Joe Ely – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Flatlanders – Long Time Gone

I truly love this band, but I try to limit posting them around once a year. I try that with everyone, but it gets hard at times. The last time I posted them was back in February of this fading year, so I thought it was time for another. I respect them so much because of what they came up with. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock were inventing a whole new kind of Texas country while nobody in Nashville was bothering to look. Their loss!

The song selections and the harmonies hooked me long ago. Their songs are simple and straight to the point, and really catchy. This song was written by Leslie York, and the York Brothers were the first to record it. It’s been covered by The Everly Brothers, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, and The Gibson Brothers. There are other songs by that name by Tex Ritter and a different one by CSN.

They were formed in 1972 by three singer-songwriters: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock. The band was born out of the music scene in Lubbock, Texas, where all three members grew up. They recorded their debut album in Nashville. Initially, the album was released only as an 8-track tape by Plantation Records, with the title “Jimmie Dale and the Flatlanders.” This limited release received little attention at the time, and the band members soon went their separate ways to pursue solo careers, but would reunite to release a total of 10 albums of studio and live.

This song was on the 2021 album Treasure of Love. All three members were songwriters, and all had unique voices that blended so well with each other. Treasure of Love was never intended to be an album, at least not at first. So when Joe Ely started gathering the trio in his home studio in Austin during the early and mid-2000s, it was not for some grand comeback. It was more like old friends swapping songs and capturing whatever happened to be good.

Long Time Gone

You cheated me and left me lonelyI tried to be your very ownThere’ll be a day you’ll want me onlyBut when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneBe a long time goneBe a long time goneYes, when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneYou’re gonna be sad, you’re gonna be weepin’You’re gonna be blue and all aloneYou’ll regret the day you seen me weepin’‘Cause when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneBe a long time goneBe a long time goneYes, when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneYou’ll see my face through tears and sorrowYou’ll miss the love you called your ownBaby, there’ll be no tomorrow‘Cause when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneBe a long time goneBe a long time goneYes, when I leave, I’ll be a long time gone

Los Super Seven – Rio De Tenampa

The more I listen to this band, the more I like them. I have to give credit to halffastcyclingclub, who recommended them, and I’ve been meaning to post on them for 6 months now. A big thank you to him. This song took just one listen, and I was hooked.

The original idea came from the Texas Tornados’ management team, who envisioned a rotating cast of stars celebrating Mexican roots music. The first lineup in 1998 was crazy great: Freddy Fender, Flaco Jiménez, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos, Rick Treviño, Joe Ely, and Ruben Ramos. Their self-titled debut was heavily into traditional rancheras, boleros, and Tex-Mex standards. This song was written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez.

This was definitely a supergroup, and supergroups can be hit or miss. Sometimes they collapse because of too many egos, and sometimes they just fizzle out. But every once in a while, the chemistry works. That’s what happened in the late 1990s when this band made their self-titled debut album.

What makes Los Super Seven so unique is that they never pretended to be a touring band or a permanent outfit. Each record is like a snapshot, different players but the same spirit. If the name Los Super Seven sounds like a superhero crew, well… in a way, it was. Instead of capes and masks, this revolving crew came armed with guitars, voices, and deep roots in the music of Texas, Mexico, and beyond.

The album peaked at #1 on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums and #8 on the US Billboard Top Latin Albums in 1998. The album also won them the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards.

Los Super Seven – Rìo De Tenampa

I sat at a table and wrote a good song
About eyes as blue as the sea
Drank down the whiskey
And let out a sigh
And thought of how things used to be
Children played on the floor near the bar
With toys made of wood and string
Lovers kissed and others laughed
As the band would strum and sing

Speak to me Rio de Tenampa
Sing to me songs of valor
In this rincon of heaven
I leave my love and love

And I passed once a place we’d go
To escape the heat of the day
Tell all the stories of good times and bad
And hear the violins play

Speak to me Rio de Tenampa
Sing to me songs of valor
In this corner of heaven
I leave my affection and love

Remember the story about a lady on the hill
Gave roses to an Indian boy
Ran down to tell eveyone he knew
About his love and his hope and joy

…

David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez

Joe Ely – Boxcars

I keep going back to the Texas songwriters whenever possible. Joe Ely was the first, other than Townes Van Zandt, who placed me on that road. I think all of them were born with an acoustic guitar, wit, pen, with paper in hand. So many of them write wonderful melodies and lyrics that any songwriter would drool over. Boxcars captures everything great about Texas songwriting in one cold, mournful ride.

