Elvis Costello's Record Collection (Part Two)

martes, 9 de septiembre de 2014

Elvis Writes - Nils Lofgren Face The Music Liner Notes

Nils Lofgren

Elvis Costello

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"I was living in Liverpool when I picked up a copy of Grin's first album in the shop where all the cool records hid. I knew Nils' playing from his work with Neil Young but never expected to encounter this beautiful voice and songs 'Like Rain.'
Here's some words from the chorus: Love you like rain, Darlin' / Always fallin'
How beautiful is that?
The whole story is seven words.
I didn't know any girls with a 'Saturday night dress' but quickly learned 'Take You to the Movies Tonight' and hoped that if I sang it as pretty as Nils did, then maybe I might find one and one day, I did.
The first time I saw Nils Lofgren, it was in London, he was flying through the air with the greatest of ease. He sings like that, he plays the guitar AND the accordion and now he turns out to be a world-class gymnast with a vaudeville specialty. I was jealous. It is possible to have two left feet. I have three of them.
A new band from Gainesville were on the bill that night. The way I remember it, Tom Petty was the opening act.
Like a lot of multi-talented people, Nils has the power to surprise. You'd come in the door to hear him sing like a bird and he would launch into a guitar solo worthy of Jimi Hendrix, turning somersaults right there on his fretboard. I've heard him do this in the middle of a Springsteen show and nearly steal the limelight. Only a very secure bandleader would let this guy on the bandstand, only a great musician like Nils knows when the spotlight truly belongs to him.
When I first came to America, we were still pretending we'd made everything up and there was no past. You could say, 'What a bunch of clowns' but it was just youthful arrogance and insecurity. When I got to Santa Monica on our second visit and found Nils had come to say 'hello,' I tried not to make a fool of myself but knew if we had people like Nils listening, then it would never matter what it said on the fashion page.
I had heard the echo of a Four Tops song in that very first Nils tune that I'd loved, so I knew that he had begun as a listener then brought in the gifts he had in order to tell the tale. Nils truly does know how to 'Back It Up.'
Now it's years from everything and the music we were once so lucky to make has become a lifetime affair. I'll listen in to this collection hoping that a later heartbreaker like 'Black Books' may be found alongside jewels that have been overlooked until now and, of course, the songs that I've carried all this time."
— Elvis Costello

Nils Lofgren interview in Rolling Stone

David Browne

Extract:
Of the testimonials in the package, which ones surprised you the most?
I had no idea Elvis Costello was familiar with Grin that early on, from the very first record. I remember seeing him with the Attractions in Santa Monica and I thought, "Wow, a great band" — punk or whatever they called it. So that was surprising.

Track listing
Disc One (Grin years 1971-1973):

1. See What a Love Can Do 5:01
2. Everybody’s Missin’ the Sun 2:44
3. Like Rain 3:40
4. Outlaw 4:02
5. If I Were a Song 3:10
6. We All Sung Together 3:43
7. Take You to the Movies Tonight 1:45
8. White Lies 3:28
9. Slippery Fingers 4:00
10. Moon Tears 2:18
11. Lost a Number 3:09
12. Soft Fun 5:40
13. Hi, Hello Home 2:29
14. Love or Else 3:40
15. Sad Letter 3:11
16. Ain’t Love Nice 2:09
17. She Ain’t Right 3:27
18. All Out 3:01
19. Rusty Gun 2:20
20. Beggar’s Day (Eulogy To Danny Whitten) 4:18
21. One More Time 5:10

Disc Two (solo years 1975-1977):

1. One More Saturday Night 3:06
2. If I Say It, It’s So 3:03
3. Can’t Buy a Break 3:15
4. Back It Up 2:23
5. I Don’t Want to Know (Live Bootleg Version) 3:48
6. The Sun Hasn’t Set on This Boy Yet 2:48
7. Rock and Roll Crook 2:53
8. Two by Two 3:04
9. Cry Tough 5:06
10. It’s Not a Crime 4:12
(Nils Lofgren & Tom Lofgren)
11. Share a Little 5:13
12. Can’t Get Closer (WCGC) 3:43
13. Mud in Your Eye 2:40
14. I Came to Dance 4:30
15. Home Is Where the Hurt Is 4:12
16. Rock Me at Home 4:30
17. You’re the Weight (Live/1977) 5:09
18. Goin’ South (Live/1977) 4:59
19. Incidentally… It’s Over (Live/1977) 4:08

