Ely was the creator of the song "Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down."
Here's a link to a nice npr piece on Ely, lots of elements of country blues / gospel / early rockabilly in his playing and singing:
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/05/136019632/a-nephews-quest-who-was-brother-claude-ely
(Forgive me if this has already been covered, I've been away from Weenie for a while, and a forum search only pointed to a thread from 2004. Let me know and I'll delete if it's already been discussed.)
Lindy