Settle for Love by Joe Ely: CD Cover

    Settle for Love Joe Ely

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    CD - Enhanced

    • Release Date: 07/20/2004
    • Sales Rank: 102,132
    • Label: HIGHTONE RECORDS
    • UPC: 012928817226

    Listener Rating: (2 ratings)

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    • Overview
    • Tracks
    • Editorial Reviews
    • Customer Reviews
    • Details & Credits
    Track List
    Click on LISTEN or link to hear an audio clip.
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    Settle for Love

    1Lord Of The Highway
    2Me & Billy The Kid
    3Letter To L.A.
    4Are You Listenin' Lucky?
    5Row Of Dominoes
    6Silver City
    7Settle For Love
    8Dig All Night
    9Rich Man, Poor Boy
    10White Line Fever
    11Love & Danger
    12Maybe She'll Find Me
    13My Baby Thinks She's French Video

    About this Artist

    Editorial Reviews

    When Joe Ely left MCA for the first time after 1984's Hi-Res, he hid out for a few years before landing with Oakland blues and R&B label High Tone. It was a stretch for the label, and given Ely's new band, proved to be one for him as well. His Lubbock cum Austin country/rockabilly septet (which included Lloyd Maines, Jesse Taylor, and Ponty Bone) had been honed to a quartet that was built around young guitar slinger David Grissom and played Texas-brand rock & roll. Settle for Love compiles ten tracks from Ely's two High Tone outings, 1987's Lord of the Highway and 1988's Dig All Night, and adds a couple of bonus cuts to round it out to 12. The five tracks from the former include the Spanish-flavored "Row of Dominoes," the studio versions of his road staples "Are You Listenin', Lucky?" and "Me & Billy the Kid," and the amazing "Letter to L.A." This latter song offers an interesting view of Ely in transition; one can hear the influences of Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, with its epic length (for Ely), its winding guitar solo by Grissom, and the saxophone lines by guest Bobby Keys. Additionally, he wrote all but the title cut (by Butch Hancock). The five selections from Dig All Night are deeper in the rambling rock groove than its predecessor, as evidenced by its title track and the tough guitar crunch of "Settle for Love," with vocal backing by Rosie Flores and the Neptunes. The Springsteen/Mellencamp connection here is unmistakable, but Ely, despite his comparatively small recording budget, delivers the goods in spades, so much so that Grissom actually went on to join the Mellencamp band in the 1990s. These tracks are more cocksure and swaggering, and the touring Ely did behind these records in small venues all over the country displayed a rock & roll wildman who had something to prove. The final two numbers on this comp come from two disparate sources. First there is his version of Merle Haggard's "White Live Fever," done for Tulare Dust, a tribute to the songwriter, and then comes a duet with Flores on "Love and Danger" (the title of his return album for MCA) from her Once More With Feeling album. These are nice bonuses to be sure, but they were unnecessary; the real story lies in the power of Ely's music from his High Tone period. Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

    Customer Reviews

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    • Ratings: 2Reviews: 2

    Settle for Loveby Anonymous

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    January 18, 2006: Joe Ely is one of the great alt-country pioneers but it isn’t evident here. The trouble with this CD begins with the backup band. They sound like Springsteen wannabes on must of the cuts. Another problem is Ely’s songwriting. The only masterpiece he wrote himself is Me and Billy the Kid. Most of the songs lack the humor that set him apart from the country rock field. The best numbers are Row of Dominos by Butch Hancock and White Line Fever by Merle Haggard. The 54 minute collection isn’t wretched, it just isn’t at the level of what Ely has released before and since the late 80s.

    Settle for Loveby Anonymous

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    July 31, 2004: During a brief intermission from his work with MCA, Texas country iconoclast Joe Ely recorded a fine pair of LPs for the Oakland, CA based indie, Hightone. Both 1987's "Lord of the Highway" and 1988's "Dig All Night" captured a maturing artist who'd not only recorded a groundbreaking West Texas classic with The Flatlanders, but waxed a half-dozen solo albums and toured with The Clash through Europe. By the late-80s, having taken four years off from recording, the rock inflections in Ely's music drove him towards the sort of roots-rock Springsteen eventually used to fill arenas, and artists like Rodney Crowell and Steve Earle discovered from the country side. The result can sound a bit dated at times (e.g., the plodding drums and synthesizer lines of "Rich Man, Poor Boy"), but Ely's prowess as a songwriter easily makes up for this. ¶ This single disc smartly excerpts the original pair of LPs, capturing both the better-known songs that have stuck in his live repertoire, as well as less-known albums tracks. Highlights include the Western-hues of "Row of Dominoes" and "Me & Billy the Kid," the cathartic romance of "Settle For Love," a twangy cover of Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever," and a duet with Rosie Flores on "Love and Danger." This enhanced CD includes a video of "My Baby Thinks She's French." Fans who don't have the original pair of LPs (both of which are still in print, by the way) will find this to be an excellent addition to their collection of Ely's recordings.