Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous liner notes: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Songs | <center><h3> Songs of Elvis Costello </h3></center> | ||
<center>''' Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous </center> | |||
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<center> Elvis Costello </center> | <center> Elvis Costello </center> | ||
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'''Elvis Costello on ''Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous'' | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
"Girls Talk" – Dave Edmunds | "Girls Talk" – Dave Edmunds | ||
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I first met Paul McCartney when we opened the show for Wings during the 1979 Concerts for Kampuchea series in London. He was very friendly and good at putting people at ease who might have been a little overwhelmed... him having been in The Beatles, like. He was also singing and playing tremendously. During the '80s we were often working in AIR studios at the same time, sometimes sharing the engineering skills of Geoff Emerick. Once or twice Paul and Linda came down the hallway for a chat, and on a few occasions we were obliged to retrieve a slightly over-enthusiastic Attraction from their studio. | I first met Paul McCartney when we opened the show for Wings during the 1979 Concerts for Kampuchea series in London. He was very friendly and good at putting people at ease who might have been a little overwhelmed... him having been in The Beatles, like. He was also singing and playing tremendously. During the '80s we were often working in AIR studios at the same time, sometimes sharing the engineering skills of Geoff Emerick. Once or twice Paul and Linda came down the hallway for a chat, and on a few occasions we were obliged to retrieve a slightly over-enthusiastic Attraction from their studio. | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 04.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 4 – Paul McCartney, continued.]] | |||
Receiving the invitation to write with Paul was very exciting, but not without its anxieties. I had always tried to be ingenious when borrowing ideas from Lennon & McCartney, but sometimes it's a thin line between influence and larceny. | Receiving the invitation to write with Paul was very exciting, but not without its anxieties. I had always tried to be ingenious when borrowing ideas from Lennon & McCartney, but sometimes it's a thin line between influence and larceny. | ||
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I found that Paul was very exact in the setting of words. He did not like to vary or extend a repeated melodic line just to accommodate a lyrical trick, where as I would always want to steal notes to allow an extra syllable or two. In time we seemed to switch roles, Paul suggesting long bursts of lyric set on one or two notes, while I introduced some Merseys harmonies and cadences into the dialogue song "You Want Her Too," which provoked, what used to be called, an "old-fashioned look" from Mr. McCartney. Nevertheless, I think there was more to our collaboration than musical allusions. Paul was very sympathetic in his handling of my personal lyrical details in "Veronica" and "That Day Is Done." I think our work together is well illustrated by a series of "character" songs: "Mistress And Maid," "So Like Candy," the unreleased "Tommy's Coming Home," and "My Brave Face." | I found that Paul was very exact in the setting of words. He did not like to vary or extend a repeated melodic line just to accommodate a lyrical trick, where as I would always want to steal notes to allow an extra syllable or two. In time we seemed to switch roles, Paul suggesting long bursts of lyric set on one or two notes, while I introduced some Merseys harmonies and cadences into the dialogue song "You Want Her Too," which provoked, what used to be called, an "old-fashioned look" from Mr. McCartney. Nevertheless, I think there was more to our collaboration than musical allusions. Paul was very sympathetic in his handling of my personal lyrical details in "Veronica" and "That Day Is Done." I think our work together is well illustrated by a series of "character" songs: "Mistress And Maid," "So Like Candy," the unreleased "Tommy's Coming Home," and "My Brave Face." | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 05.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 5 – Paul McCartney, continued.]] | |||
Four McCartney/MacManus compositions appeared on the ''Flowers In The Dirt'' album. Our other songs were shared out over our next few record releases. A few remain unrecorded. And there is always the chance that we might get together for another writing session. | Four McCartney/MacManus compositions appeared on the ''Flowers In The Dirt'' album. Our other songs were shared out over our next few record releases. A few remain unrecorded. And there is always the chance that we might get together for another writing session. | ||
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"Hidden Shame" – Johnny Cash | "Hidden Shame" – Johnny Cash | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 06.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 6 – "Hidden Shame" by Johnny Cash.]] | |||
