On 3/27/11, at Radio City Music Hall,Elvis Costello and his wife Diane Krall, sat in with Furthur (the Dead) and sang “Tennessee Jed,” “Friend of the Devil,” “Ship of Fools” > “Must’ve Been the Roses” > “Ship of Fools.” In the same show, Larry Campbell sings The Band’s “Chest Fever” and plays guitar and violin on a number of tunes.
Diana Krall, sings “Ripple” to end the first set and in the second set sings (and plays piano on) “Chest Fever” in the encore. Campbell’s wife, Teresa Williams, sings “Sunrise” in a second set that also includes “Uncle John’s,” “St. Stephen,” “Unbroken Chain,” “Morning Dew” and, to end the evening, “Attics of My Life” (with Teresa and Elvis in the chorus).
Knowing Elvis's personality, and knowing how cranky he was back then (remember the Ray Charles Incident?), it's amazing they got Elvis to do so many videos, and seriously dance and emote...here is Get Happy's High Fidelity. . .
You remember the wonderful Saturday Night Live appearance when Elvis Costello burned Lorne Michaels and played Radio Radio? He stopped in the middle of the song Michaels wanted, and started over, playing Radio Radio. This video is a callback to that episode, performed with the Beastie Boys on a Saturday Night Live anniversary show.
Elvis and The Attractions play one of Elvis's finest early songs in an old school music video.
I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea by Elvis Costello
Photographs of fancy tricks to get your kicks at sixty-six He thinks of all the lips that he licks And all the girls that he's going to fix She gave a little flirt, gave herself a little cuddle But there's no place here for the mini-skirt waddle Capital punishment, she's last year's model They call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie I don't want to go to Chelsea
Oh no it does not move me Even though I've seen the movie I don't want to check your pulse I don't want nobody else I don't want to go to Chelsea
Everybody's got new orders Be a nice girl and kiss the warders Now the teacher is away All the kids begin to play
Men come screaming, dressed in white coats Shake you very gently by the throat One's named Gus, one's named Alfie I don't want to go to Chelsea
Oh no it does not move me Even though I've seen the movie I don't want to check your pulse I don't want nobody else I don't want to go to Chelsea
Photographs of fancy tricks to get your kicks at sixty-six He thinks of all the lips that he licks And all the girls that he's going to fix She gave a little flirt, gave herself a little cuddle But there's no place here for the mini-skirt waddle Capital punishment, she's last year's model They call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie I don't want to go to Chelsea
Oh no it does not move me Even though I've seen the movie I don't want to check your pulse I don't want nobody else I don't want to go to Chelsea ---o0o---
It's taken me two weeks to get around to writing about this benefit. On May 4th, we went to the Sunset Tavern—a few blocks from where I live--to see an Elvis Costello tribute/benefit for the 826 Seattle.
Seattle loves Elvis (and why wouldn't we?). Now that he is a northwesterner (Vancouver division), I was secretly hoping he might actually show up! But no. . .
However, about 19 bands did show up and play. Every band was supposed to play two songs, although a few snuck in an extra song. It was great! If a band sucked, you knew it would only be six or seven minutes until the next one came on. It made it hard to leave, because you suspected the mother lode was just minutes away. It was a lot of fun, and once again drove home the reality that most bands play their instruments better than they sing.
The benefit was held for 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center dedicated to helping youth, ages six to 18, improve their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.
The lineup included the Dept. of Energy, Downpilot, Graig Markel, Shorthand for Epic, Red Jacket Mine, Zera Marvel, Whiting Tennis, Levi Fuller... and a bunch more bands and solo acts. The poster to your right lists some of the other bands.
I only regret the lineup did not include my personal five favorite friends'/local bands: The Divorce, Down With People, The Posies, The Drunks of Hazzard, and The Greenwood All-Stars. ---o0o---
My five favorite Elvis Costello albums in ranked order:
1. Get Happy! 2. Armed Forces
3. Imperial Bedroom
4. This Year's Model
5. Brutal Youth
Trust, and My Aim Is True almost made the cut. Elvis Costello is absolutely one of the most versatile and creative stars of rock. His voice got better with age! His album and shows last year with American music master composer (Yes, We Can Can; Fortune Teller; Working In A Coal Mine) Alan Touissant were heartbreakingly great! I'm ready for another show!
This is the famous "false start" clip of Elvis Costello & The Attractions on Saturday Night live (circa 1977). He had cleared the song Less Than Zero with the show, but a few seconds in, decided he didn't like it, and the band stopped and launched into his great song Radio Radio.
There is an oft-repeated story that producer Lorne Michaels was so angry about the switch in tunes that he stood off camera in the wings and gave Elvis a double middle finger throughout the performance.
Radio Radio is an eloquent and vitriolic statement about radio, and no doubt one reason it upset the suits on the show is that much of what Elvis sings/writes about radio applies to their medium as well. . .
Radio Radio by Elvis Costello a/k/a Declan McManus
I was tuning in the shine on the light night dial doing anything my radio advised with every one of those late night stations playing songs bringing tears to me eyes I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver when the switch broke 'cause it's old They're saying things that I can hardly believe. They really think we're getting out of control.
Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told. You better listen to the radio.
I wanna bite the hand that feeds me. I wanna bite that hand so badly. I want to make them wish they'd never seen me.
Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed You either shut up or get cut out; they don't wanna hear about it. It's only inches on the reel-to-reel. And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel
[Chorus]
Wonderful radio Marvelous radio Wonderful radio Radio, radio... ---o0o---
