Three recordings of The Juliet Letters have appeared in 2006.
Michelle and David Murray
Kerry-Anne Kutz and the Abysse String Quartet
Tini Kainrath & StringFizz
A German ballet based on it is due to be filmed in March '07
Elvis' has contributed to a few various artist albums due in '07
Billboard reports -
(extract)
Bjork, Prince, James Taylor and Elvis Costello are among the artists who have recorded covers for "A Tribute to Joni Mitchell," due in the spring via Nonesuch. The 11-track set also boasts contributions from Sarah McLachlan, k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris and Sufjan Stevens.
"Edith and the Kingpin," Elvis Costello
And -
(extract)
On January 23, 2007, Blue Note Records will release the companion soundtrack to Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life, a 90-minute documentary film about the pioneering African-American composer, arranger and pianist.
Lovano and Charlap also lend support to special guest vocalist Elvis Costello on one of the most striking performances on the album, a haunting version of Strayhorn's final composition "Blood Count, " which was written from a hospital bed shortly before he died in 1967. Here the tune is given lyrics penned by Costello and retitled "My Flame Burns Blue."
(extract)
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Elvis Costello and George Jones are among the artists pitching in on country legend Charlie Louvin's first new album in more than a decade. The self-titled 12-track set will arrive Feb. 20 via Tompkins Square Records and be supported with an extensive tour.
"When I Stop Dreaming," featuring Elvis Costello, Mac McCaughan and Pete Cummings
Concert DVD "Hot As A Pistol, Keen As A Blade"
Features Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, The Imposters, Anthony "AB"
Brown and the Crescent City Horns
Recorded live in Montreal in 2006, during his month long tour in
support of "The River in Reverse," a collaboration with New Orleans
musician Allen Toussaint and featuring his regular backing group, The
Imposters, along with Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section, The
Crescent City Horns.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Costello and Toussaint began the
collaboration that resulted in "The River in Reverse." The album
includes new and old compositions by Toussaint, several songs
co-written by Toussaint and Costello, plus one new Costello original,
the title track. Musicians featured on the project include The
Imposters, as well as Toussaint's horn section and guitarist.
Presented in 5.1 surround sound, this amazing DVD includes incredible
live performances of Elvis songs spanning the last four decades.
TRACKLIST: (*tentative*)
Monkey To Man
A Certain Girl
Clownstrike
Tears, Tears And More Tears
Tears Before Bedtime
Poisoned Rose
(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
Broken Promise Land
Freedom For The Stallion
The River In Reverse
Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)
Bedlam
Watching The Detectives
Episode of Blonde
Pump It Up
Yes We Can Can
Fortune Teller
Big Chief Medley: (Big Chief/Tipitina/The Olde Professor)
Internation Echo
Clubland
Six-Fingered Man
The Sharpest Thorn
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 1:53:49
DVD EXTRAS:
Band Introductions
Alison
Who's Gonna Help Brother - An excerpt from the film "Putting The
River In Reverse" by Matthew Buzzel
Interview with Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
Photo Gallery
Tour Journal by Elvis Costello
Weeds: Music from the Original Series, Vol. 2
Release Date: October 17, 2006
Features
. Elvis Costello - "Little Boxes"
The Harry Smith Project: The Anthology Of American Folk Music Revisited (2 CD/2 DVD BOX SET)
Various Artists
# Audio CD (October 24, 2006)
# Original Release Date: October 24, 2006
# Number of Discs: 2
# Label: Shout Factory
Features -
"The Butcher's Boy," Elvis Costello
"Ommie Wise Part 1 & 2 (What Lewis Did Last...)," Kate and Anna McGarrigle with Elvis Costello
Musictap reports -
There are 2 DVDs reissues coming from the Elvis Costello
camp that includes Live: A Case For Song (1997),
and The Juliet Letters (1993)(with The Brodsky Quartet).
Both DVDs are planned for October 24 from Rhino.
( Submitted by Sweetest Punch)
USA Today reports -
The theme song for Showtime's Weeds, Malvina Reynolds' venerable Little Boxes, was once covered by Pete Seeger, but will receive a series of different interpretations in its new season. Elvis Costello sings it on the season premiere (Aug. 14), with later episodes featuring renditions by Engelbert Humperdinck, Death Cab for Cutie, Ozomatli, and Regina Spektor. Tough to get more eclectic than that.
The new Toussaint/Costello song 'The Sharpest Thorn' is already available in Germany on the CD sampler 'Verve Today 2006'
( Submitted by sweetest punch)
Pre-order River in Reverse via Amazon.
mvyradio has been to some incredible concerts in the past year, and we’re ready to relive the excitement on the air. Every Thursday night at 9pm, for the month of April, we’ll feature another amazing live performance, recorded exclusively for mvyradio. Join host Megan Ward, as she give you a front row seat in the splendor of an old Chicago theater, a dark, packed club in Toronto, and the hot sun of a Newport summer day, for mvyradio Live! Brought to you by Seafood Sam's, Iron House and the Music Box.'
Including-
From Elvis' PR people -
(extract)
'The River in Reverse,' Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint's spirited and deeply soulful new album -- seven songs from Toussaint's remarkable catalog; five newly written by the two; and one new song, the title track, written by Costello -- will be released June 6 by Verve Forecast.
'The River in Reverse' track listing:
1. On Your Way Down (Toussaint)
2. Nearer To You (Toussaint)
3. Tears, Tears and More Tears (Toussaint)
4. The Sharpest Thorn (CostelloToussaint)
5. Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further? (Toussaint)
6. The River In Reverse (Costello)
7. Freedom For The Stallion (Toussaint)
8. Broken Promise Land (CostelloToussaint)
9. Ascension Day (BirdCostelloToussaint)
10. International Echo (CostelloToussaint)
11. All These Things (Toussaint)
12. Wonder Woman (Toussaint)
13. Six-Fingered Man (CostelloToussaint)
Rolling Stone reports-
NEW ORLEANS PIANIST, songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint stands at a microphone, waiting for his cue, in the vocal booth at Piety Street Recording, a studio in the city’s Bywater section, near the Mississippi River. Toussaint , 68, is the picture of immaculate Southern comfort in a gray suit jacket, brown slacks, cream white shirt, perfectly knotted caramel brown tie and open. toed sandals. But there is no missing the gently surging indignity in Toussaint’s voice as the tape rolls and the funk kicks in:
“What happened to the Liberty Bell/I heard so much about/Did it really ding dong/It must have dinged wrong/It didn’t ding long.”
Five months after Hurricane Katrina ripped through Toussaint’s hometown, much of it is still in ruins,a victim of collapsed levees and chaotic relief efforts. Hurt and fear are in every silken note he sings.
Elvis Costello listens in the adjacent control room, shaking his head in awe. Toussaint is putting vocal overdubs on “Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further,” a rhythmic plea for a helping he originally wrote and produced in 1970 for Lee Dorsey. The song is also one of seventeen that Toussaint and Costello, 51, have recorded together for The River in Reverse, to be released in May on Verve Records. Like everything else the duo has written and cut for the album — new songs like the title track, “Broken Promiseland” and “Ascension Day”; poignant covers of vintage Toussaint gems such as “Freedom for the Stallion” and “On Your Way Down” — “Brother” reverberates with the power of emotional eyewitness, born of the devastation just outside the studio’s front door.
Sitting with Costello during a session break, Toussaint politely insists that this “is not a sympathy record. These songs can live in war and peace, anytime, anywhere. This recording is far more important, and bigger, than Katrina.”
Costello agrees. “This was a chance to make something positive out of something dispiriting,” he says of the album, produced by Joe Henry and featuring Costello’s group the Imposters with local musicians from Toussaint’s band. “It’s also forward-looking. It is representative of the culture here. And Allen is one of the most important people in that culture.”
Costello and Toussaint’s sessions at Piety in early December (following a week’s work in Los Angeles) are one of the heartening signs of life in this otherwise ravaged city. The Lower Ninth Ward, a short drive from the studio, on the other side of the Industrial Canal, is a wasteland; rushing water from breached levees pushed houses off their pilings, flattening them. Bywater itself was severely damaged by wind and water; Toussaint’s own home in Gentilly was flooded, destroying a lifetime’s worth of personal archives.
“I was feeling bad one day,” Henry says, “because I was keeping Allen’s horn players around, waiting for a take. I said, ‘Do you want to go out and come back later?’ They said, "We don’t want to go out there. We know what it looks like.”
