This is Joe Ely’s breakout album from 1978. The tour for this album was the infamous tour with The Clash in which fans of The Clash didn’t really know what to think of Ely’s straightforward honky tonk. Ely of course is 1/3rd of the legendary great lost country outfit The Flatlanders (along with Butch Hancock, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore). This album is his second, and probably his best. Some say this album is one of the greatest country albums of all time, up there with Red Headed Stranger. It’s even listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and regularly makes Rolling Stone’s best albums lists.
Now it took me a while to get into Ely….and I’m pretty sure it was this album that did it for me. Even now as I listen to it, it’s getting better to my ears. The beer could be helping of course. Which is a great point…this is a great drinking album, with songs ranging from honky tonk weepers like the title track to rockabilly rompers like the Jerry Lee Lewis-esque “Fingernails” (I actually had to check the credits cause I could have swore this was a Jerry Lee cover). The song I chose to highlight here is the steel drenched “Because of The Wind” because I love the lyrical imagery of this song comparing a woman to the wind blowing from the gulf and himself to the trees bending in that wind. Great stuff there, and ain’t that just like a woman…drink up friends.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
