In 1984, Elvis Costello undertook a series of solo concerts in which he shared the bill with T Bone Burnett, the Texan musician who had not yet become the svengali producer figure that he is known as today. These solo performances and the emerging creative partnership with Burnett led Costello to a specific vision forContinue reading “Brilliant Mistake”
Author Archives: Recliner Notes
Deportee
Elvis Costello and The Attractions released their album Goodbye Cruel World in June 1984. To say Costello was disappointed with the album is an understatement. In the liner notes for the re-release of Goodbye Cruel World, Costello wrote: “Congratulations! You’ve just purchased our worst album.” After the release of the album, Costello took stock whileContinue reading “Deportee”
Almost Blue
A song is considered a standard when it has achieved a certain amount of popularity within a specific genre (jazz, blues, etc.) and sometimes across genres. It becomes part of the “standard repertoire” when a significant number of different artists perform the song. While there are standards within different musical genres, often referencing a standardContinue reading “Almost Blue”
Beyond Belief
In 2004, Elvis Costello wrote a lengthy appreciation of The Beatles for Rolling Stone: “I first heard of The Beatles when I was nine years old…I was exactly the right age to be hit by them full on. My experience — seizing on every picture, saving money for singles and EPs, catching them on aContinue reading “Beyond Belief”
New Amsterdam
1980’s Get Happy!! is Elvis Costello’s fourth album and third with his backing band The Attractions. The album is an attempt to fuse Costello’s lyrical content with the rhythms and sounds of R&B and Motown, resulting in a 20-song record with a flood of musical ideas. Costello wrote about Get Happy!!: “The lyrical content ofContinue reading “New Amsterdam”
Watching the Detectives
The essay “The Simple Art of Murder” written by crime writer Raymond Chandler was published in The Atlantic Monthly in December 1944. It’s his definitive statement on the mystery genre, encompassing insights on all manner of detective stories, country house murders, and hard-boiled crime fiction. The essay includes some praise, but mostly criticisms of suchContinue reading “Watching the Detectives”
Finite
The Aboriginal Australians have a central story that encompasses the beginning of the world known as the Dreaming or Dreamtime. This narrative describes a spontaneous act, or “that moment when the world first came convulsively into being, thrown up in an explosion of energy by ancestral spirits.”1 Dreamtime is a single concept of religion andContinue reading “Finite”
Desolation Row
In 1963, the director Federico Fellini released his film 8 ½ with the following scene opening the movie: The scene depicts a man feeling a panic attack come over him during a traffic jam in the inner city. Smoke or steam pours into his car. He struggles to leave the car while faces from theContinue reading “Desolation Row”
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
The legend of The Basement Tapes is that Bob Dylan and The Band woodshedded in Woodstock, NY, making music and writing songs during the summer and fall of 1967 away from the rest of the world. At the time, Dylan was 26 years old and the father of three, including his adopted five-year old daughterContinue reading “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”
Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)
In an interview for Spin in December 1985, Bob Dylan said the following about the act of songwriting: “The best songs are the songs you write that you don’t know anything about. They’re an escape. I don’t do too much of that because maybe it’s more important to deal with what’s happening rather than toContinue reading “Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)”
Recliner Notes 