Disc Three (solo years 1979-1983):

1. No Mercy 4:06
2. Shine Silently 3:34 (Nils Lofgren-Dick Wagner)
3. Steal Away 4:05 (Nils Lofgren-Dick Wagner)
4. I Found Her 3:33 (Nils Lofgren-Lou Reed)
5. You’re So Easy 6:00 (Nils & Tom Lofgren-Bob Ezrin-Dick Wagner)
6. A Fool Like Me 3:09 (Nils Lofgren-Lou Reed)
7. Night Fades Away 4:23
8. Ancient History 4:51
9. Sailor Boy 3:55
10. Empty Heart 3:03
11. Don’t Touch Me 4:02
12. I Go to Pieces 2:53 (Del Shannon)
13. Across the Tracks 2:52
14. Daddy Dream 4:53
15. Wonderland 3:32
16. Room Without Love 3:03
17. Confident Girl 3:06
18. Into the Night 3:45
19. Deadline 4:09
20. Everybody Wants 3:42

Disc Four (solo years 1985-1992):

1. Secrets in the Street 4:33
2. Big Tears Fall 6:07
3. Dreams Die Hard 3:32
4. Girl in Motion 5:51
5. Walkin’ Nerve 3:53
6. Trouble’s Back 5:20
7. Bein’ Angry 5:54
8. Valentine 6:13
9. A Child Could Tell 4:20
10. You 3:30
11. Shot At You 5:48
12. Crooked Line 4:55
13. Someday 5:32
14. New Kind of Freedom 3:41
15. Drunken Driver 6:28

Disc Five (self-released 1993-1998):

1. Alone 6:08
2. No Return 3:54
3. Tender Love 8:37
4. Dreams Come True 4:23
5. Out of the Grave 8:09
6. Lion’s Wake 2:16
7. Damaged Goods 3:43
8. Only Five Minutes 5:27
9. Setting Sun 3:42
10. Life 3:07 (Nils Lofgren-Lou Reed)
11. Nothin’s Fallin’ 5:06
12. Little On Up 5:02
13. Blue Skies 4:02
14. Black Books 5:24
15. Man in the Moon 3:19
16. Believe 3:46

Disc Six (self-released 1997-2001):

1. Delivery Night 5:01
2. Code of the Road 8:20
3. New Holes in Old Shoes 5:10
4. Puttin’ Out Fires 6:22
5. I Found You 4:35
6. Love a Child 2:57
7. Driftin’ Man 3:06 (Nils Lofgren-Lou Reed)
8. Without You 3:43
9. Heaven’s Answer to Blue 4:17
10. Seize Love 5:30
11. Open Road 3:13
12. Speed Kills 3:11
13. I’m Buyin’ 2:52
14. The Wind 4:27
15. We Got Guys 1:07
16. Hard Lines 1:02
17. Tears on Ice 4:46
18. Misery 4:43

Disc Seven (self-released 2002-2011):

1. Like Rain 4:52
2. The Star-Spangled Banner 2:39
3. In Your Hands 3:19
4. Mr. Hardcore 5:07
5. Tried and True 1:56
6. Frankie Hang On 3:43
7. Fat Girls Dance 4:37
8. I Am a Child 3:13 (Neil Young)
9. Mr. Soul 4:21 (Neil Young)
10. World on a String 3:16 (Neil Young)
11. Old School 3:12
12. 60 Is the New 18 3:02
13. Miss You Ray 2:39
14. Amy Joan Blues 2:42
15. Dream Big 4:31
16. Irish Angel 5:10 (Bruce McCabe)
17. Ain’t Too Many of Us Left 4:41
18. When You Were Mine 4:33
19. Why Me 4:24
20. Wreck on the Highway 4:37 (Bruce Springsteen)

Disc Eight (unreleased):

