Elvis & Bill Flanagan at the Sol Goldman Theater
A fan reports -
Elvis Costello & Bill Flanagan at the Sol Goldman Theater
28 September 2005
Moving to New York City a few years ago has been very good for my Elvis Costello obsession, because I’ve been able to see him play numerous times, and, because he lives nearby, I have even seen him on the streets and in Washington Square Park. Yet sometimes there can be too much of a good thing – in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Costello has played several benefit performances here, but due to short notice and lack of a fortune, I was unable to see any of them. Thus I was very happy to have a ticket for his interview with Bill Flanagan, at the Sol Goldman theatre at the 92nd Street YMCA.
Elvis spent about two hours on stage; he told some of the old stories, some new stories, and played a few songs (and numerous fragments of songs) to illustrate different points he was making. For instance, he showed how the hook from “Alison” came from a Detroit Spinners song, and how his arrangement of “Peace Love & Understanding” was based on a riff from Television’s “See No Evil.”
There were some other interesting stories. When Costello first met Mae Axton (who wrote “Heartbreak Hotel”), she told him that Elvis Presley had donned a disguise and had come to "check him out". This was particularly jolting to Costello due to the fact that Presley had been dead for months when Costello first came to America!
Another interesting story is that Ross MacManus was on the same bill with the Beatles at the Royal Command Performance (where John Lennon made the famous quip about rattling jewelry). Having promised to get their autographs for Declan, he brought home a beautiful set of all four signatures on one piece of paper. Unfortunately, the 9-year-old Declan then proceeded to cut out each signature to paste them in his autograph book! If anybody is aware of the scarcity of genuine Beatles autographs, they know that this was tragic indeed.
One of the biggest treats of the evening was a performance of an original song that he said was patterned after Van Morrison’s “You’re my Woman”, and which Elvis reckoned that he hadn’t performed since 1975. The chorus went “I hear a melody / and I know that it’s not right.”
A very interesting and unique experience.
SETLIST
Domino (one verse and chorus)
I Hear A Melody (early original from 1975)
Alison (fragment)
Stranger In The House (one verse & chorus, sung in the style of George Jones)
Big Fool Of The Year (George Jones song)
Peace Love & Understanding
Don’t Lose Your Grip On Love (Nick Lowe song)
Man Out Of Time (fragment)
Dirty Rotten Shame
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror (last verse and chorus)
American Without Tears
Narrow Daylight
Scarlet Tide