Ely was born in Amarillo in 1947 and raised in Lubbock, Buddy Holly’s hometown and a surprisingly fertile ground for musicians. Ely came of age surrounded by dust storms, flat horizons, and rock ‘n’ roll. By the late ‘60s, he was friends with a couple of brilliant kids named Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Together, they formed The Flatlanders, a band that barely made a dent at the time but later became a blueprint for alt-country and Americana.

This song was written by Butch Hancock, a close friend and collaborator of Joe Ely. This was on his second solo album called Honky Tonk Masquerade released in 1978. The album is in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and was 40 on Rolling Stone’s 50 Essential Albums of the ’70s list. Ely’s first album was released in 1977. He met The Clash the following year in London and both liked each other. They both toured together a bit after that. Ely sang backups on the Clash hit Should I Stay or Should I Go.

He was also involved with a personal favorite pickup band with John Mellencamp called The Buzzin Cousins. He is revered in the music business and by fans alike. He also played in the Los Super Seven. Thanks, halffastcyclingclub, for pointing them out to me a while back. I still need to write one up.

His voice in this one is golden. It’s in Ely’s delivery, equal parts resigned and reverent, like he’s singing about someone he knew once, or maybe used to be.

Boxcars

Well, I gave all my money to the banker this monthNow, I got no more money to spendShe smiled when she saw me comin’ through that doorWhen I left she said, “Come back again”

I watched them lonesome boxcar wheelsTurnin’ down the tracks out of townAnd it’s on that lonesome railroad trackI’m gonna lay my burden down

I was raised on a farm the first years of my lifeLife was pretty good they sayI’ll probably live to be some ripe ol’ ageIf death’ll just stay out of my way

This world can take my money and timeBut it sure can’t take my soulAnd I’m goin’ down to the railroad tracksWatch them lonesome boxcars roll

There’s some big ol’ Buicks by the Baptist churchCadillacs at the Church of ChristI parked my camel by an ol’ haystackI’ll be lookin’ for that needle all night

There ain’t gonna be no radial tiresTurnin’ down the streets of goldI’m goin’ down to the railroad tracksAnd watch them lonesome boxcars roll

Now, if you ever heard the whistle on a fast freight trainBeatin’ out a beautiful tuneIf you ever seen the cold blue railroad tracksShinin’ by the light of the moon

If you ever felt the locomotive shake the groundI know you don’t have to be toldWhy I’m goin’ down to the railroad tracksAnd watch them lonesome boxcars roll

Yeah, I’m goin’ down to the railroad tracksAnd watch them lonesome boxcars roll

…

Flatlanders – Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown

I first blogged about these guys last year. I keep listening to their music and it’s all very likable. It’s something about this song that I can’t put my finger on that has stuck with me for days. It could be the unique lead vocal or it could be

Jimmie Dale Gilmore wrote this song with John Reed who was in a band at the time called Frieda and The Firedogs. Gilmore said: “It was inspired by this feeling I had one night having to do with, Well, I just want to go downtown, everybody knows that feeling. I think that’s why that song resonates with people because it kind of conjures an emotion that you can’t quite put your finger on.”

The track is featured on their album All American Music, which was their debut album and a great example of Americana and Texas music. Over the years, the song has been covered by various artists, including Joe Ely in February 1978 and Nanci Griffith in March 1982…Mudhoney also covered it.

With their All American Music… they issued a few hundred copies on 8-track cassettes. The group broke up the following year but would reform continually. In the 1990s, as Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock gained recognition as individual artists, interest in The Flatlanders’ early work grew so this album saw the light of day.

They were formed in 1972 by three singer-songwriters: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock. The band was born out of the music scene in Lubbock, Texas, where all three members grew up. They recorded this album in Nashville. Initially, the album was released only as an 8-track tape by Plantation Records, with the title “Jimmie Dale and the Flatlanders.” This limited release received little attention at the time, and the band members soon went their separate ways to pursue solo careers.

