Joe Ely
Gruene Hall
Gruene, TX
October 10, 2009
(Soundboard Master)

Transfer: Soundboard directly to CDR burner > .wav > iZotope RX 10 / ozone 9 (mastered) > xACT 2.59 > FLAC

01 Don't Put A Lock On My Heart
02 Are You Listening, Lucky
03 Streets Of Sin
04 Midnight Train
05 Lord Of The Highway
06 The Road Goes On Forever
07 Boxcars
08 Letter To LA
09 Dallas
10 Musta Notta Gotta Lotta
11 Cool Rockin' Loretta

Known Faults;
-Missing the first song and last four songs.
-Don't Put A Lock On My Heart: joined in progress
-Cool Rockin' Loretta: end cut

On Monday December 15th we lost a Texas Americana legend when Joe Ely passed away at 78.

Growing up in Texas, I was lucky enough to see Joe play more times than I can count. One of my favorite memories is a late night in a forgotten dive bar, a dozen of us gathered for a private label listening party. Joe patiently answering every one of my fan-boy questions, never rushing, never acting like he had anywhere else to be. He told incredible stories, including the time Joe Strummer stayed at his place in Austin. Strummer was convinced lightning bugs weren�t real � he thought Joe had wired the backyard with tiny lights as some kind of prank. Lightning bugs were magical creatures and a big part of Texas summers when I was growing up, and it breaks my heart how rarely I see them now.

I also asked him about playing with Bruce in Houston � a show I was lucky enough to attend. Joe said Bruce didn�t want him playing on one of his songs; he wanted to play on Joe�s �All Just to Get to You.� And when the band kicked in, Joe said so much air moved it just about knocked him off the stage.

There was nothing phony about Joe. He was 100% genuine � the real deal � and the world is a little less cool without him in it.

Thankfully, we still have the shows. This is a good one, even if it�s incomplete. There�s a full audience capture out there that�s worth tracking down. The 16-minute version of �Letter to L.A.� alone is worth the download.

Thanks for the memories, Joe. You will truly be missed. What a ride it was.

Thanks to my longtime music brother from another mother down South who has generously assisted in securing this and so many other great shows. The archives still hold much more Joe to come.

mjk5510