Toussaint evacuated the city after the storm, basing himself in New York, where he and Costello -- with whom he had collaborated on Costello’s 1989 album Spike — ran into each other at Katrina benefit gigs, often doing Toussaint’s songs together. “It used to be common to see ‘songbook’ records,” Costello says, “before rock & roll singers wrote their own songs. I thought, ‘Maybe it’s time for an Allen Toussaint songbook album. Maybe we could do it together.’”
Toussaint not only said yes, he co-wrote five songs with Costello. “To be invited out of an enforced semiretirement,” Toussaint notes with a sly smile, “was a wonderful opportunity.” And Costello “was tireless. As we wrote, he gave vocal performances of the kind that you would give in the studio.”
The two work together with the easygoing warmth of mutual fans and old friends. On their first day of recording in LA., they got master takes of “Greatest Love” and “Nearer to You” in fifteen minutes. But at Piety, it is fascinating to watch Toussaint’s attention to detail, an instinct for soulful perfection that ran through the Sixties and Seventies hits he wrote and produced for, among others, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe and the Meters.
“It’s the closest thing in my life to being around a Duke Ellington,” says Henry, who produced Toussaint’s contributions to the recent I Believe to My Soul and Our New Orleans collections. “After a take, he’ll say to his horn section, ‘That was right, but that’s all it is. Now it has to be alive.”
There is no better word to describe the music Costello and Toussaint have made, especially during their week in this city coming back from near-death. On the night they finish “Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further,” they also turn to the dark Costello ballad “The River in Reverse.” Costello wrote it within weeks of the flooding. His love for New Orleans and his rage at its betrayal are explicit in his lyrics and vocal:
“There must be something better than this/I don’t see how it can get much worse/What do we have to do to send/The river in reverse?’
It is hard working, Costello admits, amid so much loss: “You think it’s a bit frivolous.” But the healing is obvious as Toussaint listens to the urgency in Costello’s song and smiles. For now Toussaint has little but this record to call his own, and he’s grateful for it. “At the moment, I have no past and no future,” he says. “I wake up in the morning to do this. This is all that I am.”
The Juliet Letters , Elvis' 1992 recording with The Brodsky Quartet is being re-issued , with a bonus disc , on March 21 '06.
( Submitted by sweetest punch and And No Coffee Table)
Billboard reports -
(extract)
Costello's recent collaborations with Allen Toussaint will appear on "The River in Reverse," due in May via Verve Forecast. The material on the set includes new songs co-written by Costello and Toussaint, as well as fresh versions of several vintage Toussaint songs.
With producer Joe Henry, the pair recorded in November in Toussaint's native New Orleans with Costello's band, the Imposters, and several members of Toussaint's band. Conducted amid the city's massive recovery effort, the sessions are thought to be among the first there since Hurricane Katrina struck in late August.
.....in Australia
MY FLAME BURNS BLUE: 2CD
TRACK LISTING
Disc 1
1 HORA DECUBITUS
2 FAVOURITE HOUR
3 THAT'S HOW YOU GOT KILLED BEFORE
4 UPON A VEIL OF MIDNIGHT BLUE
5 CLUBLAND
6 ALMOST BLUE
7 SPEAK DARKLY MY ANGEL
8 ALMOST IDEAL EYES
9 CAN YOU BE TRUE?
10 PUT AWAY FORBIDDEN PLAYTHINGS
11 EPISODE OF BLONDE
12 MY FLAME BURNS BLUE (BLOOD COUNT)
13 WATCHING THE DETECTIVES
14 GOD GIVE ME STRENGTH
Disc 2
1 COSTELLO: PRELUDE ?IL SOGNO / ACT 1? - EDIT
2 COSTELLO: OVERTURE ?IL SOGNO / ACT 1? - EDIT
3 COSTELLO: PUCK ONE ?IL SOGNO / ACT 1? - EDIT
4 COSTELLO: THE COURT ?IL SOGNO / ACT 1? - EDIT
5 COSTELLO: WORKERS' PLAYTIME ?IL SOGNO / ACT 1? - E
6 COSTELLO: OBERON AND TITANIA ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2?
7 COSTELLO: THE CONSPIRACY OF OBERON AND PUCK ?IL SO
8 COSTELLO: PUCK TWO ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2? - EDIT
9 COSTELLO: THE IDENTITY PARADE ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2?
10 COSTELLO: THE FACE OF BOTTOM ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2?
11 COSTELLO: THE SPARK OF LOVE ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2? - E
12 COSTELLO: TORMENTRESS ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2? - EDIT
13 COSTELLO: OBERON HUMBELD ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2? - EDIT
14 COSTELLO: TWISTED - ENTANGLED - TRANSFORM AND EXCH
15 COSTELLO: THE FAIRY AND THE ASS ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2?
16 COSTELLO: SLEEP ?IL SOGNO / ACT 2? - EDIT
17 COSTELLO: THE PLAY ?IL SOGNO / ACT 3? - EDIT
18 COSTELLO: THE WEDDING ?IL SOGNO / ACT 3? - EDIT
USA Today reports -
His time is due. Previously unreleased compositions, overhauls of classics and an orchestral suite comprise My Flame Burns Blue, a live album that Elvis Costello hopes will explain some of his absences of the past dozen years.
Due Feb. 28 on Deutsche Grammophon, the concert was recorded at The Hague with the Metropole Orkest, a 52-piece jazz orchestra from The Netherlands. Among the songs and arrangements Costello has been honing over the past decade are Can You Be True?; a reinvented Clubland; Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue (earlier recorded by Charles Brown as I Wonder How She Knows); and Watching the Detectives, refashioned in the vein of a 1950s TV theme. Costello penned lyrics for Hora Decubitas, a Charles Mingus composition (per his widow's request) and for Billy Strayhorn's last work, Blood Count.
A bonus disc captures 45 minutes of Il Sogno, Costello's first full-length orchestral composition. In January, the suite will be the centerpiece of a global tour by Costello and Steve Nieve performing with local orchestras.
One of Elvis' more obscure guest appearances gets a new lease of life with the upcoming re-issue of the Eurythmics back catalogue. This new edition of Be Yourself Tonight - from 1985 - features a guest harmony vocal from Elvis on the song Adrian. This would appear to be only the second time - after the 1990 issuing of the Eurythmics catalogue on CD - this song has appeared on CD , doubtlessly in much improved sound.
'Net sources say the album has accumulated 13 million sales over the years so this appearance may count as one biggest selling releases that Elvis has been invloved with.
I seem to remember contempoary accounts quoting Ms Lennox saying how Elvis had turned up at the recording session - in Paris , I think - with his famous black book of lyrics . However , I see that the song is credited to Lennox/Stewart. However the lyric does feature classic Costello wordplay - 'new clear' / nuclear , for instance - hinting that he did actually contribute or the song was crafted with him in mind
Billboard reports -
Originally expected earlier this year, the DVD "The Right Spectacle: The Very Best of Elvis Costello -- The Videos" will arrive Sept. 6 in the United Kingdom via demonVision. A North American release date has not yet been finalized for the project, which rounds up all of the artist's classic promo clips plus a wealth of rare European TV appearances.
Of perhaps most interest to fans is the fact that Costello provides commentary for each of the 27 videos, including such early MTV favorites as "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding" and "Everyday I Write the Book."
But securing the artist's services for the project nearly didn't happen, according to DVD producer Sophie Coolbaugh. "Elvis was completely booked up last summer and no matter how we looked at his schedule, there was no way he could spare us a few hours," she tells Billboard.com. "We had given up on the idea when the call came late on a Thursday afternoon -- we could have him for a couple of hours on the following Sunday in New York."
Due to short notice, the producers were forced to rent a studio without air conditioning "on a muggy September evening," Coolbaugh recalls. "Elvis had not dabbled in the art of the DVD audio commentary before, and he took to it like a fish takes to water. It is both witty and interesting, and definitely a key highlight of the disc."
Coolbaugh delighted in "finding bits and pieces that we knew no one had seen in over 20 years, if at all," including an extra song from a 1983 performance on the U.K. show "The Tube" and clips from Holland's Pink Pop Festival ("fabulous pink suit").
However, one classic piece of film eluded "The Right Spectacle." Says Coolbaugh: "The master of Elvis' first-ever TV appearance [performing 'Alison' for 'Granada Reports' in July 1977] has gone missing sometime between 1977 and now. It was very, very lucky that the producers of [the show] 'So It Goes' lifted a clip from it for their show later that year, so the excerpt we have on the disc is the only surviving clip from [Costello's] TV debut."
