Tag Archives: Elvis Costello

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Song of the Day #243: ‘(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea’ – Elvis Costello

thisyearsmodelCostello’s second album, This Year’s Model, was his first with backing band The Attractions, and the difference in sound was immediately obvious. Where My Aim is True had a low-key, almost honky-tonk sound, This Year’s Model was a punk-infused burst of pure attitude.

A bit of Costello trivia: His backing band on My Aim is True would go on to become The News of Huey Lewis and the News fame. Not to disparage Huey Lewis, but I wonder if those guys are still kicking themselves over that change in lineup. To be fair, though, Huey Lewis has probably had more actual hits than Elvis.

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Song of the Day #242: ‘No Dancing’ – Elvis Costello

myaimistrueMy latest featured artists is one of the most prolific and talented songwriters in my collection — the peerless Elvis Costello.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Costello has done pretty much everything there is to do in the musical realm, writing and performing in just about every conceivable genre. His love and understanding of music and musical history runs so deep that following him is an education as well as a joy.

Because he’s released so many albums, I’m going to spread his tracks over two weeks and try to hit them all. Warner seems to boot his tracks off of YouTube, though, so the ones I have tracked down might not stay up for long. Listen fast.

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Song of the Day #98: ‘New Lace Sleeves’ – Elvis Costello

It’s pretty amazing that, if you set aside the theme-week duet with Lucinda Williams, I’ve written about 96 songs without featuring a solo Elvis Costello tune. Elvis is the king of my music collection. I have pretty much everything he’s ever recorded, from the early post-punk Attractions albums through his experimental Beatles-esque stuff, on to the chamber music and Burt Bacharach detours and back to his recent return to his rock-and-roll roots.

He’s the most prolific and fascinating songwriter I know and an artist whose love of music — all kinds of music — is infectious. In many ways, loving Costello means not just being a fan but a student. A student of language and a student of sound.

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Song of the Day #48: ‘There’s a Story in Your Voice’ – Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams

Elvis Costello has done a lot of duets in his time. He’s been around so long now, and worked in so many different genres, that there’s really not a thing he hasn’t done in the music business.

His stellar album The Delivery Man, a concept album about a love triangle in the deep south, contains three duets: two with Emmylou Harris (who must appear as a backup/second singer on far more songs than she sings on her own) and this one with Lucinda Williams.

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Elvis Costello – Momofuku

Elvis Costello can be described in many ways, but ‘spontaneous’ is not among them. His albums tend to be high-concept and fastidiously produced. From the chamber music and literary theme of The Juliet Letters to Painted From Memory, an album co-written with Burt Bacharach. Even his rock output has followed suit: The Delivery Man was a song cycle based on an unwritten play about a southern love triangle.

The man doesn’t do simple.

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