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Lord of the Highway is an album by the American musician Joe Ely, released in 1987.[2][3] It had been three and a half years since his previous album, during which time he recorded an unreleased album for MCA Records, assembled a new band, and toured.[4] Ely supported the album with a North American tour.[5][6]

Lord of the Highway
Studio album by Joe Ely
Released	1987
Label	HighTone[1]
Producer	Joe Ely
Joe Ely chronology
Hi-Res (1984) Lord of the Highway (1987) Dig All Night (1988)

Production

Ely considered the album to be merely recorded (on an 8-track, at Ely's home), not produced.[7][8][9] The title track and "Row of Dominoes" were written by Butch Hancock.[10] Bobby Keys played saxophone on the album; David Grissom played guitar.[11][12] The CD version of Lord of the Highway includes "Screaming Blue Jillions" as the 11th track.[13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Chicago Sun-Times	[7]
Robert Christgau	B+[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[15]
The Gazette	7.9/10[10]
Los Angeles Times	[16]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[17]
Richmond Times-Dispatch	A[4]

Robert Christgau lamented that "a decade of being told what a hot shit he is has Ely oversinging to signify his intensity."[14] The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Ely's cooked up a tasty rock 'n' roll chili with country flavoring based on much the same recipe as Let it Bleed/Sticky Fingers Stones."[16] The New York Times stated that Ely "hasn't simplified what he sings to fit the rock format; he still prefers lyrics with wry, unheroic twists."[18]

The Chicago Tribune opined that Ely's "tales of hard living and even harder loving work both as true life tales and striking, image-rich fragments of a new American mythology."[5] The Philadelphia Inquirer opined that "Me and Billy the Kid" "is as supple a narrative as Ely has ever constructed."[17] The Philadelphia Daily News listed the album as the ninth best of 1987.[19]

AllMusic noted that "the roots rock sound of Lord of the Highway is much closer to 1981's Musta Notta Gotta Lotta than to Hi-Res.[13] Record Collector determined that Ely's setting is "a cut above standard bar room chugs thanks mainly to the wit of the lyrics."[20]

Track listing

References

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