1. Keith Don’t Go 3:33
2. Try 3:36
3. Sing for Happiness 3:15
4. Duty 3:28
5. Sweet Four Wings 3:48
6. Just to Have You 2:17
7. I’ll Arise 2:51
8. Some Must Dream 4:46
9. Stay Hungry 3:41
10. Heaven’s Rain 3:36
11. Whatever Happened to Muscatel 2:49
12. You In My Arms 2:48
13. Here for You 3:37
14. Hide My Heart 4:22
15. Love Is. . . 4:28
16. Awesome Girl 3:36
17. When You Are Loved 2:55
18. Bullets Fever 3:06
19. Message 11:20

Disc Nine (unreleased):

1. Beauty and the Beast 3:42
2. You Are the Melody 3:24
3. Tears Inside 3:32
4. Face the Music 4:48
5. I Don’t Stand a Chance 3:28
6. What Is Enuf?!! 4:02
7. London 4:03
8. Go Away 4:09
9. Heart Like A Hammer 4:11
10. True Love Conquers Legends 3:40
11. Yankee Stadium 3:02
12. Sad Walk 5:23
13. Dalmatian 4:05
14. I’m Coming Back 3:59 (Tom Lofgren)
15. Mad, Mad World 3:31
16. Jhoon Rhee Ad :28
17. It’s Better to Know You 2:43
18. Last Time I Saw You 2:03
19. Mist and Morning Rain 2:49
20. Miss You “C” 2:38
21. Oh Holy Night (Strings, Choir Arranged & Conducted by Kevin Stoller) 2:58 (A. Adams-J. Dwight)

Disc Ten (DVD):

1. Windy (Flip Combo) 2:03
2. Dream Big 5:18
3. Too Many Miles 7:35
4. Keith Don’t Go 7:13
5. Bein’ Angry 4:45
6. Shine Silently 7:03
7. Big Tears Fall 5:18
8. I Found You 6:10
9. No Mercy 4:24
10. Gun and Run 8:03
11. See What Love Can Do 8:03
12. If I Were a Song 3:03
13. Slippery Fingers 4:23
14. Like Rain 4:12
15. Moon Tears 5:25
16. I Came to Dance 11:42
17. Everybody’s Missin’ the Sun 3:29
18. Ain’t Love Nice 2:35
19. I’ll Arise 3:04
20. Nils Lofgren: The Art of Adapting 8:11

domingo, 7 de septiembre de 2014

Elvis Writes - Georgie Fame

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello was a scrawny 12-year-old, until Georgie Fame opened the door to hipness.

There were always a lot of records in the house when I was growing up, including stuff like Charlie Parker. My friends were always surprised my parents were so hip to different music. After they separated my dad gave me a stack of records, stuff like Mingus, Marvin and Tammi, Grateful Dead, David Ackles and Joni Mitchell. When you are brought up like that you don't have any musical prejudices.

In 1966 I was 12 and already a big Georgie Fame fan. I'd got "Yeh Yeh" and "Getaway" and "In The Meantime" and I loved the Fame At Last EP. I saved up for a few weeks to buy Sound Venture. I went to this store in Richmond to buy it — the same place I bought my first guitar. It was such a hip record. Apart from anything else it had such a great title! And Georgie plays killer organ. I'd been used to the sound of the big band but this was different. There was no strict dance tempo and it wasn't smooth like Joe Loss — this was a swinging band and the line-up was a who's who of the jazz scene.

It had a huge impact on me because the songs were all over the place from James Brown to Willie Nelson. He was one of the first British R&B artists to discover James Brown, which was a big deal then because the only pop we heard was Brian Matthew four hours a week on the radio — the rest of the time it was tea-dance music, the Palm Court orchestra and Geraldo. There was no way we could have any personal knowledge of those original artists — and if we did the records were too expensive and I was too young to go to clubs to see them. Every record changes you a little, but Sound Venture knocked a wall down for me. "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" is my least favourite track because it sounds really clunky, like they're reading it off a chart, not like James Brown's horn players at all.

Georgie wrote some great stuff himself. "Many Happy Returns" has a beautiful melody, "Dawn Yawn" is about coming out of all nighters at the Flamingo, "Lil' Darlin'" is a real sweet ballad and "Three Blind Mice" has this Lambert, Hendricks & Ross treatment. And he sings so well. His voice is very smooth with no vibrato, like a tenor sax, a lovely sound. Apart from Zoot Money, nobody else in this country was doing what Georgie was doing. I saw him on TV recently at the Montreux Jazz Festival and a lot of those songs were still in his set.