I came to meet Johnny Cash in an unusual way. My friend and producer Nick Lowe became his son-in-law when he married Carlene Carter. One of my more unexpected recollections from the late '70s is of visiting Nick and C.C.'s house in west London and finding Johnny Cash and June Carter taking tea in the front room. Later there were informal sessions in Nick's home studio and rumours that some patrons of nearby hard-drinking establishments had sworn to the path of temperance after hallucinating Johnny Cash walking down the Shepherd's Bush Road. | I came to meet Johnny Cash in an unusual way. My friend and producer Nick Lowe became his son-in-law when he married Carlene Carter. One of my more unexpected recollections from the late '70s is of visiting Nick and C.C.'s house in west London and finding Johnny Cash and June Carter taking tea in the front room. Later there were informal sessions in Nick's home studio and rumours that some patrons of nearby hard-drinking establishments had sworn to the path of temperance after hallucinating Johnny Cash walking down the Shepherd's Bush Road. | ||
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"All Grown Up" – Tasmin Archer | "All Grown Up" – Tasmin Archer | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 07.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 7 – "All Grown Up" by Tasmin Archer.]] | |||
I began this tune in Cincinnati, Ohio. The voice that I had in my imagination was Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys. Although I never made any attempt to send the song to him, his handling of some of his brother's songs of lost innocence was very influential on my thinking. | I began this tune in Cincinnati, Ohio. The voice that I had in my imagination was Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys. Although I never made any attempt to send the song to him, his handling of some of his brother's songs of lost innocence was very influential on my thinking. | ||
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"Miss Mary" – Zucchero | "Miss Mary" – Zucchero | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 08.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 8 – "Miss Mary" by Zucchero.]] | |||
This song arose from a misunderstanding between Zucchero and myself. I had agreed to write an English lyric for him and received a tape containing his music, but further instructions must have got lost in translation. It later turned out that Zucchero had intended the song to be about a transvestite. Meanwhile, I wrote a story about a man who falls in love with the face in a painting of the Virgin Mary. At the time of writing, neither of us has been made a Papal count. | This song arose from a misunderstanding between Zucchero and myself. I had agreed to write an English lyric for him and received a tape containing his music, but further instructions must have got lost in translation. It later turned out that Zucchero had intended the song to be about a transvestite. Meanwhile, I wrote a story about a man who falls in love with the face in a painting of the Virgin Mary. At the time of writing, neither of us has been made a Papal count. | ||
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"Shadow And Jimmy" – Was (Not Was) | "Shadow And Jimmy" – Was (Not Was) | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 09.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 9 – "Shadow And Jimmy" by Was (Not Was).]] | |||
This song is a bit of a mystery to me. I know it was co-written one afternoon with David Weiss, then one of the fiendish brains behind Was (Not Was). It speaks to me of time on my hands in a Hollywood hotel between sessions for the album ''King Of America''. I think David and I wrote together as an experiment. What came out was a chilly tale of two strange fish. Their lives are filled with bathing beauties and barbecued ribs. I don't recall ever mentioning hockey in a song before... or since. | This song is a bit of a mystery to me. I know it was co-written one afternoon with David Weiss, then one of the fiendish brains behind Was (Not Was). It speaks to me of time on my hands in a Hollywood hotel between sessions for the album ''King Of America''. I think David and I wrote together as an experiment. What came out was a chilly tale of two strange fish. Their lives are filled with bathing beauties and barbecued ribs. I don't recall ever mentioning hockey in a song before... or since. | ||
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"Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue" – Mary Coughlan | "Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue" – Mary Coughlan | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 10.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 10 – "Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue" by Mary Coughlan.]] | |||
This song has a very odd history. What you hear is essentially the first draft of a tune entitled "I Wonder How She Knows." It was written for Charles Brown. | This song has a very odd history. What you hear is essentially the first draft of a tune entitled "I Wonder How She Knows." It was written for Charles Brown. | ||
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"Deep Dead Blue" – Anúna | "Deep Dead Blue" – Anúna | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 11.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 11 – "Deep Dead Blue" by Anúna.]] | |||
