Project 1001: Honky Tonk Masquerade by Joe Ely
Project 1001: Honky Tonk Masquerade by Joe Ely
I didn’t know Joe Ely from Adam before listening to Honky Tonk Masquerade. He is regarded as one of the godfathers of alt-country.1 It’s solid West Texas country rock fare from the late 70s. I got an Urban Cowboy vibe while listening. (A movie I love, btw.) I think one could have a great night with friends while this album provides the soundtrack for part of the evening. You could also spend a half hour just listening to some of the wonderful stories told by Mr. Ely. My Rating:
Robert Christgau:
You know all that brouhaha about Texas music? Here's a record that bears it out for more than two songs at a time. Ely's emotional openness seems neither sentimental nor contrived. He balls the jack with irrefutable glee and sings the lonesome ones so high and hard he makes the next room sound 500 miles away.2
From Pitchfork:
Much the way the Panhandle exists between the Southwest and the Midwest, Ely’s music straddles countless lines. He’s a hardcore honky-tonker clearly influenced by the western swing of Bob Wills, but not someone you’d consider a country neotraditionalist; a rockabilly revivalist, but not a nostalgia act like the contemporaneous Stray Cats; a cowboy poet who keeps his tongue slyly tucked in his cheek but never gets too clever. Honky Tonk Masquerade in particular is as revelatory as an oasis in the desert, a midway point between the rough-and-tumble party of outlaw country and the more self-consciously literary “alt-country” of lyricists like Lyle Lovett and James McMurtry.3
Review by AllMusic:
Smart without sounding pretentious, and musically ambitious without losing focus or drive, Honky Tonk Masquerade is a superb album that captures Ely and his band at their best.4
If you’re new here, welcome! For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Garth Cartwright wrote:
When The Clash invited Joe Ely to support them in concert in the late 1970s, few of their fans had any idea why a Texan country singer should be chosen to support the world’s hottest rock band. Ely himself must have wondered at times, as punk audiences showered him in spit and beer, yet The Clash knew they were promoting a serious talent - Ely’s Honky Tonk Masquerade is a country classic: Rolling Stone magazine even went so far as to call it one of the finest albums of the 1970s.
It should have made him famous. Instead, he proved too individual for country radio and too country for rock radio.
Honky Tonk Masquerade gives you homespun, hard-won Texas wisdom and timeless American music.5
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime Playlist: 167. Honky Tonk Masquerade by Joe Ely
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: n/a
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification: n/a
Recorded October 17–26, 1977. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone6
• Number one album: Rumours by Fleetwood Mac7
• Number one movie: Star Wars by George Lucas8
• Most watched TV programs: World Series Game 6, World Series Game 6 Pregame Show, 79 Park Avenue, Charlie’s Angels, Barney Miller, All in the Family, Alice, Hawaii Five-O, Saturday Night Movie Little Big Man, Little House on the Prairie 9
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tokien10
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot11
Some other albums released that month
• Waitin' for the Night by The Runaways
• Midnight Wind by The Charlie Daniels Band
• Point of Know Return by Kansas
• Alive II by Kiss
• "Heroes" by David Bowie
• Street Survivors by Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Goin' Places by The Jacksons
• Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf
• Once Upon a Time by Donna Summer
• Watermark by Art Garfunkel
• Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols by Sex Pistols
• News of the World by Queen
• Out of the Blue by Electric Light Orchestra
• Commodores Live! by Commodores
• Send It by Ashford & Simpson
• Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton
• Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars by Levon Helm
• Moonflower by Santana
• Musical Chairs by Sammy Hagar
• Show Some Emotion by Joan Armatrading
• Thunder in My Heart by Leo Sayer
• True to Life by Ray Charles12
Sport
• Oct 1 Brazilian soccer great Pelé plays his final game for the New York Cosmos in an exhibition against Santos in front of 75,000 at Giants Stadium; 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.