I know every note on that record and every detail about it. Dave Redfern took the photos, Chris Welch wrote the sleevenotes and I could even tell you where the sleeve was printed! Georgie was the first person to commission me to write a song for him. I had one knocking about called "That's What Friends Are For," which was a little bit too swingy for me so I adapted it for him. I'm glad he cut it but I'm sorry I didn't write him a better song. He'd do a great version of "Almost Blue."

When they write the history of the '60s Georgie Fame is always left out, maybe because he only ever used guitars as rhythm instruments; he was always so underrated. I've met him once or twice. He and the Blue Flames did a show with Joe Loss once, so he knew my old fellow and we had a drink after a show in Dublin, but I never mentioned what Sound Venture meant to me. He probably doesn't remember it too clearly because you tend to forget about great records that don't sell — somebody came up and asked me to sign Goodbye Cruel World once and I was tempted to say, Congratulations, you've bought the worst record I ever made.

I've still got my original copy of Sound Venture. When I was a young man short of money I sold most of my records, including my Small Faces singles, but I kept Sgt Pepper, Revolver — and Sound Venture. I couldn't sell it and I still play it. I have jags of playing vinyl and it still sounds good. I'm on a crusade to get it reissued...

Fame At Last EP

Get On The Right Track, Baby

Point Of No Return

I Love The Life I Live

Gimme That Wine

Sound Venture

“Many Happy Returns”
“Down For The Count”
“It's For Love The Petals Fall”
“I Am Missing You”
“Funny How Time Slips Away”
“Lil' Pony”
“Lovey Dovey”
“Lil' Darlin'”
“Three Blind Mice”
“Dawn Yawn”
“Feed Me”
“Papa's Got a Brand New Bag”

sábado, 6 de septiembre de 2014

Elvis on The Beatles

The Beatles

Elvis Costello

I first heard of the Beatles when I was nine years old. I spent most of my holidays on Merseyside then, and a local girl gave me a bad publicity shot of them with their names scrawled on the back. This was 1962 or '63, before they came to America. The photo was badly lit, and they didn't quite have their look down; Ringo had his hair slightly swept back, as if he wasn't quite sold on the Beatles haircut yet. I didn't care about that; they were the band for me. The funny thing is that parents and all their friends from Liverpool were also curious and proud about this local group. Prior to that, the people in show business from the north of England had all been comedians. Come to think of it, the Beatles recorded for Parlophone, which was a comedy label.

I was exactly the right age to be hit by them full on. My experience — seizing on every picture, saving money for singles and EPs, catching them on a local news show — was repeated over and over again around the world. It was the first time anything like this had happened on this scale. But it wasn't just about the numbers; Michael Jackson can sell records until the end of time, but he'll never matter to people as much as the Beatles did.

Every record was a shock when it came out. Compared to rabid R&B evangelists like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles arrived sounding like nothing else. They had already absorbed Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry, but they were also writing their own songs. They made writing your own material expected, rather than exceptional.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were exceptional songwriters; McCartney was, and is, a truly virtuoso musician; George Harrison wasn't the kind of guitar player who tore off wild, unpredictable solos, but you can sing the melodies of nearly all of his breaks. Most important, they always fit right into the arrangement. Ringo Starr played the drums with an incredibly unique feel that nobody can really copy, although many fine drummers have tried and failed. Most of all, John and Paul were fantastic singers.

Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had stunningly high standards as writers. Imagine releasing a song like "Ask Me Why" or "Things We Said Today" as a B side. They made such fantastic records as "Paperback Writer" b/w "Rain" or "Penny Lane" b/w "Strawberry Fields Forever" and only put them out as singles. These records were events, and not just advance notice of an album release. Then they started to really grow up. Simple love lyrics to adult stories like "Norwegian Wood," which spoke of the sour side of love, and on to bigger ideas than you would expect to find in catchy pop lyrics.

