In declaring
Copperhead Road Rock Album of the Week on October 21, 1988,
The New York Times described it as "exactly half of a brilliant album, with five smart, ornery, memorable story-songs." With references to
Bruce Springsteen,
John Mellencamp and
the Rolling Stones the paper applauded Earle for introducing country music's storytelling and three-chord structures to
rockabilly and contemporary rock music. Side two, however, the
Times dismissed as "strictly average" love songs and a "hokey" Christmas song.
Rolling Stone published their review of
Copperhead Road on January 26, 1989. Rob Tannenbaum wrote that the album "begins murderously and ends sentimentally ... split into two song cycles" and described the first side as being "as powerful as any music made this year". Of side two he admits disappointment at conventional love songs, saying Earle "has already examined this terrain and done a better job of it." Nonetheless, the review compares Earle to
Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, and
Waylon Jennings among others, and concludes with
Rolling Stones designation of Earle as an "important artist" and finding
Copperhead Road worthy of four stars. Waylon Jennings covered "
The Devil's Right Hand" on 1986's
Will the Wolf Survive. "I was a big Waylon Jennings fan", noted
Bob Seger, who covered the song on 2014's
Ride Out. "I heard 'The Devil's Right Hand' in a movie called
Betrayed in 1988. Every time I'd see it on cable, maybe once every five years, I'd say, 'Goddamn, that's a cool song. I want to do that some day.' And then, in maybe 2000, I found the movie in a movie bin, watched it and was like, 'Oh my god, Steve Earle wrote it! No wonder I like it. In 2000 it was voted number 412 in
Colin Larkin's
All Time Top 1000 Albums. ==Track listing==