Customer Reviews

Letter to Laredo

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The reviewer below not only doesn't "get" Ely's music, he also clearly doesn't know much about the singer's background. Ely has strong tejano roots, so his connection to the music is quite legitimate. This album is a quasi-concept album, and is a slight departure from Ely's usual fare. It was inspired by Cormac McCarthy's book All The Pretty Horses, and the producers of the movie (now in production) got wind of this and were smart enough to call on Mr. Ely to do soundtrack work on the forthcoming film. This album is one of Ely's best, and will make any exiled southwestern native (like myself) deeply homesick. Listen and enjoy.

I'm a big fan of a lot of Texas songwriters: Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, etc., so I expected to like this album. But instead, I love it.

The flamenco guitar on most tracks give it a feel similar to Willie Nelson's album "Spirit", but with more explicitly Latino and Texas narratives and more of a rock and roll drive.

Ely is a great songwriter, with a gift for precise, striking images full of character -- you know EXACTLY what Saint Valentine looks like. He's also a wonderful interpreter; the cockfighting ballad Gallo Del Cielo, for instance, is beautiful and tragic and very true.

What can I say about Joe Ely that the people in the know haven't already said? Just that this album touches my soul, makes me think there are still real people in the music world.Being a West Texas girl, Ranches and Rivers is probably the best on this great album.

I cannot explain in words the pleasure I have received from the hours of play by me and my family (even my 11 year old daughter is a big fan) of "Letter to Laredo" and "Twistin' In The Wind". I have been listening to Joe for many years as he has taken me back to my west Texas roots. But with this mix of Texas Roadhouse Rock, Tejano and Flamenco and whatever else you find in the mix, I have found that music I can carry with me forever. This is truly art and Joe Ely a world class artisan.

In my opinion, Joe Ely reached the pinnacle of his long and critically- acclaimed career with this album (and he continues to scale the peaks with his latest, "Twistin' in the Wind"). Combining elements of rock, country, and Tejano, seasoned liberally with flamenco guitar, Joe cooks up a great, satisfying album that meanders across much of the American music-scape.

The knock on Joe Ely records has been that compared to his live performances, his studio products seem a bit flat. I agreed with that assessment in regard to his recent "Twistin' in the Wind" CD, but I love "Letter to Laredo." I think every selection works, and fits well with the others. These kind of songs clearly come off better in studio versions than they would in the roadhouses. Joe just found the right songs, the right style, the right help, even the right order of the tunes, on this project. For my taste, it's the best record I've heard from him since 1978's "Honky Tonk Masquerade." That's just my opinion, and I have not heard every record, or seen Joe live, although he often performs in Lubbock, just 100 miles up the road from me. I'm a fan, however, just the same. If you like Joe at all, I cannot imagine you won't love "Letter to Laredo."

I play this CD for friends who have no knowledge of or interest in Joe Ely, and they end up taking it home. I have to plead to get it back. Finally, I just end up burning a copy, which I know I should not do, but it feels right for this record. It's like a momento, a time capsule or artifact. The songs are that organic. You want to share them, like a good salsa recipe. God save Joe Ely.

I was driving home late one night from some party in NYC, alone and a little fried, it was about 1 am. The DJ on the radio started talking about this Joe Ely guy from Texas who had this great new CD out and then he played ALL JUST TO GET TO YOU with Bruce Springsteen chipping in with some background vocals. That was my intro to Joe Ely. The next afternoon after I finally woke up the first thing I did was go down to the nearest Tower Records and bought it. I still play it alot and rank it as one of my favorite cds. I love the country rock, unique sound he brings, awesome lyrics and guitar work. Hot!

I first heard Joe Ely with the Flatlanders on KGSR in Austin, TX. His voice is one you won't forget and his glittering flamenco guitar can send chills down your spine. I'd liken him to Texas' Springsteen as far as his composing talents are concerned.

The other reviewers are right when they say that Ely's better live. No artifact comes close to capturing his humor and energy and yet this CD is as close as anything. The cover art on this CD is superlative.

While Ely's rooted in Country and Tejano, he's got some solid rock backing too. Bruce Springsteen sings backup on "All Just to Get to You."

"All Just to Get to You" got the most airplay in Austin at the time of the CD's release, but so much of this CD is timeless. "Letter to Laredo" could stand with "Town of El Paso" and many of the classic outlaw greats. The urgency of the message runs clear through the music and literally makes my heart pound.

And this is definitely real Texas music. Who else but Joe Ely could get me to listen to a song about cockfighting? Like it or not (and I really don't), cockfighting is a part of the Tex-Mex culture, and the song tells a story of a man who steals a prize rooster to gamble:

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in San Antonio
I have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in gold
Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Ely takes you to that moonlit fight and you find yourself rooting for the thief and his rooster. Totally unexpected, but that's the kind of magic that Ely can weave.

This is one of Joe Ely's best cds. The guitar, vocals and his intensity deliver a fantastic musical experience. There just isn't another Joe Ely. In his music you can hear the West Texas land he was raised in filtering through him from the guitar style to the cowboy and Spanish references in the lyrics. Sometimes I just have to listen to "Gallo del Cielo" and then I remember how much I thoroughly enjoy every song on this album. Other favorite Ely tunes on this cd include "All Just to get to You," "Ranches and Rivers" and the title track, "Letter to Laredo." I was delighted to learn that Joe Ely has been getting together with his buddies from Lubbock in their old band, The Flatlanders, with Butch Hancock War and Peace and Jimmie Dale Gilmore Spinning Around the Sun. Their cd Wheels of Fortune is a real treat for Joe Ely fans. Also check out the DVD Lubbock Lights, Limited Edition. It has some great background on their musical influences.