Joe Ely

Joe Ely

Joe Ely (born February 9, 1947 in Amarillo , Texas ) is an American country and rock singer and songwriter .

Career

Childhood and youth

Joe Ely grew up in Amarillo, Texas . At the request of his parents, he first studied classical music and took violin lessons at the age of eight . For three years he played in the school orchestra. But his passion was rock 'n' roll and country music . At the age of eleven, Ely moved with his parents to Lubbock , the hometown of Buddy Holly . At thirteen, Ely sold his violin to switch to the electric guitar . At the age of fifteen he made his first appearances on the local rock scene in his homeland with his band The Twilights . At seventeen, Ely dropped out of college to devote herself to music. Turbulent years followed in which he found it difficult to stay afloat. In 1969 he became a member of a New York theater group and accompanied them on a European tour a year later. For a short time he worked with the avant-garde artist Eberhard Schoener in Munich . After returning to the USA, he was back as a musician.

Flatlanders

With his former school friends Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock , Ely founded the country formation Flatlanders in 1970 , which is now considered one of the pioneers of the alternative country movement. The Flatlanders' debut album, however, remained unreleased and the three musicians fell apart again. Ely then worked for a time as a zookeeper in the Ringling Brother Circus in 1974, where he was seriously injured by a horse's hoof kick.

Solo career

In 1975 Joe Ely founded his own band, which dominated a wide musical spectrum - country, blues, honky-tonk , rock'n'roll, Cajun and Tex-Mex . The debut album Joe Ely , produced in 1977 for the MCA label , did not sell well, but met with broad approval from critics and the music scene. The Melody Maker even named it "Country Album of the Year". Ely's second album, Honky Tonk Masquerade , with which accordionist Ponty Bone joined the band, is still considered one of his best today. The subsequent Down On The Drag produced by Bob Johnston , however, could not convince. Even so, Ely and his band grew in popularity. This resulted mainly from their frequent live performances. Since Ely also played and recorded songs by his former Flatlanders colleagues Hancock and Gilmore, these also gained popularity in the wake of Ely's success. Around 1980 Joe Strummer brought Ely and his band to Europe as the opening act for The Clash and Ely became increasingly well known on this side of the Atlantic. Ely developed a rockier style, which is documented on the live album Live Shots and which now made it interesting for the rock audience. However, sales remained below expectations, and so Ely lost his recording contract with MCA in 1984 after the again disappointing album Hi-Res .

Ely put a new band together and signed with the Hightone label in 1987. After producing two albums, he returned to MCA in 1990 with Live At Liberty Lunch and the following studio album, Love & Danger . His other albums from the 1990s, Letter To Laredo and Twistin 'In The Wind , largely dispensed with the rocking elements of their predecessors and once again spread more roots rock and Tex-Mex mood with the accordion and flamenco guitar . For example, the album Letter to Laredo features a duet with Bruce Springsteen called All just to get to you . Springsteen can also be heard on the song I'm a thousand miles from home . Springsteen had already brought Joe Ely on stage as a guest on his 1992/1993 tour and touted his then current album Love and Danger . The support went so far that a Joe Ely song, Settle for love , was sung together at the concert . With Live At Antone’s , an energetic recording of a typical Ely concert, Ely switched to the folk label Rounder Records .

In the late 1990s, the Flatlanders got together again with their original line-up, went on a few tours and released two new albums. Ely also worked on the all-star project Los Super Seven and went on various tours together with Lyle Lovett , John Hiatt and Guy Clark .

For his 60th birthday in 2007 Ely released his new studio album Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch on the newly founded own record label Rack 'Em Records . At the same time his first book, Bonfire of Roadmaps was published . Silver City followed just a month later , an album of songs based on lyrics from his time before the Flatlanders. In 2008 Ely released a joint live album with Joel Guzman , with whom he has occasionally appeared as a duo for several years. Joe Ely lives in Austin , Texas.

Discography

Albums

• Joe Ely (MCA 1977)
• Honky Tonk Masquerade (MCA 1978)
• Down On The Drag (MCA 1979)
• Live Shots (MCA 1980)
• Musta Notta Gotta Lotta (MCA 1981)
• Hi-Res (MCA 1984)
• Lord Of The Highway (Hightone 1987)
• Dig All Night (Hightone 1988)
• Live At Liberty Lunch (MCA 1990)
• Love And Danger (MCA 1992)
• Songs From Chippy: Diary Of A West Texas Hooker (with Butch Hancock et al.) ( Hollywood Records 1994)
• Letter To Laredo (MCA 1996)
• Twistin 'In The Wind (MCA 1998)
• Live At The Cambridge Folk Festival (Strange Fruit 1998)
• Live At Antone’s (Rounder 2000)
• Streets Of Sin (Rounder 2003)
• Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch (Rack 'Em 2007)
• Silver City (Rack 'Em 2007)
• Live Cactus (Rack 'Em 2008)
• Satisfied At Last (Rack 'Em 2011)
• Panhandle Rambler (Rack 'Em 2015)

Compilations (selection)

• Milkshakes & Malts (Sunstorm 1988)
• What Ever Happened To Maria (Sunstorm 1988)
• No Bad Or Loud Talk '77 - '81 (Edsel 1996)
• Time For Travelin '- The Best Of Joe Ely Vol. 2 (Edsel 1996)
• The Best Of Joe Ely (MCA 2000)
• From Lubbock To Laredo - The Best Of Joe Ely (MCA 2002)
• Settle For Love (Hightone 2004)
• B4 84 (South Central Music 2014)

Albums with the Flatlanders

• More A Legend Than A Band (Rounder 1990)
• Now again! (New West 2002)
• Wheels Of Fortune (New West 2004)
• Live At The One Knite 1972 (New West 2004)
• Hills and Valleys (Blue Rose [Soulfood Music], 2009)

Book publication

• Joe Ely: Bonfire Of Roadmaps (University Of Texas Press, February 2007)

Web links

• Official website of Joe Ely since 1983