"Ely had an expansive vision for country and rock, heard on singles like "All My Love," "Honky Tonk Masquerade," "Hard Livin'," "Dallas" and "Fingernails." Born in 1947 in Amarillo, Texas, Ely was raised in Lubbock before moving to Austin and kicking off a new era of country music in the region, one that reflected both punk and the heartland rock of the era back into the roughhousing country scenes they came from."
"After founding the influential band the Flatlanders with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock (which dissolved soon after recording its 1972 debut), he began a solo career in 1977. He released several acclaimed albums, including 1978's ambitiously rambling "Honky Tonk Masquerade," before finding his popular peak on 1980's harder-rocking "Live Shots" and 1981's "Musta Notta Gotta Lotta." Ely, beloved for barroom poetry that punctured country music's mythmaking, was a ready collaborator across genres."
Joe Ely was a seminal figure in Texas progressive country-rock whose work bridged country, punk and heartland rock. Born in Amarillo in 1947 and raised in Lubbock, Ely helped launch a new Austin sound after moving there and co-founded the Flatlanders with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock. A solo career beginning in 1977 produced acclaimed records including Honky Tonk Masquerade, Live Shots and Musta Notta Gotta Lotta, and singles such as "All My Love" and "Dallas." Ely collaborated across genres, worked with the Clash, earned an Americana Lifetime Achievement Award and entered the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. He died Dec. 15 at home in New Mexico from complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson's disease and pneumonia.
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