Joe Ely

Joe Ely

Joe Ely (born February 9, 1947 in Amarillo, Texas) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music touches on honky-tonk, country and rock and roll.

He has had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce Springsteen, Los Super Seven, The Clancy Brothers and James McMurtry in addition to his early work with The Clash and more recent acoustic tours with Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, and Guy Clark.

Biography

Early life and career

Ely spent his formative years from age 12 in Lubbock, Texas.

Shortly after attending Lubbock High School, in 1970, with fellow Lubbock musicians Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, he formed The Flatlanders. According to Ely, "Jimmie [Gilmore] was like a well of country music. He knew everything about it. And Butch was from the folk world. I was kinda the rock & roll guy, and we almost had a triad. We hit it off and started playing a lot together. That opened up a whole new world I had never known existed."

In 1972, the band released their first and— until 2002's Now Again— only album, but have appeared together on each other's albums. Since the band's initial break-up just after their first album was cut, the three musicians have followed individual paths.

Solo career

Ely's own first, self titled album, was released in 1977.

The following year, his band played London, where he met punk rock group The Clash. Impressed with each other's performances, the two bands would later tour together, including appearances in Ely's hometown of Lubbock, as well as Laredo and Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas. Ely would contribute backing vocals on the Clash single "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" from Combat Rock (1982), and Ely's Live Shots includes photos of Clash member Joe Strummer performing as a guest with Ely's band.

Throughout his career, Ely has issued a steady stream of albums, most on the MCA label. Ely's energetic live performances have become legendary, and he has released a live album roughly every ten years (the last was LIVE Cactus in 2008).

In the late 1990s Ely was asked to write songs for the soundtrack of Robert Redford's movie The Horse Whisperer, which led to re-forming The Flatlanders with Gilmore and Hancock. A new album from the trio followed in 2002, with a third in 2004.

In February 2007, Ely released Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch on his own label, Rack 'Em Records. Ely said in an interview with Country Standard Time that he thought it would be easier to release the material on his own label instead of dealing with a regular record label and their release cycles. A book of Ely's writings, Bonfire of Roadmaps, was published in early 2007 by the University of Texas Press. In early 2008, Ely released a new live album featuring Joel Guzman on accordion recorded at the Cactus Cafe in Austin, Texas late 2006.

The Flatlanders are working on a new album as well.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions		Label
		US Country	US
1977	Joe Ely			MCA
1978	Honky Tonk Masquerade
1979	Down on the Drag
1980	Live Shots		159
1981	Musta Notta Gotta Lotta		135
1984	Hi-Res
1987	Lord of the Highway			Hightone
1988	Dig All Night
	Milkshakes and Malts			Sunstorm
	What Ever Happened to Maria
1990	Live at Liberty Lunch	57		MCA
1993	Love and Danger
1995	Chippy			Hollywood
	Letter to Laredo	68		MCA
1998	Live at Cambridge			Strange Fruit
	Twistin' in the Wind	55		MCA
2000	Live @ Antones	66		Antones
2003	Streets of Sin	51		Rounder
	Ten in Texas			Icehouse
2007	Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch			Rack 'Em Records
	Silver City
2008	LIVE Cactus! (with Joel Guzmán)

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		US Country	US MSR
1977	"All My Love"	89		Joe Ely
1981	"Musta Notta Gotta Lotta"		40	Musta Notta Gotta Lotta

See also

• The Flatlanders
• Los Super Seven
• Music of Austin

References

• "Son of the Circus", Austin Chronicle, Vol. 18, Issue 5.
• "Joe Ely Remembers The Clash", Austin Chronicle", 19 May 2000.

External links

• JoeEly.com - Official home page
• Joe Ely at IMDb
• Joe Ely feature and CD reviews] at Country Standard Time