Joe Ely Maps Out Life on the Road on New Album ‘Driven to Drive’ (With Some Help From Bruce Springsteen)
Stacy Chandler
Posted On May 22, 2024
Joe Ely (photo by Barbara FG)
In five decades in the music business, Joe Ely has logged a lot of miles. It’s no surprise that the scenery and characters he’s encountered along the way have made it into some of his songs.
His new album, Driven to Drive, collects some of those road-inspired songs from recordings Ely has made over the years at Spur Studios, his home studio near Austin. Produced by Ely himself, the album comes out Aug. 2 via Rack ’Em Records and Thirty Tigers.
“I’ve been traveling all my life in search of whatever I find,” Ely says in a press release announcing the album. “Revisiting some of my studio files, I noticed there were a lot of songs I had written on the road about traveling. I had recorded them in my studio every time I got off the road. I compiled a selection of songs like that from different eras. That’s Driven to Drive.”
The first single from Driven to Drive is “Odds of the Blues,” a cautionary tale about gambling on love. The song was inspired, he says, by late nights at a bar called TV’s on the fringes of Lubbock. Inviting Bruce Springsteen to contribute vocals evoked a fitting nostalgia for rowdier times.
“We’ve been long lost friends for a long time,” Ely explains in the announcement. “One of my memories of us singing together was in Dublin, Ireland, when we both got on stage with Jerry Lee Lewis and Shane MacGowan and sang ‘Great Balls of Fire.’”
The video for “Odds of the Blues” compiles home video — and footage from the road — shot by Ely’s family over the years:
Even after roaming all around the world with his music, Ely is firmly rooted in Texas. With his signature blend of country and rock, he collaborated with The Clash, Linda Ronstadt, and many others. His most famous collaboration, of course, was with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock as The Flatlanders. And his work with Tex-Mex supergroup Los Super Seven (which also included Freddy Fender, Flaco Jiménez, and Doug Sahm) earned him a Grammy for Best Mexican/Mexican American Album in 1998. He’s also an author, having published both a memoir and a novel.
His most recent solo album was 2022’s Flatland Lullaby, and The Flatlanders released Treasure of Love in 2021 (ND story).
Driven to Drive features Ely’s fellow musicians (and neighbors!) Joel Guzman on accordion, Bill Guinn on keys, Eddie Beethoven on vocals, Richard Bowden on fiddle, Jeff Plankenhorn on guitar, and album engineer Pat Manske on percussion. Here’s the track list for Driven to Drive:
- Drivin’ Man
- Odds of the Blues (feat. Bruce Springsteen)
- For Your Love
- Watchin’ Them Semis Roll
- Didn’t We Robbie
- Nashville Is a Catfish
- Ride Motorcycle
- San Antone Brawl
- Slave to the Western Wind
- Gulf Coast Blues
- Driven to Drive
- Jackhammer Rock
