Joe Ely (album)


Joe Ely is the 1977 debut album by Texas singer-songwriter, Joe Ely. The album includes several tracks written by Ely's bandmates from The Flatlanders.
Joe Ely and the follow-up album, Honky Tonk Masquerade, helped establish Ely as a solo artist. Although the reissued CD doesn't credit Ely's backing musicians, the original LP included a one-page insert containing lyrics and musician credits. The core of the backing band that Ely had assembled for his debut was the same Lubbock-based crack team that appeared with him the following year on Honky Tonk Masquerade and continued to follow him on the road until 1982.
Years later Ely would recall that the band had not initially made plans for a recording career:
"We had recorded some songs at Caldwell's studio," Ely said. "Don took that tape to Jerry Jeff Walker, and Jerry Jeff recorded one of the songs and played it for a guy with MCA Records. Then one night in 1975 at the Cotton Club, an A&R guy with MCA asked, 'Do y'all want to make some records?'"

"I told him we'd sure never planned on it. But we hadn't planned anything else either, so why not?"

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joe Ely; except where indicated
;Side 1
  1. "I Had My Hopes Up High" - 3:32
  2. "Mardi Gras Waltz" - 2:50
  3. "She Never Spoke Spanish To Me" - 3:34
  4. "Gambler's Bride" - 2:35
  5. "Suckin' A Big Bottle Of Gin" - 3:15
;Side 2
  2. "Tennessee's Not The State I'm In" - 3:04
  3. "If You Were A Bluebird" - 2:59
  4. "Treat Me Like A Saturday Night" - 3:02
  5. "All My Love" - 3:09
  6. "Johnny Blues" - 4:10

    Personnel

The following credits are summarized from track-by-track credits listed in the album's liner notes.

Musicians

The album was digitally remastered and released on CD and cassette in 1991.
In 2000, a remastered edition of Ely's first two albums were released together on a single disk. Dirty Linen reported that this disk was especially worth seeking out since it was, "the only place on two continents you can get Ely's debut." The reviewer described Ely's first two albums together: "Ely's self-titled effort and HTM are a bit leaner than most of his other honky-tonk rockers, with a bit more piano than electric guitar backing his lonesome warble -- dry and forceful as the wind whistling through Waco."
yearformatrecord companycatalog number
1977LPMCA2808
LPMCA2242
CDMCA1-219
CassetteMCAMCAC-10219
CDMCAMCAD-10219
2000CDBeat Goes On BGOCD502