Get Happy? What sort of title is that for an album from Angry Elvis? Well, he may not have got quite happy — a contented Costello is unthinkable — but the attitude of anger has been modified. Perhaps just as well. The posture was ultimately self-limiting. That is not to suggest for a moment that Get Happy! in any way lacks punch. It's a knockout blow. But infinite wrath is not within most of us (excluding genuine basket cases). How soon before Costello's fury became just another pop trademark?
I was among those who found Costello less than a miracle man at Sweetwaters. My presence there had been solely to enjoy EC in action. It was a rather unfocussed set, the finest moments that night coming in two ballads, his own "Alison" and the C&W chestnut "He'll Have to Go," both of them songs of anger barely suppressed. Once and for all, Elvis proved — it proof was needed — that above all he is a singer, and one of the best.
Some suggested that at Sweetwaters Costello "didn't get angry enough," that his music pivots on rage. Indeed it does. But after three albums as Angry Young Man, Elvis' bitter flame could have consumed him. Neatly, he has sidestepped the issue of destruction or decline with Get Happy! — 20 tracks that redefine Elvis Costello in terms of soul music. Perhaps more correctly, the album redefines soul music in terms of Elvis Costello.
The music is rooted in the Tamla and Stax recordings of the sixties, the music of the Mods. But don't be misled by labels. This is no saggy recreation of other people's past glories. Costello uses the form as the base for his new songs, the jumping off point for some hot rhythms.
Stoking the heat are the Attractions, pumping like a trans-Atlantic Booker T and the MGs, or maybe the Detroit rhythm section of Motown's finest days.
The sound is cut to the bone. Just the Attractions, no flab, no solos (apart from a brief flash of guitar in the closing bars of "5ive Gears in Reverse" and a snatch of harmonica on "I Stand Accused"). The band has shed the "pop song" approach of Armed Forces (no cheesy organ here) and in doing has gained muscle.
If such a tight little band can be said to have a fulcrum it is Bruce Thomas. His bass line on "Secondary Modern" throbs like a re-run of "Heard It Through the Grapevine."
Costello himself drops a little of the snarl, allowing himself the relaxation of singing as if it's all for fun. "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down," one of the two non-originals on the album, is instant vintage. Elvis is a dab hand with a strong chorus and this one is a classic call-to-arms.
With 20 tracks (playing time a fraction over 47 minutes) on a. single album it Is clear that only repeated listening at leisure will reveal all. For the moment I rate very high indeed the aforementioned "Stand Up," "Opportunity," "5ive Gears," "Temptation" (which is modelled on Booker T's "Time is Tight") and "Motel Matches" (he does a good ballad, our El). "Human Touch" with its rock steady beat seems to be a nod to the Specials, whose album Costello produced.
Costello is reported to be elated by the recording, which is again produced by Nick Lowe. He reckons the digitally-recorded album one of the best he has heard, and swears there is no loss of sound quality despite the 20 (as in 20 Golden Greats of...) tracks. The album sells for the normal price of a single album. It amounts to an economic miracle as well as an artistic triumph. Whether Costello will pursue the line of Get Happy! remains to be seen. Whether he does or not, it is a fine addition to an altogether magnificent body of work.
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