A healing album for a time of social turmoil.
On his twenty-ninth studio album, Joe Ely is revisiting and recording some stories from the past, all in the hopes of finding “Love and Freedom”. At a time when everyday feels a little rocky in current society – worldwide – Ely is offering us an album to both recognise and combat this. “These songs are a little radical,” Ely says, “I feel like it is a good time to stand up and speak out.”
Themes of poverty, war, social justice and immigration run deep through the collection, with love and freedom tying them all together. The tracks that now make up ‘Love and Freedom’ were recorded across several decades at Spur Studios, reflecting not just Ely’s long and respectable career, but also his devotion to creating art with something to say. Each track has been finished with a wealth of experience and Ely’s grounding vocals.
Following last year’s release of ‘Driven to Drive’, Ely turns off one road and straight onto another – kicking the album off with a rocking ode to dice games out in the Wild West, ‘Shake Em Up’ drives us straight into the Western sound that Ely does so well. All instruments on the track are played by Ely, including synthesizers, so you couldn’t get a more authentic start than that.
Ryan Bingham, rootsy singer-songwriter and star of Yellowstone, brings his gravelly vocals to cover of Woody Guthrie’s ‘Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)’. “You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane, and all they will call you will be “deportee” – a hauntingly relevant song that fits our contemporary society as appropriately as it did in 1948.
With two Townes Van Zandt covers, Ely takes the opportunity to celebrate the songwriters that have inspired him. A killer rendition of ‘Waiting Around to Die’ proves that Ely’s vocals are as strong as they’ve ever been, a faster tempo pushed forward by harmonica breaks makes it an album highlight. In contrast, ‘For Sake of the Song’ is relatively faithful to the original, all the same poignancy but with an added accordion.
Many of the songs are devoted to telling the tales of others, but that doesn’t mean that personal stories are missing. Ely recounts the story of a persistent police pursuit on ‘Sgt. Baylock’, with a classic-country style narrative twist at the end, Ely demonstrates that humour can be a pretty good healing elixir too.
Ely celebrates Native American culture and land on ‘Here’s to the Brave’ and their persistence to “make amends” and “take it back with their own hands”. ‘Adios Sweet Marie’ is a deeply serious song of social justice concerned with the border troubles in Texas, a subject very close to home for the Texas-born artist. ‘What Kind of War’ feels reminiscent of a 1960s protest song, and ‘Surrender to the West’ closes the album with a similar feel, a chorus of “I surrender, I surrender, I cannot bear the shame” staying with the listener.
With nine originals and four covers, ‘Love and Freedom’ is authentically Joe Ely, and for a twenty-ninth album, that’s an impressive achievement. An artist willing to work their beliefs into their art is vital to the society we’re living in, and Ely will continue to offer that contribution through his perfected Texas-americana style.
10/10
I agree – his voice, playing, song choice remain at the top of the heap.