Since there are no U.S. TV appearances on the collection, could a follow-up "Elvis in the U.S." compilation see the light of day in the future? "We had access to a large number of archives and in the end it was a question of finding clips that were most representative of the period," Coolbaugh says. "Who knows what the future holds -- there are certainly plenty of great clips to consider for a follow up."
Playbill reports -
( extract)
A recording of an appearance by pop star and composer Elvis Costello on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz radio show debuted on the Billboard Contemporary-Jazz Chart at number 16.
The State , South Carolina reports -
There is no good music or bad music. It’s all just music to Marian McPartland.
“Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz” — produced for its entire 26-year run by South Carolina’s ETV Radio — has allowed the 86-year-old jazz legend to share the radio stage with such greats as Shirley Horn, Burt Bacharach and Bobby Short. Two years ago, McPartland sat down to play with rock legend Elvis Costello. The resulting duets, which aired Sept.30, 2003, will be released on CD on Tuesday.
“I like what he’s doing now,” McPartland said of Costello. “He’s getting into a more straightforward way of singing.”
McPartland played the piano and Costello, who helped ignite the ’70s punk/new wave explosion, sang jazz standards.
Elvis and jazz? It’s not as far off as you might think. After all, he’s married to jazz sensation Diana Krall, and he has dabbled before in other genres, such as country and easy listening. But it doesn’t end there.
The Englishman’s mother was a jazz and classical records saleswoman and his father, influenced by imported jazz records from America, was a professional trumpet player and singer.
McPartland knew the elder Costello.
“It’s interesting to me that his father was a singer in an English band that I knew very well,” McPartland said. “He sang a song his father sang.”
That song, “At Last,” sits alongside Costello-written songs and standards on “Elvis Costello-Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz Radio Broadcast.”
McPartland said Costello was pleasant to be around.
“It was a lot of fun for me,” she said. “I don’t get to accompany anyone that often.”
“Piano Jazz,” which airs locally at 8 p.m. Saturday on WLTR-FM 91.3 and WRJA-FM 88.1, usually has McPartland trading sounds with other jazz musicians.
Meshing genres is something McPartland does to stay fresh. Her collaboration with Costello is similar to what she did with classic rockers Steely Dan.
Shari Hutchinson, who has produced “Piano Jazz” for 20 years, said she talked to McPartland almost every day.
When searching for guests, Hutchinson said, she and McPartland talked about Costello because of his jazz background.
“She was intrigued by his playing,” Hutchinson said. “She heard the jazz influences. He’s well versed and well grounded in jazz.”
McPartland hopes to release more CDs, including one with Krall. When asked why she continues working, McPartland said she was having fun so there was no need to stop.
She told Hutchinson exactly when she would be done with music.
“She said she’s going to bop until she drops,” Hutchinson said.
demonVision is pleased to announce, for the very first time on DVD, a unique collection of the visual works of Elvis Costello - The Right Spectacle: The Very Best of Elvis Costello - The Videos,Released on DVD 5 September, 2005
From his first Radar Records single in 1978, I Don't Want To Go To (Chelsea), to his final video for Warner Brothers; 13 Steps Lead Down (from 1994's Brutal Youth album), this is a must purchase for all serious Elvis Costello enthusiasts and fans alike.
Widely regarded as one of the most respected singer/songwriters in rock and pop, Elvis Costello was instrumental in pioneering the pop video in its early days, most of which became regular viewing on MTV and other noted music television channels.
The DVD boasts a grand total of 27 videos that includes material rarely seen since the original release of the singles they supported.
The DVD can be watched with Audio Commentary that Elvis has recorded especially for each video. Costello's witty and lively explanations provide insights into where, why and how the videos were created. Fans will laugh along with Elvis as he tells comic anecdotes and mocks both himself and his fellow band members.
Bonus features include over 70 minutes worth of ultra rare television archive footage culled from an array of TV channels from the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. Costello and the Attractions perform Alison, Lip Service and No Dancing on the British TV show, Granada Reports, Shipbuilding on The Tube, Oliver's Army on the Dutch TV show Countdown, and Peace in Our Time on Sweden's Mandagsboren, and many more.
But that's not all! The DVD is presented in a collectable digipack, with comprehensive production notes written by the man himself. What's more, the DVD includes a surprise Easter Egg strategically hidden away on the DVD for the most ardent of Costello enthusiasts to find.
2000 copiesof a 7" vinyl single , pairing Brilliant Mistake and True Love Ways, will be released in the U.K. to promote the April re-issue of King Of America. It's ' first come first served' - so order now!
( Submitted by John)
An "Artist's Choice" CD of songs selected by Elvis is now available at Starbucks locations. It does not appear to be available on Starbucks' website, but it will probably show up there eventually.
Here's the lineup:
1. Louis Armstrong - Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)
2. Muddy Waters - I Love The Life I Live (I Live The Life I Love)
3. Clifford Brown - Yesterdays
4. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin'
5. Fleetwood Mac - Oh Well, Part 1
6. Aretha Franklin - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
7. Joni Mitchell - The Last Time I Saw Richard
8. The Band - Tears Of Rage
9. Nick Lowe - I'm A Mess
10. George Jones - Mr. Fool
11. Lucinda Williams - Over Time
12. Rilo Kiley - Does He Love You?
13. Dusty Springfield - I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore
14. Randy Newman - Real Emotional Girl
15. Diana Krall - Almost Blue
16. Paul Simon - Peace Like A River
17. Joe Tex - The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)
18. Freda Payne - Bring The Boys Home
It includes fairly lengthy liner notes by EC, commenting on each track. (Oddly, he suggests at one point that "Stranger In The House" is on the CD, but it's not.)
Elvis explains, “I've picked songs that illustrate how I've learned almost everything I know about music just from listening to records. I've tried to tell the story behind every choice. I've also selected a few recent favorites with the suspicion that they will be songs that will stick around. I loved the rest of them long enough to know that they are not going anywhere.”
Of Lucinda Williams' “Overtime,” Costello says, “It is my belief that Lucinda is the closest living counterpart to Hank Williams, when it comes to writing from the heart with absolute economy.” About Muddy Waters' “I Live the Life I Love,” Costello says, “I just love the way this record sounds, how the band parts all interlock and the fashion in which Muddy just starts singing whenever he feels like it.”
( Submitted by Nunki)
.....on this BBC radio broadcast of songs from Elvis' show at South By Southwest in Austin , Texas last Wednes. Elvis' set starts about 1hour 8minutes into the radio show.
The songs featured are :
1.Delivery Man
2.Mystery Dance
3.Either Side Of The Same Town
4.(I Can't Stand Up ) For Falling Down
5.Hi Fidelity
6.Why Dont You Love Me like You Used To Do
( Submitted by Martin Foyle )
Elvis Costello and the Imposters
Club Date - Live in Memphis
This item will be released on April 19, 2005.
Pre-order
Amazon
Synopsis from Eagle Vision -
The old saying goes "You can never go home again".
Costello has made a career of doing what "can't"
should" be done, and Club Date: Live In Memphis
exception. Costello returns to his musical roots, leaving
cozy comfort of theater-sized venues and stages
sweaty club in Memphis, Tennessee for a set that rolls
his best songs from his 27-year career. Club Date:
Memphis, recorded in late 2004, was shot in High-
and features Stereo, 5.1 Surround and DTS audio to
viewer that intimate setting from their own home.
Track Listing:
1) Waiting For The End Of The World--- 3:09
2) Radio Radio---2: 45
3) Mystery Dance-2: 31
4) Blue Chair-3:45
5) Bedlam-5:26
6) Country Darkness 4:16
7) Blame It On Cain-3;52
8) Either Side Of The Same Town 3:39 (Elvis Costello/Jerry Ragovoy)
9) High Fidelity-- 2:39
10) The Judgment-3:24
11) Monkey To Man-5:04
12) The Monkey -3:17 (Dave Bartholomeu)
13) I Still Miss Someone 3:12
14) Heart Shaped Bruise 4:25
15) Wheels 3:11 (Chris Hillman/Gram Parsons)
16) The Delivery Man 5:53
17) Hidden Charms 3:42 (Willie Dixon)
18)Alison/Suspicious Minds 4:33 (Mark James)
19) Peace Love And Understanding 4:00 (Nick Lowe)
20) Pump It Up 5:10
Bonus Songs:
21) My Baby’s Gone 3:28 (Louvin Brothers)
22) There’s A Story In Your Voice 3:24
23) Button My Lip 8:01
24) Sleepless Nights 4:03
Bonus:
Road Trip Documentary “Off The Beaten Path” A Road Trip With Elvis & Pete.