They then released an album in 1980 called One More Road. Their debut album was re-released in 1990 as More a Legend Than A Band after all of them had some success during their solo careers. They have released 9 albums including a live album in 2004 from 1972 to 2021. Their last album was released in 2021 called Treasure Of Love. They started to chart in the music charts in the 2000s.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and I hope you enjoy these songs.

I’m adding an extra bonus Flatlanders song called Pay The Alligator

I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown

Tonight I think I’m gonna go downtown.
Tonight I think I’m gonna look around
For something I couldn’t see
When this world was more real to me.
Yeah tonight I think I’m gonna go downtown.

My love, my love has gone away.
My love, my love what can I say.
My love would never see
That this world’s just not real to me
And tonight I think I’m gonna go downtown.

I told my love a thousand times
That I can’t say what’s on my mind,
But she would never see
That this world’s just not real to me
And tonight I think I’m gonna go downtown.

Tonight I think I’m gonna go downtown.
Tonight I think I’m gonna look around
For something I couldn’t see
When this world was more real to me.
Yeah tonight I think I’m gonna go downtown.

…

Butch Hancock – To Each His Own

After listening to the Flatlanders…I’ve listened to Joe Ely and Johnnie Dale Gilmore but never Butch Hancock. I was struck by his voice and was reminded a little of Dylan, Prine, Buddy Holly, and a little of Steve Earle at times.

In the early 1970s, Hancock co-founded The Flatlanders with fellow Lubbock musicians Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The group initially struggled to find commercial success but later became famous within the Americana and alternative country scenes. Hancock has been a very good songwriter. Artists who covered him include Willie Nelson, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, The Texas Tornados, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Jeff Walker, and more.

This song was on the album Eat Away The Night which was released in 1994. He has released 12 albums since 1978. This man is worth checking out. He will never make the top 40 but he has some quality songs that are worth hearing. This song has his voice and also a twangy guitar that sold it for me.

As I’ve been perusing his catalog…I’ve noticed a lot of storytelling, a sense of humor, good lyrics plus that voice. The album’s sound is powered by a classic rock ‘n’ roll combination of a Hammond B-3 organ, electric guitars, an acoustic, harmonica, and steel guitar at the edges for country and folk flavorings.

The title song closes the album, and I will include that above To Each His Own. Eats Away the Night sounds like something a musician would play at four in the morning after a six-hour gig. A quiet, restrained, and thoughtful tune to settle down with. A good way to end a night of music-making and an album. It’s almost a solo performance, with only a slide guitar accompanying Hancock’s voice and guitar.

Here is a link to the complete album.

To Each His Own

Down in the pit of my stomach
I knew it couldn’t last…
It left me just as fast…
I tried to blame it on the moon above…
As I walked the beach alone
But all I heard were these few words…
To each his own

Down in the heart of the matter…
I first lost touch with you…
But for rosy and her constant chatter…
There was not much i could do
The world I tried to reach with her…
You can only reach alone
I even heard rose say to herself…
To each his own…

I’ve seen survival’s violent side…
I’ve seen some beast of prey…
Bring down some beasts of burden…
That just got in their way…
Some tore the hide…some chewed the
Flesh…right down to the bone
Some stopped there but some kept going…
To each his own…

I’ve run these things around my mind…
I’ve run ’em through my heart
In the mighty dream of life, i seem…
To play the strangest part
If I’m buried when I die…
Carve this on my stone…
Take a little here and leave a little there but
give…to each his own…

…

Flatlanders – Dallas

Well Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes

What a find this was for me. When CB recommended Joe Ely a while back, I found that he played in this band from 1972 until now. Their music is not the tears in my beer Nashville country music that you heard at the time and sometimes now. I would call it Americana…they have developed a big following following over the years. Comparing their music to country music at the time…this sounds like it came from a different planet.

They were formed in 1972 by three singer-songwriters: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock. The band was born out of the music scene in Lubbock, Texas, where all three members grew up. They recorded their first album, All American Music in Nashville. Initially, the album was released only as an 8-track tape by Plantation Records, with the title “Jimmie Dale and the Flatlanders.” This limited release received little attention at the time, and the band members soon went their separate ways to pursue solo careers.

