Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 2, 1982: Difference between revisions
(+browser) |
(fix spelling) |
||
(3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
In a recent [[Newsweek, August 9, 1982|interview]] with <i>Newsweek</i>'s Jim Miller, Costello allowed that he felt many of his early songs were too "smug," "clinical," and "narrow-minded." His new work, he said, should have heart and compassion. But he wondered, he told Miller, if that attitude would take some of the edge off his previous compositions, the edge that "bloody-mindedness gives you." | In a recent [[Newsweek, August 9, 1982|interview]] with <i>Newsweek</i>'s Jim Miller, Costello allowed that he felt many of his early songs were too "smug," "clinical," and "narrow-minded." His new work, he said, should have heart and compassion. But he wondered, he told Miller, if that attitude would take some of the edge off his previous compositions, the edge that "bloody-mindedness gives you." | ||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Constitution page 13B clipping 01.jpg|100px|right|Atlanta Constitution]] | |||
That was, admittedly, a problem as Costello gave almost a bouncy reading to songs that, when he first recorded them, seemed designed to drive the listener to unutterable despair. But by the time he had eased through the first few selections — and the audience, who would have cheered him maniacally at the start had he simply stood on stage and recited "Mary Had A Little Lamb," had calmed down enough to actually listen — he seemed to have found a new meaning in even his oldest work. | That was, admittedly, a problem as Costello gave almost a bouncy reading to songs that, when he first recorded them, seemed designed to drive the listener to unutterable despair. But by the time he had eased through the first few selections — and the audience, who would have cheered him maniacally at the start had he simply stood on stage and recited "Mary Had A Little Lamb," had calmed down enough to actually listen — he seemed to have found a new meaning in even his oldest work. | ||
The crowd probably didn't understand what he was up to, but Costello, to his credit, refused to pander. "It's a bit of a dilemma," he told Miller after a concert in San Diego earlier this year. "You've got to play what they (the fans) came to see. But I'm not a one-dimensional sort of paper tiger. You can make songs so crass that everyone can understand them, or complicated enough that they're interesting." Wednesday night he managed to do a bit of both, thrashing out on such things as a stellar version of "Watching The Detectives" from his 1977 debut album, ''My Aim Is True'', and then winding down to relay the complicated aches of "Long Honeymoon" from his newest work, ''Imperial Bedroom''. | The crowd probably didn't understand what he was up to, but Costello, to his credit, refused to pander. "It's a bit of a dilemma," he told Miller after a concert in San Diego earlier this year. "You've got to play what they (the fans) came to see. But I'm not a one-dimensional sort of paper tiger. You can make songs so crass that everyone can understand them, or complicated enough that they're interesting." Wednesday night he managed to do a bit of both, thrashing out on such things as a stellar version of "Watching The Detectives" from his 1977 debut album, ''My Aim Is True'', and then winding down to relay the complicated aches of "Long Honeymoon" from his newest work, ''Imperial Bedroom''. | ||
For that matter, the nearly two-hour performance seemed designed to pull the fans that still want the Elvis Costello who was once tagged "the angry young man of | For that matter, the nearly two-hour performance seemed designed to pull the fans that still want the Elvis Costello who was once tagged "the angry young man of Britain's New Wave" into his more adult, and more complicated, present vision. | ||
Costello never has been one for labels, though Lord knows that hasn't done much to keep people from trying to pin one on him. When he first appeared on these shores, he was dubbed by rabid followers as the obvious successor to the recently defunct original Elvis. | Costello never has been one for labels, though Lord knows that hasn't done much to keep people from trying to pin one on him. When he first appeared on these shores, he was dubbed by rabid followers as the obvious successor to the recently defunct original Elvis. | ||
Line 37: | Line 38: | ||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
