Joe Ely, "one of the main movers" of Austin, Texas's progressive country scene, passed away today at the age of 78. He was a formidable songwriter (Me and Billy the Kid, Honky Tonk Masquerade, She Never Spoke Spanish to Me) and a galvanizing performer. He also had a good eye for talent, featuring rising stars like Charlie Sexton, David Grissom and Ian Moore on his tours.
Ely came of age in Lubbock Texas. He had started learning to play fiddle, but switched guitar in the late 1950s. “Buddy Holly had just died and everybody in Lubbock played a Strat. So I put the fiddle away and started writing songs.”
Not long after, he formed The Flatlanders with Jimmy Dale Gillmore and Burch Hancock, merging their folk rock and country influences. NYT: ”their songs were so out of sync with the standard country fare that the label released the album as only an eight-track tape cassette, sold in a few truck stops around Tennessee”. The band soon split up. They would later reform in the 1990s, as the music scene had by then caught up to their vibe.
Joe relased his first album Joe Ely in 1977, featuring Buch Hancocks If You were a Bluebird and his own She Never Spoke Spanish to Me. He and followed it up with Honky Tonk Masquerade in 78. 1987’s Lords of the Highway featured his own Me and Billy the Kid and Hancock’s Row of Dominos. Many of his songs featured wither outlaws or people living on the edge and veering to spin off.
A solo tour to England in 1978 put him in the Clash. They loved his rockabilly roots and he loved their punk energy. He appeared on bills together in England and the states.
Mr. Ely was one of those “if you know, you know” musicians — never a headliner but good enough, and durable enough, to attract a sizable following (NYT)”.
A personal note, I got to see Joe perform at the Vlub Paraise in Boston in the early 90s. I;ts one of the best club shows Ivd seen. He had a crackerjack band, with a young Ian Moore on guitar and SRV alum Reese Wynans on the B3. He performed dramatic versions of The Road Goes on Forever, Row of Dominos, Settle for Love and a killer solo version of Billy the Kid.
Here’s Joe.
Me and Billy the Kid
She Never Spoke Spanish to Me
Dallas (with David Grissom)
The Road Goes on Forever
