Editor’s Note: Jack Becker is the editor of Caprock Chronicles and is a Librarian Emeritus from Texas Tech University. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article about Joe Ely’s Tornado Jams is the final of a four-part series by frequent contributor Chuck Lanehart, Lubbock attorney and award-winning Western history writer.
Following the soggy but extraordinarily successful 1982 Tornado Jam, Parks Director Dan Kamp said the Buddy Holly Park buffalo grass turf damage did not appear more serious than expected, considering the inclement weather.
He pointed out the city should not be out much extra expense to restore the park.
How Lubbock city leaders nixed the 4th Tornado Jam
But by April of 1983, Kamp and the Parks & Recreation Board had changed their tune. They recommended to the city council that promoters of Joe Ely’s Fourth Annual Tornado Jam be denied use of Buddy Holly Park, the site of each of the previous Jams.
Joe Ely’s personal manager Chet Hansen and local liaison Steve Moss proposed the event be moved from May to September to accommodate the production company, Feyline Productions. They also offered a $1,000,000 insurance policy to cover any damage to the park. They said superstar Linda Ronstadt expressed an interest in a return engagement. Comedians Dan Ackroyd and Robin Williams wanted to join in the fun as well.
But when the final decision came before the Lubbock City Council, concerns were raised about alcohol control problems, sanitation, security, parking, curfew and turf damage.
When a councilman complained about destruction of the park’s buffalo grass turf, Moss drew laughter with his response that the grass “got its name by buffaloes being on it.” (For 150,000 years, bison occupied the Texas Plains, eating what is now known as “buffalo grass,” and often trampled the grass during stampedes. Yet the grass survived and thrived.)
Dozens of Jam supporters packed the council chambers, providing applause for the concert spokesmen. A 2000-signature petition in favor of the event was presented. Promoters reminded the council of potential Jam revenues for the City and the prospect of the Jam as a major tourist attraction. Moss said, “This is something that’s brought Lubbock attention around the world.”
However, the council voted 4-1 not to allow Joe Ely’s Fourth Annual Tornado Jam to take place in Buddy Holly Park. Hansen lamented, “I think it’s sad because Lubbock is the only city in the world that I know of with the opportunity to have a concert (without city funding) with many international figures and charge less than a $10 ticket price for the whole day.”
When Lubbock’s Tornado Jam moved indoors to the coliseum
So, there was no Jam in 1983, and two years passed before a semblance of the festival could be organized, and it would not be at Buddy Holly Park.
On May 4, 1985, only 1,000 fans paid to see the concert, which took place in the sweltering heat of the 10,000 capacity Lubbock Coliseum, even with local favorites Joe Ely, The Maines Brothers Band, Terry Allen and others performing.
“I’m gonna raise hell with the City of Lubbock until we can get The Tornado Jam back outside where it belongs,” said Joe. He added, “I think people want the Jam outdoors, even if they had to put up with some rain or some dust or some weather.”
Wrote A-J entertainment editor William Kerns, the festival “lies on its deathbed now, ironically enough having spent its perhaps final breath on Buddy Holly’s ‘Not Fade Away,’” the final concert song.
Some 46 years since the first festival, locals who were part of each of the four Lubbock Tornado Jams are still kickin’ and still involved in the music business. The Maines Brothers Band has played sporadically in recent years, and frontman Kenny Maines performs as a solo act in the West Texas area. Lloyd Maines, now of Austin, is a celebrated steel guitar performer and session player and a successful music producer.
Terry Allen, a Lubbock native who now lives in Santa Fe, has released multiple alternative country albums and occasionally performs live. He is also a renowned visual artist whose works are represented in the collections of many international museums.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore has established himself as a prolific recording artist, talented songwriter, performer and erstwhile actor (“The Big Lebowski”), having collaborated with many artists, including a revival of the legendary alternative country trio The Flatlanders with his buddies, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock.
Among others still active in the music business are Hancock, Jay Boy Adams and Steve Moss, who engaged in many aspects of the Jams, including promoting, organizing, producing and filming the festivals. Moss now lives in Las Vegas and continues producing and directing live music and concert films.
Joe Ely, whose illustrious career was established by the time of the first Tornado Jam, helped kick-start the outlaw country music scene in Austin, “The Live Music Capital of the World.”
A Grammy Award winner, he recorded dozens of albums and singles, composed countless songs, and toured with world-famous rock and country acts.
His last album, “Love and Freedom,” was released in February of 2025. Sadly, Joe died of natural causes at his Taos, New Mexico, home on Dec. 15, 2025, at the age of 78.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Caprock Chronicles on the death of Joe Ely’s Lubbock Tornado Jams
Reporting by By Chuck Lanehart, Special for the Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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By Chuck Lanehart, Special for the Avalanche-Journal | USA TODAY Network
