JOE ELY PLAYS THE MINT!

Joe Ely at The Mint
All Photos Copyrite Ray Ramos

I'm not a music critic, but I know what I like and I like; Joe Ely! He's cool! The Texas rocker-troubadour, who's played with such artists as; The Clash, John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen and opened for the likes of Tom Petty and the Heartbreaks, Linda Ronstadt and even The Rolling Stones themselves, made one of his rare visits to The City of Angeles this past Thursday night. When Joe Ely's boots are planted in your town (like fellow Texan, Billy Joe Shaver) you don't want to miss him ... cuz, he's the real deal! The legend that you might never of heard of? I caught him at West L.A.'s classic club; The Mint... and I brought my camera with me!

Joe Ely: Satisfied At Last

When I first heard of Joe Ely, he was being labeled as a country punk rocker from Texas, he's out-lived those days, and has worn many different sombreros since then... from Buddy Holly country, Lubbock, Texas, Ely remains one of the best singer-songwriters in music. A Joe Ely tune, is not unlike reading Larry McMutry novel; sometimes stoic, sometimes romantic, always Texas, and that other place south of the boarder (I know for a fact, he speaks a lot more Spanish than I do.) If you want to take a road trip across the southwest, Joe Ely's music is the perfect companion (one fine day I hope to make a little western, and I dream of only Joe Ely to write the music for it.)

When Joe Ely Comes To Town; GO!

Ely's set at The Mint consisted of many songs from his new CD; SATISFIED AT LAST. His new stuff did not disappoint... you know when you go see an artist and you get disappointed when he plays the new stuff? Well, his new stuff was just as good as his old stuff! Cuts such as: The Highway Is My Home, Not Much Has Changed, Mockingbird Hill, I'm A Man... not to mention the title track" Satisfied At Last (as Joe joked... satisfied at last... for now!) Joe even included a damn good Billy Joe Shaver song; Live Forever, a tune made famous by The Highwaymen (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson.) Also in his set was a haunting rendition of Butch Hancock's, beautiful tune; If You Were A Blue Bird.

Joe Ely: Texas Music Legend

For an encore song, Ely took the cue from a certain man from Venice and played his classic; Me And Billy The Kid. Which was only fitting, after I read an article in this weeks Los Angeles Times on him, where Ely described his first trip to Los Angeles back in the late 60's, he had one friend living out in L.A., in Venice of all places! Ely described walking from LAX to his buddy's place in Venice, lugging his big guitar all the way down Lincoln Blvd ( and making one arm longer than the other in the process... or so he says?) thus the beginning of the life of a true troubadour.

Tony Brockert, Joe Ely & Me

The Classic Sign