Joe Ely
Twistin’ in the Wind (MCA)
Two years ago, the amazing “Letter to Laredo” kicked this honky-tonk hero’s career up several notches, as it married the acoustic sounds of the border with the progressive country movement Ely has been a leading proponent of for more than 20 years. The stories he told were rich in the lore of the West and drenched in a passion for its people and music. It hardly seemed possible that Ely would be able to equal that singular work, but “Twistin’ in the Wind” is every bit is as impressive an achievement. Although he opens the album with “Up on the Ridge,” a song that — with Teye’s flamenco and Lloyd Maines’ steel guitars — would have fit perfectly on “Letter to Laredo,” Ely requires a bit more electricity to complete this tour of his musical roots. With the help of several guest guitarists, he changes the album’s pace–bouncing from beer hall, to blues, to rock and even to such frisky novelty numbers as “If I Could Teach My Chihuahua to Sing”–without losing any of the intensity needed for a heart-wrenching song like “Twistin’ in the Wind.”
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