Honky Tonk Masquerade
Encyclopedia
Honky Tonk Masquerade is the second album by country
singer-songwriter
Joe Ely
, released in 1978.
. Writer Steve Pond places the album at number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of "50 Essential Albums of the 70s", calling it "the decade's most sure-footed country-rock collaboration". Pond places the album in the same class as such 1970s "country landmarks" as Guy Clark
's Old No. 1
, Willie Nelson
's Red Headed Stranger
, and Terry Allen's Lubbock (On Everything)
. In addition, New Zealand
critic Fred Muller places the album on his list of the top ten "best albums of the rock era".
and Honky Tonk Masquerade) were released together on a single disk. Dirty Linen reported that this disk was especially worth seeking out since it was (at least at the time), "the only place on two continents you can get Ely's debut". The reviewer described Ely's first two albums together: "Ely's self-titled effort and HTM are a bit leaner than most of his other honky-tonk rockers, with a bit more piano than electric guitar backing his lonesome warble -- dry and forceful as the wind whistling through Waco."
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Joe Ely
Joe Ely
Joe Ely is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music touches on honky-tonk, Texas Country, Tex-Mex and rock and roll....
, released in 1978.
Critical acclaim
Ely's second album has been highly regarded by critics around the world. It was included in the 2005 book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...
. Writer Steve Pond places the album at number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of "50 Essential Albums of the 70s", calling it "the decade's most sure-footed country-rock collaboration". Pond places the album in the same class as such 1970s "country landmarks" as Guy Clark
Guy Clark
Guy Clark is an American Texas Country artist. In his career, he has released more than twenty albums, primarily on major labels. He has also written singles for other artists, including Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell....
's Old No. 1
Old No. 1
Old No. 1 is the highly influential 1975 debut album by Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark.The cover of the original LP featured a painting by Susanna Clark and liner notes by Jerry Jeff Walker. It was reissued on CD by Sugar Hill. Both Old No. 1 and Texas Cookin were re-issued on CD on the Camden...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
's Red Headed Stranger
Red Headed Stranger
Red Headed Stranger is a 1975 album by American outlaw country singer Willie Nelson. After the wide success of his recordings with Atlantic records, Nelson signed a contract with Columbia Records, a label that gave him total creative control over his works...
, and Terry Allen's Lubbock (On Everything)
Lubbock (On Everything)
Lubbock is a 1979 double album by Texas singer, songwriter and piano player Terry Allen, released on Fate Records. It was reissued on compact disc in 1995 by Sugar Hill Records. It was recorded in 1978 at Caldwell Studios in Lubbock, Texas, and was engineered and mastered by Don Caldwell and Lloyd...
. In addition, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
critic Fred Muller places the album on his list of the top ten "best albums of the rock era".
Side one
- "Cornbread Moon" – 3:29
- "Because of the Wind" – 4:02
- "Boxcars" (Butch HancockButch HancockButch Hancock is a country/folk music recording artist and song writer. He was born July 12, 1945 in Lubbock, Texas. Hancock is a member of The Flatlanders along with Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, but he has principally performed a solo career....
) – 4:03 - "Jericho (Your Walls Must Come Tumbling Down)" (Hancock) – 2:54
- "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown" (Jimmie Dale GilmoreJimmie Dale GilmoreJimmie Dale Gilmore is a country singer, songwriter, actor, recording artist and producer, currently living in Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
, John Reed) – 2:12
Side two
- "Honky Tonk Masquerade" – 3:46
- "I'll Be Your Fool" – 2:52
- "Fingernails" – 2:13
- "West Texas Waltz" (Hancock) – 5:03
- "Honky Tonkin'" (Hank Williams) – 3:27
Musicians
- Acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
– Joe Ely - SteelSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
– Lloyd MainesLloyd MainesLloyd Maines is an American Grammy Award-winning country music record producer, musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas and is now based in Bulverde, Texas.... - DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
– Steve Keeton - BassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
– Gregg Wright - AccordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
& pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
– Ponty BonePonty BonePonty Bone is a Texan accordionist who has led his 1980s band, the Squeezetones to international popularity over a twenty year period.Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Bone began studying accordion when he was only 5 years old. Later, he learned to play trumpet also... - ElectricElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
/acoustic guitar – Jesse Taylor "Jesse Taylor, guitarist: born Lubbock, Texas 1950; (three daughters); died Austin, Texas 7 March 2006.", [obituary], The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, March 11, 2006 (link) - Electric/acoustic guitar – Chip Young
- Moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
& acoustic piano – Shane KeisterShane KeisterShane Keister is an American musician. He is known for his work as a studio musician, writer, arranger and producer. He plays synthesizer, piano, Hammond B3, Synclavier, Fairlight, Fender Rhodes, and others.-History:... - PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
– Farrell Morris - Background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
– Lea Jane Berinati, Ginger Holloday, Lisa Silver, Jesse Taylor, Lloyd Maines and Gregg Wright - Butch HancockButch HancockButch Hancock is a country/folk music recording artist and song writer. He was born July 12, 1945 in Lubbock, Texas. Hancock is a member of The Flatlanders along with Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, but he has principally performed a solo career....
- background vocals on "West Texas Waltz"
Production
- Produced by Chip Young
- Recorded/remixed: Youngun' Sounds Studios, Murfreesboro, TennesseeMurfreesboro, TennesseeMurfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
- Engineer – Chip Young
- Mastering Studio: MCA Recording Studios, Universal City, CaliforniaUniversal City, CaliforniaUniversal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
- Mastering Engineer – Larry Boden
- Digitally re-mastered at Masterfonics using the JVC Digital Audio Mastering System
- Engineer – Glenn Meadows
Releases
In 2000, a remastered edition of Ely's first two albums (Joe ElyJoe Ely (album)
Joe Ely is the self-titled debut album by Joe Ely, released in 1977 on MCA Records. The album includes several tracks with "near-classic" status among Ely fans, including several written by Ely's bandmates from The Flatlanders...
and Honky Tonk Masquerade) were released together on a single disk. Dirty Linen reported that this disk was especially worth seeking out since it was (at least at the time), "the only place on two continents you can get Ely's debut". The reviewer described Ely's first two albums together: "Ely's self-titled effort and HTM are a bit leaner than most of his other honky-tonk rockers, with a bit more piano than electric guitar backing his lonesome warble -- dry and forceful as the wind whistling through Waco."
| year | format | record company | catalog number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | LP | MCA | 2333 |
| MCA | 20378 | ||
| CD | MCA | MCAD-10220 | |
| Cassette | MCA | MCAC-10220 | |
| 1995 | Cassette | Universal Special Products | 20378 |
| 2000 | CD | Beat Goes On (BGO) | BGOCD502 |