Radio and The Fan
( Submitted by snarling pup)
You can preorder the new edition of King Of America on
Amazon .
( Submitted by Sweetest Punch)
Musictap reports -
Concord Jazz plan a SoundSaver title for Marian McPartland and Elvis Costello called Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz scheduling for a July 12 release.
( Submitted by Martin Foyle)
Olivers Army on will appear on a John Peel 'tribute disc' in April.
You can watch the video clip of There's A Story In Your Voice from Live in Memphis DVD. Registration is needed, but it's not complicated at all.
( Submitted by Ayako Sasamoto)
ICE magazine tell -
The third time might well be the charm for Elvis Costello's King of America. His adventurous, roots-leaning first album without the Attractions barely nudged the Top 40 of Billboard's album chart when it was released in 1986. In 1995, it was reissued by Rykodisc, with a second disc of rarities. On April 26, Rhino takes a crack at the King, loading up two CDs with the original album's 15 tracks
and a whopping 21 bonus cuts from 1984-85.
Originally intended as part of the label's Costello reissue program, which for the last four years has released his catalog in groups of three albums, King of America will arrive as a stand-alone. But that's no accident. Co-producer (with Val Jennings) and iTunes Chief Music Officer Gary Stewart gives two reasons why KOA is swinging solo.
"First," Stewart tells ICE, "it's coming on the heels of The Delivery Man [last year's Costello set on Lost Highway], which is kind of a roadhouse, roots-rock, country-meets-soul record. King of America is the first time he tried this
approach with his own material. You hear him working with T-Bone Burnett, [Los Lobos'] David Hidalgo and the other Elvis' "T.C.B. band" [guitarist James Burton, bassist Jerry Scheff, drummer Ronnie Tutt].
"Second, it's Elvis' favorite album, and it's often cited by fans of his as one of their favorites. It's really the album that in many ways rehabilitated the term "singer-songwriter" [from its association with more sedate
autobiographers] and brought back that sort of literate element of Costello, his love of American music and his storytelling."
For the fans, already familiar with the original album (which contained "Brilliant Mistake," "Sleep of the Just" and a cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"), the big news is the new set's second disc. Eleven of its cuts appeared on the Ryko reissue, most notably the solo demo "Suffering Face," KOA outtakes "King of Confidence" and "Shoes Without Heels" and both sides of Burnett and Costello's Coward Brothers single "The Peoples' Limousine"/"They'll Never Take Her Love From Me." Six live covers of songs previously done by Mose Allison,
Waylon Jennings, Percy Sledge and others were performed by Elvis Costello & His Confederates (Burton, Scheff, keyboardist Mitchell Froom and drummer Jim Keltner).
Rhino's reissue adds the solo demos of KOA songs "Indoor Fireworks," "Poisoned Rose," "I'll Wear It Proudly," "Jack of All Parades" plus "Having It All" (intended for KOA but unused), "Deportee" (a rewrite of "Deportee's Club from 1984's Goodbye Cruel World) and a demo of that same LP's "I Hope You're Happy Now." Elements of "Betrayal," heard here in
demo form, wound up in "Tramp the Dirt Down" on 1989's Spike.
"Then there's a gorgeous cover of Richard Thompson's 'End of the Rainbow,'" says Stewart. "The only way people could have heard that was on an anti-drug
benefit record [1986's It's a Live-in World], where the producers added a bass and background singer without Elvis' permission." Rounding out the bonuses is a live version of the Confederates doing Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways."
The complete track list for Disc Two: "Having It All," "Suffering Face," "Deportee," "Indoor Fireworks," "I Hope You're Happy Now," "Poisoned Rose," "I'll Wear It Proudly," "Jack of All Parades," "The Peoples' Limousine," "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me," "King of Confidence," "Shoes Without Heels," "End of the Rainbow," "Betrayal," "That's How You Got Killed Before," "The Big Light," "It Tears Me Up," "The Only
Daddy That'll Walk the Line," "Your Mind is on Vacation/ Your Funeral My Trial," "That's How You Got Killed Before (Reprise)," and "True Love Ways."
"The quality of the bonus material," Stewart concludes, "is so good that the five grade-A songs on there, if they'd been added to the original album, could have made King of America a double album on a level with Blonde on
Blonde, Exile on Main Street or London Calling."
( Submitted by Craig Montoya )
The DVD , THE RIGHT SPECTACLE - VERY BEST OF ELVIS COSTELLO, has been delayed . Someone in Demon , the U.K. publishers of the disc told a fan
Due to legal problems the release has been put back indefinitely.
They hope to have it out before the end of the year and will publicise it heavily then..................it was very much last minute as they were "all set to go". He also said that they couldn't take any chances with such a "major artist".
( Submitted by John )
Elvis sings on a version of his 1998 co-composition ( with Cait O'Riordan) My Mood Swings and Randy Newman's Real Emotional Girl ( 1983) on the forthcoming Brodsky Quartet album Moodswings .
Moodswings , a Brodsky Quartet album , is due to be released on Feb. 28th. A new Elvis Costello song , title unknown , will be featured. Elvis recorded the vocal for it in London in Nov. '02. The Quartet will be doing shows featuring the song in Blackheath , England ( Jan. 28th) and Derry , Northern Ireland (Feb.5th).
........The Right Spectacle , Elvis' 'Best of..' DVD collection is now out so start ordering!
Amazon have a February release date for an edition of The Delivery Man which will feature the original album, the U.K.-only extra track and The Clarksdale Sessions ( which , of course , includes The Monkey , which was the Japan-only extra track). Amazon U.K. also have it.
Monkey To Man by Elvis and The Imposters will be on the 2005 Grammy Nominees album , released Feb. 1 '05.
A Pretenders site reports -
Walk Like A Penguin...
Chrissie ( Hynde) has recorded the Bread song "Everything I Own", as part of a duet with Elvis Costello. The song will appear in an animated film called 'Happy Feet', sung by penguins. The film's release is planned for 2006.
( Submitted by Michael Hernandez )
The Right Spectacle , Elvis' forthcoming 'Best of..' DVD collection is now also available to be ordered from Play.com and Tower.co.uk , along with 101.cd.
Red Trumpet , specialists in vinyl , seem to have this as the sleeve of The Clarksdale Sessions
Tower.com appear to be the first 'net outlet taking orders for
Clarksdale Sessions (10"Vinyl)
Elvis Costello
01/25/2005
.......and Happy New Year Everyone!
Elvis' PR people announce -
Extract -
In March, Lost Highway Records will release a limited edition of the Grammy nominated 'The Delivery Man,' the acclaimed new album from Elvis Costello & The Imposters, to celebrate the kickoff of a US tour March 1. The limited edition includes a bonus disc, 'The Clarksdale Sessions,' featuring five alternate versions of songs from 'The Delivery Man,' and two non-album tracks including the new and otherwise unavailable Costello song "In Another Room." 'The Clarksdale Sessions' will also be released separately as a 10" record.
The Clarksdale Sessions Track listing:
1. The Monkey
2. Country Darkness
3. Needle Time
4. The Scarlet Tide
5. In Another Room
6. The Delivery Man
7. Dark End Of The Street
The Jan'05 issue of Record Collector ( London) has this note -
COSTELLO SPECTACLE
Demon issue an Elvis Costello DVD-Video on 17 January, entitled The Right Spectacle — The Very Best Of Elvis Costello — The Videos. The package features 27 videos from his Radar and Warners years (running to 100 minutes), as well as an audio commentary from Elvis on each clip. Additionally, there’s 70 minutes of archive TV footage, including unbroadcast material from The Tube, film from the UK, Netherlands and Sweden shot between 1977 and 1983, and an unseen easter egg video. The digipak contains extensive production sleevenotes by Elvis.
U.S. residents only (grrrr!) ; enter via this link -
From Johnny Cash to the Willie Nelson; Whiskeytown to Ryan Adams; Kim Richey to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack; Lucinda Williams to Lyle Lovett; Tift Merritt to Drive-By Truckers, Lost Highway Records has one of the most enticing stable of artists around.
Whether your format choice is CD, SACD or VINYL this catalogue is a must-have for music lovers!! Because of this Red Trumpet is opening this new Lost Highway Store to celebrate all of this great music all in one place!
