Tag Archives: Elvis Costello

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Song of the Day #1,152: ‘Jack of All Parades’ – Elvis Costello

Best Songwriters – #4 – Elvis Costello

I’m sure it’s no surprise that a man who posted half a year’s worth of Elvis Costello Weekends would have Elvis Costello on his list of favorite songwriters. The surprise is probably that he doesn’t place higher than fourth.

Costello is what I consider the quintessential songwriter. He’s the guy you hear every aspiring pop star list as an influence. He has mastered his art form in a dozen different ways, working in every conceivable genre. From punk to opera, country to classical, you name it and he’s done it.

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Song of the Day #1,023: ‘Everyday I Write the Book’ – Ron Sexsmith & Elvis Costello

The Elvis Costello Weekends have ended, but I’m asking Mr. Costello’s help in introducing his successor. Ladies and gentlemen, the series nobody saw coming: Ron Sexsmith Weekends.

Why, you ask, on the heels of weekends dedicated to such luminaries as Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, The Beatles and all of Motown, would I choose to shift my focus to a little-known Canadian singer-songwriter?

For a couple of reasons.

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Song of the Day #1,017: ‘Little Atoms’ – Elvis Costello

I’ve been lucky enough to see Elvis Costello in concert four times. Every one of the shows was simply amazing.

The first was on Halloween night, 1999, in Sunrise, Florida, and like the SOTD’s from yesterday and today, it featured just Costello on guitar and Steve Nieve on piano. The 39-song (!) set list is posted here and I believe it might have been submitted to that site by my cousin (though certainly there were other “Heathers” who attended the show).

Song #39 on that list, ‘Couldn’t Call it Unexpected No. 4,’ was delivered “off mic” by Costello in one of the most intimate moments I’ve ever witnessed at a live concert. He was about ten feet away, belting out the song with no accompaniment.

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Song of the Day #1,016: ‘Black Sails in the Sunset’ – Elvis Costello

In 1996, Elvis Costello toured in support of his All This Useless Beauty album with a series of low-key shows featuring just him on acoustic guitar and his longtime keyboardist Steve Nieve on piano.

The same year, Costello released a limited edition box set compiling performances from five nights of that tour. Each 5- or 6-track CD contained recordings from one U.S. city: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and New York. It wasn’t the most fan-friendly packaging (each CD runs a little more than 20 minutes, meaning the whole thing could have fit on one or two discs) but it was a special collection.

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Song of the Day #1,010: ‘Running Out of Angels’ – Elvis Costello

Here’s another of those acoustic demo tracks that stocked Elvis Costello’s CD reissues. ‘Running Out of Angles’ showed up among the bonus tracks of This Year’s Model.

I have a very clear memory of listening to this song on a late night drive from my apartment to my wife’s office (which was just a mile or two from the house). She was working as a night cops reporter, meaning her hours were something like 3 p.m. to midnight, and I’d often stop by to meet her on her dinner break.

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