As director of the 1995 Meltdown Festival at London's South Bank Centre I was able to seek out and collaborate with the Brodsky Quartet, Fretwork, the Jazz Passengers and Deborah Harry, Dónal Lunny, Anúna, Composers Ensemble, Marc Ribot, June Tabor, Steve Nieve, The Fairfield Four, Jeff Buckley, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller. | As director of the 1995 Meltdown Festival at London's South Bank Centre I was able to seek out and collaborate with the Brodsky Quartet, Fretwork, the Jazz Passengers and Deborah Harry, Dónal Lunny, Anúna, Composers Ensemble, Marc Ribot, June Tabor, Steve Nieve, The Fairfield Four, Jeff Buckley, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller. | ||
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"The Comedians" – Roy Orbison | "The Comedians" – Roy Orbison | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 12.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 12 – "The Comedians" by Roy Orbison.]] | |||
I had Roy Orbison in mind when I wrote this song, but I had no idea that I would ever meet him or that he would ever get to sing it. If you hear my version, it is hard to imagine him wanting to do so. Being in a strange, negative frame of mind during the recording of ''Goodbye Cruel World'' and aware that we had a surfeit of mournful ballads, I sacrificed the song to a quirky arrangement that lost almost all of the original drama. | I had Roy Orbison in mind when I wrote this song, but I had no idea that I would ever meet him or that he would ever get to sing it. If you hear my version, it is hard to imagine him wanting to do so. Being in a strange, negative frame of mind during the recording of ''Goodbye Cruel World'' and aware that we had a surfeit of mournful ballads, I sacrificed the song to a quirky arrangement that lost almost all of the original drama. | ||
A couple of years later T Bone Burnett enquired whether I had a tune for the sessions he was producing on Roy's ''Mystery Girl'' album. I knew that I had a rare opportunity to rescue a squandered song and have it sung by the voice for which it was really intended. It was easy enough to return the song to the bolero rhythm that I had borrowed from "Running Scared," but I also decided to remove much of the rather opaque lyric, replacing it with a romantic nightmare set on a Ferris wheel. I also added further modulations to create the kind of final chorus that you expect to hear on a Roy Orbison record. | A couple of years later T Bone Burnett enquired whether I had a tune for the sessions he was producing on Roy's ''Mystery Girl'' album. I knew that I had a rare opportunity to rescue a squandered song and have it sung by the voice for which it was really intended. It was easy enough to return the song to the bolero rhythm that I had borrowed from "Running Scared," but I also decided to remove much of the rather opaque lyric, replacing it with a romantic nightmare set on a Ferris wheel. I also added further modulations to create the kind of final chorus that you expect to hear on a Roy Orbison record. | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 13.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 13 – Roy Orbison, continued.]] | |||
There are actually two studio recordings of this song: the one included here and a version on which Roy's voice is accompanied only by a remarkable orchestral arrangement by Van Dyke Parks. I assume that one is still in a vault somewhere in Hollywood. | There are actually two studio recordings of this song: the one included here and a version on which Roy's voice is accompanied only by a remarkable orchestral arrangement by Van Dyke Parks. I assume that one is still in a vault somewhere in Hollywood. | ||
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"The Deportees Club" – Christy Moore | "The Deportees Club" – Christy Moore | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 14.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 14 – "The Deportees Club" by Christy Moore.]] | |||
Patrick MacManus was a ship's musician on the ocean liners. His work took him to New York and back in the 1920s. It must have been a tough and uncommon experience for a young trumpet player. Many people of my grandfather's background only made that journey in one direction. | Patrick MacManus was a ship's musician on the ocean liners. His work took him to New York and back in the 1920s. It must have been a tough and uncommon experience for a young trumpet player. Many people of my grandfather's background only made that journey in one direction. | ||
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"Punishing Kiss" – Annie Ross & The Low Note Quintet | "Punishing Kiss" – Annie Ross & The Low Note Quintet | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 15.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 15 – "Punishing Kiss" by Annie Ross & The Low Note Quintet.]] | |||
