Continuing my look at 2004, first by counting down my own top ten albums of that year.
#7 – Elvis Costello – The Delivery Man
Like Ron Sexsmith, Elvis Costello is an artist who has put out so many albums it’s hard to keep up. He has released 13 albums in this century alone, none of which I’d number among his very best.
But that run of albums does include some solid work, including the country rock song cycle The Delivery Man.
Here’s a lovely track from Elvis Costello’s 2004 album The Delivery Man, which started as a concept album about a quartet of characters in the deep south but ended up as a collection of loosely connected rock songs and ballads.
Ivy was presumably one of the characters in that original narrative, and her presence is felt in the backing vocals of the wonderful Emmylou Harris, who shows up on a couple of tracks. Lucinda Williams sits in on the raucous ‘There’s a Story in Your Voice,’ delivering a wild and passionate performance.
For the second straight year, my wife’s birthday falls on a Random Weekend day, allowing me to play the old “whatever song comes up is your birthday dedication” game.
Last year the needle landed on the Cirque du Soleil version of The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus.’ Let’s see what 2014 has in store…
Elvis Costello’s ‘Monkey to Man’ has always rubbed me the wrong way, for a couple of reasons.
The first is that, as the first single from his solid 2004 album The Delivery Man, it’s a poor representation of that record. It’s a bit too lightweight and jokey for an album that is steeped in dark blues and country tunes.
The Random iTunes Fairy is stealing a bit of my thunder.
I had planned to feature Elvis Costello next week as part of my musical genome project, and perhaps I still might. But today’s song would have been a perfect selection to demonstrate Costello’s ‘Country Plus’ credentials. I’ll table that discussion until the appropriate time.
Meet Me In Montauk 