Down On the Drag/Live Shots

by Joe Ely, Carlene Carter, Butch Hancock

Overview

Great Britain's stellar reissue label Beat Goes On does an excellent job on this grand two-fer featuring thoroughly remastered versions of two of Joe Ely's finest offerings. The first half, 1979's Down On the Drag, was among Ely's most underrated at the time, but remains among the most enduring in his catalog. There are four stellar Butch Hancock numbers, including "Standing at the Big Hotel," "Fools Fall in Love," and the title track. The set also includes some Ely gems, as well, in "Crazy Lemon," "She Leaves You Where You Are," and "Maria." The latter album in this set is one of the finest live records to ever come out of Texas -- perhaps because it was recorded in England while Ely and the band were on tour opening for the Clash in 1979. He had something to prove to the punters, and he dealt it hot, hard, and fast. From the Jerry Lee Lewis-esque opener "Fingernails" and the swaggering rockabilly of "Annie's Been Workin On the Midnight Shift" to the hard Texas country of "Honky Tonk Masquerade," a rockin' cover of Hank Williams' "Honky Tonkin'," and brilliant revisions of Hancock's "Boxcars" and "She Never Spoke Spanish to Me," it's all killer no filler.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/01/2009
Label:	Bgo - Beat Goes On
UPC:	5017261208989
catalogNumber:	899
Rank:	58108

Tracks

1. Fools Fall in Love
2. B.B.Q. & Foam
3. Standin' at the Big Hotel
4. Crazy Lemon
5. Crawdad Train
6. In Another World
7. She Leaves You Where You Are
8. Down on the Drag
9. Time for Travelin'
10. Maria
11. Fingernails
12. Midnight Shift
13. Honky Tonk Masquerade
14. Honky Tonkin'
15. Long Snake Moon
16. I Had My Hopes Up High
17. She Never Spoke Spanish to Me
18. Johnny's Blues
19. Fools Fall in Love
20. Boxcars

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Joe Ely   Primary Artist,Electric Guitar,Vocals
Carlene Carter   Vocals
Ponty Bone   Accordion
Gregg Wright   Bass,Background Vocals
Mick Gallagher   Keyboards
Steve Keeton   Drums
Lloyd Maines   Pedal Steel Guitar,Rhythm Guitar,Background Vocals,Slide Guitar
Robert Marquam   Drums
Jesse Taylor   Electric Guitar
Ed Vizard   Saxophone
Peter West   Bass (Vocal)
Reese Wynans   Keyboards
Steve Keeton   Drums
Richard Bowden   Fiddle

Technical Credits

Butch Hancock   Composer
Joe Ely   Arranger,Composer,Adaptation
Chet Himes   Engineer
Bob Johnston   Producer
Ed Vizard   Composer
John Tobler   Liner Notes
Norman Moore   Art Direction
Guy Juke   Graphic Design
Earl Bud Lee   Composer
Jimmie Ainsworth   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Earl Lee   Composer