This was written at Hal Willner's request when he was preparing the music for the Robert Altman motion picture ''Short Cuts''. One of the stories running throughout the movie concerns the relationship between Tess, a steadily alcoholic nightclub singer, played by Annie Ross, and her emotionally disturbed daughter, a cellist, played by Lori Singer. In one brief scene at the club Tess is heard performing "Punishing Kiss." | This was written at Hal Willner's request when he was preparing the music for the Robert Altman motion picture ''Short Cuts''. One of the stories running throughout the movie concerns the relationship between Tess, a steadily alcoholic nightclub singer, played by Annie Ross, and her emotionally disturbed daughter, a cellist, played by Lori Singer. In one brief scene at the club Tess is heard performing "Punishing Kiss." | ||
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"Shamed Into Love" – Rubén Blades | "Shamed Into Love" – Rubén Blades | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 16.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 16 – "Shamed Into Love" by Rubén Blades.]] | |||
It is funny to think that this song should be inspired by a dog, particularly as it speaks of the very human failure to confide feelings and fears. | It is funny to think that this song should be inspired by a dog, particularly as it speaks of the very human failure to confide feelings and fears. | ||
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"Shatterproof" – Billy Bremner | "Shatterproof" – Billy Bremner | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 17.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 17 – "Shatterproof" by Billy Bremner; "Dirty Rotten Shame" by Ronnie Drew.]] | |||
I've been known to hold a grudge, and I suppose this song is the evidence. When I was swindled out of my last pound by a crooked landlord as a young married man, I think I did entertain thoughts of violence. Between 1974 and 1981 I had thankfully discovered the private and entirely legal consolation to be had in brutal thoughts. Then I wrote this song. | I've been known to hold a grudge, and I suppose this song is the evidence. When I was swindled out of my last pound by a crooked landlord as a young married man, I think I did entertain thoughts of violence. Between 1974 and 1981 I had thankfully discovered the private and entirely legal consolation to be had in brutal thoughts. Then I wrote this song. | ||
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"Shipbuilding" – Robert Wyatt | "Shipbuilding" – Robert Wyatt | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 18.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 18 – "Shipbuilding" by Robert Wyatt.]] | |||
Robert Wyatt is one of the great interpretative singers of my experience. You may have heard the wonderful recordings of his own compositions from the lovely "O Caroline" to his recent album ''Shleep''. His albums contain renditions of songs from many sources; "Te Recuerdo Amanda," "Red Flag," and "At Last I Am Free" being among my personal favourites. | Robert Wyatt is one of the great interpretative singers of my experience. You may have heard the wonderful recordings of his own compositions from the lovely "O Caroline" to his recent album ''Shleep''. His albums contain renditions of songs from many sources; "Te Recuerdo Amanda," "Red Flag," and "At Last I Am Free" being among my personal favourites. | ||
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"The Birds Will Still Be Singing" – Norma Waterson | "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" – Norma Waterson | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 19.jpg|120px|right]] | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 19.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 19 – "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" by Norma Waterson.]] | ||
Of all the titles in this collection, I think this is the song I would have least expected to be covered. That it should be sung by one of the most deeply rooted singers in English traditional music was an even greater surprise. | Of all the titles in this collection, I think this is the song I would have least expected to be covered. That it should be sung by one of the most deeply rooted singers in English traditional music was an even greater surprise. | ||
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"I Want To Vanish" – June Tabor | "I Want To Vanish" – June Tabor | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 20.jpg|120px|right]] | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 20.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 20 – "I Want To Vanish" by June Tabor.]] | ||
This is the second of two songs written at June Tabor's request. The first was "All This Useless Beauty," but I believe that this is both a superior song and a better record. | This is the second of two songs written at June Tabor's request. The first was "All This Useless Beauty," but I believe that this is both a superior song and a better record. | ||
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"The Other End Of The Telescope" – 'Til Tuesday | "The Other End Of The Telescope" – 'Til Tuesday | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 21.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 21 – "The Other End Of The Telescope" by 'Til Tuesday.]] | |||
