Joe Ely

Driven to Drive

Rack ‘Em Records / Thirty Tigers

As one of the forerunners of the progressive country music scene out of Austin, Texas in the early 1970s, Joe Ely made music with his partners Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock in the Flatlanders, and as a solo artist, that rebelled against convention all the while embracing it. Over the ensuing years Ely’s music has run the gamut from tough country to honky-tonkin’ swing, sweeping southwestern balladry, rockabilly, and blazing rock and roll and the blues. Whatever the setting he places his songs in, they stand tall with those from the likes of Billy Joe Shaver and Townes Van Zandt. A singular, compelling storyteller and performer, Joe Ely presents his 17th solo album of new recordings, Driven to Drive.

This time, Ely sings and strums his acoustic guitar, with longtime associate Joel Guzman on accordion, and others, in several small configurations. The variety-packed, mostly acoustic set was inspired by motorized travel, and although he takes a few left turns, there are plenty of straightaway Joe Ely-styled songs present to satisfy his longtime fans.

Ely sings in a voice as strong as ever, shaded ideally by his West Texas drawl. In “Drivin’ Man,” he presents a snapshot of a wanderer, he and Guzman getting down on a melody as wide-open as the southwestern plains. “Odds of the Blues,” a lightly stomping, swampy blues, features Ely and his old friend Bruce Springsteen in harmony, the tune inspired by an old juke joint Ely used to frequent near his Lubbock home. Jeff Plankenhorn adds appropriately greasy guitar to complete the scene.

“For Your Love,” originally released in an electrified rendition 35 years ago on his Dig All Night album, here becomes an acoustic rave-up highlight on the power of an acoustic guitar, an accordion, and Ely’s fervent testifying. Who else could come up with the line, “For your love, I’d straighten out the bend in the Rio Grande?” With Bill Ginn on piano and organ, and Mitch Watkins on guitar, he then juices up a barrelhouse groove for “Didn’t We Robbie,” even propelling the beat himself on drums. But on “Gulf Coast Blues,” Ely and Guzman relax, playing a blues that wafts like a feather in the wind. But Ely does love to rock. “I was born out on the highway in a lane called fast,” he begins singing in the title song, one that recalls the strength and style found on his 1987 Lord of the Highway album, regardless that it’s largely unplugged. At 77 years young, Joe Ely proves on Driven to Drive that he still has plenty of gas left in his tank.

Tom Clarke for MAS

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