They were pretty much the first group to mess with the aural perspective of their recordings and have it be more than just a gimmick. Brilliant engineers at Abbey Road Studios like Geoff Emerick invented techniques that we now take for granted in response to the group's imagination. Before the Beatles, you had guys in lab coats doing recording experiments in the Fifties, but you didn't have rockers deliberately putting things out of balance, like a quiet vocal in front of a loud track on "Strawberry Fields Forever." You can't exaggerate the license that this gave to everyone from Motown to Jimi Hendrix.
My absolute favorite albums are Rubber Soul and Revolver. On both records you can hear references to other music — R&B, Dylan, psychedelia — but it's not done in a way that is obvious or dates the records. When you picked up Revolver, you knew it was something different. Heck, they are wearing sunglasses indoors in the picture on the back of the cover and not even looking at the camera ... and the music was so strange and yet so vivid. If I had to pick a favorite song from those albums, it would be "And Your Bird Can Sing" ... no, "Girl" ... no, "For No One" ... and so on, and so on....
Their breakup album, Let It Be, contains songs both gorgeous and jagged. I suppose ambition and human frailty creep into every group, but they managed to deliver some incredible performances. I remember going to Leicester Square and seeing the film of Let It Be in 1970. I left with a melancholy feeling.
The word Beatlesque has been in the dictionary for a while now. I can hear them in the Prince album Around the World in a Day; in Ron Sexsmith's tunes; in Harry Nilsson's melodies. You can hear that Kurt Cobain listened to the Beatles and mixed them in with punk and metal in some of his songs. You probably wouldn't be listening to the ambition of the latest OutKast record if the Beatles hadn't made the White Album into a double LP!
I've co-written some songs with Paul McCartney and performed with him in concert on two occasions. In 1999, a little time after Linda McCartney's death, Paul did the Concert for Linda, organized by Chrissie Hynde. During the rehearsal, I was singing harmony on a Ricky Nelson song (Lonesome Town), and Paul called out the next tune: "All My Loving." I said, "Do you want me to take the harmony line the second time round?" And he said, "Yeah, give it a try." I'd only had thirty-five years to learn the part. It was a very poignant performance, witnessed only by the crew and other artists on the bill.

At the show, it was very different. The second he sang the opening lines — "Close your eyes, and I'll kiss you" — the crowd's reaction was so intense that it all but drowned the song out. It was very thrilling but also rather disconcerting. Perhaps I understood in that moment one of the reasons why the Beatles had to stop performing. The songs weren't theirs anymore. They were everybody's.

viernes, 5 de septiembre de 2014

Elvis Writes - Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Elvis Costello

My Mam tells me that one of my first words was 'skin'. I was not an especially precocious child; I couldn't say whole sentences but I knew how to request "I've Got You Under My Skin" on the family record player. I was probably listening to that song ever since I was born, as both my parents were (and are) great admirers of Sinatra. When you're exposed to something so young it obviously goes in deep.

Although as I grew up it was only natural to be caught up and distracted by all the great music of the moment, Sinatra never seemed square or old-fashioned. As it says on the lapel badge that I once found in a junk shop: 'It's Sinatra's world. We just live in it.' Granted, he wanted little to do with beat music or rock 'n' roll, but remember this: Sinatra may have occasionally enjoyed clams but, unlike Elvis Presley, he was never persuaded to sing their praises. When I started earning some money I invested in some familiar old Sinatra albums and found that they spoke very clearly about the adult things I was just beginning to understand.

In the last few days I've been thinking about those special recorded moments, the finesse that lies beyond the popular landmarks of "New York, New York" or "My Way." Top of any list would have to be that famous vocal bridge after the solo in "I've Got You Under My Skin," when Sinatra hits the most beautiful long blue wail on the first word in the line: 'Don't you know little fool'. For me, this is the greatest single moment in recorded music.

I think the best tribute one can pay to Sinatra is to remember some of these special moments. Ask 10 people to pick 10 favourite Sinatra songs and they are likely to come up with scores of different titles. Some fantastic recordings have ended up as outtakes because Frank's standards were high. Recently, I was looking for a really good version of "My One And Only Love," and the catalogue surprisingly listed a Sinatra recording. It turned out to be the most beautiful reading of the song, which had been added to the CD edition of Nice 'N' Easy. This track had been in the vaults for over 40 years, probably because it didn't really fit into Sinatra's meticulously programmed theme albums. The performance is a glimpse of a singer in transition from the sweet-voiced 1940s crooner to the more world-weary singer of later years.

