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It's hard to believe that it was 10 years ago when Elvis Costello staged what many believe to be one of the most artistically creative tours in rock history. The 1986 Rolling Stone Critics' Poll even went so far as to select it as "Best Tour" for 1986. (Although Bruce Springsteen won the Readers' Poll in the same category without even touring!)
EC had released two LP's in 1986, King Of America and Blood & Chocolate, and chose to promote them by taking two bands on the road with him, The Confederates and The Attractions, who respectively were for the most part linked to each LP. EC chose to play multiple nights at plush sit-down (except for Chicago) theaters in major cities. We were treated to "Greatest Hits" and "Blood & Chocolate" nights with the Attractions and, nights with the Confederates which gave us King Of America tracks and some nifty covers, some which later made it to Kojak Variety.
In between we were treated to solo spots debuting several new songs as well as Coward Brothers sets featuring T Bone Burnett in Beverly Hills and New York City. But most of all this tour will be remembered for the "Spectacular Spinning Songbook," a wheel full of song titles which audience members got to spin to chart the course of the evening's music. These nights also featured celebrity guest hosts which often led to some exciting musical collaborations.
In this first part of this series we will look at the U.S. shows, with the European dates to follow next issue.
Beverly Hills, CA
Beverly Theater
October 1 - Attractions (w/ Request Spot)
October 2 - Solo / Confederates
October 3 - Confederates
October 4 - Spinning Songbook
October 5 - Attractions (B&C)
Things began in posh Beverly Hills at what last time I visited was nothing more than a hole in the ground on Wilshire Blvd.! The 1,372 seat theater sold out all five nights in a mere six hours. These shows drew national attention, garnering a review in the national daily USA Today as well as a full page feature in the December 4 issue of Rolling Stone. However, local press coverage of the event would also stir some interest.
Opening night was a greatest hits and "request" affair that also featured the Attractions running through three King Of America tunes which they didn't record: "Lovable," "Jack Of All Parades," and "I'll Wear It Proudly." The request spot however lacked any organized method of securing fans' suggestions as EC simply fumbled through scraps of paper that fans handed to him. This led Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn to comment in his review about how this approach lacked the true spontaneity of an "on-demand" request. The paper ran daily coverage of each night and also did a story on artists banning photographers from shows that included a sketch of a rather young-looking EC!
In response to Hilburn, a huge EC supporter over the years, Elvis would fire back from the stage turning on the "request" sign saying "I know what happens when I do that. I get a bad review from Robert Hilburn." He also defended his not allowing a sea of photographers to disturb the audience and joked that the Times sketch "obviously was drawn from memory." All in all EC may have overreacted to what was generally a favorable review from Hilburn.
The second night would feature EC's first regular performance with a band other than the Attractions. He opened with a solo spot in which we heard the first of several new "piano ballads" ("Forgive Her Anything"), the newly reworked "Deportee" and two first-time covers (The Hollies' "King Midas In Reverse" and The Psychedelic Furs' "Pretty In Pink").
Before the Confederates' debut however we were treated to a Coward Brothers set in which Howard & Henry (Elvis & T Bone Burnett) did some of their familiar tunes before getting the crowd to sing "Twist And Shout." The Cowards would only play here and in New York where T Bone would also join the Confederates on guitar.
The Confederates' debut was a brief ten-song set which served as a prelude to their featured status on the third night. This collaboration of players from the King Of America album (Burton, Scheff, Keltner and Froom) would change somewhat over the course of the tour (see chart on page 9). The selections included most of KOA as well as several covers, many of which wound up on Kojak Variety. David Hidalgo, from local faves Los Lobos, also joined the band to reprise his performances from the LP joining in with the band for backing vocals on "Lovable" and on accordion for "American Without Tears."
The penultimate night gave us the first look at the "Spectacular Spinning Songbook." EC took to the stage entering the theater by walking down the main aisle, acting out the part of his alter-ego, "Napoleon Dynamite." He would use this guise to refer to himself in the third person as he introduced the evening's festivities. After an opening "Tokyo Storm Warning," we then met the tuxedo-clad "Mr. Xavier Valentine" (EC's bodyguard Paddy) who helped select and escort the lucky "wheel-spinners" to the stage.
