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Joe Ely — 501

ALBUM: High-Res (1984)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$

Joe Ely I forgot about you. How good you are.

I pulled this out of the collection and couldn’t recall a song on it but had the feeling that I used to like this. Ely, pronounced Eeelee, is a Texas roots rocker who was once good  friends with Joe Strummer and played with the Clash.

Great guitar player, good songwriter and club-disciplined live performer.

He defies classification.  That said, I wish I had more of his  records. Hi-Res is good but has a little bit of that 1980s over production veneer. Songs of notice: ‘What’s Shakin’ Tonight,’Cool Rockin’ Loretta,’ and probably my favorite ‘Letter to Laredo,’ which has some nasty guitar licks, and also some not-so -nasty Duane Eddy-like bass string ‘twang’ reverberation.

According to Wikipedia, which I am careful with, Ely toured with the Clash, ultimately performing together in Ely’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas. The Clash even name checked Ely in their song ‘If Music Could Talk’ off  of the Clash’s Sandinista. Ely was preparing to record with Strummer when the Clash front man died.

Here’s from ‘Laredo:’

As I was rolling across the Mississippi, I stopped there and I cried, no use for a man to keep a mighty river all dammed up inside

I jumped bail from  Sweetwater County,  now I’m on the run, on my head is a five-number bounty, for a crime I never done.

Take this letter to Laredo to the one I love, tell her to stay low, beneath the stars above, her love is my only alibi, it’s for her love I lied

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Dave Edmunds – 503

ALBUM: The Best of Dave Edmunds (1981)

MVC Rating: 4/$$$

Ah, rock and roll. Smooth unfiltered like good Kentucky bourbon. It’s Berry DIddley and for Everley Buddy Lee Lewis.

(Well that last sentence sort of belies the unfiltered description. Maybe filtered just right like Marlboro Lights? Not so good but I am deviating again.)

I picked up on Dave Edmunds from the group Rockpile’s ‘Seconds of Pleasure,’ which is similar to this best-of (although Rockpile is better).  It is just rock and roll with Edmunds, and when Lowe was involved, there were some great lyrics to go with the  three or four chords.

Dave is primarily a cover singer. Here he  does Crawling from the Wreckage’, a Graham Parker song and John Fogerty’s  ‘Almost Saturday Night’ and Elvis Costello’s ‘Girls Talk.’ And he covers his buddy Lowe, or does he expose himself?

Nick and Dave lent a hand in Carlene Carter’ very good album ”Musical Shapes,’   which has an Edmunds-Carter duet that seemed very friendly.

And Nick married Carlene.

And Nick wrote the song “I Knew the Bride (When she used to Rock and Roll).

And  Dave Edmunds covered the song,  coming up with what most say is the definitive version. Nick recorded several versions to lesser success than the Edmund’s.

Carlene and Nick divorced.

Subject for further research: the timeline that the above happened.

Sample lyrics.

Take a look at the bridegroom smilin’ pleased as pie
Shakin’ hands all around with a glassy look in his eye
He got a real good job and his shirt and tie is nice
But I remember a time when she would never even look him twice