Sinatra endured a short but dramatic period without success and in vocal crisis during the early '50s. When his Capitol recordings returned him to the top, people said that his voice was changed by experience. However, I wonder whether there wasn't also a shrewd agreement between the singer and his inspired arrangers for him to sing in this lower, richer register. At times the lowest note of a melody becomes almost spoken, giving him a much greater sense of intimacy.

In his most anguished performances, such as "I'm A Fool To Want You," the words are plainly spoken and raw. Whether the lyrics were magical or hackneyed, most songwriting teams obeyed the romantic conventions of the time: the door closes before things really get sticky. In Frank's versions, the music expresses the unspoken details.
Even when recording the finest compositions, the singer makes minute but crucial decisions that place his mark on the song. Take Rodgers & Hart's "Dancing On The Ceiling." I imagine it was written as a whimsical fantasy number, with a clipped 1930s dance rhythm. Sinatra adds one crucial word to the lyric in All through the night and drags out the thought to give it a real sense of longing. The concentrated meaning he brings to certain lines transforms a polite and charming song into something visual and erotic.

The Johnny Mercer song "P.S. I Love You" is basically a catalogue of mundane domestic failings and weather reports to an absent spouse. He's not done the dishes and he's a bit of a clown for not being able to look after himself in a men-are-hopeless kind of way. However, all this is reported with some of the most tender and beautiful singing of Sinatra's career, almost teasing until the real postscript: 'Nothing more to tell you, dear, except each day seems like a year...' The feeling that he pours into just two words: 'dear' and 'seems' is indescribable. You have to hear it for yourself.

The albums In The Wee Small Hours, Only The Lonely and No One Cares form a mighty trilogy. Only The Lonely is my personal favourite. It contains a wonderful revival of "What's New?," an old Bing Crosby number. Crosby might have been the first singer to treat the microphone as a friend and not bellow at it, and his influence on Sinatra's early records is obvious. As Sinatra developed his adult style he went back and recorded songs like "What's New?," having respect for the past but also the confidence to give the song a new and deeper identity.

Another song from this album shows Sinatra's unrivalled ability to sustain a mood over a long piece and still reserve the knock-out blow for the final eight to 16 bars. In Gordon Jenkins's "Goodbye," pathos and fatalism are wrung out to an extraordinary degree. Nelson Riddle's arrangement breaks over the voice from time to time, only to ebb away and create the illusion that this is really a soliloquy By the time you reach the lines, 'It's time that we parted, it's much better so,' the melancholy has become dream-like. All this is achieved with singing that is passionate hut never over-wrought. The album is not for the faint-hearted.

Many fans will prefer the swinging records, or the brashness of Reprise singles like "That's Life," the prouder man singing "Come Fly With Me." Sure, I prefer "Glad To Be Unhappy" but you can't help falling for the charm and panache as Sinatra tosses the words and the slang around. He's chasing shadows away, chasing the bad stuff of life away.

Even on a recording like the recently issued Live In Paris, a small group recording from the mid-'60s, where the artistry is gradually overwhelmed by the audience's desire to share some time with their buddy 'Frank' - and I am almost paraphrasing the sleevenotes - you can hear some of the most astounding vocal control as Sinatra shrinks the room with a barely uttered meditation. He makes just a few lines of Vincent Youmans' rather arcane Without A Song seem like something that shouldn't be happening in anything as profane as a nightclub.

On the last occasion I saw Sinatra perform, at the Royal Albert Hall in 1983, he was being slated for the quality of his voice. But then again, you could go back to "When Your Lover Is Gone", from the 1957 Live In Seattle recording, and hear how he could turn his then-rare vocal frailty into an asset. He had obviously learned that lesson well. At the Albert Hall, with even less voice, he more or less talked his way through a sequence of stoic, I'll-carry-on songs like "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" and, possibly, "Here's That Rainy Day." He lingered on the line, 'Children, when you shoot at bad men, shoot at me,' but just when the audience were about to give him their last breath he unleashed a knockout "The Lady Is A Tramp" with all the vocal power and energy that he had reserved.

