Just ahead of the release of Rodney Crowell's 2005 album The Outsider, Crowell performed a show in Glasgow, Scotland at which he played the song that would become the title track for Sex & Gasoline. David Peschek of The Guardian described it as having a "surprisingly angular guitar motif [that] scythes into lyrics about the sexual exploitation of the young." At the end of the song, someone in the Glasgow crowd yelled "Play some country!" To which, Crowell responded, "It doesn't exist anymore, haven't you heard?"Peschek, David. Rodney Crowell, King Tut's, Glasgow, The Guardian, July 28, 2005. Upon its release, The Outsider received critical acclaim. However, during the tour in support of the album, Crowell was criticized for straying from the lyrically-driven country folk sound he is known for, in favor of "bland roots-rock." During a 2006 show in San Francisco at which Crowell once again performed "Sex and Gasoline", Jim Harrington of the East Bay Times described the song as simplistic and preachy, comparing it unfavorably to the 1980s output of Glenn Frey and Phil Collins, with "pointless guitar leads ... straight out of the arena rock handbook."Harrington, Jim. Rodney Crowell set on rocking – but he’s better with country and folk, East Bay Times, January 20, 2006. Crowell later recounted how friends at a show in Ireland informed him the music was too loud, drowning out his lyrics. With Sex & Gasoline on the horizon, he chose to push his poetry to the forefront, shifting from a "bandleader to communicator."