• Oct 18 Baseball World Series: Reggie Jackson hits 3 consecutive HRs tying Babe Ruth's WS record; NY Yankees beat LA Dodgers, 8-4 to clinch, 4-2 series win; MVP: Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson.
• Oct 23 Despite not driving in season ending Japanese Grand Prix, Austrian Niki Lauda wins his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 17 points from Jody Scheckter of South Africa.
• Oct 23 New York City Marathon: defending champion Bill Rodgers wins in 2:11:38; Miki Gorman retains women's title in 2:43:10.13
Notable Births
• Oct 6 Jamie Laurie, American rapper-rocker (Flobots - "Handlebars"), born in Denver, Colorado.
• Oct 11 Matt Bomer, American actor (White Collar, Magic Mike), born in Webster Groves, Missouri.
• Oct 12 Bode Miller, American alpine ski-racer (Olympic gold 2010), born in Easton, New Hampshire.
• Oct 12 Christie Kerr, American golfer (US Open 2007, PGA Championship 2010), born in Miami, Florida.
• Oct 13 Paul Pierce, American basketball Hall of Famer, born in Oakland, California.
• Oct 15 Erin McKeown, American indie rock-folk musician and singer-songwriter, (We Will Become Like Birds), born in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
• Oct 16 John Mayer, American guitarist and singer-songwriter ("Your Body Is a Wonderland"), born in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
• Oct 19 Jason Reitman, Canadian filmmaker (Juno; Up In The Air), born in Montreal, Quebec.
• Oct 26 Jon Heder, American actor (Napoleon Dynamite), born in Fort Collins, Colorado.
• Oct 29 Brendan Fehr, Canadian actor (CSI: Miami), born in New Westminister, British Columbia.14
Historical Events
• Oct 3 Indira Gandhi arrested.
• Oct 10 11th Country Music Association Awards: Ronnie Milsap wins.
• Oct 12 US Supreme Court heard arguments in "reverse discrimination" case of Allan Bakke, white student denied admission to University of California Med School.
• Oct 17 West German commandos storm hijacked Lufthansa in Mogadishu, Somalia freeing all 86 hostages & killing 3 of 4 hijackers.
• Oct 20 Plane chartered by rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd runs out of fuel and crashes in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Six people are killed, including band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gains, and Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick.
• Oct 21 US recalls William Bowdler, ambassador to South Africa.
• Oct 23 Paleontologist Elso Barghoorn announces discovery of a 3.4-billion year old one-celled fossil, one of the earliest life forms on Earth.
• Oct 26 Last natural case of smallpox discovered in Merca district, Somalia. Considered the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.
• Oct 30 Panama 747SP lands after polar flight around Earth in record 54:07. 15
Notable Deaths
• Oct 4 Del Porter, American jazz singer (Foursome - "Walkin' My Baby Back Home"; Spike Jones and His City Slickers - "Der Fuehrer's Face"), dies at 75.
• Oct 14 Bing Crosby, American singer ("White Christmas", "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy") and actor ("Going My Way"), dies of a heart attack at 74
• Oct 18 Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin, German left-wing terrorists and leaders of the Red Army Faction, commits suicide along with other RAF leaders.
• Oct 20 Cassie Gaines, American rock singer, Steve Gaines, American rock vocalist and guitarist Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd), die in a plane crash.
• Oct 27 (Anton) "Tony" Hulman Jr., American businessman and motorsport entrepreneur (owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 1945-77), dies of heart failure at 76.
• Oct 27 James M. Cain, American writer (Postman Always Rings Twice), dies at 85.
• Oct 27 Peg Leg Sam [Arthur Jackson], American country blues harmonica player, singer and comedian, dies at 65.
• Oct 31 Joan Tetzel, American actress (Hell Below Zero, Joy in the Morning), dies of cancer at 56.16
Cartwright, Garth, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Fifth printing, ed. by Robert Dimmery p. 404.
Cartwright.
Ibid.