Washington Times, August 19, 1982

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Acidic Elvis going soft


Charles McCollum

With Elvis Costello, it's never been easy to decide what was image and what was reality.

There was the Elvis Costello who made racist remarks about Ray Charles and other black American musicians, setting off a 1979 barroom brawl with white blues singer Bonnie Bramlett, who took out the then 24-year-old Englishman with a single punch. Then there was the Elvis Costello who showed respect for American musical traditions by recording with George Jones and paying regular homage to Hank Williams.

At one extreme: An Elvis Costello who would make caustic comments about his audience from the stage and angrily attack what he perceived as the injustices of the world in songs like "Pump It Up." At the other: a sort of shy guy who once released a commendably straight version of "My Funny Valentine."

Maybe, as Costello himself suggests, the image and the reality overlapped to the point of being indistinguishable. "It's easy to be trapped in an image which seems to have been tailored for you, somewhat by your own doing, somewhat by the way things worked out," he says.

Ever since his clash with Bramlett — and a resultant wave of bad publicity, Costello has been going through a process of re-evaluation of his music. While the anger has not been totally drained from lyrics that were often startling in their vehemence, there is more attention being paid now to simple emotion and the roots of pop music Costello wishes to acknowledge.

Right after the 1979 brawl, the singer-songwriter set out to make "a record that was warmer, more emotional" and came up with Get Happy! — a charming set that had some distinct overtones of soul music. Then came Trust, surely one of the finest albums of 1980 and as perfectly crafted a pop-rock album as any in the decade.

Last year, there was Almost Blue, which was produced in Nashville with Billy Sherrill as a stab by Costello at the sort of pure country he has always admired. It didn't work as a body of music but it certainly was a most intriguing experiment.

Now, Costello is out on the road — including a Wednesday appearance at Merriweather Post Pavilion — with another new album, Imperial Bedroom (Columbia), on the record shop shelves, and it goes off in yet another direction: a softer, more lyrical Costello who owes more than a bit to the geniuses who once populated America's Tin Pan Alley. In fact, the drift toward a more mature, more "adult" sound prompted Robert Palmer of the New York Times to ask in print, "Is Elvis Costello, the original angry young man of rock's new wave, going to turn out to be the Cole Porter of the 1980s?"

Palmer certainly did not mean the comparison to be taken literally. But Costello liked the notion, telling Palmer, "That kind of songwriting — Porter, Kern, Rodgers and Hart — is something I'm very fond of and aspire to." "When people ask me to name a great song, I mention something like 'Love for Sale' or 'Someone to Watch Over Me.' In the last 20 years or so, very few people have been up to that standard of lyric writing."

Costello says that Imperial Bedroom was not conceived of as a rock album and purposely downplayed the beat, outside of "Man Out of Time," which could become a marching song for the 1980s. Yet, before Costello's fans think he has totally sold out on the set, the wicked master of words has retained his touch, tossing out some very acidic comments within the Tin Pan Alley pop. The 15 songs on Imperial Bedroom are not easy-listening but rather emotional minefields, where a word or a sentence can blow up in the face of the unsuspecting listener. Is it as tricky — and as successful — a pop performance as anyone has come up with in some time.

"The important thing to me," Costello says, "is the melody, the words, the way you sing them, all the little innuendos you can get into them."

Costello himself doesn't offer any prediction on what direction he might take in the future. He points out that he has always disliked being "pigeonholed" — even being characterized as a member of the New Wave, calling that a "real mistake" on the part of listeners and critics. Right now, he is more interested in selling his new music to an audience still expressing a desire for the older, angrier Costello. That is the point of this tour and one gets the feeling Costello will make it.


Tags: Imperial BedroomThe AttractionsGeorge JonesHank WilliamsPump It UpMy Funny ValentineGet Happy!!TrustAlmost BlueBilly SherrillMerriweather Post PavilionTin Pan AlleyNew York TimesCole PorterJerome KernRodgers & HartLove For SaleMan Out Of TimeTin Pan AlleyRay CharlesBonnie Bramlett

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The Washington Times, August 19, 1982


Charles McCollum profiles Elvis Costello and reviews Imperial Bedroom.

Images

1982-08-19 Washington Times page 2C clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.


Page scans.
1982-08-19 Washington Times page 1C.jpg 1982-08-19 Washington Times page 2C.jpg

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