Poisoned Letter: An Elvis Costello Blog

I've watched this cover at least a couple of d...

2009-11-26T09:44:44.325-08:00

I've watched this cover at least a couple of dozen times, just to attempt to appreciate all of the elements of what I can only describe as a perfect performance.
* Fiona: Beautiful and obsessive and very real scary as hell in-the-moment character -the growl in "I want you" 3:30 into the set, right before Elvis gives the demented solo. True art as complimentary musicians.
*

So did you get tickets to the Costello show yet? I...

2009-07-18T10:42:57.737-07:00

So did you get tickets to the Costello show yet? I just got mine the other day, I'm so excited to be going. If you don't have yours yet, I would suggest getting them at ElvisCostelloTickets.org, they sell them for the least amount.

Hey, I'm probably one of the few people to hav...

2009-06-18T22:27:15.367-07:00

Hey, I'm probably one of the few people to have met both Elvis AND the Fall Out Boy kids. (I'm in the music video business and worked on clips for both of them). I'm in my 40's, a HUGE Costello fan and had never heard of Fall Out Boy before I worked with them. I'm a full fledged fan now, for one reason. Patrick Stump. He's the singer, (the one with the hat, not the

Please check out Billboard.com's coverage of E...

2009-06-15T12:27:40.078-07:00

Please check out Billboard.com's coverage of Elvis Costello at Bonnaroo: http://billboard.blogs.com/festivals/2009/06/bonnaroo-photos-elvis-costello-day-3.html

Yeah, that's an interesting track. I like EC's con...

2009-01-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

Yeah, that's an interesting track. I like EC's contribution, in that it's like his voice and the lyrics just kinda cut through the fog of the rest of the song.

I have a similar relationship with Fall Out Boy, although I've never gone so far as to track down any of their records; it's more an interest in the songs that end up on the radio. I thought "This Ain't A Scene" was a pretty

I agree with you on both counts, Mark. I listened...

2009-01-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

I agree with you on both counts, Mark. I listened to it a few more times last night and it's still growing on me, but I'm never going to find myself singing along or putting it on a mix tape. But it's Elvis.

I think it may be a mess lyrically, but I also thi...

2009-01-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

I think it may be a mess lyrically, but I also think it's one of the best fits for Elvis's voice I've heard in a while, I must say...

Update: I've been rocking vocals on Pump It Up the...

2009-01-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

Update: I've been rocking vocals on Pump It Up the last few times I've hosted Rock Band Night, and I get 100% basically blindfolded.

I would love to see "Lipstick Vogue", but it's har...

2008-12-20T01:58:00.000-08:00

I would love to see "Lipstick Vogue", but it's hard to imagine how the "easy" setting would work for that one... In general the earlier albums would seem to work better in general IMO.

This is an awesome cover; I love it. Fiona is the...

2008-12-19T23:19:00.000-08:00

This is an awesome cover; I love it. Fiona is the perfect person to do it justice. IMHO, though, Elvis mugs it up too much, given the serious nature of the song. I miss the 1000-yard stare of his earlier days...

(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
Radio Radio
...

2008-11-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
Radio Radio
Peace, Love and Understanding

I think these would make excellent Rock Band songs.

I'm a piano guy so this is kinda lost on me, but.....

2008-10-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'm a piano guy so this is kinda lost on me, but...

"(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea"
"Miracle Man"
"Veronica"

shitty list, I know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvY1k1tNpcM

...

2008-09-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvY1k1tNpcM

Youtube video of the late Mr. Cash singing "The Big Light" with members of the Carter family...

I need to track down the Cash version...I bet it i...

2008-09-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

I need to track down the Cash version...I bet it is incredible.

Have you heard Johnny Cash's cover of the Big Ligh...

2008-09-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

Have you heard Johnny Cash's cover of the Big Light? It's great.

That's nuts! Yeah, my first Springsteen show was t...

2008-09-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

That's nuts! Yeah, my first Springsteen show was the Tuesday night show that week at UC; I didn't have tickets but I showed up excited and bought a seat behind the stage outside the venue. He played "Trapped."

Then that Thursday, I had tickets, and I went with my parents and the ex. They played "New York City Serenade."

Those were awesome shows.

And thanks for reading

Man, I was at that EC show at the Arie Crown. I w...

2008-09-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

Man, I was at that EC show at the Arie Crown. I was may have been at the same Springsteen show too (at the UC, right?). Anyhoo, very good story, I've been averaging at least one EC album a day since you guys started this thing. Thanks.

PEDANT ALERT: I have two other tracks marked as "H...

2008-08-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

PEDANT ALERT: I have two other tracks marked as "Honky Tonk Demo" on my mp3s from the Rhino reissue--versions of "Mystery Dance" and "Blame It On Cain."

Great post. I've never actually listened to these tracks all at once, as the product of one session--I think I'll try that on my drive home.

My fave is still Roy Orbison covering "The Comedia...

2008-08-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

My fave is still Roy Orbison covering "The Comedians" It almost sounds like it was written for him...

That's very nice, I'd never seen that before.
2008-08-26T18:23:00.000-07:00
That's very nice, I'd never seen that before.

My favorite is Shipbuilding, covered by Suede (on the Help comp.). Brett Butler's voice is just so damn plaintive on that song, and the lyrics are just amazing. It's pretty darn faithful to the original otherwise.

I also like Mudhoney's version of Pump It Up, just because it's a lot of fun.

Yeah, Death Cab For Cutie was on it, too, but they...

2008-08-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah, Death Cab For Cutie was on it, too, but they had maybe the weakest set of the three guest artists, with Fiona's being the standout. DCFC did a really subpar cover of Kinder Murder and Elvis did a duet with Ben Gibbard on "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" which was pretty okay.

EC writes in the 2002 liner notes that he's using ...

2008-08-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

EC writes in the 2002 liner notes that he's using the same language to speak about "global and personal problems." The intimation, as you read through them, is that he's talking explicitly about the beginnings of the dissolution of his marriage to Mary Burgoyne.

Dan, that's entirely possible, if not likely--I'm ...

2008-08-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Dan, that's entirely possible, if not likely--I'm not up on my EC backstory lately and defer to those who are.

Like many of his songs of the period, whatever their inspiration, they play out at least on one level as vicious relationship songs, and that's how I've always heard this one, at least.

(We could of course also get into the whole idea of whether EC's inspiration/

Isn't Two little Hitlers really about EC and Nick ...

2008-08-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Isn't Two little Hitlers really about EC and Nick Lowe battling in the studio, Two Hitlers=two producers? I don't know if the studio was in basement or not...

That's from that weird special he did where he san...

2008-08-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

That's from that weird special he did where he sang with the guy from Green Day too, right? Definitely post it, although I have seen it, and it was pretty amazing.