The Mountain (Steve Earle album)

The Mountain
Studio album by
Steve Earle and Del McCoury Band
Released23 February 1999
Recorded1998
GenreBluegrass[1]
Length45:45
LabelE-Squared
ProducerSteve Earle, Ray Kennedy, Ronnie McCoury
Steve Earle and Del McCoury Band chronology
El Corazón
(1997) 		The Mountain
(1999) 		Transcendental Blues
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[2]
Orlando Sentinel[3]
Pitchfork8.8/10[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
The Village VoiceA−[6]

The Mountain is the eighth studio album by Steve Earle, backed by the Del McCoury Band, and released in 1999 (see 1999 in music).

The album was a significant departure from Earle's previous work, being the first wholly bluegrass album he had written. Earle made the album as a tribute to the founder of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, who had died in 1996.

The album was nominated for a 2000 Grammy Award in the "Best Bluegrass Album" category (Earle's seventh Grammy nomination). Two tracks from the album were released as singles in the UK: "Dixieland" (distributed to radio only) and "The Mountain" (a commercial release).

Emmylou Harris performed the song "Pilgrim" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on July 10, 2017.

A cover of the song The Graveyard Shift is featured on Wanda Jackson's 2012 album Unfinished Business.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Steve Earle

  1. "Texas Eagle"
  2. "Yours Forever Blue"
  3. "Carrie Brown"
  4. "I'm Still in Love With You" (Duet with Iris DeMent)
  5. "The Graveyard Shift"
  6. "Harlan Man"
  7. "The Mountain"
  8. "Outlaw's Honeymoon"
  9. "Connemara Breakdown"
  10. "Leroy's Dustbowl Blues"
  11. "Dixieland"
  12. "Paddy on the Beat"
  13. "Long, Lonesome Highway Blues"
  14. "Pilgrim"

Personnel

Additional artists
Chorus on track 14

Chart performance

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[7] 93
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 19
U.S. Billboard 200 133
Canadian RPM Country Albums 14

References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Michael B. "Steve Earle, The Del McCoury Band - The Mountain". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  2. ^ Scherman, Tony (1999-02-19). "The Mountain". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  3. ^ Gettelman, Parry (1999-03-05). "Rebel Steve Earle Is A Bluegrass Angel". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  4. ^ Lieberman, Neil (1999). "Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2004-10-28. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  5. ^ McGee, David (2004). "Steve Earle". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698.
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert (1999-03-16). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  7. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 90.