Elvis Costello Albums to be Reissued -- Again

Yeah, I'll settle for nothing less than a box set of classic EC & the Attractions live performances. Of course, that 192 CD box set is gonna set me back a few $

 

Yeah, I'm still below 40 - for another seven weeks, at least - but I wouldn't buy those sets since I already have all the regular CDs!

 

A quick update on the "Rock And Roll Music" compilation, courtesy of the Hip-O/UMe one-sheet.

Two of the songs are previously unreleased versions: Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind? (alternate), and Welcome To The Working Week (demo). Also, they're going with the "Live at Hollywood High" versions of Mystery Dance and You Belong To Me.

As far as the eleven albums in the "Elvis Costello Originals" series, the one-sheet is boasting the following:

• The original US tracklistings
• The original artwork in collectable digi-paks w/obi-sleeves for Japanese import look
• Obi-sleeves with links to special exclusives available on ALL Elvis product!! (emphasis is Hip-O's)

Note: If the track listings elsewhere on the B2B site are correct, the "original US tracklistings" must be referring to earlier CD versions instead of the original LPs, as the first three titles all feature the hybrid US/UK track listings that we've become accustomed to. Also, as far as the artwork goes, the covers pictured in the one-sheet are the UK covers of This Years Model, Armed Forces, and Get Happy, not the US versions.

No mention of any remastering.

(P.S. Am I the only one who would gladly shell out for a reissue of Taking Liberties with the original track listing? That was actually one of my favorite EC albums back in the vinyl days!)

 

You wouldn't be alone, I'm sure, but all of those tracks can be compiled from the Rhino discs.

 

I actually liked the similar compilation "Out Of Our Idiot" even better.

 

Thanks for the update. Feel free to keep us posted on any other Elvis updates you come across!

The lack of any mention of remastering makes me wonder if they're just reusing the versions prepared by Rhino.

If they really are using "the original US tracklistings," I imagine a Taking Liberties reissue is inevitable.

 

The running order makes more sense once you know that "Welcome To The Working Week" (at the end of the disc) is a demo and "Mystery Dance" and "You Belong To Me" (mixed in with Armed Forces-era material) are from Hollywood High.

"Miracle Man" does still seem out of place though, unless it turns out to be a live version as well. (There are three officially released 1977-1978 live versions to choose from.)

 

Right -- when I said "similar" I meant that it was an odds-n-ends collection.

Sometimes when I'm suffering from "bonus track fatigue" with the Rhinos, I wish EC had just compiled a 3- or 4-disc set of his bonus material -- it would be the equal to any rarities set ever released.

 

I'm not sure about this "yee-hah" guy.

I assume he's there - but I haven't noticed him before.



What I *HAVE* noticed is that I can be clearly heard on a
*different* concert recording by Elvis Costello.... recorded
in 1984 by the King Biscuit people at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

That's me yelling - throughout the entire concert - at the
top on my lungs "EELLLLLLVVVVISSSSSSSSS!!!!"

The corresponding bootleg is sometimes mislabeled as The Tower
Theater... but it was definetly The Spectrum (the hockey rink).

Elvis played two gigs in Philly that year. He did a solo performance
(no band) at the Tower Theater in Spring (with T-Bone Burnett
opening). Then he returned to the Spectrum after the album
("Goodbye Cruel World") came out (with Nick Lowe and His Cowboy
Outfit - opening) in the summer....

I was in college at the time, and my friend and I had a little
bit too much to drink (that's an understatement) and we
both stood on chairs the entire concert yelling "ELVIS!!!"
at the top of our lungs... the odd thing is everyone else
around us was seated... and our tickets were for the
2nd deck... we just kind of planted ourselves in those
seats and no one kicked us out...

Listening to the recording - I'm really surprised Elvis didn't
stop the band - and demand that we cease and desist.


But somewhere - I'm sure someone is cussing about
the two "ELVIS!!!!" guys who ruined what would have
been a perfectly fine King Biscuit recording...