A couple of years earlier I was fortunate enough to hear Sinatra in excellent voice at the Royal Festival Hall. Midconcert he typically acknowledged the composers of his next song. As he announced 'words by Ira Gershwin and...' I drew my breath; then he added, 'music by Van Duke'. Suddenly, the wonderful introductory verse of "I Can't Get Started" was underway 'I'm a glum one. It's explainable / I met someone unattainable / Life's a bore / The world is my oyster no more...'

Silly maybe, but beautiful. You always hope your favourite singers will sing your favourite obscure songs, but you resign yourself to only hearing the most popular. Given Sinatra's repertoire, this was unbelievable luck. At the back of the souvenir programme there was a long list of every song that he had performed in England, going back to the concert my Mam saw in Liverpool in the late '40s. He had never sung the song here before. That's when you go peculiar and begin to feel that weird sense of connection. Sinatra had that ability to make it seem as if every song was just for you, when in reality most of the audience were feeling exactly the same way.

"I Can't Get Started" is one of those songs where the singer is simply worn out by his own success, the way people used to be in romantic comedies. He flies around the world in a plane, 'settles revolutions in Spain', has a great golf handicap, has tea with 'Franklin D.' and is asked to star in MGM movies. Sinatra's real life story was only slightly more fantastic. Speaking of which, I'd like to recommend Bill Zehme's book The Way You Wear Your Hat - Frank Sinatra And The Lost Art Of Livin. It's not really a biography, but it's funny and illuminating without being either lurid or sentimental.

If you cherish any of these performances then you already know what I'm talking about. But if you don't know Sinatra's catalogue, then you may wonder what all the fuss is about. To some, he is just the legend in the hat, that occasional actor and ladies man with the sinister friends, who sang tunes beloved by drunken bores and karaoke singers. That's just the easy take on a great and complex artist. Before you fall for that line, I would say skip the compilations and go straight for one of those great Capitol albums. At times they've been the only records worth playing.

jueves, 4 de septiembre de 2014

Elvis Writes - My Favourite Album

My Favourite Album

Elvis Costello

In these style-obsessed days I thought that my status in fashion might be improved by claiming my choice to be Dirk Bogarde's Lyrics For Lovers, or maybe it should be the Privilege soundtrack.

But what about The Impressions' Big Sixteen, Loretta Lynn's I Remember Patsy, The Band, The Greatest Hits of Lee Dorsey, Billie Holiday, The Ronettes, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Supremes, Charlie Rich, Dusty Springfield, or The Temptations?
How about one of George Jones' hundred odd albums, Motown Chartbusters Vol. 3, Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved A Man, Ella Fitzgerald Sings Cole Porter, Walls And Bridges, With The Beatles, Gram Parsons' G.P., Heroes, Low, Lust For Life, The Clash, Here Comes Rhymin' Simon, Aftermath, The Exciting Wilson Pickett, Blood On The Tracks, Squeezing Out Sparks, Court And Spark, Full House, Revolver, Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, Janis Martin, Otis Redding Live In Europe, Randy Newman's Good Old Boys, Pet Sounds, The Explosive Little Richard, Sailing Shoes, All Mod Cons, My Generation, I Want To See The Bright Lights, Modern Lovers, Mad About The Wrong Boy, Labour Of Lust, The Specials, East Side Story, or Get Happy. Now wait a minute, this is getting out of hand.

But there is one album which beats the current bright young things hands down at the style game, and is as genuinely romantic as certain of today's jokers are wooden and sexless.

Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely was recorded in 1958 and remains the man's most consistent album, aside from the compilations. You get more than a clue from the cover, a chalk drawing of Sinatra in tearful clown's make-up. The mood is extremely melancholic. The tempi are very slow and the singing has a personal sounding sadness. There is none of the dated brashness of his swing material, this is moody stuff beyond categorization.

Of course the compositions and arrangements are 'sophisticated', but they compliment the performances and therefore have not dated at all, while the singing is as emotional as any blues and soul, only with control and restraint, so obviously romantic but never purely sentimental. Sinatra's massive showbiz status and his dubious friendships in the crime world of Las Vegas and Washington might blind you to his finest moments. Well here they are: "Willow Weep For Me, Angel Eyes," "One For My Baby," "It's A Lonesome Old Town," and my personal favourite "Goodbye."

