style. I remember hearing the Black Crowes and the Jayhawks for the first time on that station. Now they won’t play anything past a certain year. I had heard or read Earle’s name before that, but hadn’t heard any songs. This is a very good song. Of the albums that I’ve heard, this one and Elvis Corazon are the ones that I think are his best.

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    1. I think the worst has passed…I’m hoping anyway. After 2010 I get paranoid on flooding. It hasn’t got that bad though.
      We had a station just like that called WKDF…and they would play Beatles-Def Leppard-Genesis- The Clash- and then The Who. That is the format I always liked best.
      I know Earle but probably not as good as you…which I need to. I loved everything I’ve heard so far. I think the only album I ever had was Exit-0

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  15. A legend here in Texas. He ran with a brilliant but flawed crowd, and it showed in his songs. I’ve never seen him live because I refused to go back to Austin after they tore down the Armadillo World Headquarters and built Threadgill’s Grill in it’s place, although they had great food and some music in the beer garden.

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    1. Yea I’ve seen him that one time and that is it. I would see him again though.
      I just looked that up…it sounds like it would have been a cool place music place Phil.

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      3. Willie is slowing down because of health problems, but he still puts on a good show, and you will get your monies worth for sure. Looking forward to a review after you see the show.

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