So have some sympathy for the "Yee-hah" guy.
He might actually be a Hoffman forum member

 

No offense to your drunken college antics, but seriously, why should we feel sympathy for someone who ruins the concert experience for all those around them -- and then for all future listeners if the show is recorded? The "Yee-hah" guy is a major irritant, and the ONLY flaw in the blistering El Mocambo show -- sympathy? I think not.

One of the best shows I ever saw was almost wrecked for me by a relative of the "Yee-Haa Guy" -- I sat right next to the "Woo-Hoo Woman." It was more like "Wooooooo-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" -- bellowed at random times, because she was in and out of full consciousness. (Not college-age either.) Repeat 5-10 times per song and you'll get the idea.

Not to mention that the musicians onstage HATE the people who behave this way at their shows. It's the ultimate in disrespectful behavior. Sorry if you were posting that tongue-in-cheek, but I can't stand that "Yee-Hah" guy and his ilk.

 

Ultimately, I'm glad that Elvis released all that he did, I guess -- the CDs would have been stronger with just a handful of killer (and relevant) bonus tracks each, but now I can pick the ones I like, which will differ from the ones you like, and so on.

As for near-perfect Rhino bonus CDs, I'd add the Get Happy!! disc 2 to that list. I listen to that almost as often as the actual album. The Blood and Chocolate and Brutal Youth bonus discs are also revelatory (even without the Wendy James demos on the latter).

 

I hope the new "King of America" has the live bonus track of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". I was upset that the Rhino set didn't include this cut.

 

Unlikely, since all indications thus far are that there won't be any bonus tracks on the main albums.

 

It's almost a can't win policy, isn't it? Is it best to release such a trove of outtakes...4 or 5, per album configuration... compile expanded sets with even more bonus tracks on them...or issue just a few, and save most of the goodies for an expanded 3-4 CD box that will sell maybe 10,000 units. I'm sure this is what faced Dhani and Olivia Harrison after George passed. Should the remasters from a few years back have been more generous with bonus material? Or is it best to release a comprehensive Rarities box as George himself was contemplating? It's not easy to satisfy us all I suppose. Ron

 

Not on the Rhino, but it can be found on the Singles Box 3.

 

Very true Ron -- and as you know, I was disappointed in the choices Olivia made with the Dark Horse reissues. (I was equally disappointed with Yoko's similar treatment of John's solo albums.) By using too FEW bonus tracks (or more specifically, too few GOOD tracks), it can give them a "so what?" feeling, and actually DETRACT from the album. If you use too many bonus tracks, the great ones that complement and enhance the album-proper are diluted by random lesser material.

The ultimate example of this dilemma is George's Somewhere In England LP -- an album forcibly altered by record label meddling. The remaster should have included the four tracks cut by WB; this addition would have strengthened a good-but-kinda-for-fans-only album, and put it into historical perspective, allowing George's original tracks to speak their case. Unfortunately, not only does the CD remaster only include a marginally interesting demo as the sole bonus track, it puts ONE of the aforementioned rejected tracks on a DIFFERENT CD! If George's archives aren't fertile enough to dip into the "box set" pool for high-quality bonus tracks -- and in the end, after all, the LPs are the primary historical record for George -- then they should have left them off altogether. But some bean-counter probably told them they would sell x% more copies with "bonus tracks."

(To be fair to Oliva, the Living In The Material World remaster was handled perfectly -- only two bonus tracks, yes, but both were strong tracks, historically relevant and unreleased on CD. The Cloud 9 remaster also used a historically relevant track ["Shanhai Surprise"] and an appropriate b-side ["Zig Zag"].)

But back to Elvis Costello. I think Ryko (and E.C.) handled those reissues very well. They had the respectful silence at the end of the album, followed by (a) previously-released strays from the era, (b) a studio outtake or two, and (c) a couple of demos or live tracks. Nice and tidy -- and the bonus tracks generally SUPPORTED and helped the albums, rather than being tagged on as a marketing device. In some cases (Goodbye Cruel World, anyone?), the bonus tracks SAVED the album and made it worth buying again. After buying all the Rykos and almost all of the Rhinos, I find that Ryko generally had the cream of the crop to begin with. Sure, there's a lot of the Rhino stuff that I enjoy -- how can there NOT be with a double-LP's worth of outtakes for EVERY album! -- but as I said, I get fatigued.