After a chance meeting in a London street, Aimee Mann and I began a correspondence of songwriting notions. This, our most successful effort, appeared on the 'Til Tuesday album ''Everything's Different Now''. Although it now seems a little presumptuous, I tried to find the right words for someone going through a rather unhappy time. I also make a cameo appearance in the bridge of the recording, although I'm not sure that it doesn't distract from Aimee's excellent performance. | After a chance meeting in a London street, Aimee Mann and I began a correspondence of songwriting notions. This, our most successful effort, appeared on the 'Til Tuesday album ''Everything's Different Now''. Although it now seems a little presumptuous, I tried to find the right words for someone going through a rather unhappy time. I also make a cameo appearance in the bridge of the recording, although I'm not sure that it doesn't distract from Aimee's excellent performance. | ||
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"Indoor Fireworks" – Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit | "Indoor Fireworks" – Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 22.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 22 – "Indoor Fireworks" by Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit.]] | |||
I met Nick Lowe in 1972 in a pub opposite the Cavern in Liverpool... so there isn't space here to tell you everything I know about him. | I met Nick Lowe in 1972 in a pub opposite the Cavern in Liverpool... so there isn't space here to tell you everything I know about him. | ||
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"Almost Blue" – Chet Baker | "Almost Blue" – Chet Baker | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 23.jpg|122px|right|Booklet page 23 – "Almost Blue" by Chet Baker.]] | |||
It's strange how this song finally found its way to the singer for whom it was intended. I wrote it in 1981 after spending a lot of time with a couple of Chet Baker's vocal albums. I fell in love with the Brown/Henderson composition "The Thrill Is Gone" and resolved to write a song modeled on Chet's rendition of it. My version of "Almost Blue" was recorded for the album ''Imperial Bedroom''. | It's strange how this song finally found its way to the singer for whom it was intended. I wrote it in 1981 after spending a lot of time with a couple of Chet Baker's vocal albums. I fell in love with the Brown/Henderson composition "The Thrill Is Gone" and resolved to write a song modeled on Chet's rendition of it. My version of "Almost Blue" was recorded for the album ''Imperial Bedroom''. | ||
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At the end of the "Shipbuilding" session I gave Chet a copy of "Almost Blue," but I found it easy to imagine that he would mislay it before ever hearing the song. Over the next few years I always went to see Chet when he performed in London; we'd share a drink and a few words, and on one occasion we played a short set together for a concert video shot at Ronnie Scott's Club. However, the song I'd given to him was never mentioned. | At the end of the "Shipbuilding" session I gave Chet a copy of "Almost Blue," but I found it easy to imagine that he would mislay it before ever hearing the song. Over the next few years I always went to see Chet when he performed in London; we'd share a drink and a few words, and on one occasion we played a short set together for a concert video shot at Ronnie Scott's Club. However, the song I'd given to him was never mentioned. | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 24.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 24 – Chet Baker, continued.]] | |||
A few months after Chet's death I was given a tape containing his very fragile version of my song. It turned out to be from a scene in Bruce Weber's Baker documentary, ''Let's Get Lost'', where, not for the first time in his life, Chet was attempting to perform for an audience of drunken, self-satisfied idiots. It was pretty much as I had first encountered him and all the more heartbreaking being that I was not able to thank him for even attempting to play my tune. | A few months after Chet's death I was given a tape containing his very fragile version of my song. It turned out to be from a scene in Bruce Weber's Baker documentary, ''Let's Get Lost'', where, not for the first time in his life, Chet was attempting to perform for an audience of drunken, self-satisfied idiots. It was pretty much as I had first encountered him and all the more heartbreaking being that I was not able to thank him for even attempting to play my tune. | ||
One of the laziest and most banal critical generalisations is that Chet Baker was a man who entirely sacrificed his early musical promise to drugs. Whatever junk did to him or for him, it certainly wasn't pretty and it surely caused a lot of grief. However, to suggest that he made no worthwhile music in later years is absolute nonsense. Although he was inclined to cover the same repertoire on live recordings, he also made some beautiful studio recordings of new compositions, such as Richard Beirach's "Broken Wing." The album ''The Legacy'', recorded only a year before his death, shows that he was not only playing wonderfully, but he could also rise to the unfamiliar challenge of playing with a big band lineup. I am therefore delighted that this collection should close with a less harrowing take on "Almost Blue." It comes from the album ''Chet Baker In Tokyo'', recorded in 1987, and it finds