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Posted

He played a small private event in Lubbock a few years ago that I attended.  After he played to a bunch of rich geezers, he was quietly packing his gear and I walked up and said I enjoyed the show. He shook my hand, in a shy kind of way said thank you, and went back to putting his guitar in a case. I am a big fan of his and he always seemed so boisterous and larger than life. In that moment, he was small and looked tired.  I wish I had offered to help him carry some stuff out. He probably would have said “I got it.”

Posted

Sad day. I remember my brother buying Live at Liberty Lunch. First time I heard "Me and Billy the Kid" and this metalhead was hooked. Saw him many times and his shows were always fire. He does my favorite rendition of "The Road Goes on Forever." "Gallo del Ciello" is magical storytelling. 

He was pretty good dude, too. He once gave my frat brothers and I a lift back into Austin from the Westlake Hills one night. Piled us in his van as he was headed to Hut's to meet some friends. 

Thanks for the ride. Thanks for the music. Rest in Peace, Mr. Joe Ely. 🙏

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Posted

RIP and thanks for the great music.

Saw him lots of times, including an awesome solo show at a club near Wrigley Field. That said, the band he had with Ponty Bone, Jesse "Guitar" Taylor, and Lloyd Maines was maybe the best live band I've ever seen. Just greatness. I was always puzzled why they didn't hit it big, but I guess they defied genres a bit too much. Here's a video that best captures what I remember:

 

Posted
1 hour ago, HenryJames said:

image.thumb.jpeg.1b6a52cf128f52e10b72c7b968441419.jpeg

Terrific pic.  Mick Jones' pronouncement of "Split!" in Should I Stay Or Should I Go was directed at the two Joes (Ely and Strummer), who were engaging in some shenanigans in the recording studio at the time.  Now both are gone.

Posted

On one hand its been an incredible stroke of fortunate timing to be of a generation where we had so much incredible recorded music and able to see it performed live by these legends who played as hard in front of 50 people in a beer joint as they did for a ticketed show. On the other hand it’s a goddamn gut punch living through the passing of there artists who literally provided and still provide the soundtrack to your life. 
 

Motherfucker, this one hurts for a lot of reasons.  Thanks for everything, RIP Joe

Posted

Oh fuck this news all to hell.

It's been a good 15 years or so since we last saw him at Gruene Hall. It was a cold December night just before Christmas and the place was pretty full. I remember how he just casually strolled in through the front door past us as we were sitting by the stove. He nodded and said "hi" then a few minutes later was on stage & burning the place down with his performance.

Gonna be a whiskey and Letter to Laredo night tonight.

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