Dallas was on their debut album All American Music released in 1972. This song was written by Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The track has a cool tool/instrument on it that always interested me…Steve Wesson is playing a saw on this. Take a listen to this and I included a much more recent live cut from Austin City Limits.

In 2016 The Flatlanders were voted into the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: “The hook line of the song occurred to me while I was actually flying into Dallas, the line just presented itself to me. I had all those mixed feelings about the city and the song just came gradually. I’ve never felt that I’ve got it down right though. I’ve always been a perfectionist about that song. Joe also recorded it several times before he got the version that they put on the Musta Notta Gotta Lotta album. I’ve had a strange relationship with the song. I’ve had periods when I wish I’d never written it, then I’ve rediscovered it, looking at it through different eyes.”

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: “It so happened that in 1970 we all happened to be back in Lubbock, I had been in Austin working with a band called the Hub City Movers. Joe had been traveling in Europe and Butch had been in San Francisco. We just coincidentally moved back to Lubbock at the same time and started playing together. There was no design to put a band together as such but the chemistry was so great that it just took on a life of its own. We all had a common love of folk music, country and country blues-but then we also loved the Beatles. We had very eclectic taste. There was great radio in Lubbock at that time especially the border stations at night. We listened to it all.”

Joe Ely on the album: “It’s pretty crude but there’s a certain flavor about the record. It had an eerie, lonesome sound which reflected our roots in Lubbock and the wind, the dust and the environment.”

Music Critic Robert Christgau: In 1972, Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, and leader Jimmie Dale Gilmore–drumless psychedelic cowboys returned to Lubbock from Europe and San Francisco and Austin–recorded in Nashville for Shelby Singleton, and even an eccentric like the owner of the Sun catalogue and “Harper Valley P.T.A.” must have considered them weird. With a musical saw for theremin effects, their wide-open spaceyness was released eight-track only, and soon a subway troubadour and an architect and a disciple of Guru Mararaji had disappeared back into the diaspora. In cowpunk/neofolk/psychedelic-revival retrospect, they’re neotraditionalists who find small comfort in the past, responding guilelessly and unnostalgically to the facts of displacement in a global village that includes among its precincts the high Texas plains. They’re at home. And they’re lost anyway. A-

Dallas

Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well Dallas is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight
And Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?

Well, Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you’re down
But when you are up, she’s the kind you want to take around
But Dallas ain’t a woman to help you get your feet on the ground
And Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you’re down

Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind,
But I came into Dallas with a dollar and a dime

Well Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes
A steel and concrete soul with a warm hearted love disguise
A rich man who tends to believe in his own lies
Yeah Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes

Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind,
But I came into Dallas with a dollar and a dime

…

Joe Ely – Gallo Del Cielo

I’ve been waiting to write about this one. There are songs…and then there are SONGS. This one was written by Tom Russell. It is like watching/hearing a movie. The song is about adventure, loyalty, honor, and gambling all set against the backdrop of a time before California joined the U.S.

I’ve talked about these kind of songs before. How songwriters would be happy to write one song like this. I write power pop/rock songs and a song like this would make me insanely happy. It doesn’t matter if it’s not a huge hit…it’s quality. The attention to detail is incredible. It would never be a pop hit and maybe that is a check in its favor.

Tom Russell wrote this in 1979 in California. It’s not just a song…it’s an epic song. It’s been covered by four other artists. Ian Tyson in 1983 (its first release), Tom Russell in 1984, the version at the bottom is Joe Ely’s version released in 1995, and Ian Siegal in 2014.

Ely has 16 studio albums and 20 singles in his career so far. The song was released in 1996 and was on the album Letter To Laredo. This album charted at #68 on the Billboard Country Charts. He has charted quite a few in the Charts.

