Washington Post, October 6, 2015: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Elvis Costello has a new memoir, and it's even better than Bob Dylan and Keith Richards's books</h3></center> | <center><h3> Elvis Costello has a new memoir, and it's even better <br> than Bob Dylan and Keith Richards's books</h3></center> | ||
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<center> Geoff Edgers </center> | <center> Geoff Edgers </center> | ||
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The book is also a gold mine for Costello obsessives who have spent decades dissecting and analyzing his every lyrical zinger. But it's not just for fans, more ''Angela's Ashes'' than Motley Crue's ''The Dirt''. ''Unfaithful Music'' is a lyrical tale that stretches across generations, geography and a century of popular song. The book serves as both musical and personal anthropology. Young Declan MacManus who, in 1963, squirrels away a napkin signed by the Beatles, becomes Elvis Costello, a man enlisted, a quarter-century later, to write songs with Paul McCartney. | The book is also a gold mine for Costello obsessives who have spent decades dissecting and analyzing his every lyrical zinger. But it's not just for fans, more ''Angela's Ashes'' than Motley Crue's ''The Dirt''. ''Unfaithful Music'' is a lyrical tale that stretches across generations, geography and a century of popular song. The book serves as both musical and personal anthropology. Young Declan MacManus who, in 1963, squirrels away a napkin signed by the Beatles, becomes Elvis Costello, a man enlisted, a quarter-century later, to write songs with Paul McCartney. | ||
George Jones. Solomon Burke. Nick Lowe. Van Morrison. Burt Bacharach. The Brodsky Quartet. The Specials. The Roots. Allen Toussaint. Lee Konitz. Bob Dylan. They're all here — and not to drop names but to connect the musical dots. After reading of Costello's more obscure influences, you also might find yourself searching out records by David Ackles, Tim Hardin and Georgie Fame. | |||
Wisely, Costello busts the chronology. His rich family history — much of it centered on his father, Ross, a singer and trumpet player of some prominence — is presented in the context of his creative life. And for a songwriter who could fill the cargo hold of a Boeing 747 with clever puns, it won't be surprising that Costello, the memoirist, has a gift for the punch line. He fails to score Rolling Stones tickets for a 1971 concert, declaring with teenaged snootiness, "They're probably past it," and decides to spend the cash he has saved on a record. "All of which would be a good story if the record I purchased had been something more inspiring and enduring than ''Volunteers'' by Jefferson Airplane." | Wisely, Costello busts the chronology. His rich family history — much of it centered on his father, Ross, a singer and trumpet player of some prominence — is presented in the context of his creative life. And for a songwriter who could fill the cargo hold of a Boeing 747 with clever puns, it won't be surprising that Costello, the memoirist, has a gift for the punch line. He fails to score Rolling Stones tickets for a 1971 concert, declaring with teenaged snootiness, "They're probably past it," and decides to spend the cash he has saved on a record. "All of which would be a good story if the record I purchased had been something more inspiring and enduring than ''Volunteers'' by Jefferson Airplane." | ||
He watches McCartney, during a [[Concert 1979-12-29 London|benefit concert]] in 1979, curiously instruct his bloated superstar "Rockestra" to wear silver top hats and tails, while the well-lubricated | He watches McCartney, during a [[Concert 1979-12-29 London|benefit concert]] in 1979, curiously instruct his bloated superstar "Rockestra" to wear silver top hats and tails, while the well-lubricated Pete Townshend angrily signals his displeasure with a series of windmills. There's also Costello's wonderful description of the programmers in the computer lab in which he worked in the summer of 1976. Thomas Pynchon or Martin Amis would be comfortable turning out this graph: "Their demeanor said, We are a special breed. They wore eccentric clothes, smoked pipes, and took on airs. One liked to boast of his fine roast goose. Another had an unnatural obsession with the recorded works of Demis Roussos." | ||
Regrets? Costello has had a few. He's sorry for the way he treated his first wife, Mary Burgoyne, although not so generous when referring to his second marriage, to the former Pogues bassist | Regrets? Costello has had a few. He's sorry for the way he treated his first wife, Mary Burgoyne, although not so generous when referring to his second marriage, to the former Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan, or his late-'70s fling with ex-''Playboy'' model Bebe Buell. (Buell recently took to Facebook to post her dismay with his cold account of the relationship.) | ||
