|
You come home from a long, hard day at school and throw your books in the closet. You just want to relax and listen to some laid-back, soothing music. Not punk, not rock, not new wave. Country, maybe. Yeah, country.
Thumbing through your extensive collection of LPs, you bypass the Charlie Rich and Merle Haggard records given to you by your cousin from Tennessee and pull out the newest addition to your country collection. You put it on the turntable, flop down on the couch, and soon you're relaxing to the bluesy strains of... Elvis Costello and the Attractions?
Yes, Elvis has gone Nashville, literally. Almost Blue, Costello's seventh album since his 1977 debut, My Aim Is True, was recorded in Nashville during eleven days in May of this year. None of the songs are originals; Costello and his band cover tunes by such country legendary artists as Rich, Haggard, Hank Williams, George Jones and Gram Parsons. Amazingly enough, Costello pulls this project off effortlessly, like a magician masterfully pulling the rug out from under a roomful of antique furniture without damaging any of the merchandise.
This is the best-produced album Costello has ever put out; the sound is clear and clean and the record as a whole is finely crafted. The men responsible for this are producer Billy Sherrill (who also wrote "Too Far Gone" — one of the two best cuts on the album), and engineer Ron "Snake" Reynolds. These two men have given Costello a new type of sound for this record; the vocals are "up front" and minus the echo effects of past Costello tunes like "Mystery Dance."
The Attractions are, as always, in top form on this basically laid-back album (all but two cuts are ballads). Pete Thomas on drums and Bruce Thomas on bass stay unobtrusively in the background and let Costello's vocals and Steve Neive's acoustic piano share the spotlight. Special guest John McFee also contributes on some cuts with lead guitar and pedal steel, as does Tommy Miller on violin.
It is Neive's piano that really makes this album a pleasure. Costello's best ballads have always featured Neive on acoustic piano rather than the organs and synthesizers that propel most of Elvis' fast tunes, and on this album the piano is in evidence on most of the cuts.
Although Costello will never be compared with George Jones or Hank Williams as a country vocalist, he does a more-than-passable job on Almost Blue. lie keeps his singing in check and demonstrates an obvious love affair with the songs he has chosen to cover. The best cuts are Sherrill's "Too Far Gone" and J. Chestnut's "A Good Year For The Roses," both of which rank among the best vocals Elvis has ever done on a ballad.
Among the other slow tunes are "I'm Your Toy" and "How Much I Lied," both by Gram Parsons, Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down," and George Jones' "Brown To Blue" and "Color Of The Blues." The two rockers are Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me (like you used to do)" and "Honey Hush." Both of these tunes are barn-burners that race along at "Mystery Dance" pace.
It should not come as a complete surprise that Costello seems so at home with country songs; he has often professed his love of old Hank Williams tunes and the like. He has also ventured into similar territory in the past — last year's Taking Liberties contained "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger In The House," and "Different Finger" was the best song on this year's Trust.
It is surprising, however, that Elvis and the Attractions come off with such smoothness and taste on an entire album of country material. Elvis Costello has never put out an album that wasn't interesting, and Almost Blue keeps up that impressive track record.
Costello is reportedly already putting together the songs for his next studio album. It is amazing that an artist who is so prolific still always manages to come up with high-quality material every time out. Costello is basically from the same school of songwriting as such artists as Graham Parker and Joe Jackson, and there seems to be a great competition between their careers.
Costello has risen to the occasion, however, and outdistanced his rivals; he is currently the best songwriter of his type, and his talent shines even when he is doing songs written by someone else.
| 