Gallo Del Cielo

Carlos Saragosa left his home in Casas Grandes when the moon was fullHe had no money in his pocket, just a locket of his sister framed in GoldHe headed for el Sueco, stole a rooster named Gallo Del CieloThen he crossed the Rio Grande with that roosted nestled deep within his arm

Galllo del Cielo was a warrior born in heaven so the legends sayHis wings they had been broken, he had one eye rollin crazy in his headHe’d fought a hundred fights and the legends say that one night near El SuecoHe fought Cielo seven times, seven times he left brave roosters dead

Hola my Teresa I’m thinkin of you now in San AntonioI have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in goldTonight I’ll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del CieloThen I’ll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Outside of San Diego in the Onion fields of Paco Monte VerdeThe Pride of San Diego lay sleeping on a fancy bed of silkAdn they laughed when Saragosa pulled the one-eyed Del Cielo from beneath his shirtBut they cried when Saragosa waked away with a thousand dollar bill

Hola my Teresa I’m thinkin of you now in Santa BarbaraI have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in goldTonight I’ll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del CieloThen I’ll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Now the moon has gone to hiding and the lantern light spills shadows on the fighting sandA wicked black named Zorro faces Del Cielo in the sandAnd Carlos Saragosa fears the tiny crack that runs across his roosters beakAnd he fears that he has lost the 50, 000 dollars riding on the fight

Hola my Teresa I’m thinkin of you now in Santa ClaraThe money’s on the table, I’m holding now your good luck framed in goldEverything we dream of is riding on the spurs of Del CieloThen I’ll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

The signal it was given and the roosters rose together far above the sandGallo Del Cielo sunk a gaff into Zorro’s shiny breastThey were separated quickly but they rose and fought each other time and time againAnd the legends all agreed that Gallo Del Cielo fought the best

But then the screams of Saragosa filled the night outside the town of Santa ClaraAs the beak of Del Cielo lay broken like a shell within his handAnd they say that Saragosa screamed a curse upon the bones of Pancho VillaAs Zorro rose up one more time and drove Del Cielo in the sand

Hola my Teresa I’m thinkin of you now in San FranciscoI have no money in my pocket I no longer have your good luck framed in goldI buried it last evening with the bones of my beloved Del CieloI will not return to buy the land that Villa stole long ago

Do the rivers still run muddy outside of my beloved Casas Grandes?Does the scar upon my brother’s face turn red when he hears mention of my name?And do the people of El Sueco still curse the theft of Gallo Del Cielo?Tell my family not to worry, I will not return to cause them shame.

…

Joe Ely – All Just To Get To You

What a beautiful song this is. I’ve really been diving into Texas songwriters. CB sent me this one and it’s fantastic. It’s a great one that I’ve been listening to for a few weeks.

The acoustic rhythm guitar in this is catchy and intricate at the same time. We have heard the phrase of a musician’s musician…well this is the same to other songwriters. I like good songwriting and this is a great example of it. The words flow out perfectly.

The song was written by Joe Ely and Will Sexton. The song was released in 1996 and was on the album Letter To Laredo. This is songwriting at its finest. Springsteen contributed to two songs on the album including this one. Bruce traveled to Austin around the spring of 1995 and joined Ely in the studio to record his parts.

Ely has 16 studio albums and 20 singles in his career so far. This album charted at #68 on the Billboard Country Charts. He has charted quite a few in the Charts.

Joe Ely: “I like to tell in a song where the location is, paint the background, and then bring it into a rhythmic world and try to find something that doesn’t take away from it, but adds to it.”

Joe Ely and Bruce Springsteen in 2001.

All Just To Get To You

I have stumbled on the plains
Staggered in the wind
Stood at a crossroad or two
Cried to a river
Swept to the sea
All just to get to you

I have flagged a yellow cab
Hopped a rusty freight
Sang till my lips turned blue
Flown a silver bird
On the tops of the clouds
All just to get to you

I ran too hard
I played too Rough
I gave my Love
Not near Enough
I bled too red
I cried too blue
I beat my fist
Against the moon
All just to get to you

I have run from St. Paul
To Wichita Falls
Call’d you from sunny Baton Rouge
Hocked everything
From my watch to my ring
All just to get to you

I ran too hard
I played too Rough
I gave you Love
Not near Enough
I bled too red
I cried too blue
I beat my fist
Against the moon
All just to get to you

From the California Shore
Where the mighty ocean roars
To the lands of the Hopi and the Sioux
I walked the desert sands
Crossed the Rio Grande
All just to get to you

I have stumbled on the plains
Staggered in the wind
Stood at a crossroad or two
Cried to a river
Swept to the sea
All just to get to you

Buzzin’ Cousins – Sweet Suzanne

While researching a post about Joe Ely I came across this band. What a band it was. This was a one-off supergroup that was formed in the 1990s. I love jangle and this song has it…it’s called Sweet Suzanne and was written by John Mellencamp…he did assemble a supergroup. They all take turns singing lines…

The members included John Mellencamp, Joe Ely, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine, and James McMurtry. Mellencamp said this was his answer to The Travelin’ Wilburys. The band’s one-and-done status was by design, Mellencamp said. I wouldn’t expect an album or anything, It really was a one-shot deal.