Register now to get one of the following:
1) GRAND PRIZE #1: Autographed copy of Elvis Costello THE DELIVERY MAN LP
2) GRAND PRIZE #2: Autographed copy of Tift Merritt TAMBOURINE LP
3) FIRST PRIZE: One of five cool lithographs of Elvis Costello THE DELIVERY MAN
The Red Trumpet Lost Highway Contest ends 11:59 PM ET January 4, 2005.
A random drawing from among all eligible entries received during the entire Contest Period will be conducted on or about January January 11, 2005 for the Grand and First Prizes. Odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible entries received for the applicable drawing.
Issue 13 of Paste magazine has the Monkey To Man video on its cover DVD.
Musictap have this -
Lost Highway will press 10" vinyl for ECostello fans
on January 25. The album is The Clarksdale Sessions.
U.music have this -
COSTELLO ELVIS | The Clarksdale Sessions (12inch Album Vinyl)
release date :: Tue, Jan 18, 2005 | catalogue # :: B000390501 | format :: 12inch ALBUM - VINYL
Alison Moyet has released her splendid version of Almost Blue as a single.
Futurama Sessions - EP Elvis Costello
Release Date:November 30, 2004
The Delivery Man
The Monkey
Needle Time
Monkey to Man
Button my Lip
Only available to U.S. residents.
A U.K. site has this -
THE RIGHT SPECTACLE - VERY BEST OF (DVD)
A unique collection of the visual works of Costello for the first time on DVD, 'The Right Spectacle' features a total of 27 videos that include material rarely seen since the release of the singles they supported. Elvis has also recorded a witty and lively audio commentary full of incredible insights for each of the videos, the DVD also includes close to 70 minutes worth of very rare archive footage culled from an array of TV broadcasters from The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, all presented in a collectable digipack with comprehensive production notes penned by Elvis himself. A very special package and a must for fans!
1 (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
2 Pump It Up
3 Radio Radio
4 (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
5 Oliver's Army
6 Accidents Will Happen
7 I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
8 High Fidelity
9 Love For Tender
10 Possession
11 New Amsterdam
12 Clubland
13 New Lace Sleeves
14 Good Year For The Roses
15 Sweet Dreams
16 You Little Fool
17 Everyday I Write The Book
18 Let Them All Talk
19 The Only Flame In Town
20 I Wanna Be Loved
21 Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
22 Veronica
23 This Town
24 The Other Side Of Summer
25 So Like Candy
26 Sulky Girl
27 13 Steps Lead Down
Special Features
Granada Reports / So It Goes (UK) - Filmed at Erics, broadcast October 1977 - Alison[Excerpt], Lip Service, No Dancing
Revolver (UK) - Early to mid 78 TV studio - This Years Girl, Radio Radio
Countdown (Netherlands) - 30.5.79, live in a club - Olivers Army, Accidents Will Happen, Watching The Detectives, You Belong To Me
Pink Pop (Netherlands) - 4.6.79, live outdoor festival - Lipstick Vogue, Watching The Detectives
Whats In (UK) - 16.3.81, TV Studio - Shot With His Own Gun
The Tube (UK) - 4.11.83, TV studio - Shipbuilding, Everyday I Write The Book, Clowntime is Over, TKO (Boxing Day)
Mandagsboren (Sweden) - 21.11.83, TV studio - Big Sisters Clothes, Peace In Our Time
Release date : Monday 17 January 2005
( Submitted by Nick and Dave and John )
Non-drinker of alcohol that Elvis is , he must have grinned when he was asked for permission for this use of this recording -
Best Pub Jukebox...Ever
Various Artists
Audio CD (October 11, 2004)
Number of Discs:2
Label: Virgin TV
ASIN: B00063UFDS
Catalogue Number: VTDCD652
Disc: 2
13. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
Tower Records have this -
Monkey To Man Pt.2 (2 Tracks) - Elvis Costello
Release Date: 10/4/2004
Label: Universal
CD Single (602498644560)
Track Listings:
1. Monkey To Man / Elvis Costello
2. Monkey / Elvis Costello
Monkey To Man Pt.1 (Enhanced) - Elvis Costello
Release Date: 10/4/2004
Label: Universal/Mercury
CD Single (602498642764)
Track Listings:
1. Monkey To Man / Elvis Costello
2. Monkey / Elvis Costello
3. Love That Burns / Elvis Costello
( Recorded live in Memphis, April '04)
4. Monkey To Man (Video) / Elvis Costello
The disc on the cover of the November issue of U.K. magazine Word includes the title track of The Delivery Man.
Jimbo reports-
Elvis returned to Clarksdale the other day with a film crew. he was
shooting a documentary for the new CD and wanted some footage of the
studio and the shacks. He also informed me he was going to release all of
the Clarksdale recordings as a LP, in the spring of 2005, over in Europe.
( Submitted by Mark D)
"She's Pulling Out The Pin", not included on the US CD release of The Delivery Man CD, is now available via iTunes.
Just click the icon below:
So is The Delivery Man:
And Il Sogno:
The European edition of The Delivery Man is on sale and includes the lyrics to its extra track She’s Pulling Out The Pin.
Continue reading "She’s Pulling Out The Pin-lyrics/credits" »
According to newly launched EC website:
Get the "She's Pulling out the Pin" exclusive track from "The Delivery Man" sessions only at iTunes and stay tuned for an exclusive Elvis Costello iTunes sessions coming in October!
She's Pulling out the Pin is not currently listed at iTunes, however. The prospect of some 'exclusive session' tracks is exciting though.
Is now online in RealMedia format and in the Windows Media format. The single is also available on iTunes for $0.99.
It's there. And featured prominently in Apple's New Music Tuesdays email.
Correction: Only one song is up - Oberon and Titania
A few more pennies into the family royalty stream, as Mrs. Costello picks one from Mr. Costello (Almost Ideal Eyes) for her Starbuck's Artist Choice CD. (submitted by Wes Vokes)
The Live Aid DVD's will include Mr. Costello's stirring rendition of 'All You Need Is Love' (full track list)
(Submitted by Micheal Hernandez)
After months of rumours and speculation, Warner Vision International have finally confirmed the release date and contents details of the forthcoming Live Aid DVD set. The 4-disc set, originally put together after Sir Bob Geldof caught a bootlegger selling pirate versions on the web, is currently set for a pre-Christmas release making it the must have present for music lovers world-wide.
Elvis' performance of ‘All You Need Is Love’ will be on Disc One.
It looks like the Japanese version of THE DELIVERY MAN will include both "She's Pulling Out The Pin" and a second bonus track:
1. Button My Lip
2. Country Darkness
3. There's A Story In Your Voice
4. Either Side Of The Same Town
5. Bedlam
6. The Delivery Man
7. Monkey To Man
8. Nothing Clings Like Ivy
9. The Name Of This Thing Is Not Love
10. Heart Shaped Bruise
11. She's Pulling Out The Pin
12. Needle Time
13. The Judgement
14. Scarlet Tide
15. The Monkey
I assume "The Monkey" is a cover of the Dave Bartholomew song which inspired "Monkey To Man." (Submitted by Nunki)
Red Trumpet's got the Delivery Man LP up for preorder.
(Submitted by Craig Montoya)
The track listing of the UK release of The Delivery Man is out and it DOES include "She's Pulling Out The Pin". This song is supposedly not included on the US release.
U.K. tracklisting
1. Button My Lip
2. Country Darkness
3. There's A Story In Your Voice
4. Either Side of the Same Town
5. Bedlam
6. The Delivery Man
7. Monkey to Man
8. Nothing Clings Like Ivy
9. The Name of This Thing Is Not Love
10. Heart Shaped Bruise feat
11. She's Pulling Out The Pin
12. Needle Time
13. The Judgement
14. The Scarlet Tide
(Submitted by Gilbert)
The liner notes and lyrics for The Delivery Man are now online.
1. Button My Lip (4:51)
2. Country Darkness (3:56)
3. There’s A Story In Your Voice (3:42)
4. Either Side Of The Same Town (4:00)
5. Bedlam (4:48)
6. The Delivery Man (4:39)
7. Monkey To Man (4:25)
8. Nothing Clings Like Ivy (4:15)
9. The Name Of This Thing Is Not Love (2:48)
10. Heart Shaped Bruise (4:06)
11. Needle Time (5:06)
12. The Judgement (3:50)
13. The Scarlet Tide (2:22)
Still thinking about finding the time to compare all these Rhino Re-Re-Re-Issues to the old Ryko Re-Re-Issues? Don't bother. It's been done.
