This is a great guide to some of Steve Earle's finest songs. Don't worry if you cannot read music, tablature is also provided. It would be nice if a CD were included--not a CD of the original songs as sung and played by Steve, but rather a CD of just the guitar parts played according to the tab in the book. It is difficult at times to decipher the tab by listening to the original song, as Steve's gruff voice can be a little distracting. Also, one isn't 100 percent certain that the tab in the book is a perfect transcription of the way Steve plays. I think Luttjeboer (the author) has given us his interpretations for at least a couple of songs, adding his own notes here and there to create a fuller sound. If one had a CD of the tunes as played by Luttjeboer, there would be less head scratching when the tab doesn't seem to match Steve.
One surprising thing was how many songs in the book are in alternate tunings. Whenever I've seen him live, he seems to play in the key of G (not ALWAYS, but pretty often), so I was taken aback when I saw so many alternate tunings in the book. But don't let this scare you away-- alternate tunings are easy to get the hang of.
I have been playing guitar for two years, and have found this book to be right at my level-- so if you're a beginner, do not hesitate to buy this book. One can only hope that Steve will come out with another version with more songs from all of his great albums, especially the newer ones (Jerusalem and Transcendental Blues), which had not yet been created when this book was produced.