Chet much more at ease with the tune. It is to my great delight that this arrangement also includes a trumpet solo and that the song finally sounds pretty much as I dreamed it would. | One of the laziest and most banal critical generalisations is that Chet Baker was a man who entirely sacrificed his early musical promise to drugs. Whatever junk did to him or for him, it certainly wasn't pretty and it surely caused a lot of grief. However, to suggest that he made no worthwhile music in later years is absolute nonsense. Although he was inclined to cover the same repertoire on live recordings, he also made some beautiful studio recordings of new compositions, such as Richard Beirach's "Broken Wing." | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 25.jpg|120px|right|Booklet page 25 – Chet Baker, continued.]] | |||
The album ''The Legacy'', recorded only a year before his death, shows that he was not only playing wonderfully, but he could also rise to the unfamiliar challenge of playing with a big band lineup. I am therefore delighted that this collection should close with a less harrowing take on "Almost Blue." It comes from the album ''Chet Baker In Tokyo'', recorded in 1987, and it finds Chet much more at ease with the tune. It is to my great delight that this arrangement also includes a trumpet solo and that the song finally sounds pretty much as I dreamed it would. | |||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
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{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous cover.jpg| | [[image:Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous cover.jpg|x160px|Cover.]]{{n}} | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous back.jpg| | [[image:Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous back.jpg|x160px|Back cover.]] | ||
<br><small>Cover and back cover.</small><br> | <br><small>Cover and back cover.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 02.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 2 and 3.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 03.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 02.jpg|x190px|Introduction by Gary Stewart.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 03.jpg|x190px|"Girls Talk" by Dave Edmunds; "Unwanted Number" by For Real; "My Brave Face" by Paul McCartney.]] | |||
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---- | ---- | ||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 02.jpg|120px|right]] | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 02.jpg|120px|right|Introduction by Gary Stewart.]] | ||
If you're reading this, I'm assuming that you're more than a casual Costello fan. And as such, you've got something pretty special in your hands. As somebody whose admiration for the man is definitely more than casual, I was compelled to do this project for no other reason than to show off an underappreciated and at times unknown side to the work of my all-time favorite songwriter and performer. I went about collecting every performance of an Elvis Costello song that he had not recorded himself and/or had something more to offer than the fact that it was a cover of a previously released Costello/ MacManus composition. It either had to be a great performance that gave the song new meaning, witness Tasmin Archer's emphatic take on "All Grown Up" or Nick Lowe's lamenting approach to "Indoor Fireworks," or one that was an almost complete rewrite or rearrangement, such as Roy Orbison's "The Comedians" and Christy Moore's "Deportees Club" reborn from their ''Goodbye Cruel World'' incarnations. Hearing all of this in raw form, I was hoping that, in the end, I would have something that amounted to more than just a bunch of songs. When I listened to the final version, I was struck by two things: 1) the depth and variety of Costello's writing included in this strange and beautiful mix of roots rock, '60s-style pop, lounge, jazz, traditional folk, and other genres too unusual to name and 2) how many great records might have escaped my ears (and yours) had Costello himself not had the sense of adventure, good taste, and musical passion to work with many of these (at times criminally neglected) artists. | If you're reading this, I'm assuming that you're more than a casual Costello fan. And as such, you've got something pretty special in your hands. As somebody whose admiration for the man is definitely more than casual, I was compelled to do this project for no other reason than to show off an underappreciated and at times unknown side to the work of my all-time favorite songwriter and performer. I went about collecting every performance of an Elvis Costello song that he had not recorded himself and/or had something more to offer than the fact that it was a cover of a previously released Costello/ MacManus composition. It either had to be a great performance that gave the song new meaning, witness Tasmin Archer's emphatic take on "All Grown Up" or Nick Lowe's lamenting approach to "Indoor Fireworks," or one that was an almost complete rewrite or rearrangement, such as Roy Orbison's "The Comedians" and Christy Moore's "Deportees Club" reborn from their ''Goodbye Cruel World'' incarnations. Hearing all of this in raw form, I was hoping that, in the end, I would have something that amounted to more than just a bunch of songs. When I listened to the final version, I was struck by two things: 1) the depth and variety of Costello's writing included in this strange and beautiful mix of roots rock, '60s-style pop, lounge, jazz, traditional folk, and other genres too unusual to name and 2) how many great records might have escaped my ears (and yours) had Costello himself not had the sense of adventure, good taste, and musical passion to work with many of these (at times criminally neglected) artists. | ||
