"You gotta love him...I don’t know if I ever told him how good he was."
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"Howie Epstein was a kind, patient, and extremely talented musician. He took two years out of his life and dedicated his undivided attention to the making of two of my records. Those records changed my life thanks to Howie."
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Before his death in 2003, Howie Epstein played in bands with John Hiatt and Tom Petty and on recordings by Bob Dylan, John Prine and many others. He has a pre-history few people remember. Before leaving Milwaukee in the mid-'70s, Epstein sharpened his skills with local groups such as The Craze and Forearm Smash. He aspired to be a songwriter.

Early Tracks sounds pretty good for a bedroom session back in the years when digital recording was science fiction. With their echoes of The Raspberries, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry, these melodic demos show Epstein working in the style that would soon be dubbed "power pop" and be deeply indebted to the classic verities of the most tuneful rock 'n' roll of previous decades.
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The late Howie Epstein worked with the greats of rock 'n' roll - John Hiatt, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Johnny Cash and most notably as the bass player in Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - but never released any music of his own.

After his tragic death due to drug use in 2003, his brother Craig decided it was time for the world to hear it - everything from the demos Epstein recorded in his bedroom at age 16 to the more polished studio stuff from his later years.

The first installment is out. Looking like a bootleg, Early Tracks has a scruffy charm to it, with Epstein often playing all the instruments as he fleshed out pop-and-folk inspired tunes, many surprisingly mature for his tender age.

The plan is three installments: this collection of early years, a disc of cover songs, and a third disc of songs found in Epstein's Los Angeles studio after he died.

Grand Hotel shows an early sense of melody that became a hallmark of Epstein's work, with a loping bass line sounding like John Wesley Harding-era Dylan. The brooding Francis Street is a low-key ballad moving toward Byrds territory, which made it a no-brainer when Petty pinched Epstein from Del Shannon's band when the Heartbreakers needed a new bass player.

Fans who like what they hear can get a view of what's coming up later in the series. Sadly, someone ransacked Epstein's studio near Santa Fe after his death, so a wealth of music there is gone. The tapes of his most recent songs need extensive restoration before they can be played, so that project remains down the road.

Anyone looking for a taste of his cover songs, however, can go to Epstein's MySpace page, where the music streaming includes a lovely version of Hiatt's She Don't Love Nobody.

Early Tracks is available on CD through CDBaby.com and can be downloaded there and on iTunes.

Howie Epstein: Early Tracks, Vol. 1
Grade: B+
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