Another unlikely country album in a row, before we return to random selection. This time by English new wave icon Elvis Costello. Costello may not have been a punk, but he was part of a movement spearheaded by punk, one that professed a break with pop and rock tradition. So his decision to record an album of old-fashioned country songs in 1981 came as a shock to those who focused on musical surface. Truth is, he had flirted with country during his pub rock years, as well as in a few isolated instances including a duet with George Jones. But as he was a prolific songwriter who almost never recorded covers, a whole album of them -let alone of country and western tunes- was an unlikely (and unpopular) move. The songs were chosen to evoke a "blue" state of mind, mirroring the singer's own frame of mind at the time (crumbling marriage, substance abuse etc). With the exception of sped up/punky opener (Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me?") the rest of the songs mostly follow the original arrangements. The band excel themselves playing in an unfamiliar genre; special mention must be made for keyboardist Steve Nieve whose piano gives the whole album a genuinely "blue" jazzy feel. The material nevertheless cried for a more authentic country touch, which was attained with the help of pedal steel guitarist John McFee (The Doobie Brothers) and George Jones' producer Billy Sherrill. Apparently the band and producer didn't always see eye to eye, but that's not easily noticeable in the end product. Costello himself approaches the songs with the respect one reserves for the Great American Songbook, trying to interpret the material as well as possible, without emulating the vocal stylings of the original artists, much less their accents. As a result, there's a less authentic but more timeless quality to his performance, which I really like. Two songs were singled out and were given extra embellishment (strings, backing vocals): "Good Year for the Roses", featuring one of Costello's hitherto best vocal performances and Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams", reminiscent of ballads by that other, more famous, Elvis. Classic country tunes by George Jones, Charlie Rich, and Gram Parsons follow. Billy Sherrill's own "Too Far Gone" is another deep country number, with great pedal steel playing. Big Joe Turner's rockabilly "Honey Hush" kind of breaks the blue mood, while "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" is also more upeat than usual, featuring some nice honky tonk piano. This is one of my favorite country tunes; one you can often catch me humming, preferably with a glass of whisky in front of me. It was originally written by Merle Haggard, but to me that's also a Gram Parsons song, because when I was in my 20's I found the Flying Burritos version in a sampler CD, and had been listening to it for a full decade before discovering the original - and more than two decades before I was acquainted with Costello's version. At initial release, Almost Blue was met with mixed reviews; maybe the term "cultural misappropriation" didn't exist yet, but the jest of many reviews was "by what right does this English pop star sing country and western?" Now it's easier to view this for what it was: the first of Costello's many genre-hopping experiments. Not one for country purists, certainly, but a good introduction to country for fans of the artist - or, simply, just a good collection of songs.
**** for Sweet Dreams, Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down, Good Year for the Roses
*** for Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)?, Success, I'm Your Toy (AKA "Hot Burrito No. 1"), Brown to Blue, Sittin' and Thinkin', Color of the Blues, Too Far Gone, Honey Hush, How Much I've Lied
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