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<br><br><br> | <br><br><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 04.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 4 and 5.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 05.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 04.jpg|x190px|Paul McCartney, continued.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 05.jpg|x190px|Paul McCartney, continued.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 06.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 6 and 7.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 07.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 06.jpg|x190px|"Hidden Shame" by Johnny Cash.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 07.jpg|x190px|"All Grown Up" by Tasmin Archer.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 08.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 8 and 9.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 09.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 08.jpg|x190px|"Miss Mary" by Zucchero.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 09.jpg|x190px|"Shadow And Jimmy" by Was (Not Was).]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 10.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 10 and 11.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 11.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 10.jpg|x190px|"Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue" by Mary Coughlan.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 11.jpg|x190px|"Deep Dead Blue" by Anúna.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 12.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 12 and 13.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 13.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 12.jpg|x190px|"The Comedians" by Roy Orbison.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 13.jpg|x190px|Roy Orbison, continued.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 14.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 14 and 15.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 15.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 14.jpg|x190px|"The Deportees Club" by Christy Moore.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 15.jpg|x190px|"Punishing Kiss" by Annie Ross & The Low Note Quintet.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 16.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 16 and 17.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 17.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 16.jpg|x190px|"Shamed Into Love" by Rubén Blades.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 17.jpg|x190px|"Shatterproof" by Billy Bremner; "Dirty Rotten Shame" by Ronnie Drew.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 18.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 18 and 19.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 19.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 18.jpg|x190px|"Shipbuilding" by Robert Wyatt.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 19.jpg|x190px|"The Birds Will Still Be Singing" by Norma Waterson.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 20.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 20 and 21.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 21.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 20.jpg|x190px|"I Want To Vanish" by June Tabor.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 21.jpg|x190px|"The Other End Of The Telescope" by 'Til Tuesday.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 22.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 22 and 23.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 23.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 22.jpg|x190px|"Indoor Fireworks" by Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 23.jpg|x190px|"Almost Blue" by Chet Baker.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 24.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 24 and 25.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 25.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 24.jpg|x190px|Chet Baker continued.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 25.jpg|x190px|Chet Baker continued.]] | |||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 26.jpg|x190px| | <small>Booklet pages 26 and 27.</small><br> | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 27.jpg|x190px| | [[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 26.jpg|x190px|Track listing.]] | ||
[[image:Bespoke Songs booklet 27.jpg|x190px|Credits.]] | |||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} |
Latest revision as of 16:45, 2 May 2024
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