The wheel itself was a twelve-foot contraption covered with red and orange banners listing 38 different song titles. Spinners would get to hear their selections on stage either in the "Society Lounge," a table and chair where they could drink Gatorade, or in a "go-go" cage where they could dance along (though few did). All in all, the wheel provided for great entertainment although EC would soon learn that taking on spinners one at a time tended to drag things on a bit.
 "Wheel-night" in Beverly Hills was a hard act to follow as EC had the luxury of two outstanding guest hosts. X's John Doe (photo below) and Tom Waits were both very entertaining MC's and also performed duets with EC (The Troggs' "Wild Thing" and the old chestnut "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know," respectively). In between all of the action, a "station break" offered a three-song set by EC and 3/4 of The Bangles as a sharp acoustic quartet (The Beatles' "Yes It Is," The Bangles' hit "If She Knew What She Wants," and Costello's "Next Time 'Round" graced with some lovely harmonies).
The final night also went out with a bang as Blood & Chocolate night also featured special guest Tom Petty in which they played Petty's "American Girl," a wheel-number that never came up, The Byrds' "So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?."
San Francisco, CA
Warfield Theatre
October 8 - Attractions (B&C + Requests)
October 9 - Spinning Songbook
October 10 - Solo / Confederates
After a couple of nights off, the show headed up the coast to San Francisco. Making the trip with Elvis was his new bride, Cait O'Riordan, who at times during the tour could be found in the "go-go" cage as one "Kitten McCracken." Cait would also don her bass (the instrument she once played in The Pogues) for "Poor Napoleon" as she did on opening night in Frisco. This Attractions' show of Blood & Chocolate hits and fan requests was somewhat similar to the final Beverly Theater show.
The Spinning Songbook the next night featured former member of Clover (EC's band for My Aim Is True) Huey Lewis as special guest host. Huey also played harmonica with EC & the band in a version of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me." This night would also feature two different versions of "Watching The Detectives" (one reggae-flavored) since it came up twice on the wheel. Another wheel selection came up "Ferry" which EC introduced as a "medley of the golden hits of Bryan Ferry." Actually it was a great blending of Gerry & The Pacemakers' "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" and "Tiny Steps."
The final night had the Confederates augmented by noted local saxophonist Steve Douglas. The night's solo interlude also featured the debut of the second "piano-ballad," "The Last Time You Were Leaving Me."
Chicago, IL
Riviera Theater
October 12 - Solo / Confederates
October 13 - Spinning Songbook
October 14 - Attractions (B&C)
Performing in Chicago, EC would remark about the strain on his voice from being out on the West Coast. EC's solo portion of the show on opening night again included the background of his "World Of Travel," a slide-show which he used to inject some humour into the festivities. In Chicago, he included shots of the Windy City along with photos of many famous paintings. One such work was Picasso's Three Musicians which he introduced as a photo of The Attractions.
In the first night's solo segment, Elvis again performed the never-released "The Last Time You Were Leaving Me" on the piano as he did at the last San Francisco show, this time however dedicating it to Cait, who was traveling and would not catch up with the band until New York City.
In Chicago, percussionist Michael Blair joined The Confederates (he would remain for the balance of the tour) and uniquely layered his sound into the music, notably reprising the marimba sound from his performance on "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" from King Of America.
On the last night in Chicago, EC was to remark "They lied to us when they told us this was a theater!" The lack of floor seating at the Riviera made for a very different set of shows. For "wheel-night" EC was also reduced to using a few of the Chicago Bears football players (Ken Margerum and Keith Van Horne) to help out with the wheel instead of a musical guest.
One of the cover songs on the wheel, Daryl Hall's "Dreamtime" was passed over by EC, perhaps it was unrehearsed or just a joke on how Hall's song seems to borrow from "Accidents Will Happen." A rare treat however that did come up on the wheel that we did get to hear was a great reprise from the Stiffs Tour of the Bacharach & David classic "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself."
The closing Blood & Chocolate night would include The Attractions' first live crack at "Next Time 'Round."
Boston, MA
Orpheum Theater
October 16 - Spinning Songbook
October 17 - Solo / Confederates
October 18 - Attractions (B&C)
The festivities in Boston began with a "wheel-night" featuring the then-celebrity couple of Jules Shear and Aimee Mann who wore country & western outfits and playfully pretended to be "crackers" from Louisiana. Mann and Shear would also return the next night without their disguises and EC was able to reprise "If She Knew What She Wants" with its songwriter Shear after having performed it with The Bangles who had made it a hit.
