Elvis Costello on vinyl

I'm interested in diving into Elvis Costello's catalogue in greater detail than I have in the past. I would like to get the albums I really like on vinyl (ie, his first few to start, at least).

The only newer pressing I see around is of his first album (which I do plan on getting). Does anyone know if Rhino plans on releasing, say, This Year's Model or Armed Forces or King of America on vinyl, or is it the used bins for me?

 

I've heard that the Rhino LP is terrible. If I were you, I'd just go after the old CBS vinyl. It sounds great and it's cheap, cheap, cheap. An old copy of My Aim Is True is a revelation if you're only familiar with the past 20 years of overly compressed crappy cds, and will only set you back about 2 bucks. Highly, highly recommended!

 

if you're getting Get Happy, shoot for the UK vinyl version. The american version cant touch it.

 

The good news is that many people have (rightly or wrongly) replaced their Costello vinyl with the Ryko and Rhino CD issues. Go for the original British pressings when you can, and they can be found quite cheap (there are qutie a few on ebay for between $5-15). If you're not picky (and I see that you live in NYC), go to the chelsea flea market and you should be able to find US pressings of My Aim is True, Armed Forces and This Year's Model for a couple of bucks each.

Enjoy,
Ted

 

I strongly disagree with tspit74's suggestion that the Rhino CDs are "crappy."

 

I'm with you on that. The Rhino project is a perfect example on how reissues SHOULD be done. Sound and content are second to none IMHO.

Back on topic, I've found the UK vinyl to be better in every way to the Columbia versions. The one exception is the Columbia US version of King of America, which sounds lovely.

dan c

 

I have the us viny catalog in great shape...as stated it can be foun cheap! I bought the Rhino CDs for the notes and bonus tracks as well as digital ease of use on my Meedio jukebox.

The UK vinyl would be fund to have but hard to find in the sub $4 used bins and shopping on ebay means expensive shipping and a gamble on condition where many ebay sellers think everything is mint.

 

The Rhino CDs do look good and I've heard a couple but I'm just not interested in bonus tracks and liner notes and all that stuff. And some albums just "feel" like they'd be more fun on vinyl.

So I'll go a-hunting for 'em in the NY record shoppes.

Thanks, all!

 

My main point was that Elvis on vinyl, particularly My Aim is True, is a revelation if you're only used to cds and radio airplay overload, and that one can experience this very cheaply. A $2 domest LP is more affordable than $15 import vinyl or either Ryko or Rhino cd's or Rhino vinyl. If you like the cds, then listen to them. The poster's original question was regarding vinyl. All I'm recommending is that he spend a couple bucks on the cheapest "all analogue" LP he can, and see if he likes what he hears. We all know our options for great sound are limitless if we throw enough money towards that goal. A couple bucks is a small price to pay to hear the music as it was originally presented. As I stated before, the $2 domestic CBS LP (which I'm sure is not the last word in fidelity) IS a revelation compared to the cd's IMO. It bristles with energy and life and is one of the reasons we're still talking about Elvis Costello in 2006.

 

Variations

Be aware that the early Elvis Costello LP's contain some song and artwork differences between U.K. and U.S. versions.

 

Mike, they're EVERYWHERE. Don't settle for less than perfect copies for under $9 - this may require a bit of searching, but they're totally common.

 

Just spun This Year's Model a few days ago - I never get tired of listening to it
Elvis Costello vinyl (at least the CBS stuff) can be found really cheap: I bought 7 of his albums, up to and including Blood & Chocolate and King Of America for $1 each, VG++ to NM.
If you're lucky, though, try to find his 12" singles, with extended remixes of some of his songs. I never did come across them that often, and they are fun to have.

 

I would also recommend picking up his more recent The Delivery Man which is still available on a nice sounding 180g 2-LP set from Lost Highway.

 

King of America....I know that this has been covered before, but why are the American (and Canadian probably) copies better than the British?

 

Don't know but my American KING OF AMERICA is a remarkably good pressing for sure, and these can be had for a mere few dollars.

 

Wasn't Anthony Braxton on that album?

 

dave-o, thanks to you, I'm now hearing in my head a particularly thorny Braxton alto solo dropped into the middle section of "Glitter Gultch"...hmmm, you know, not too bad after all!

BTW just remembered - jazz bassist Ray Brown WAS on KING OF AMERICA - so maybe the idea of Braxton being on there too wasn't so far fetched!

 

And I disagree that Costello vinyl on Columbia is any good. Aside from This Year's Model (which does really sizzle on vinyl), I was glad to get rid of all those LPs when decent CD versions came along.

 

Really! Cool.
I've never actually heard that album, I just read that it's considered one of his best.

 

Yeah Mike, it's great, though Brown's not on every cut - as I recall only 1 or 2, for sure "Poisoned Rose" which is one of the best on the record IMHO, very nicely recorded Brown. In the old Ryko CD reissue of the record, Elvis tells of how intimidating it was to be recording with Brown. I think he says something like Ray mentioning off-hand in conversation his having recorded with some jazz giant or another, and how it suddenly hit Elvis how huge a legend he was recording with.

In my opinion KING OF AMERICA is Elvis' best record, hands down, and I love many of his records dearly. It's not his most typical but has the strongest collection of songs and some of his absolute best vocal work for sure. I think his jazzy/ballad singing has unfortunately gotten a little bit mannered as of late; here he plays it pretty straight and it works out very well.

 

I look forward to hearing it eventually.

I'm primarily a jazz fan and Ray Brown is a personal favorite player and consistently ranked as one of the greats.
The idea of Costello attempting "jazz" sounds kinda funny but I could imagine it being successful if it has that "flavor." Unless I fall in love with all his work, I'm just gonna slowly move along with his "main" albums for now.

 

Just to clarify, Elvis definitely isn't doing jazz on KING OF AMERICA. Some of the tunes, like "Poisoned Rose," are on the "torchy ballad" side but there's a lot of up tempo ones too. Overall, I'd describe the record as somewhat country-inflected popular music with a lot of other influences in the mix - some jazz touches, but no overt jazz which I think was a wise choice.

Really, knowing from your posts here somewhat the type of music you like, I think you'd like it! I love the early "classic" Elvis records but as an old fogey I find I return to KING OF AMERICA a lot more frequently than those. It gets better with age.

 

The best way to describe King Of America's style is 'Americana', IMHO. Very rootsy, with Costello's brilliant word play as an added bonus. One of my favorite albums.
dan c

 

That's a good way to put it Dan, "Americana" - agreed.

 

I have Columbia vinyl, Stiff vinyl, Demon vinyl, Demon cd's, Columbia cd's, Deutche Grammophon, Lost Highway & Mercury cd's, Ryko cd's and Rhino cd's.

I listen to the Rhino 95% of the time.
The mastering engineer on this series is a semi-regular on the SH.tv forum, Andrew Sandoval.

If the Rhino's sound bad to you, you need to upgrade your cd-player or hd-file music player. Enough said!

The Rhino cd of My Aim Is True completely stomps my white label promo vinyl on Columbia.