Steve Earle Releasing Hank Williams Cover, 'Treme' Song for Record Store Day

Posted on Apr 15th 2011 4:30PM by Dan Reilly
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Charley Gallay

For anyone heading out for Record Store Day, you've got one more item to add to your shopping list. The legendary Steve Earle is releasing a limited-edition vinyl single with an A-side cover of Hank Williams' 'I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive' and his Emmy-and-Grammy-nominated track 'This City' as the B-side.

The first track is a special treat for his fans, as it shares its title with Earle's upcoming T Bone Burnett-produced album and his debut novel. The book, due out May 12, is about a corrupt doctor who is haunted by the ghost of Hank Williams. The song, originally released in 1952, was the last single ever released in Williams' lifetime, and Earle's cover is a bonus track that does not appear on the album. Fans can also download the single and a chapter of the book for free via Earle's official Facebook page.

'This City,' on the other hand, appears on both the album and the soundtrack to 'Treme,' the New Orleans-based HBO drama on which he's an actor. The song was written about the city's vitality and closed the first season of the show. As Earle tells Spinner, he recorded it in New Orleans "because I would go to hell if I hadn't."

'This City' is one of the most fulfilling experiences I've ever had in writing a project specifically for something as a songwriter," he says. "To be asked to write that song ... I think it's one of the best songs I've ever written."

The special-edition single will be limited to 2,600 hand-numbered, translucent-red copies. The 'I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive' album will be available April 26 via New West Records.

Watch Steve Earle Perform 'This City' Live