MnnyMoNHak reports that he "did a phone interview with EC, and the most interesting bit of news was that he and the Imposters are going to film a full-length live DVD in the very near future, trying to capture the vibe of this record while they've still got it and, of course, apply it to the older material as well."
More later..
Two new albums by Elvis Costello will be released September 21: 'The Delivery Man' (Lost Highway Records) with his band the Imposters, and 'Il Sogno' (Deutsche Grammophon), his first full-length orchestral work.
Costello and the Imposters (drummer Pete Thomas; keyboardist Steve Nieve; and bassist Davey Farragher) recorded most of 'The Delivery Man' in April
2004 at Sweet Tea Studios in Oxford, MS. The sessions were produced by Dennis Herring and Costello. One cut, "Monkey to Man," which Costello has said is a sequel to New Orleans songwriter Dave Bartholomew's 1954 single "The Monkey," was recorded during a day trip to the to the nearby Delta town of Clarksdale, MS and will be the first single and video from the album.
Several songs are written in the voices of characters found in the narrative of the title track. These include guest vocal appearances by Lucinda Williams on "There's a Story in Your Voice" and Emmylou Harris on "Nothing Clings Like Ivy" and "Heart Shaped Bruise." The album also contains a ukulele-accompanied duet with Harris on the Oscar-nominated "The Scarlet Tide," which Alison Krauss recorded for the 'Cold Mountain' soundtrack. 'The Delivery Man' features the pedal steel guitar playing of John McFee, who appeared on Costello's first album 'My Aim is True' and also on the 1981, Nashville-recorded 'Almost Blue.'
Costello co-wrote "Either Side of the Same Town" with legendary soul producer and songwriter Jerry Ragovoy.
'Il Sogno' was originally commissioned by Italy's Aterballeto dance company in 2000 for their adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Costello says, "I was extremely surprised to be asked, I had little or no understanding of the world of dance. When asked 'Who is your favourite dancer?,' I replied honestly, 'Cyd Charisse.'"
Following the ballet's premiere in Bologna and staging in a number of other Italian houses, Costello began to adapt the score for this recording. "In the end, I tried to create a piece of music to which people would respond without the visual cues that come from the dancers. I took out a lot of repetitions demanded by the choreography, re-orchestrated some passages, and composed several new transitions and resolutions," he explains.
Describing the nature of the music contained in the score, Costello said, "There are elements of humor-when it came to writing music for the supernatural beings in the story, I thought it is only appropriate that they should be swinging faeries. However, there are also passages representing confusion, jealousy, anger and turmoil. These cues have the edges, angles that I go looking for in rock and roll but the way they are achieved is utterly different. I hope there are also moments of tenderness."
'Il Sogno' was recorded by The London Symphony Orchestra at London's Abbey Road Studio One in 2002, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and with guest soloists drummer Peter Erskine and saxophonist John Harle.
Elvis Costello headlined the Lincoln Center Festival this July with a trio of thrilling shows (including the North American premier of 'Il Sogno'), offering previews of the upcoming releases and reinterpreting older material. Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote in a review of all three shows, "Mr. Costello is ceaselessly curious about music. He is inquisitive enough not just to listen widely, but to learn the makings of every idiom that moves him, from lieder to New Orleans rhythm and blues. In the three nights at Lincoln Center he was a crooner, a howler, a swinger, a brooder, an orchestral composer and a guitar twanger."
Costello said, "All the music comes from the same place. It's just the trigger that's different."
The track listing is now official:
1. Button My Lip
2. Country Darkness
3. There's A Story In Your Voice
4. Either Side Of The Same Town
5. Bedlam
6. The Delivery Man
7. Monkey To Man
8. Nothing Clings Like Ivy
9. The Name Of This Thing Is Not Love
10. Heart Shaped Bruise
11. Needle Time
12. The Judgement
13. The Scarlet Tide
The U.K. catalogue no. is MERCURY B000259302
The U.S. catalogue no. is Lost Highway 000259302
(Submitted by Nunki)
LA band The Monolators have posted I Want You as their "song of the month" in MP3 format.
(Found, as usual, by John Foyle)
Those in the know report the following about the upcoming Elvis Costello & The Imposters LP:
It will be out on The Lost Highway label, and called either 'The Delivery Man' or 'South' or 'Stop Me Before I Polka'.
It contains the following tracks (probably not in this order):
1. The Delivery Man
2. Country Darkness
3. Monkey To Man
4. Bedlam
5. Heart Shaped Bruise (w/Emmylou Harris)
6. Button My Lip
7. Needle Time
8. Nothing Clings Like Ivy
9. The Name of This This Is Not Love
10. There's A Story In Your Voice (w/ Lucinda Williams)
11. Either Side of The Same Town
12. The Judgement
13. The Scarlet Tide (w/Emmylou Harris)
Which means the Lincoln Center show on 7/15 included the entire album. At 13 tracks, this is shorter than his other "rock" albums of recent years, but comparable to his more ballad-heavy albums.
This leaves six potential outtakes that may show up as international bonus tracks or b-sides:
1. In Another Room
2. Suspect Your Tears
3. I'll Watch Out For You
4. Unwanted Number
5. Burnt Sugar (is so Bitter)
6. She's Pulling Out The Pin
(T.J. Young, Mike Bodayle, Conner Ratliff, John Foyle, Mike Hernandez and others contributed to this wildly speculative report.)
Some of the latest re-issues from Elvis' back catalogue are on sale in Europe this Monday , July 26. Goodbye Cruel World and Almost Blue are now available with vastly improved sound and loads of extra tracks.
A very nice 3 song sampler from Il Sogno was handed out to those who straggled out of Lincoln Center tonight. Most people were probably well out of the building before any started being distributed, but they seemed to have cartons of them so maybe they'll be around Thursday and Saturday.
The CD offers Puck One, Oberon & Titania, and The Wedding. In a sleek black cardboard holder with the Deutsche Grammophone logo on the front and a nice NYTimes quote on the back.
My first impression is VERY good. I'm looking forward for Saturday night.
The track lists for the upcoming reissues of Almost Blue, Goodbye Cruel World, and Kojak Variety are now on display at the unofficial Elvis Costello on Rhino site.
The US release date is July 20. The UK date is July 26, at least for Almost Blue and Goodbye Cruel World.
( Submitted by And No Coffee Table to the Costello Fan Forum)
Elvis' recording of Cole Porter's Let's Misbehave is now available on the soundtrack album of the film De-Lovely.
Buy it online from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and cduniverse.
HMV ( UK) have this info. for Elvis' ballet score album -
Availability: available for pre-order only
Release date: 13-9-2004
Number of Discs: 1
Catalogue Number: PRERELCLASSCD
Label: DECCA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elvis , as we know , recorded this with the
London Symphony Orchestra in April 2002. Today's
Independent ( London) has a profile of this musical
operation.
Elvis has , of course , regularly spoken about his respect for professional musicians. He will not , therefore , be offended if his musical colleagues of
two years back hardly remember him ; as this extract shows some of them cannot remember who they worked with mere days ago.
Trumpeter Maurice Murphy comments -
"And I've been here ever since. The Saturday morning I
started was the first session for Star Wars. It seemed
nice music, but none of us really knew what it was."
What it was, of course, was the start of the LSO's
most dependable money-spinner: as the film composer
John Williams's orchestra of choice, they're booked to
record for the sixth Star Wars film next February. Now
they do sessions galore: what was the one they
recorded yesterday? "I've no idea. Just some light
music. A nice chap came with his arrangements and
played them on the piano, to make a CD of some sort.
I've forgotten his name. That's the pleasure of this
job." Are there stresses too? "Well, you are exposed."
Has he ever had an alarming moment? A beaming smile:
"Can't remember one."
We can also expect a sound with a little less racousness than the Imposters as this comment from Orchestra leader Colin Davis tells -
Colin Davis pinpoints the key change in this band over
the four decades he has known it: the influx of women.
"They're very good players, and they make a different
sound. The all-male orchestra was very efficient, but
its sound was hard. It isn't any less efficient now,
but the sound is softer and sweeter. The women don't
play as aggressively, and they're more flexible -
maybe because they don't put so much tension into it.
They don't have such big hands, and they're not
muscular unless they decide to be. They therefore
remain very nimble. And with them, the men behave
better. Nobody would dare to be drunk on the platform
now."
