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"Guitar Town" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Steve Earle. It was released in June 1986 as the second single and title track from the album Guitar Town. The song reached number 7 on both the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. It was Earle's highest-peaking song to date on the country charts in both the U.S. and Canada. The album version mentions a "Jap guitar", which the radio edit changes to "cheap guitar".

Critical reception

Kip Kirby, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that Earle "revives the tremolo-laden guitar sound of the early '60s for this song about music and love on the road."

In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #146 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.

Music video

The music video was directed by Gerry Wenner and premiered in mid-1986.

Chart performance

References

1. Conrad, Karen (2016). "Steve Earle - Guitar Town". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 558.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 113.
3. Billboard, June 7, 1986
4. "The 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 24, 2014.
5. "Steve Earle Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

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• 1986 singles
• Steve Earle songs
• Songs written by Steve Earle
• Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer)
• Song recordings produced by Emory Gordy Jr.
• MCA Records singles
• Songs about Nashville, Tennessee
• 1986 country song stubs