Joe Ely

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Joe Ely in concert, 2006.
Joe Ely in concert, 2006.

Joe Ely (born February 9, 1947) is an Austin, Texas honky-tonk/country musician. Ely, born in Amarillo, spent his formative years from age 12 in Lubbock, Texas.

Shortly after high school, in 1970, with fellow Lubbock musicians Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, he formed The Flatlanders. According to Ely, "Jimmie 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 album was cut, the three musicians have followed individual paths.

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 Juarez in Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Since then, a steady stream of albums have followed, most on the MCA label. Ely's live performances have become legendary, and he has released a live album roughly every ten years (the last was Live at Antone's in 2000). He has had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce Springsteen, Los Super Seven, 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.

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

In February 2007, Ely will release "Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch" on his own label, Rack 'Em Records. A book of Ely's writings is being published in early 2007 by the University of Texas Press. Ely also will release a second album of old lyrics that he has finally recorded.

Several other reissues of Ely's previous work is due out later in 2007 on Rack 'Em. 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.

As for The Flatlanders, recording could occur in the summer of 2007 for a new album.

Contents

[edit] Discography

  • Texas Special (Included In The "Live Shots" Album)
  • Musta Notta Gotta Lotta, 1981, MCA
  • Hi-Res, 1984, MCA
  • Lord Of The Highway, 1987, Hightone Records
  • Dig All Night, 1988, Hightone Records
  • Milkshakes And Malts, 1988, Sunstorm Records
  • What Ever Happened To Maria, 1988, Sunstorm Records
  • Live At Liberty Lunch, 1990, MCA
  • Love And Danger, 1993, MCA
  • Chippy, 1995, Hollywood Records
  • Letter To Laredo, 1995, MCA
  • Twistin' In The Wind, 1998, MCA
  • Los Super Seven, (as band member) 1999, RCA Nashville
  • Live At Antones, 2000, Antones Records
  • Now Again (with The Flatlanders), 2002
  • Streets Of Sin, 2003
  • Wheels Of Fortune (with The Flatlanders), 2004
  • Live 72 (The Flatlanders), 2004
  • Live From Austin (with The Flatlanders), 2004 (Recorded 2002)
  • I Heard It On The X (with Los Super Seven), 2005
  • Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch, 2007
  • Silver City, 2007

[edit] Charts

[edit] Album charts

year album chart peak
1981 Live Shots Billboard Pop Albums 159
1981 Musta Notta Gotta Lotta Billboard Pop Albums 135
1990 Live at Liberty Lunch Billboard Top Country Albums 57
1995 Letter to Laredo Billboard Top Country Albums 68
1998 Twistin' in the Wind Billboard Top Country Albums 55
2000 Live at Antone's Billboard Top Country Albums 66
2003 Streets of Sin Billboard Top Country Albums 51

[edit] Singles charts

year single chart peak
1977 "All My Love" Billboard Country Singles 89
1981 "Musta Notta Gotta Lotta" Billboard Mainstream Rock 40

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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