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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]
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]
| 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] |
| New Musical Express | 5/10[16] |
| Los Angeles Times | [17] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | [18] |
| 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."[17] 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."[19]
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."[18] The Philadelphia Daily News listed the album as the ninth best of 1987.[20]
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."[21]
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| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Lord of the Highway" | 3:54 |
| 2. | "(Don't Put a) Lock on My Heart" | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Me and Billy the Kid" | 3:23 |
| 4. | "Letter to L.A." | 8:12 |
| 5. | "No Rope, Daisy-O" | 0:40 |
| 6. | "My Baby Thinks She's French" | 3:45 |
| 7. | "Everybody Got Hammered" | 3:34 |
| 8. | "Are You Listenin' Lucky?" | 3:19 |
| 9. | "Row of Dominoes" | 3:37 |
| 10. | "Silver City" | 4:31 |
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