Boston Celtic basketballer and well-renowned Grateful Dead fan, Bill Walton, was one of those to give the wheel a spin and rested his 7-foot plus frame on the stage in the "Society Lounge" to hear "Mystery Dance."
The solo spot the next night featured a strange moment when EC was able to honor a request for "Shipbuilding" only after consulting with a fan in the front row about the lyrics he couldn't recall. A solo version of "Tokyo Storm Warning" also got us an explanation of just exactly what "God-Jesus Robots" are (a Japanese toy that answers your questions of fate). We heard Richard Thompson's "The End Of The Rainbow" and EC also performed a rare version of "Shoes Without Heels "and the never-recorded "Having It All" (the third "piano-ballad") which was written for and failed to make the Absolute Beginners film soundtrack.
Things wrapped up in Boston with Blood & Chocolate night and a rocking evening from the beginning "Tokyo Storm Warning" to the finale of "Poor Napoleon."
New York, NY
Broadway Theater
October 21 - Attractions
October 22 - Solo / Confederates
October 23 - Confederates
October 24 - Spinning Songbook
October 25 - Attractions (B&C)
"And I won't quit 'till I'm a star on Broadway." These lines from the famous Drifters song made their way into "Clubland" as EC celebrated his move uptown to 53rd and Broadway. ("Detectives" would also get a taste of "Lullaby Of Broadway.") This 1,800 seater, used mostly for stage plays, sold-out all five nights in an incredible 30 minutes!
Things on Broadway began with a Wednesday-night greatest hits package and Thursday's mini-Confederates performance was laced with a twelve-song solo set and the "right-coast" Coward Brothers set.
In his solo set on the second night, EC would also make reference to New York City as he dedicated Dylan's "I Threw It All Away" to "some friends of mine in a big black building uptown" (his soon-to-be ex-label, Columbia Records).
For the NYC shows, the Confederates were again supplemented by a saxophone player (this time Ralph Carney) and were joined by T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates band) for a few numbers as well, including the accordion duties on "American Without Tears."
After Thursday night's full Confederates' show in which we heard a first time cover of Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways," EC, Cait and T-Bone all went to the late show at The Bottom Line in Greenwich Village to catch Buster Poindexter & His Banshees Of Blue. Buster (a.k.a. David Johansen of New York Dolls fame) had recently been getting a lot of attention for his entertaining and campy show and was without a doubt a great choice to MC "wheel-night" on Friday.
Apparently a last minute replacement for Daryl Hall, Buster ably handled the compere duties, although one or two of his jokes may have fallen flat on the audience. He was assisted by the great and vivacious Soozie Tyrell who would also join Buster and the Attractions for a rendition of "Hit The Road Jack," one of the highlights from their Bottom Line set.
Comic-magicians, Penn & Teller, followed Buster on stage as hosts with Penn acting a rather sinister role, demanding Elvis play a Prince song (he did, "Pop Life") and a Springsteen song (he didn't). While Penn came across as very threatening, it was obvious during the closing "Pump It Up" that he was a fan and simply playing a part.
On the final Blood & Chocolate night a great surprise was a cover of ABBA's "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Hand In Hand" made it into the set for the first time.
Philadelphia, PA
Tower Theater
October 27 - Confederates
October 28 - Spinning Songbook
October 29 - Attractions (B&C)
After the usual pre-show playing of "Big Nothing" from the not-yet-released Straight To Hell soundtrack, the Philadelphia shows began with a Confederates' night and with a new face in the band. Keyboardist Mitchell Froom left to meet a production commitment and was replaced by Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers.
Fans in Philly also received a special treat in between wheel spins on the second night, as EC gave us a trilogy of "Hoover Factory," "Shot With His Own Gun" and "Shipbuilding" backed only by Steve on the keys. These three numbers brought the total to over 125 different songs performed in the 22 U.S. shows.
The U.S. leg of the tour concluded with the standard closing song "Poor Napoleon," followed by the ear-splitting "white-noise" feedback emitted from EC's left-behind guitar that sent us all out for the quiet of the streets.
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