In 1992, Mellencamp made his acting and directorial debut in the film Falling From Grace, a drama that cast the Midwestern singer as a country-music star who gets caught up in a Jerry Springer-level family drama during a trip home to Indiana. He needed another song for the soundtrack album.

The band all traveled to Bloomington Indiana to record the song in Mellencamp’s studio. They all stayed in a Best Western and McMurtry said: “Not long after I checked in, there was a knock on my door. I opened the door and there was John Prine and Joe Ely. Prine had a half-empty pint bottle of vodka in his hand and a big grin on his face. I don’t remember what happened after that.”

This song was from the Falling From Grace soundtrack. The song was an outtake from either The Lonesome Jubilee or Big Daddy album. Sweet Suzzane peaked at #68 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1992.

Released as a single to country radio, the song ended up being nominated for the 1992 CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year. It lost to Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt’s This One’s Gonna Hurt You (For a Long, Long Time).

Sweet Suzanne

Now, Right now,
Look at the place I`m in,
When I think about things that I could have done
It´s impossible for me to pretend.
But I see it now as the lights grow dim
and the world starts to close its eyes.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I hear the music playin`
but I no longer understand,
Around the corner, down the street
It’s got to be better than where I am.
I see it all now, as the light grows dim
And the world starts to close its eyes.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Just wanted to see if everything was all right,
Just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
Time goes by
Oh, so quietly,
Hazy days and memories
And in the end there was only me.
Wouldn`t have been, I ask sometimes,
But I see myself inside this rhyme.
Enjoyed what I had back then,
Would I do it again?
Well, I see it now
As the lights grow dim
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
I just wanted to see if everything`s all right
Just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.
I just wanted to say goodnight,
I just wanted to see if everything` s all right,
I just wanted to say goodnight,
Sweet Suzanne.

Joe Ely – Musta Notta Gotta Lotta

Randy had a post a few days ago about Rock and Roll Revivalists and I started to search a little bit and ran across a live version of this song. I love roots music and this Texan delivers every single time. When I saw the live clip of this one I heard so much of Jerry Lee Lewis in it. The title alone gets my attention really quick.

This song was released in 1981 on an album with the same name…OK, I want to type it again… Musta Notta Gotta Lotta. Now I feel better. You could see something happening in the eighties out of the top 40. You have Joe Ely opening the door along with The Blasters and then Steve Earle came on through along with the alt-country bands like Uncle Tupelo.

Ely has 16 studio albums and 20 singles in his career so far. This album charted at #135 in the Billboard Album Charts. He has charted quite a few in the Country Charts.

Ely’s first album was released in 1977. He met The Clash the year after in London and both liked each other. They both toured together a bit after that. Ely sang backups on the Clash hit Should I Stay or Should I Go.

He also co-wrote a play called Chippy about a Texas prostitute who counted around 6,000 customers. She died in the 1960s and had a quote that I will never forget. “Texas had the bread and I had the butter.”

The man is known through the music industry. In 1990 he was part of a band for the house party for the premiere of Buddy that played some songs. That band included The E Street band members Max Weinberg and Gary Tallent along with The Crickets, Dave Edmunds, Steve Forbert, and Paul McCartney. Joe and Paul traded vocals on three Holly songs.

Musta Notta Gotta Lotta

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

I was high flyin’ down the riverside driveRockin’ to the radio man aliveStopped into a joint bought a round of boozeHot dog I got a buzz in my shoe

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Writin’ you a letter it’s late in the nightSittin’ in a caffe honey eatin’ a biteI’m telln’ you about where all I’ve beenHot dog I’m gone again

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Now there’s two kind of people in this big ‘ol townThere’s the early to rise and the late to go downI guess I better find a better way to stop the clockHot dog I like it a lot

Hot dog I like it a lot

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night, yeah, hot dog

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night