Tennessee's Not The State I'm In

When I was a young lad of nineteen, earnestly buying blues and jazz records and reading books about said musical genres, I began my country music explorations with Joe Ely. I knew that he was somehow associated with my beloved, recently departed The Clash, and that Martha Hume, the author of You're So Cold, I'm Turnin' Blue, my first country music book, was a big promoter of him. She saw Joe as a literate savior of legitimate honky tonk music. So, I dutifully bought his records. Thus would begin a decade-long country music obsession, which, in recent years, has grown to lethal levels.

I'll tell you this: Joe's first three records are essential. We'll talk about his debut self-titled debut today. Joe Ely has all the elements of a terrific record: A hot band, featuring the great Lloyd Maines (father of Dixie Chick, Natalie) on steel guitar and Jesse Taylor on lead geetar. Also, there's the songs of his Flatlanders' bandmates--Butch Hancock ("She Never Spoke Spanish to Me"; "Tennessee Is Not the State I'm In"; "If You Were a Bluebird") and Jimmie Dale Gilmore ("Treat Me Like a Saturday Night"). And Joe's songs weren't too shabby either. Literate, soulful, swingin', rockin', and it's not even his best record. You can find it pretty easily in the dollar vinyl sections. It's also available on CD. I dug these songs in my twenties, but I didn't really get them until I had lived a country music life. More Joe tomorrow.

Let's shift gears quite a bit and discuss a couple of Coltrane CDs. Presently, I'm listening to a live recording of Coltrane with McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, Elvin Jones on drums and Eric Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet and flute (from a 1961 Stockholm gig). This collection finds the group expanding on such Trane greatest hits such as "My Favorite Things"; "Blue Train"; "Naima"; and "Impressions." It's exciting (for me, anyway) to hear Dolphy's flute on "My Favorite Things." I truly prefer his flute and bass clarinet playing to his frantic alto (although I like that, too). More soul, I think. Trane, of course, is expanding, expanding, following his destiny.

Also, on the Coltrane front, I listened to his Ole recording on CD. I think the standout track is the title number, a brooding Spanish-flavored song that features both Art Davis and Reggie Workman on bass. The dual basses create a hypnotic drone that will be further explored during the 1961 Village Vanguard recordings (we get started on those tomorrow). Trane plays the soprano sax, Dolphy is on flute, and Freddie Hubbard sits in on trumpet. Play it loud!