|
After the appalling efforts of Annie Lennox, The The and especially Duran Duran, the prospect of a fourth covers tribute album this year, from Elvis Costello, hardly appeals, to put it mildly. Old four-eyes, of course, is no novice at this game (remember his 1981 collection of country covers, Almost Blue?) but the fact that this time he attempts to tackle R&B, ballads and country tunes from between 1930-'70, by the likes of Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Bob Dylan, makes him appear over-ambitious and pretentious before you even press "Play."
Costello's passion for obscure records began early on, when his dad used to bring home advance copies of songs he'd played in his radio cover versions band and then pass them on to his son. As soon as Costello started to tour, he constantly added to the collection. Kojak Variety was recorded in two weeks in Barbados in 1991 (no explanation is offered as to why the album's release was delayed) and, says Elvis on the extensive press release which painstakingly details the 15 tracks, he hopes anyone who isn't a "crazed record collector" will come to love the songs as much as he does.
Costello's voice is distinctive enough to make some of the songs his own — his vocals on Dylan's "I Threw It All Away" and Ray Noble's "The Very Thought Of You" are soft, cracked and tender — and on Mose Allison's bluesy ballad "Everybody's Crying Mercy," you can imagine Elvis swaying slowly onstage in a dark, smoky jazz club, eyes shut, whisky in hand.
But then he breaks the spell by becoming hopelessly self-indulgent. There's a pointless version of Little Richard's "Bama Lama Bama Loo" (he obviously had a great time recording it, but do we care?) and James Carr's energetic but uninspiring country tune "Pouring Water On A Drowning Man" makes Costello sound like he's auditioning for a pub rock band. On Jesse Winchester's boogie-woogie song "Payday," even his band fail to hide their inadequacies behind the slick production.
The biggest compliment to pay a cover version is to say that it captures something of the sentiments of the original and, on some songs, Costello manages to do this quite well. He takes on "Remove The Doubt," a track from The Supremes Sing Holland/Dozier/Holland, and his fragile vocals just about let him get way with it, while on Bacharach & David's "Please Stay," a Hammond organ plays softly in the background as he sings with a pleading, desperate voice.
Kojak Variety ends with "Days," a Ray Davies track most recently revived by Kirsty MacColl, whose squeaky-clean pop version gave her a hit. Costello's interpretation proves more interesting, as he makes the song more simplistic by slowing it down and adding warbling yet unobtrusive feedback. But the fact that he can do cover versions better than most doesn't make Kojak Variety a success, it simply means the competition is weak. A simple message: no more "tribute" albums, please.
|
