Waitrose Weekend, January 13, 2022: Difference between revisions
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Indeed, while the world slowed down, Elvis only seemed to become more prolific. Since the start of the pandemic, he's released a new album, 2020's ''Hey Clockface'', re-recorded six of its tracks for a French-language EP, remade his entire 1978 album ''This Year's Model'' in Spanish, written and recorded an original audiobook, and curated a lavish boxset reissue of 1979's ''Armed Forces''. And for an encore, he's now created a second new album of original material, ''The Boy Named If'', for which he's also written an accompanying book of children's stories. Because of course he has. | Indeed, while the world slowed down, Elvis only seemed to become more prolific. Since the start of the pandemic, he's released a new album, 2020's ''Hey Clockface'', re-recorded six of its tracks for a French-language EP, remade his entire 1978 album ''This Year's Model'' in Spanish, written and recorded an original audiobook, and curated a lavish boxset reissue of 1979's ''Armed Forces''. And for an encore, he's now created a second new album of original material, ''The Boy Named If'', for which he's also written an accompanying book of children's stories. Because of course he has. | ||
The record, he says, is a series of snapshots, loosely themed around the end of innocence — "the moment when you're leaving the certainty and the magical imagination of childhood, and entering into the terror of desire and lust, and all the lies you tell yourself and other people" | The record, he says, is a series of snapshots, loosely themed around the end of innocence — "the moment when you're leaving the certainty and the magical imagination of childhood, and entering into the terror of desire and lust, and all the lies you tell yourself and other people." The 'If' of the title track, he explains, is a nickname for your imaginary friend — the 'secret self' you can conveniently blame for all your bad or hurtful decisions. | ||
Not that the young Declan Patrick MacManus, who was born in Paddington and spent his early years in West London before moving to his mother's native Merseyside at 16, ever had an actual imaginary friend. "I didn't need one, because I'm a Catholic, so I was told I had a guardian angel," he says. "I'm also the person who confessed to adultery in my very first confession, because I thought I'd better have something on my rap sheet. I was quite an honest, fresh-faced boy, so I picked a sin where I didn't know what the word meant. | Not that the young Declan Patrick MacManus, who was born in Paddington and spent his early years in West London before moving to his mother's native Merseyside at 16, ever had an actual imaginary friend. "I didn't need one, because I'm a Catholic, so I was told I had a guardian angel," he says. "I'm also the person who confessed to adultery in my very first confession, because I thought I'd better have something on my rap sheet. I was quite an honest, fresh-faced boy, so I picked a sin where I didn't know what the word meant. | ||
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Though he talks in the accompanying press notes about | Though he talks in the accompanying press notes about | ||
"guilt and shame and all those other useless possessions that you must throw overboard," it's hard to tell if the songs on ''The Boy Named If'' are confessionals, as such. As smart, playful and densely literate as you'd expect from this master storyteller and self-described 'rock 'n' roll Scrabble champion,' the album's 13 tracks offer few Adele-style clues into the state of their creator's life, or his relationship with his wife, children or pets. "I don't have any pets," he smiles. "And honestly can't comment on Adele. But you don't have to have lived through every single thing you imagine — otherwise crime writers would all be in jail, because they're constantly killing people." | |||
''The Boy Named If'' conjures something of the raw, spiky urgency of Elvis' early new wave period, when he harnessed the energy of punk to a songwriter's craftsmanship on instant classics like "Oliver's Army," "Accidents Will Happen" and the reggae-infused "Watching the Detectives." If that is the case, he says — and it wasn't intentional — it probably just arose from the way he wrote and recorded it with longtime Imposters sidemen Pete Thomas (drums), Steve Nieve (keyboards) — both graduates of his original band, the Attractions — and Davey Faragher (bass). "It's just what we do," he shrugs. | |||
