Joe Ely “Driven To Drive”

Joe Ely delves into the past to reflect on a life spent on the road.

‘Driven To Drive’ has been a long time in the making. After Twenty-three albums and countless miles under his belt Joe Ely felt it was time to take a reflective look in the rear-view mirror. Delving into a substantial back catalogue Ely tapped into those many songs that had originated on the road; travelling songs laid down when he returned to the studio. The result is ‘Driven To Drive’, Ely’s own compilation of road songs taken from different eras of his long and distinguished career.

In his excellent 2019 piece under the ‘Americana A-Z’ feature on this website Rick Bayliss wrote “Ely’s solo recordings are a fascinating mix of country, rock and roll, tex mex, honky tonk – a real mish mash of Americana style always delivered with swagger and panache.” That this could be a perfect summation of this new release is no surprise. Ely does what he does brilliantly and what better way to demonstrate the respect with which he is held amongst his peers than a getting a bloke named Springsteen to hop on board for the odd track. ‘Odds Of The Blues’ gives both artists equal billing and is a vocal marriage made in heaven.

The other ‘blues’ on the album is a very different beast. ‘Gulf Coast Blues’ is miles away in style, a lazy, languorous meander on the Gulf blues highway with Ely’s acoustic guitar replacing the deep electric groove of the former. What it does feature though is the magnificent accordion of Joel Guzman. Unreasonable as it might be to pick out individuals from a band of brilliant musicians it is impossible to understate Guzman’s influence on the album. On opening track ‘Drivin’ Man’ Guzman’s accordion is a thing of beauty and Ely, who also produced the album, sensibly gives him full rein to demonstrate his prowess. In doing so the song is elevated to a whole other level.

If Guzman’s role is highlighted by the fact that it is not commonplace for that instrument to be such high profile, it is not intended to downplay the role of his fellow musicians. Indeed it is a feature of the album that the variation in styles allows others to shine. So the blistering honky-tonk piano of Bill Guinn dominates ‘Didn’t We Robby’ and on the wonderful tex-mex ‘Slave To The Western Wind’ it is the fiddle of Richard Bowden that works perfectly in sync with that ever-present accordion.

In putting this road album together Ely has maintained that mix of pace and style for which he is renowned. Ely fans will not be surprised or disappointed while anyone looking to sample what the fuss is all about could do worse than to start here.