Kojak Variety Reviews
All-Music Guide (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
With Almost Blue, Elvis Costello wanted to be a honkytonker. With
Kojak Variety, he's a crooner, picking forgotten tunes by both minor
and major artists (anyone from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to Bob Dylan). From his
song selections to the pseudo-avant-rock/R&B band, Costello doesn't make any
obvious moves. Yet that doesn't mean that the record is difficult -- it just
shows the depths of Costello's affection for music and record collecting
(which is also clear from his loving, detailed liner notes). Costello and his
band (featuring guitarists James Burton and Marc Ribot, drummer Jim Keltner
and Attraction Pete Thomas play with gusto, tearing through the songs with the
vigor of a bar band on a Friday night. Some of the rockers sound slightly
forced, although there's no denying the power of Costello's passionate vocals,
even if he stretches his range a little too much (Little Richard's Bama
Lama Bama Loo). What matters here are the performances, and the majority
of Kojak Variety is filled with fine interpretations. Kojak
Variety does what any good covers album should do -- it makes you want to
seek out the originals.