In 1985 Elvis Costello took a sabbatical from the constant touring
and recording with the Attractions, except for a one off performance
at the Miners Benefit in April.
However, for the workaholic Elvis a sabbatical still resulted in
playing a dozen shows in London, Australia and Japan either solo or
with T-Bone Burnett as the Coward Brothers; playing, supporting and
producing the Pogues; and even two appearances on BBC television,
one singing "an old northern folk song" at Live Aid and
the other singing "Georgia On My Mind" as a duet with his
dad and backed by the Joe Loss Orchestra.
This lack of activity resulted in the general consensus of the music
press and fans that Elvis was a washed-up, drunken, burnt out songwriter
whose best years were behind him.
This perception was reinforced when "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
the lead-off single from "King Of America" was issued in
Spring `86 featuring a vocal performance that was raspy and weary
and depicted a tired, shabby and bearded Elvis in a straw hat (a photo
taken from a 1984 summer tour) on the cover.
In 1985 "King Of America" was also recorded, which was
to feature songs premiered at two London shows in March and April.
The new album was initially going to be part solo and part with the
Attractions. In the spring of that year at Sunset Sound studio, LA,
Elvis recorded "ragged" demos of the majority of the songs
written for the album, which makes up the bulk of Disc 1 of this set.
Over a three month period the album was recorded at Hollywood Oceanway
Studio with the cream of American session musicians before the Attractions
arrived in America. For these sessions, T-Bone Burnett had brought
together three-quarters of the original Elvis' TCB band: James Burton
- guitar, Jerry Scheff - bass and Ron Tutt - drums, and also Ray Brown
who played string bass with all the jazz elite and Earl Palmer who
had played drums with Little Richard. Other musicians that were to
line up behind Elvis included Tom Canning - piano, Mitchell Froom
- keyboards, T-Bone Wolk - electric guitar, Mickey Curry & Jim
Keltner - drums and percussion. Elvis was surprised that these musicians
were in the same studio and initially in awe of such illustrious company.
The use of these different musicians also effect the album sound
which displayed Elvis' eclectic musical tastes, from traditional Irish
folk music to country to swing and through to Cajun.
The source for this release is a previously uncirculated recording,
which allows us to hear the development of these songs from Elvis'
acoustic guitar accompanied demos through to alternative band versions
of the officially released songs.
In addition to the original demos, Disc 1 also features a selection
of covers with piano accompaniment. Eric Bogle's "My Youngest
Son" (never officially released); Richard Thompson's "End
Of The Rainbow" (finally released as in a fully developed arrangement
on the "Anti- Heroin Project" album); Rogers & Ahlert's
"Running Out Of Fools" (released on "Kojak Variety"
with the Confederates); and the traditional song "She Moved Through
The Fair" (to be recorded with the Brodsky Quartet almost a decade
later). We are also treated to a re-working of "The Deportees
Club" from "Goodbye Cruel World" and probably the original
demo of "Having It All" which was written for Patsy Kensit
to perform in the ill-fated film "Absolute Beginners". Another
unreleased song featured on Disc 1 is "I Feel Like Going HOme".
It's unclear whether this is an original or a cover!
The alternative band version that makes up the bulk of Disc 2 feature
subtle differences to the officially released songs: on "Lovable"
has no harmony vocals, on "Our Little Angels" Elvis smiles
singing the line "And the lonely hearts club clientele...";
"The Big Light" has more of Ron Tutt's brush effects; and
"Eisenhower Blues" iS performed In a less throw away arrangement.
On the official release the Attractions only backed Elvis on one song
- "Sleep Of The Just" - even though it was intended they
would record "Brilliant Mistake". It's unclear whether either
of the two alternative takes featured Attractions. If they arc not
in there in person they are in there in spirit.
On release of the album in the spring of '86 the response from the
music press and fans was lukewarm; with much babrbed comments directed
at the cover photo, the reverting to his family name, the use of American
session musicians and on Disc 2 were recorded with the substituting
`The Costello Show" for EC & A. Elvis enthusiastically promoted
the album with numerous interviews in the mainstream and music press.
In late I986 and early 1987, Elvis, The Attractions and COnfederates
undertook a tour, performing multi-night stands in major cities across
America and Britair, with a few shows in Europe and Japan to promote
"King Of America" and "Blood And Chocolate" that
was released in the fall of `86.
With hindsight, "King Of America" was the transition betweer
Elvis and The Attractions 1977 to 1984 and the future.
