Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Stacey opened for Steve at the HOB in LA in 1999, I think. August 24. 
She got booed by the suits who were there to see Steve, but he came
out and
chastised them.  Mark wasn't there.  I'm not sure they were married
yet. 
  

    
Thanks for that tidbit, Joyce. Stacey and Mark were together at that
time, but why he wasn't performing with her is a mystery to me--I can
only guess that he had a chance to make some money touring with someone
else, because they have been a duo almost from the time they started
playing together in the early '90s. It's nice to hear Steve came out
and took the audience to task for the way it responded to Stacey, and
I'm sure it made her feel better to hear him standing up for her.
  

    
Steve hurt a lot of people while he was using, as addicts are wont to
do.  Do you know if he "made amends" in some way to any of them?  Or
apologized for some of his behavior?  Did any of the people you
interviewed mention him doing this?

It seems that a lot of this behavior was typical of Steve in general
however, and not just the drugs.  What's your take on that?

Thanks for the update on Stacey.  I've never heard her music but it
sounds like stuff I would like so I plan to check it out.
  

    

It's been two weeks since this conversation launched, and we've just begun a
new interview here in Inkwell. That doesn't mean this discussion has to
stop, of course. You're welcome to continue as long as you wish, David, the
topic will remain open for further posts indefinitely.

If you have to get moving, we understand. Thank you so much for joining us,
and thank you, Holly, for leading the discussion.
  

    
Thanks so much, Holly and David.
  

    
Holly, part of the 12-step program that Steve rigorously adheres to is
apologizing to those you have hurt along the way, and I assume he at
least done that with family members, if not ex-wives or any other
acquaintances who had the misfortune to cross his path during those
years of madness. It's too easy and there's too much evidence to the
contrary to attribute Steve's behavior soley to his drug abuse. He
wasn't always in a deep, dark dungeon with drugs, but he always was a
driven, self-obsessed musician who was determined to make his mark. I
think what came with that was a "user" mentalit that had nothing to do
with using drugs but rather with using people to get him to the next
rung, and then discarding them when he felt secure enough to go on
alone, as he did so many times in the early days, even with people such
as Tony Brown, who basically rescued Steve from oblivion after the CBS
labels wanted nothing more to do with him. I didn't even publish
comments from a former business associate of Steve's who had nothing
but disdain for Steve--loves him as an artist but despises the man for
the way he's used people over the years, especially with regard to the
business side of his career. There were things this source told me that
would have taken the book in a direction it was not meant to go, but
should be explored by anyone else who attempts a full-on biography of
Steve. 

The interesting info I've been privy to recently is from a source
close to the Earle family and to Steve, who claims Steve has finally
read the other biography of him, "Hardcore Troubadour," and is sending
out notes of apology to friends and associates of his who were
interviewed for the book and had their comments twisted way out of
context. I hope the first notes he sent out were to his family, because
they were really hurt by that book's misrepresentation of their
history. In my view it's a dishonest and factually inaccurate book--no
source notes whatsoever, and I found the author was taking comments
Steve made in liner notes, for instance, putting quotation marks around
them and making them seem as if they were words Steve had said to her.
Another source interviewed for that book told me he granted the author
an interview based on the false pretense that she was writing a piece
about his own new album--"I was seething," this artist told me, "but I
answered her questions up to a point." So if Steve is indeed
apologizing to people for what happened in "Hardcore Troubadour," I'd
say he's doing the right thing.

To Cynthia, Bruce and Holly: I can stay here for the duration of this
week, then I'll be away for a week or so and without internet access
for a good part of that time, or only sporadic internet access at best.
So we can keep this going through Friday, if there's any interest.
That said, I appreciate this opportunity to talk about a book to which
I gave a lot of time and effort to, and I hope I get an opportunit to
return to this forum come the next book. Sincere thanks all around.
I've really enjoyed this and the B.B. King forum tremendously. --David
  

    

most enlightening.  I've seen Stacey perform, she's a talented smart
charming woman.  Occasionally there's a little tinge of Nancy Griffith, but
just  vaguely.  Holly I'll try to dig out a CD I have for you.

Toby Keith and Steve Earle seem to me to inhabit different universes (now
that's an awkward word) and do not at all seem to me to be two sides of any
coin.  It's like saying Neil Young is the other side of Donald Rumsfeld or
something.

Did anyone see the Townes van Zandt movie?  Steve is in there a lot, and
seems really sweet!  I can't really recommend the film, since a large
portion of it featured the camera pointing towards the sky and twirling
around.
  

    
Coming in a little late here, but one of my favorite local bands sang
"Jerusalem" tonight, and it occurred to me, it belongs in a hymnal.  The
message is very appropriate today, but I think it always will be.