Lord of the Highway

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]

Professional ratings

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]