Almost Blue

After never owning it (or ever even hearing it) for 30 years, I finally picked it up over the weekend at a thrift store on vinyl for a buck. After one listen, I can concur with most of the criticism thrown its way, but it ain't terrible.

Anyway, and this may have been addressed here or elsewhere before, I notice that on this version at least, Steve Nieve's name is misspelled on the cover (as Neive). Is this common knowledge that the record company fucked up on a major pressing of the record, or did I just stumble upon the proverbial copy of the Constitution behind the paint-by-numbers painting? I strongly suspect the former, but I've never seen anything about it.

I can only surmise from the lack of response here that (a) no one much gives a shit about Almost Blue, and after another listen, I can't say I blame 'em exactly. And (b), that it's not likely my copy with the misspelling is anything to shout about (or put on eBay for a couple hundred dollars). Damn, maybe I shouldn't have ordered those 3 lobsters last night (but that Red Lobster waitress was just so dang cute! How could I say no?).

I've always been an admirer of Almost Blue, but I was a relatively new Costello fan who was just beginning to get into alt-country when I first heard it.

Right time, right place I guess.

And it's effect was enhanced by the Ryko bonus tracks.

Sorry, I was dozing off ... Almost Blue always has that effect on me.

Whoa! You ordered three lobsters?

I dont find women are generally that excited by how many sea-cockroaches one can consume.

Well, maybe not in Beantown, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou, but it drives the ladies crazy on the left coast!

(For the record, I did not actually order three lobsters at dinner last night, and neither have I set foot in a Red Lobster since I was a teenager. Not that, um, there's anything wrong with Red Lobster....)

I'm listening to When I Was Cruel now and I still think it's one of EC's most fun albums. I won't say "best", but it sure is enjoyable to listen to.

Huh. I swear I replied to this to say that my copy also contained the typo, and a few derogatory comments about the album, as well as a personal observation about how weird it was to encounter that one the first time.

Can't be the same as the Ambien "Pink Floyd" thing...Must've locked up and I didn't resend.

But, yeah, that was so weird to encounter when it came out. After the first track, the energy level just evaporates. I used to think maybe it was some sort of strange postmodern statement on how modern country western has taken out the soul of the music, but now I have no idea what the hell it was except for a holding place while he finished up the lyrics for Imperial Bedroom.

Costello's wide-ranging appreciation forced me to re-evaluate my own prejudices as a young man.

Maybe Almost Blue isn't one of his best, but it made me take Merle Haggard and George Jones seriously–as you know Rhett, not an easy task for a many of us raised in the south–and it's meant a lot to me over the years.

Yeah, I guess I can see that, Jermoe. It just doesn't feel authentic to me at this remove and, as Blas suggests, I can imagine that it was even more jarring at the time. I mean, now we kinda expect EC to pull that kinda shit, but when it came out, it must have felt like a real curveball. I wasn't paying attention to him yet then and would not have been likely to if that had been my intro. It probably took most of another two decades to develop an appreciation for country music, no doubt in large part because of being surrounded by it in the South and noticing that most of it sucked.

Anyway, it was well worth the dollar I paid for it.

elvis costello is a musical sponge.

He has soaked up entire genres of music and for what?

so he can listen to you complain about your clogged sinks and disposals. if thats the case, it's not a musician you need, its a plumber.

Yeah, but this is less like a sponge and more like Silly Putty -- picks up the image but it's flat and doesn't hold much.

I don't think it holds up at all, but he did a much better version with King of America, a few years later. I remember listening to the first song on that and remarking that he'd gotten country and western better on this than AB. What he found was the soul of those songs, and used it to enhance the ones on KOA.

Which is weird, because he'd done some great country songs as B-sides before that I loved: "Stranger in the House", "Radio Sweetheart".

I've never understood his appeal. I've heard it all from EC, and I quite like about 6-7 songs (from his 1st 5 years), but beyond those I find him to be white bread bland. Just don't think he even remotely deserves his revered status.
He was edgier than Huey Lewis, I'll give him that.

the second I posted that crack about EC, I felt bad. And I think that is my exact point. All these decades we've been told how edgy and original he is/was. And it just became a part of our collective mindset. But was he? When I listen now, I hear a bunch of songs that sound like Springsteen outtakes and above-average bar band blues. I say the fix was in many many years ago.

kwk: perfectly said.

Saw this article on Popmatters this morning and thought of this thread.

[www.popmatters.com]

Like nearly every article on Popmatters, it begins with an intriguing argument then ends up leaving me scratching my head at the end and asking "say what?"

I'm completely baffled as to how a 40-year-old Ringo Starr album is evidence that the British "might save" country music in the future, for example, yet the writer spends more time discussing it than anything else. Might as well proclaim Missing Persons to be the future of LA pop music while he's at it. And how exactly one writes an article on British takes on American country music without making any mention of Jon Langford is likewise a mystery.

But anyhow, like most articles I've ever read on Popmatters, the writer sets up an interesting target to aim for, then fires his arrow at something completely unrelated.