Joe Ely, The Clash and Me…

Honky Tonk Masquerade had just come out, and we were in London playing the Venue Club when all The Clash.showed up one night. They came backstage and I guess they'd heard me on the radio and knew every song on my record. This was 1978 and coming from Lubbock; we had no idea what was going on in London. They told me they were coming to America and I asked where they wanted to play. 'Laredo, El Paso' -- they were naming off all these gunfighter ballad towns from Marty Robbins songs. 'Well I don't know about that,' I said, 'but we could play Lubbock together.' And they were like, 'Lubbock! All right!' They told their booking agent they didn't care about Houston or Dallas, they wanted to play Laredo, Lubbock, El Paso, and Wichita Falls. Somehow he put it together and we played Houston, San Antonio, Laredo, Lubbock, and Juarez. It was a great Europe-meets-Texas meeting.
Joe Ely on The Clash

***Honky Tonk Masquerade (1978) signed by Joe***

Playing with The Clash definitely kicked my band up a notch. Growing up in Lubbock, I always hung around with the rock & roll guys, so I came from a rockin' background. We played the Palladium in Hollywood together and Monterey Pop festival -- Bond's in New York. It was a big boost for us, so when they invited us back the following year for the London Calling shows in London, it was a real eye-opener. We were playing their venues with them -- the Electric Ballroom, Hammersmith Odeon -- wild, steamy, crazy shows that were unbelievable.
Joe Ely

***Texas Special (45rpm - 1980) signed by Joe***

***Texas Special back cover (45rpm -1980)***

It's important to find new perspectives in songwriting. I’m not interested in making up a song that I could have done when I was eighteen because I'm not thinking the same way. You have to keep widening your scope and never re-create something just because it was successful. I've spent my whole life… looking to make that next different song. To me, that's success.
Joe Ely

Born in 1947 in Lubbock, Texas, the birthplace of Buddy Holly, one of the pioneers of rock and roll. Joe Ely formed The Flatlanders with his friends, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and they released one album in 1972, Jimmie Dale And The Flatlanders. Joe recalled their strengths, “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.” Although each became better known as solo artists and songwriters, Flatlander interest has remained strong throughout the years, resulting in several reunion tours and some recent studio recordings. As the title of their 1990 release suggests, The Flatlanders were More A Legend Than A Band.

***Down On The Drag (1979) signed by Joe***

With a compelling mix of honky tonk heartbreakers and scorching rockers, Joe Ely is a magnetic performer. In 1995, I saw him play the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. The old Birchmere was a converted furniture store, a rectangle box with low ceilings, a small stage and an impressive list of bands. Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Dave Alvin were just a few of the performers I saw in this intimate two hundred-fifty seat venue. Joe was touring in support of Letter To Laredo (1995) which was a dramatic change for Joe's roots rock sounds. For this show, he was accompanied by guitarist Teye (Teije Wijnterp), a Dutch flamenco master, and Joe was showcasing new songs "I'm A Thousand Miles From Home,” "Saint Valentine,” “All Just To Get To You" and the Tom Russell penned cockfighting ballad, "Gallo Del Cielo." I guess there aren't many cockfighting ballads around, but "Gallo Del Cielo" is surprisingly listenable, and the deft flamenco flourishes by Teye are a nice touch.

***Letter To Laredo (1995) signed by Joe***

Before the show, I headed backstage to get some albums signed. I was told Joe was in the van in the parking lot, so I went outside. Attached to a nondescript white Ford Econoline van was a camper. This was not a luxury Airstream or a tricked out tour bus, the camper looked like it had plenty of road miles with dents and dings, and I opened the rickety screen and knocked on the door. Joe answered and invited me in. He had reading glasses on and was sharing a quiet moment before the show. I felt bad about interrupting his solitude. Just not that bad.

***Musta Notta Gotta Lotta (1981) signed by Joe***

Joe was happy to sign some albums. As he was signing Live Shots (recorded during his 1979 London tour in support of The Clash), I asked him about about his time on the road with The Clash. "That was a great tour and they were a lot of fun to play with. We had some good times and they are all great guys." I told him how much I enjoyed his cover of "White Line Fever" (released on a Merle Haggard tribute Tulare Dust). "I'd love to play it tonight but I really need Lloyd (Maines, pedal steel player extraordinaire and father of lead Dixie Chick Natalie) to do it justice." Joe was so kind and generous, and then he went on stage and rocked out in his inimitable West Texas roadhouse style. To paraphrase one of Joe's best tunes, we were lucky to be listenin'. Like The Clash sang on Sandanista's "If Music Could Talk", "Well, there ain't no better blend, than Joe Ely and his Texas men."