If he's pleased to be told he still sounds young and hungry (and he sees no reason why musicians of his vintage shouldn't), he's less comfortable with his reputation as a former 'angry young man' of rock. "I don't know if anger is particularly something I aspire to," he considers. "I don't want self-satisfied contentment, but I don't want to deny love or tenderness, and I never did. It's people's choice to believe the reductive legend of my first records. Some of them are critical, some of them are doubtful or sceptical about certain concepts of beauty and romance, but there's no hate in them. | |||
"Just the other day, someone quoted me the famous revenge and guilt quote [in 1977, Elvis told the ''NME'' his only two creative motivations were "revenge and guilt... love doesn't exist in my songs" and asked me if I still felt that way. I said: 'How many things that you said for effect when you were 22 and half drunk do ''you'' believe?" | |||
Declan MacManus inherited some of his musical gifts from his Irish-descended father Ross, a jazz trumpeter and singer with the Joe Loss Orchestra, who played the 1963 Royal Variety Performance bill alongside The Beatles and Marlene Dietrich, and later scored a solo hit in Australia with a cover of "The Long and Winding Road." He also wrote and performed R White's Lemonade's legendary "Secret Lemonade Drinker" ad jingle, with the young Declan on backing vocals. | |||
With his rockabilly suits and trademark specs, Elvis Costello (the name was his manager's suggestion) emerged in the late 70s looking every inch the punk poet, with an attitude to match — he was famously banned from America's ''Saturday Night Live'' for more than 20 years after stopping a performance of "Less Than Zero" mid-song to play the anti-commercialisation anthem "Radio, Radio," in defiance of an order from the producers. But as early as 1981 he was diversifying into country, with a hit cover of George Jones' "A Good Year for the Roses," and in the decades since his eclectic and prolific output has taken in folk, jazz, chamber music, opera, ballet and all points in between. | |||
He's performed at Live Aid, played himself on everything from ''The Simpsons'' to ''Austin Powers'' and confirmed his showbiz credentials by marrying Krall — his third wife, who he met backstage after watching her perform at the Sydney Opera House in 2003 — in a ceremony at Elton John's house. | |||
In 2019, a year after receiving successful treatment for prostate cancer, the one-time rock 'n' roll rebel accepted the OBE in The Queen's Birthday Honours — largely, he says, to please his mum. "I was turning it down and my mum said: 'No you're not!' But do you know what else it was? I have a programme of the staff Christmas ball at Buckingham Palace in 1962, where the Joe Loss Orchestra was hired to play the samba and the waltz and The Gay Gordons. And you can bet your life my dad went in the tradesmen's entrance, because they were the help. Well, you know what? I went in the front. Eventually, they've got to look you in the eye." | |||
As one of only two properly iconic Elvises in the world ("That depends on who you ask," he demurs. "I think there's a skater and an ice hockey player as well"), does he ever stop to consider his own legacy? | |||
"Never," he says, firmly. "The thing about legacy is, you only need it if you're not here. And I'm not planning on dying any time soon. I'm actually not planning on dying at all." | |||
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'''''The Boy Named If (And Other Children's Stories)'' is out on 14 January (EMI) | |||
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{{Bibliography box}} | |||
<center><h3> A life in music </h3></center> | |||
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<center> Paul Kirkley </center> | |||
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{{Bibliography text}} | |||
For his 1986 album ''King of America'', Elvis recruited members of the other Elvis's old backing band, including James Burton and Jerry Scheff. "That was a real, 'woah, how did this happen?' moment," he admits. | |||
Other favoured collaborators have included Burt Bacharach, Carole King and Paul McCartney, who's on record as saying it's Elvis' voice he hears in his head when he's making records. "I said to him: 'What are you talking about? Why are you saying that?"' he recalls, shaking his head. For a kid who partly grew up in Liverpool, does it ever feel normal, being mates with Macca? "Never," he says. "I saw him just the week before last, and I never quite get over it." | |||
Alongside his Grammies (most recently for 2018's ''Look Now'' album), Bafta, OBE and an Oscar nomination, Elvis has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was ranked number 80 on <i>Rolling Stone</i>'s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time ("Why don't you shower me with faint praise?" he laughs). | |||
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Revision as of 16:25, 13 January 2022
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