Looking Inward : Rocker Joe Ely Doesn’t Let a Little Introspection Dampen Lively Shows

Joe Ely says he remembers the very day he decided to become a rock ‘n’ roll singer.

Like many a Texan, the veteran honky tonk hero can spin a colorful yarn, and Ely described the hell-spawned vision he experienced the day of his fateful decision with obvious relish.

“It was scary,” he said. “I was with my parents in Amarillo, and there was this blinding dust storm--you couldn’t even see across the street. Everybody had bandannas across their faces to keep the dust out. We were at a Pontiac dealership, and this guy was selling cars. Suddenly, he said, ‘And now we’ve got a kid up here that’s gonna play a little piano for you.’ And it was Jerry Lee Lewis--just him and a piano, flailing away.

“The wind was blowing so hard, it was knocking the microphone stand over, and you couldn’t hardly see the stage through all the dust. Jerry Lee would play a couple songs, then the guy would sell his Pontiacs, and he gave away hot dogs all covered in dirt from the storm. It was just surreal, and my little 7- or 8-year-old mind was saying, ‘Damn--that’s what I want to do when I grow up!”’

Perhaps the frenzied stage shows of the Lubbock-bred Ely have inspired similar ambitions in other impressionable young men. Renowned for his wild, frenetic energy and total spiritual surrender to his music, Ely carries on in the noble tradition of Lewis, and fellow Lubbock legends Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings.

San Diegans will have a chance to experience Ely’s rockin’ rapture when he performs tonight at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach.

Ely, 45, is currently on tour in support of “Love And Danger” (MCA), his first studio album in four years and perhaps his most introspective to date.

“Actually, I wanted to do it even more laid back than it is,” Ely said recently. “The last three albums rubbed me as being kind of frantic and grasping for something. So this time, I wanted to do something a little more laid back, even though for me, that’s hard to do.”

While “laid back” isn’t a term one would usually employ to describe Ely’s music, “Love And Danger” is a more commercial, less roadhouse-oriented album than his fans may be accustomed to.

Ely’s country influence has all but vanished, replaced by a contemporary rock sound that recalls Bruce Springsteen, and at times, even Tom Petty. Gone is the glorious steel guitar work of longtime Ely sideman Lloyd Maines, which distinguished his earlier material. The lyrical content is more downbeat than before, dealing mostly with desperate characters and ill-fated love.

“I love a good love song,” Ely said. “But I try not to paint too rosy a picture, ‘cause there’s a lot of emotions involved in love. I try to take a look at things that aren’t all just sunset over the Pacific, you know? I try to keep things in perspective. I also don’t like whiny country songs where somebody’s whining about someone leaving them. I think that’s just God-awful. I guess that’s why I’ve got split philosophies with Nashville.”

Signed by MCA Records in 1977, Ely was initially promotedW artist. But country-politan radio tastes of the day found Ely’s often-raucous brand of honky tonk harmony a bit too over-the-top. Conversely, rock radio turned a deaf ear to Ely’s Texas twang, thinking it too hillbilly-influenced to be accepted by a rock ‘n’ roll audience.

But if radio ignored Ely’s honest and impassioned music, critics fairly fell over one another heaping praise upon it. Ely developed a cult performer persona, lauded by hip insiders and ignored by the mainstream--kind of a Texan Tom Waits.

“That’s given me a lot of freedom--or rope, depending on how you want to define it,” Ely said with a laugh. “I’m happy with what I’ve done. Of all the albums I’ve put out (11 in all), there’s only a couple I don’t really like. I never much cared for ‘Down on the Drag’ (1979) or ‘Hi-Res’ (1984). The performance and production both kind of sucked on them.”

One of the highlights of Ely’s career was a 1980 tour supporting the Clash, which served to introduce him to a younger generation of rockers and expand his profile. Unfortunately, the exposure failed to translate into record sales, and he split with MCA following the release of the “Hi-Res” album.

But in a highly unusual turnaround, Ely signed again with MCA in 1990 after the release of two albums on the independent Hightone Records. Ely credits his producer, Tony Brown (who also happens to be a label executive), for helping to get him back with MCA.

“Tony figured that there was some kind of Texas rock ‘n’ roll thing that needed to be brought back to Nashville,” Ely said. “As far as I can tell, that’s why I’m back with MCA. And it wasn’t like I was ever really dropped, our relationship just kind of fizzled out, like an Alka Seltzer. We just went in different directions.

“It was weird coming back at first, but then I realized that it’s all in who you’re dealing with, and I like Tony, and I like the people at MCA.”

So now, Ely’s realigned with the giant label, producing more commercial-minded music than ever before. Many of the rough edges have been smoothed over, to where Ely now sounds more “acceptable” to album-oriented rock radio, which he maintained is playing his new album. Does this signal a mellowing out after all those years of producing musical hellfire?

“You can decide that after you see the live show,” said Ely, implying the negative. “I don’t think I’m mellowing out. I take one album at a time, and try to reflect what’s going on around me at the time I do that album. The next one could sound completely different.”

* Joe Ely performs tonight at the Belly Up Tavern, 143 S . Cedros Ave ., Solana Beach. Tickets, available through TicketMaster, are $9. New York-based folk-rocker Greg Trooper opens. Show starts at 8:30 p.m.