California Aggie, December 2, 1981

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Elvis' 'Almost Blue' is almost perfect


Dave Waegell

If there was ever an album perfect for front porches, warm evenings and cold beer, it's Elvis Costello's country project, Almost Blue.

Treading in something as exclusively American as country music is a daring endeavor for an Englishman — especially one whose name was made while pioneering cerebral punk — but Costello's voice and studio savvy add a welcomed liveliness to a musical style that has fallen into the hands of men with neon shirts, $5O haircuts and belt buckles the size of license plates. On all counts, Elvis Costello's Almost Blue is engaging, emotional, and very, very good.

Produced and recorded in Nashville, this album contains no original Costello compositions, but Elvis' choice of cover songs couldn't have been better. He draws from a pool of such country stalwarts as Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and George Jones, and along with Doobie Brother John McFee's pedal steel guitar and the backing vocals of the Nashville Edition, Costello and The Attractions inject each song with so much feeling and vitality that you have to wonder if the songs are oldies.

Almost Blue is just that, almost blue. Other than Hank Williams' country rocker "Why Don't You Love Me?," Merle Haggard's "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down," and an obscure rocker "Honey Hush," each song is as blue as the sky over Montana.

Costello's distinct, restrained vocals are perfect for country blues; he never oversings and always delivers each line with moving, teary precision, as if Costello is singing from experience rather than a songbook.

It would be unrealistic to expect a country compilation album in 1981 to make better the long-standing hits of the long-standing stars, but Costello nonetheless dusts off the moldie oldies and makes them worth hearing one more time. Elvis taxes George Jones' depressing hit "Brown to Blue," a blues ballad about a man on the wrong end of divorce, and freshens it with new pedal steel and piano arrangements.

"Too Far Gone," written by Almost Blue's producer Billy Sherrill, gets a soul of its own thanks to some perfect mixing and solo contributions from McFee on pedal steel and Costello band-member Steve Nieve on piano. "A Good Year for the Roses" features the backing talents of the Nashville Edition, and like all the blues tunes on the disc, its love-gone-bad theme rings alive with Costello's hearty vocals.

Though the main trend of Almost Blue is country blues, Costello is in his own realm on the album's faster tunes, most notably Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me?," and Charlie Rich's honky-tonking "Sittin' and Thinkin'." "Why Don't You Love Me?" is led by some electric guitar runs, rare on Almost Blue, and "Sittin' and Thinkin'" is sprinkled with a wild piano dub, giving these two numbers a wild, barroom sound. "Honey Hush" comes closest to out and out rock 'n' roll, and with its familiar guitar and drum pieces sounds remarkably like something cranked out by the Beatles circa 1962.

Whether Costello ever tries his hand at writing and developing his own country songs remains to be seen, but it wouldn't be surprising if the author of rock classics like This Year's Model and Armed Forces found the jump to country music an easy one.

Almost Blue is a pure country compilation, with plenty of heart and without the gratuitous, whining guitars, and predictable, affected Texas accents found too often at the top of the country charts.


Tags: Almost BlueThe AttractionsSteve NieveJohn McFeeBilly SherrillNashville EditionGeorge JonesMerle HaggardCharlie RichHank WilliamsWhy Don't You Love Me (Like You Used To Do)?Tonight The Bottle Let Me DownHoney HushBrown To BlueToo Far GoneGood Year For The RosesSittin' And Thinkin'The BeatlesThe Doobie BrothersThis Year's ModelArmed Forces

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The California Aggie, December 2, 1981


Dave Waegell reviews Almost Blue.

Images

1981-12-02 California Aggie, Profile pages 05, 08 clipping composite.jpg
Clipping composite.


Page scans.
1981-12-02 California Aggie, Profile page 05.jpg 1981-12-02 California Aggie, Profile page 08.jpg

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