{{tags}}[[ | {{tags}}[[Concert 1982-09-01 Atlanta|Fox Theatre]] {{-}} [[Atlanta]] {{-}} [[GA|Georgia]] {{-}} [[The Attractions]] {{-}} [[Accidents Will Happen]] {{-}} [[Green Shirt]] {{-}} [[Pidgin English]] {{-}} [[Hand In Hand]] {{-}} [[Imperial Bedroom]] {{-}} [[Watching The Detectives]] {{-}} [[The Long Honeymoon]] {{-}} [[Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down]] {{-}} [[Slippin' And Slidin']] {{-}} [[My Aim Is True]] {{-}} [[This Year's Model]] {{-}} [[Trust]] {{-}} [[Get Happy!!]] {{-}} [[Armed Forces]] {{-}} [[Almost Blue]] {{-}} [[Elvis Presley]] {{-}} [[Buddy Holly]] {{-}} [[Newsweek, August 9, 1982|Newsweek]] {{-}} [[Talk Talk]] {{-}} [[Welcome To The Working Week]] {{-}} [[Town Cryer]] | ||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
Line 47: | Line 48: | ||
|next = Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 27, 1983 | |next = Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 27, 1983 | ||
}} | }} | ||
''' | '''Atlanta Journal / Atlanta Constitution, September 2, 1982 | ||
---- | ---- | ||
[[Mitchell Shields]] | [[Mitchell Shields]] (''Constitution'') and Russ DeVault (''Journal'') profile Elvis Costello and report on his concert with [[The Attractions]], Wednesday, [[Concert 1982-09-01 Atlanta|September 1, 1982]], Fox Theatre, Atlanta. | ||
{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta | [[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Constitution page 1B clipping 01.jpg|380px]] | ||
<br><small> | <br><small>Atlanta Constitution.</small> | ||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Journal | <small>Atlanta Journal.</small><br> | ||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Journal page 1B clipping 01.jpg|380px]] | |||
<small> | |||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Journal-Constitution page 1B.jpg|x120px|border]] | {{Bibliography box}} | ||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Journal- | <center><h3> The other Elvis </h3></center> | ||
---- | |||
<center> Russ DeVault </center> | |||
---- | |||
'''Costello's simple playing, singing style shows Fox fans what rock is all about | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | |||
The name "Elvis" means rock 'n' roll. | |||
But what a lot of people are learning is that it isn't always followed by "Presley." There's also Elvis Costello. | |||
He's a 27-year-old Englishman who drew about 3,500 to the Fox Theatre Wednesday night. He gave them no reason to confuse his music with that produced by the late Elvis Presley, but he still showed them what rock 'n' roll is all about. | |||
Costello, whose style of guitar playing is as simple as his singing, relied upon the words of his songs and the sounds of the songs made famous by others to captivate his audience. | |||
Costello, wearing a dark suit, shirt and tie, seemed oblivious to the problems treated by anxious fans, but he didn't allow them to get too settled. When his music began to seem repetitious, he'd reach out and shake his listeners with some old time rock 'n' roll. | |||
He displayed a perfect understanding of American music from "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" to "Slippin' and Slidin'," but his fondness for such songs shouldn't be mistaken for blanket forgiveness of what he perceives as national faults. | |||
Take him to California and he'll leave saying, as he recently did, that "If one more person said 'Have a nice day,' I thought I'd kill him." | |||
Or expose him to the notion that dying in defense of one's country or family is heroic and he'll say, "Somebody in your family's got to bury you." | |||
That isn't the feeling traditionally associated with rock 'n' roll, of course, but it is what helps makes Costello's version interesting. | |||
It is a view that has changed since he burst upon the rock 'n' roll scene in 1977, singing, ''"Welcome to the working week; oh, I know it don't thrill you; I hope it don't kill you. ..."'' | |||
Today, as he says in <!-- The --> ''Imperial Bedroom'', ''"Isn't it a pity that you're going to get hurt. ..."'' | |||
{{cx}} | |||
{{cx}} | |||
<br><br> | |||
<small>Photo by [[Michael Pugh]].</small><br> | |||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Journal photo 01 mp.jpg|380px]] | |||
<!-- Elvis Costello captivates 3,500 at Fox. --> | |||
<small>Atlanta Constitution page scans.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Constitution page 1B.jpg|x120px|border|Atlanta Constitution]] | |||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Constitution page 13B.jpg|x120px|border|Atlanta Constitution]] | |||
<small>Atlanta Journal page scan.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1982-09-02 Atlanta Journal page 1B.jpg|x120px|border|Atlanta Journal]] | |||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} |
Latest revision as of 06:07, 13 August 2023
|