What if there are no great lyrical insights into the human condition? These songs date from an era of more stylised emotions and image, but the voice says it all.

Excuse Me While I Disappear
"Angel Eyes"

miércoles, 3 de septiembre de 2014

Elvis Writes - Magic Moments The Definitive Burt Bacharach Collection

Magic Moments
The Definitive Burt Bacharach Collection

Elvis Costello

Every definition you choose seems to offer a contradiction. The music is complex, yet approachable, overwhelming charged but never sentimental. The songs are highly confidential and yet they are known to whole world. The last expression that ever comes to my mind when I hear Burt's songs is the one containing the words, "listening" and "easy". Those who imagine the music in those terms may be listening but I don't think they are really hearing. Sure, the tone of Bacharach songs is always elegant, the rhythms gentle and persuasive but the effect is often torrid, even erotic.

When I first heard, "Anyone Who Had A Heart", I didn't even know the word for the way it made me feel. When you think about it, there was really something quite subversive about such adult music finding a home in the hit parade. Consider what is really going on in the music of, "Are You There With Another Girl?," "The Look of Love" or the bridge "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," when idea of losing the love of someone is represented as if It were vertigo. Add the perfectly chosen words of Hal David's lyric and the meaning of the music is confirmed. The melodic line in some Bacharach songs can push right to far edge of the harmonic possibilities. A moment later, that is a tune that you will never forget.

I remember witnessing a rather literal minded harangue from a German journalist, who seemed affronted that Burt had found no use for the cruder aspects of 50s rock and roll. Burt responded patiently, "I'd just come out of the army and was studying composition with (contemporary French composer) Darius Milhaud and listening to Dizzy Gillespie on 52nd St. Billy Haley and the Comets just didn't make it for me".

"Here I Am" or the exquisite, "Alfie" could have only come from a writer who like Gershwin or Richard Rodgers, was aware of Ravel but they were written only a year of two after Burt had been delivered R&B smash hits like "Don't Make Me Over," "Walk On By" and "Make It Easy On Yourself." Burt told me once that the musicians on a live date at the Apollo almost rebelled when confronted by the sudden bars of uneven metre that he had written in "Anyone Who Had A Heart." They were probably just trying to count the beats in the bar and not thinking of the erratic pulse that sometimes comes with the desperation of love. Burt said once they trusted the music, everything worked out just fine.

Bacharach songs connect the voices of Marlene Dietrich, Marty Robbins, Perry Como, The Drifters, Chuck Jackson, The Beatles, Gene Pitney, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Jack Jones, Scott Walker, Cilia Black, Issac Hayes and Aretha Franklin. His greatest interpreter is undoubtedly Dionne Warwick, a singularly gifted vocalist who made melodies that would confound many singers seem full of all the grace and soul the composer intended.

Between 1995 and 1998, Burt Bacharach and I wrote twelve songs that became the album, Painted From Memory. Most people would have expected me to act solely as lyricist but Burt went far beyond my wildest expectation in agreeing to co compose most of our musical collaborations. This is an artist who is still interested in new challenges.

To witness Burt composing in a moment and to sometimes sit next to him on the piano bench, considering the placement of one semi quaver or the harmonic choice of bass note was both an unconscious masterclass and among the greatest joys of my musical life.

He is still a songwriter who is up at 3am pondering one tiny amendment to a melody and an arranger who will sing the subtlest nuances of phrasing to a Flugel Horn player, those things that lie beyond the written notes on the stave.

When Burt's conscience moved him to write his own lyrics for the At This T1me album, he called me up to sing on, "Who Are These People", a particularly harsh critique of the way the world is headed. I asked Burt to give me a sense of the song. He said, "Things really have to change or we're all fucked". I said, "What are the lyrics?" He said, "Those are the lyrics".

Sadly what the world needs now is not only love but it will always be richer for containing the songs of Burt Bacharach; the familiar and deeply loved, as well as the many gems that still lie waiting to be discovered in his apparently fathomless catalogue.

What is his best song? That could still be next song that he writes.

Elvis Costello 17/09/08