Continue reading "Il Sogno , 13 Sept.'04 , UK release date" »
Listen to Elvis sing Matter Of Time with Los Lobos
Associated Press reports:
"Elvis Costello's split musical personality is showing. The British songwriter will release two albums this fall - a rock 'n' roll disc and his first full-length orchestral work, his publicist said Wednesday.
Costello is now recording the rock album with his backup band, the Imposters, in Memphis, Tenn., and Oxford, Miss. It will be released on Lost Highway Records. The classical album, "Il Sogno," was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. This disc will be released on the Deutsche Grammophon label."
Look whats hidden away in the bio on Elvis` official site.
In addition to a short tour of Italy and Portugal in the spring with Steve Nieve, there are also plans to return to the recording studio with Costello's band,'The Imposters', which also features Nieve, bassist, Davey Farragher and drummer, Pete Thomas. An album of new Costello compositions will be released in
the Fall of 2004 by the Nashville-based “Lost Highway” imprint.
Nice site and great list of EC covers, by and of.
(Submitted by Kathleen Connally)
The Elvis Costello Tribute disc mentioned here before has turned out to be different - and better! - than previous information indicated. Instead of being a muzak production it is a rootsy , country type of thing by Patrik Tanner .
Here`s what he has to say about it -
`After having been a fan since '77 I was happy to be asked by Navarre Records to record it. They wanted more of the hits and I wanted to do more of the obscure stuff, so we kind of met in the middle.
Some songs like Lipstick Vogue I would have liked to have done, but I just can't sing that fast and get away with it! Jack of All Parades was considered, but Costello's version is probably the only one that the world needs to hear.
I sang, played and recorded everything on that album on my own in my studio.`
The correct track listing for it is
1. Watching The Detectives
2. Different Finger
3. Uncomplicated
4. Alison
5. 5ive Gears In Reverse
6. Red shoes
7. Peace In Our Time
8. Hurry Down Doomsday
9. Mystery Dance
10.Everyday I Write The Book
The disc is available from CDUniverse , Amazon and AmazonUK
A disc of covers of Elvis Costello songs is due on March 9th from the Tribute Sounds label .
Track Listing
1. Veronica
2. This Town
3. Other Side Of Summer, The
4. Accidents Will Happen
5. Fallen
6. High Fidelity
7. New Amsterdam
8. Everyday I Write The Book
9. Only Flame In Town, The
10. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Does this recording - of sorts - of Fallen mark the first cover of a North song?
And will the cover of This Town - bizarre selection that it is - include the immortal line
`You're nobody 'til everybody in this town thinks you're a bastard` ?
Or will it be an instrumental album?
And should we care ?
( Submitted by Anonymous Anonymous)
The Scarlet Tide by Elvis and T-Bone Burnett....hopefully! This song , from the movie Cold Mountain , has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Song category. Well Done , Elvis `n T-Bone!
The Scarlet Tide by Elvis Costello and Henry Burnett
Well I recall his parting words
Must I accept his fate?
Or take myself far from this place
I thought I heard a black bell toll
A little bird did sing
Man has no choice
When he wants everything
Chorus: We`ll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride
Man goes beyond his own decision
Gets caught up in the mechanism
Of swindlers who act like kings
And brokers who break everything
The dark of night was swiftly fading
Close to the dawn of the day
Why would I want him
Just to lose him again
Chorus X 2
Imposters Davey Faragher and Pete Thomas have all but admitted that Elvis is recording an album with them at the moment.
YIPPEE!!!!!
(Based on a post by Misha on the Costello Fan Forum)
Elvis`only Christmas song , of sorts , is about the day after Christmas , Dec. 26th. That day is generally known as St Stephens Day in Ireland (deriving from when religious matters defined aspects of Irish life ) . Elvis wrote and recorded the song for a Chieftains album , The Bells of Dublin , in 1991. It , perhaps , received a more general audience when it was included as an extra with the 2002 Rhino re-issue of Mighty Like A Rose.
The lyric is a perfect portrayal of family life in the aftermath of Christmas. After the joy of the day , tensions reappear. Remembering , perhaps , extended family gatherings in his Anglo-Irish Liverpool/London childhood he includes references that are not strictly true to an Irish childhood . `That drink made from girders` -Irn Bru - still is not widely available in Ireland. `Tia Marias` would more likely be replaced by Jameson or Paddys.
Whatever - it is still a very funny song. My strongest memory of the song dates from 1995 . That summer I saw him perform it at the Cambridge Folk Festival. Performing solo he introduced it as a `cooling song`, to help the audience deal with suffocating heat at a partly covered out door show.
St. Stephen's Day Murders (Costello/Moloney)
========================
I knew of two sisters whose name it was Christmas
And one was named Dawn, of course the other one was
named Eve
I wonder if they grew up hating the season
The good will that lasts till the Feast of St. Stephen
For that is the time to eat, drink and be merry
Till the beer is all spilled and the whiskey has
flowed
And the whole family tree you neglected to bury
Are feeding their faces until they explode
Chorus:
There'll be laughter and tears over Tia Marias
Mixed up with that drink made from girders
Cause it's all we`ve got left as they draw their
last breath
Ah, it's nice for the kids as you finally get rid of
them
In the St. Stephen's Day Murders
Uncle is gargling a heart-breaking air
While the baby in his arms pulls all that remains of
his hair
And we're not drunk enough to dare criticise
The great kipper tie he's about to baptise
With his gin flavoured whispers and kisses of sherry
His best crimble shirt's slung out over the shop
But the lights from the Christmas tree blew up the
telly
His face closes in like an old cold pork chop
And the carcass of the the beast left over from the
feast
May still be found haunting the kitchen
And there's life in it yet, we may live to regret
When the ones that we poisoned stop twitchin`
-chorus-
Cool new web site explains the details on possibilities of the current and future Rhino Reissues.
......of North have sold in the U.S. , according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The soundtrack to the film Cold Mountain will feature a song co-written by Elvis and T-Bone `Henry` Burnett. Called The Scarlet Tide , it is sung by celebrated bluegrass performer Alison Krauss .
Elvis has recorded a guest vocal for a forthcoming Los Lobos album.Called ` Matter Of Time` - it`s due for release next May. The vocal was recorded seperate from the group - in the very Spanish setting of Oslo , Norway.
The wonderful 'I Throw My Toys Around' will appear on a new 4-disc box set from No Doubt.
Now available. Listen Here.
(Submitted by Conner Ratliff)
Elvis contributes a cover of 'Brilliant Disguise' to this CD.
NBC News story about the disc, charity, and artists including EC..
Order From Amazon - Light of Day: Tribute to Bruce Springsteen
The May 2002 Appearance of (I don't want to go to) Chelsea put Elvis on this disc along with Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Leonard Cohen, Dusty Springfield, and many others.
(Submitted by Chris Wright)
From USAToday:"Now that sultry jazz singer Diana Krall and rocker Elvis Costello are engaged, will they do anything musical together? - Howard Rosenbloom Branson, Mo.
Yes. We hear Krall, 38, who is working on her eighth jazz album, may include on it a song the couple wrote together. That CD should be out early next year. Wish we could tell you when the wedding will be, but reps for both singers, who got engaged earlier this year, are mum. Whenever it is, it will be the second marriage for Costello, 49, who split with his wife of 16 years, ex-Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan, in November. It will be Krall's first. "
(Submitted by Chris Wright)
An informed source tells CostelloNews that Demon Records intends to release CD boxsets of Elvis' singles. Details on which label / years (Stiff/Radar/Demon/Columbia/etc.) would be included were unavailable. Each single will be a facsimilie of the 45" original sleeve art, but in CD format.
(Reported by Will)
Rhino Releases Elvis Costello's Get Happy!!, Trust, and Punch The Clock With 73 Bonus Tracks On September 9
Rhino hits a new high in value-packed expansions with the fourth wave of reissues of the Elvis Costello catalog, with expanded, remastered versions of GET HAPPY!!, TRUST, and PUNCH THE CLOCK due September 9. All three titles are double-disc releases and will be available at all retail outlets, as well as at www.rhino.com, for a suggested list price of $17.98.
This batch of discs emphasizes the evolving sound of the Attractions; originally released within three years of each other, the albums demonstrate an incredible diversity of styles and sounds. Adding 73 bonus tracks to the original albums' 47 cuts (for a staggering total of 120 songs), each Rhino release consists of the album as originally released, plus a disc consisting exclusively of archival material from the Costello vaults, much of it previously unreleased. Every title contains liner notes by Costello himself as well as printed lyrics for all Costello-penned cuts, a first for GET HAPPY!! and TRUST.
