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Elvis Costello is a man of few words, that is, if one considers how little information he give the public about his motives except for his prodigious output of songs. The public wants answers: His recent country album, Almost Blue, recorded in Nashville, raises lots of questions as to what Costello is up to.
As usual, Elvis lets the music do the talking.
He does, however, drop us some hints — a BBC-TV documentary (as yet unseen here), a special "press edition" of Almost Blue with Costello introducing the songs, and a handful of shows in Europe and America.
Costello seems to be reaching for the mantle of all-around entertainer. During his performances, he played old and new material, as well as a set from the country LP (with the Doobie Brothers' John McFee on steel guitar). During one London concert, he was backed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
But why did the angry young man of New Wave go to Nashville? "To record some songs that didn't belong to me, but meant quite a lot to me," Costello says. He recorded tunes by George Jones, Merle Haggard and the late Gram Parsons, who probably was Costello's original inspiration for the album.
"It was through Gram Parsons that I discovered lots of country singers I never heard of," Costello says. "In fact, I'd never heard of most country singers before."
Some critics wish he'd never heard of them at all. With a debate raging among critics — "Is it Costello or is it country?" — Elvis ignored the controversy and presented the country material in his concert with a fan's reverence. After all, Almost Blue fulfills a country fan's greatest dream — cutting a record in Nashville.
Costello reacted with his typical barbed humor to some of the criticism. He describes his singing on "Sittin' and Thinkin'" as "Pure Dean Martin," and points out that his version of Nashville producer Billy Sherrill's "Too Far Gone" is patterned after French pop singer Charles Aznavour's rendition.
As soon as he finished the country LP, Costello went on to a new LP of original material, which he says will be called "A Revolution of Your Mind." The title implies that audiences can expect more provocative material from Costello.
The songs are stately, masterful works with an almost traditional pop feeling, but as progressive as anything Costello has done.
But how long will it take the music community-at-large, as well as Nashville, to finally accept Costello as a pop artist? It seems that he has some master plan to achieve that goal, but if he knows just how he's going to do that, as usual, Elvis isn't about to give away the punch line.
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