at a glance...

Hometown: Liverpool, England
Born: 1954

Personnel:
Elvis Costello -vocals, guitar, mandolin
T-Bone Burnett -vocals, guitar
Michael Blair -marimba
James Burton -guitar
Earl Palmer -drums
Ray Brown -bass
Bruce Thomas -bass
Pete Thomas -drums
Tom Canning -piano
Mickey Curry -drums
Jim Keltner -drums
Ron Tutt -drums
Jerry Scheff -bass
T-Bone Wolk -guitar, bass, accordion
Mitchell Froom -keyboards
Steve Nieve -keyboards
David Hidalgo -vocals
Jo-El Sonnier -accordion

Bands in the Family:
Nick Lowe, Burt Bacharach, Brinsley Schwarz, The Specials, The Pogues, Squeeze, Roger McGuinn, Ian Dury, Paul McCartney, Clover, The Brodsky Quartet, Wendy James

Notes:
He's been through more styles in less time than Bob Dylan, and it's to "the Big D" he's probably best compared in terms of influence, lyrical craftsmanship, and willful perversity, but Elvis Costello has the edge in terms of melodic craft. He was born Declan Patrick MacManus in London, the son of an Anglo-Irish music-hall bandleader, but his debut album on Stiff Records showed no signs of music-hall bounce at all: My Aim Is True was filled with angry, frustrated, impotent songs informed by punk, reggae, and rockabilly. But even as the album was released, Elvis had assembled the crack outfit called the Attractions, and together they formed one of the best working bands in the world. Every subsequent album showed more chutzpah and chops, and Costello's clever songs of rage made him a hero to fans on both sides of the Atlantic, but many casual followers deserted him when he branched out into country (Almost Blue), orchestral pop (IbMePdErRoIoAmL), and just plain radio pop (the underrated Punch the Clock). After one truly horrible album (Goodbye Cruel World), he regrouped in 1986 by forming an extremely diverse band called The Costello Show for King of America. Some would claim that the 1990s were largely wasted for Elvis, but 1998's Painted from Memory, his highly acclaimed collaboration with Burt Bacharach, had critics and record buyers salivating again.

King Of America was a major break in Elvis Costello's career. It was the first album he'd made with musicians besides the Attractions (who appear on only one song) and the first he'd made without the illusion that he was going to be a chart-topping star. Costello and producer T-Bone Burnett went into the studio with a series of history-laden assemblages of American studio musicians who had worked with Elvis Presley, Hall & Oates, Tom Waits, Little Richard, and Ella Fitzgerald. This dream-team approach yielded exceptionally sensitive renditions of some of the most intimate songs Costello ever wrote.

Except for two country-tinged rockers and a couple tossed-off covers, the album is devoted to ballads that balance his corrosive take on sexual politics with uncommon compassion. "I'll Wear It Proudly" is one of the most naked and touching love songs anyone's ever written, while "Indoor Fireworks" is a heartbreaking and scrupulously detailed poke through the ashes of dying love affair that never gets around to assigning blame. The Cajun-tinged "American Without Tears" views the aftermath of a marriage through the lens of a bittersweet encounter with two GI brides. The Rykodisc CD reissue includes a single that Costello and Burnett recorded as the Coward Brothers and three out-takes.