Steeped in Stax/Motown sounds, GET HAPPY!! took everyone by surprise when originally released in 1980-the album marked the first time Costello radically remade himself, and it would not be the last. Its 20 tracks featured 18 Costello originals -- including "King Horse," "Clowntime Is Over," "New Amsterdam," "High Fidelity," and "Riot Act" -- and two outstanding covers (Sam & Dave's "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down," and "I Stand Accused," a Top 40 U.K. hit for The Merseybeats in the early '60s). The bonus disc on this reissue packs in an astounding 30 cuts, making GET HAPPY!! a 50-song set. Highlights include a drastically different take on "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" (much closer to Sam & Dave's version), a more rocking version of "Girls Talk," early versions of songs that would appear on TRUST ("New Lace Sleeves," "From A Whisper To A Scream," "Watch Your Step"), and demo, live, and alternate versions showcasing songs from GET HAPPY!! in a dramatically different ! light.
TRUST (1981), the last rock album Costello would make for five years, Marked by Costello classics "Clubland," "New Lace Sleeves," and "From A Whisper To A Scream." TRUST's bonus disc provides two versions of "Black Sails In The Sunset" and "Big Sister," a raucous take of "Watch Your Step," a different alternate version of "From A Whisper To A Scream" than on Get Happy!!'s bonus disc, an alternate recording of "Clubland," an instrumental piano demo of "The Long Honeymoon" (which would end up in finished form on Imperial Bedroom), a solo demo version of the Billie Holiday classic "Gloomy Sunday," and an early glimpse of Imperial Bedroom's "Boy With A Problem."
With production by the '80s pop production team of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Teardrop Explodes), PUNCH THE CLOCK (1983) saw Costello traffic in a more contemporary pop style, giving him his first taste of chart success with "Everyday I Write The Book." The album also housed the classic "Shipbuilding," featuring jazz legend Chet Baker on trumpet. While the original album held 13 tracks, the bonus disc here offers up another 26 cuts, for a grand total of 39. Among the standouts are the "Studio Merseybeat Version" of "Everyday I Write The Book," BBC live versions of "Big Sister's Clothes/Stand Down Margaret" and Percy Mayfield's "Danger Zone," two drastically different versions of "Heathen Town," preproduction home demo versions of most of Punch The Clock's songs, and five live tracks featuring the TKO Horns (including a rousing version of "Back Stabbers/King Horse").
It's a virtual boxed set's worth of material, so clear your CD player!
(Submitted by Micheal Hernadez)
From USA Today: "Rhino hopes to sell out its entire pressing of No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion, a four-CD box set devoted to punk's heydey, kicking off with The Ramones' Blitzkrieg Bop in 1976. The 100-track $65 collection, due Oct. 28, hits most essentials (The Clash, Dead Kennedys, X, Generation X, but no Sex Pistols), as well as acts that outgrew the genre (Blondie, Elvis Costello, the Boomtown Rats)."
The Sunday Times (published in the UK) today contains an interactive CD-rom called "The Month". This contains extracts from 6 tracks from = "North" - Fallen (40seconds); Let me tell you about her (29 secs); = someone took the words (43 secs); still (38 secs) when did I stop = dreaming (37 secs) and when it sings (42 secs).
It also includes a short review of the whole album by Mark Edwards and two photos of EC.
(submitted by Nick Ratcliffe)
The 5-DVD Set of Music Performances from 25-years of Saturday Night Live, based on the shows that were on VH-1, apparently have more complete versions of the performances, including the '77 EC appearance of Radio Radio and the later performance of Veronica.
Reviewed in Oregon Live: "Performance highlights are numerous. Elvis Costello and the Attractions start "Less than Zero" and then, on live TV, abruptly switch to a frantic version of "Radio Radio"
Listen to Steve Nieve sing one of his new songs. Go to this page and look for the icon above.
(Submitted by Peter Gale)
'North,' Deutsche Grammophon, September 23 Elvis Costello's new album 'North,' featuring eleven new compositions written at the piano by Costello between Autumn 2002 and New Year's Day 2003, will be released by Deutsche Grammophon on September 23. With the album, fans will get a PIN number giving them access to an online-only download of the title track, and the first 100,000 copies sold will include a limited-edition DVD with music videos. Costello will celebrate the release with a special show at New York's Museum of Television and Radio to be simulcast to Virgin Megastores and NPR's "World Cafe."
(Submitted by Connor Ratliff)
From MTV News: "Singer/songwriters Elvis Costello, Pete Yorn, Jesse Malin and Billy Bragg are a few of the artists contributing to the double album Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen. Proceeds from the sale of the album, due September 2, will benefit the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (www.pdf.org) and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund, which grants money for cancer research and assists those suffering from the illness."
AUDIO BULLYS ELVIS COSTELLO HOMAGE AS NEXT SINGLE
"Audio Bullys will release their next single, 'Way Too Long', on August 18. The track, which features a sample from Elvis Costello’s ‘I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea’, is lifted from their 'Ego War' album, which came out last month on Source."
(Submitted by John Harrison)
The EC&DK spotting continues:
In the UK, Decca records have released a new double CD of George Gershwin songs and music by "various" artists, and believe me, they don't come much more varied. The CD "The very best of George Gershwin" is notable for being (I think) the first release to feature Elvis and Diana together (albeit on separate tracks). Elvis gives us : "But Not For Me" and Diana performs "S' Wonderful". The EC track is likely the same as that which appeared on the 1994 "The Glory of Gershwin" release on Mercury (but I am sure a completist somewhere out there will tell us if it isn't).
Decca are using TV ads to promote the CD release which mention EC, but don't (I think) actually include any of his track. The CD is available to order now from Amazon in the UK (and elsewhere for all I know) for 14.99 pounds sterling.
(Submitted by Nick Ratcliffe)
And Mr. Foyle find us:
Elvis and Diana both appeared on tracks on a Chieftains `Best of` The Wide World Over -
Elvis singing on The Long Journey Home and Diana (dueting with Art Garfunkel) on Morning Has Broken.
The next batch of Elvis Costello Re-issues are Trust, Get Happy, and Punch The Clock.
You can order and get them NOW from from Amazon.co.uk.
Or you can pre-order them from US Amazon.com and they will ship when released in September.
Click HERE to see bonus track listings.
GET HAPPY! - 28 Bonus Tracks on Bonus CD
Order Now - Amazon.co.uk
Pre-Order - Amazon.com
Trust - 16 Bonus Tracks on Bonus CD
Order Now - Amazon.co.uk
Pre-Order - Amazon.com
Punch The Clock - 26 Bonus tracks on Bonus CD
Order Now - Amazon.co.uk
Pre-Order - Amazon.com
Here's a great interview/article about these re-re-reissues.
Steve Nieve has posted two songs in MP3 format from his upcoming solo project.
BONNIE BRETT The Elvis Costello Songbook (Indie)
(Submitted by John Foyle)
The July Mojo w/ REM on the cover has a small item on page 16, about Wanda Jackson recording a new lp callled Heart Trouble with Elvis Costello, the Cramps & Rosie Flores. It says it will be out in September.
(Submitted by Bill Brown)
--
"The duet between Costello and Jackson, 'Crying Time', was recorded 'live' in the studio (Elvis insisted on this), using Costello's hand-picked musicians, including pedal steel guitarist John McFee and drummer Pete Thomas."
--
Also from a recent Wanda Jackson Interview
Dan: What’s the latest on your recordings? Do you have
any new music coming out?
Wanda: I just finished a project for CMH Records. They
told me they really wanted me to do a showcase, and do
gospel, some rockabilly and some country. I really
enjoyed the project. When word got out in that I was
going to be in California recording, I was really
honored that musicians and singers were calling and
wanted to be on the project. So we have a lot of guest
stars who are on the project. Elvis Costello for one.
Dave Alvin who was in the Blasters. Lee Rocker who was
with Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats. Rosie Flores.
Pam Tillis is going to do a duet with me too. There’s
going to be 16 songs on it. I also have a new release
out of my live show from New York City called “Live
and Still Kickin’”.
The song 'You Turned To Me' was played this morning on the Janice Long radio show on BBC2. The show is available (probably today only) at the BBC Web Site.
(Submitted by Micheal Deasy)