 

It wasn't tongue in cheek.

And I am severely embarrassed by my antics.

The reality is I should have been arrested that evening.
Not for ruining the concert - but for being publicly intoxicated.
Especially on the train ride home.

Normally - I am sedate at concerts... I don't even stand up.

The odd thing is the venue ALLOWED us to continue.
We really should have been hauled away by security.

A few months later, I was very suprised to learn that
our yelps made it on to the King Biscuit recording. I
would have expected someone to mix them out.


For what its worth, I've pointed myself out to people
who are familiar with the recording - and I actually
had one hard-core Costello fanatic shoot me a message
back saying that he enjoyed how I kept screaming
"Getting might crowded" back at Elvis as if it was
some sort of call and response backing vocal.
His official comment was something like "That's
what *I* found myself doing as I listened!"


And even though it would have been interesting
to have been "included" on a legit release, I did
feel some relief to learn that this tape did NOT
make it onto a Rhino bonus disc.


I know at the time - I did not mean any disrespect
to the artist.

I mostly remember frustration that we seemed to
be the only two people (out of approx 8,000 in
attendance) that were ENJOYING the event...


As for my plea for sympathy for the "yee-haw"
man... my only real point was that this person
may regret his behavior today.

Not everyone is aware that tape is rolling.
And sometimes a "yee-haw" is an unbridled
form of affection...

 

The same summer - probably a few weeks before the Elvis Costello
concert I spoke of - at the same venue - I watched Roger
Waters storm off the stage because he was upset with the
audience.


It was wierd.

Waters was playing the last song of the first set (the "greatest hits"
part of the show) and he stopped singing at one point to tell
someone to "cut out the ph*c kin whistling"... sure enough
about one minute later - someone whistled - and Roger
promptly dropped his bass and stormed off stage.

The rest of the band was unsure what to do. I mostly
remember Eric Clapton filling the void. I seem to recall
him taking a long extended solo - but I can't really say
for sure if he did that or it just SEEMED like he did that...

But the first half of the concert ended very awkwardly.
And I remember wondering if we would even GET a 2nd
half of the concert...

Luckily we did. And the band (which included Clapton,
Michael Kamen, Andy Newmark, Mel Collins, Chris Stainton,
et. al) played great.

Right before the encore - Waters actually APOLOGIZED
for loosing his composure. I thought that was cool
but ultimately unnecessary. Those of who NOTICED,
probably understood... those who didn't noticed,
probably didn't even know what happened.

When the tour came back around about 8 months
later with Andy Fairweather Low as Clapton's replacement,
there was a discussion of the incident in an interview
in the newspaper.

Waters said that the rest of the band was "completely
freaked out when I left the stage - especially Eric -
who was very angry during the intermission - and
kept repeating 'you can't do that' over and over
to me" (paraphrased from memory)

Perhaps that is why Clapton didn't play more
dates when the tour came back around again.

 

Here's today's Billboard.com article about the new reissues -- digipacks, U.S. track lineups (!), and no mention on bonus tracks.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003559837

Release date is May 1st.

 

God, I loved attending a Jon Brion show at LA's Largo, where you CAN'T talk during the show. They will absolutely come to you and make you stop. Beautiful.

 

To demonstrate how much I've evolved since 1984...

My favorite club in Houston is a small place called The Mucky Duck
that is very much like how you describe Largo where you CAN'T talk.

My wife tried to bring some friends of hers with us once (my wife
doesn't even usually go to the Mucky Duck) and I remember her
friend making a comment "Why is everyone SO quiet?"

The atmosphere is more like a comedy club - where peoples
attention is riveted on the stage... not because anyone
forces it to be that way... but mostly because people
are there to enjoy music.

I'm guessing her friend was accustomed to smokey bars where
people talk over what is essentially background noise to people
who have no idea what the music is about...

 

The Mucky Duck is a great place. One problem though... whenever I see Steve Forbert there they never have the mix right or the volume up enough to hear from the bar area.