Costello also addresses his lowest public moment. In 1979, at a Holiday Inn during a tour stop, he gets into a drunken brawl with members of the Stephen Stills band, during which he refers to James Brown and Ray Charles with a racial slur. Here, Costello offers a series of potential defenses, from his poor psychological state to his obvious record of collaboration and admiration for black artists, before conceding "never mind excuses, there are no excuses." | Costello also addresses his lowest public moment. In 1979, at a Holiday Inn during a tour stop, he gets into a drunken brawl with members of the Stephen Stills band, during which he refers to James Brown and Ray Charles with a racial slur. Here, Costello offers a series of potential defenses, from his poor psychological state to his obvious record of collaboration and admiration for black artists, before conceding "never mind excuses, there are no excuses." | ||
That humility is important. It's hard to imagine it coming from the wiry '70s-era Costello, with the oily mullet, skronky Jazzmaster guitar and raised fists. This Costello is a grown-up, grateful for what he has (his boys; his wife, | That humility is important. It's hard to imagine it coming from the wiry '70s-era Costello, with the oily mullet, skronky Jazzmaster guitar and raised fists. This Costello is a grown-up, grateful for what he has (his boys; his wife, Diana Krall) and blessed by the musical places he has been able to go. The man who sang so harshly about the industrial radio complex when there actually was a viable radio network isn't about to wallow in nostalgia. | ||
"The danger of regarding any point in the past as the golden age is that you forget that there were just as many crooks, crackpots, and idiots around then, and just as many terrible records," he writes. "We only recall the ones we love." | "The danger of regarding any point in the past as the golden age is that you forget that there were just as many crooks, crackpots, and idiots around then, and just as many terrible records," he writes. "We only recall the ones we love." | ||
{{cx}} | |||
{{tags}}[[Bob Dylan]] {{-}} [[Keith Richards]] {{-}} [[Buddy Holly]] {{-}} [[Alison]] {{-}} [[Lipstick Vogue]] {{-}} [[Oliver's Army]] {{-}} [[ABBA]] {{-}} [[Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink]] {{-}} [[Declan MacManus]] {{-}} [[The Beatles]] {{-}} [[Paul McCartney]] {{-}} [[George Jones]] {{-}} [[Solomon Burke]] {{-}} [[Nick Lowe]] {{-}} [[Van Morrison]] {{-}} [[Burt Bacharach]] {{-}} [[The Brodsky Quartet]] {{-}} [[The Specials]] {{-}} [[The Roots]] {{-}} [[Allen Toussaint]] {{-}} [[Lee Konitz]] {{-}} [[David Ackles]] {{-}} [[Tim Hardin]] {{-}} [[Georgie Fame]] {{-}} [[Ross MacManus]] {{-}} [[The Rolling Stones]] {{-}} [[Vanity Fair, November 2000#Jefferson_Airplane|Jefferson Airplane]] {{-}} [[Concert 1979-12-29 London|Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea benefit concert]] {{-}} [[Rockestra]] {{-}} [[Pete Townshend]] {{-}} [[Cait O'Riordan]] {{-}} [[Bebe Buell]] {{-}} [[Playboy, February 1978|Playboy]] {{-}} [[Stephen Stills]] {{-}} [[James Brown]] {{-}} [[Ray Charles]] {{-}} [[Diana Krall]] {{-}} [[Geoff Edgers]] | |||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
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[[image:2013-09-16 New York photo 01 co.jpg|360px|border]] | [[image:2013-09-16 New York photo 01 co.jpg|360px|border]] | ||
<br><small> | <br><small>Photo by [[Cindy Ord]] / Getty Images. (From [[Concert 2013-09-16 New York|September 16, 2013]])</small> | ||
<small>Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink.</small><br> | |||
[[image:Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink cover.jpg|220px|border]] | [[image:Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink cover.jpg|220px|border]] | ||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
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*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-memoir-by-the-british-elvis/2015/10/06/18bee370-6b69-11e5-9bfe-e59f5e244f92_story.html WashingtonPost.com] | *[https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-memoir-by-the-british-elvis/2015/10/06/18bee370-6b69-11e5-9bfe-e59f5e244f92_story.html WashingtonPost.com] | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post Wikipedia: The Washington Post] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post Wikipedia: The Washington Post] | ||
*[https://www.afr.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/music/the-honest-biography-of-elvis-costello-who-admits-there-are-no-excuses-20151023-gkgn9t AFR.com] | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Post 2015-10-06}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Post 2015-10-06}} |
Latest revision as of 23:24, 27 July 2019
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