Less than two years after the release of the excellent four-CD The Songs of Bacharach & Costello, Elvis Costello has unveiled another major box set. Called King of America & Other Realms, it features 97 tracks on six CDs. (Casual fans and those with tight budgets can opt for a two-disc edition.) The CDs are encased in a 60-page hardcover book that contains photos and lyrics to every song. Also included is a long and predictably witty essay by the artist that incorporates more personal detail than you might expect.
The set’s first CD offers a new remaster of 1986’s T-Bone Burnett–produced King of America, Costello’s well-regarded 10th studio album, which he says contains “some of the most plain-spoken verses I have ever put into song.” It’s a self-assured and satisfying collection, dominated by originals such as the deftly written “Brilliant Mistake” and “American Without Tears,” which Costello describes in the book as being “the tale of two G.I. brides looking back at how they got to America.” Also here are “Jack of All Parades” and “I’ll Wear It Proudly,” both inspired by his then-new love, the Pogues’ Cait O’Riordan, and “Lovable,” which he wrote with her. In addition, there’s a slow, intense cover of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” which gave Costello a Top 20 hit (and did the same for the Animals in 1965), and a rocking rendition of J.B. Lenoir’s “Eisenhower Blues.”
The second CD delivers frequently fascinating solo acoustic demos from 1985, among them versions of many of the tracks from King of America that differ radically, both lyrically and musically, from the familiar recordings. Besides featuring just Costello and his guitar, for example, Disc Two’s version of “Brilliant Mistake” incorporates a completely different second verse.
Disc Three offers a previously unreleased 1987 Royal Albert Hall concert that showcases such guests as James Burton, Jim Keltner, and the Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench. This high-octane 72-minute show, which features accordion more prominently and effectively than did the original King of America, includes the title track and several other numbers from that album, plus covers that demonstrate the breadth of Costello’s influences. Among them are Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham’s “It Tears Me Up,” Mose Allison’s “Your Mind Is on Vacation,” Jesse Winchester’s “Payday,” and Buddy Holly’s “True Love Ways.”
Finally, there are three discs’ worth of additional studio tracks, demos, outtakes, and concert performances. This material spans nearly four decades and includes three numbers recorded just this year: “That’s Not the Part of Him You’re Leaving,” with the roots rock band Larkin Poe; a version of “Indoor Fireworks”; and a medley of “Brilliant Mistake” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” (The latter number – which is the 1933 Al Dubin and Harry Warren song, not the Green Day hit – is referenced in the former.)
Also featured are duets with guest artists, including bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley (“Red Wicked Wine”), Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson (“April 5th”), Lucinda Williams (“There’s a Story in Your Voice”), and Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings (“The Scarlet Tide,” live at the Grand Ole Opry). Among other high points are “For More Tears,” which has not previously been released in any version, and “Lost on the River #12,” which melds Costello’s music with Bob Dylan’s lyrics.
Virtually everything here is worth owning, but there is one reason to pause before buying: if you’re enough of a fan to consider paying the not-inconsiderable price of the anthology, you might well be enough of a fan that you already own much of its contents. Out of 97 tracks, 73 have been previously released on CD, though 15 of those 73 are from the 1986 album, which, as noted earlier, has been remastered. (Meanwhile, incidentally, the anthology does not include several noteworthy tracks that featured on a 2005 two-disc edition of King of America, among them “End of the Rainbow” and “Betrayal,” so completists will need to hang onto that album.)
If your Costello collection is already large, you’d be well advised to compare its contents with the program here to be sure you wouldn’t be paying for many duplicates. If that’s not the case, pull out your wallet and enjoy.
Also Noteworthy
Warren Haynes, Million Voices Whisper. Guitarist Warren Haynes’s fine fourth solo album sounds at times like an Allman Brothers Band LP, which isn’t surprising. Haynes, the frontman of Gov’t Mule since 1994, joined the Allmans in 1987 and except for one approximately three-year break, performed with that group until it closed up shop in 2014. Moreover, the late Gregg Allman co-wrote one number on Million Voices Whisper and the Allmans’ Derek Trucks co-produced and played guitar and slide guitar on three other tracks. Haynes dedicated the LP, his first solo outing in about eight years, to Dickey Betts, the Allman Brothers co-founder who died in April. It was Betts who helped launch Haynes’s career and recruited him for the Allmans.
There’s not a bad track on the new album but highlights include the brass-spiced “Real Real Love,” the song Gregg Allman partly wrote, which features a soulful vocal by Haynes and consummate slide guitar by Derek Trucks; and “Hall of Future Saints,” which namechecks deceased musical giants ranging from Miles Davis to Son House and incorporates consummate guitar work by Haynes and Derek. Other winners include the beautifully sung “Till the Sun Comes Shining Through,” an impassioned declaration of love to a partner; and “Day of Reckoning,” which sounds like something the Eagles might have done and finds Haynes sharing vocal duties with guests Jamey Johnson and Lukas Nelson, son of Willie.
The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!, If I Stop Moving, I’ll Fall from the Sky. The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! is the stage name for New Jersey–based singer/songwriter Gary Van Miert and his band. Like the group’s two previous albums, 2020’s The World Will Break Your Heart and 2022’s The Adventures of a Psychedelic Cowboy, this latest release harkens back to the sometimes fluffy but often fun 1960s pop-rock of outfits like the Strawberry Alarm Clock, the Electric Prunes, and the Blues Magoos.
There’s a strong psychedelic element to the music, thanks to the use of instruments such as sitar and mellotron, not to mention lyrics about seeing the world through “magic glasses” and song titles like “One More Cup of Mushroom Tea,” “Head in the Clouds,” and “Why Did I Eat the Whole Bag of Mushrooms?”
Paul Kelly, Fever Longing Still. Never heard of Paul Kelly? It’s a good bet you don’t live in Australia, where he has scored numerous hit singles and albums and has been a leading rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist for decades. Why Kelly – who recorded a great live double album called Goin’ Your Way with Crowded House’s Neil Finn in 2013 – has failed to catch on internationally is anybody’s guess. His albums have consistently delivered melodic, stylistically varied music and potent, artfully constructed lyrics.
Fever Longing Still, which Kelly and his band recorded at Finn’s studio in New Zealand, is no exception. As always, his verses are literate and evocative, and, as on many of his earlier albums, they incorporate quotes from literature. (The credits acknowledge the use of lines from several poets and essayists and note that “William Shakespeare, as ever, drops in from time to time.” In fact, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 147 provided the album’s title.) Standout tracks include “Taught by Experts,” a rocker that first surfaced in an acoustic version in 1992 and appears to be about adultery; “Eight Hours Sleep,” a ballad about insomnia; and the album-closing “Going to the River with Dad,” a poignant, piano-driven, seemingly autobiographical collection of memories of a long-gone father.
Peter Somuah, Highlife. Trumpeter Peter Somuah, who was born in Ghana and now lives in the Netherlands, returns to the “highlife” rhythms and afrobeat music of his native land on this latest release, which also evidences the influence of artists such as Miles Davis. The “highlife” name originated in the 19th century when Ghana’s British colonial rulers asked its bands to perform music in clubs for the country’s elite. The performances combined Western jazz and instruments with African musical styles. Since then, the genre has evolved to incorporate elements of American rock, funk, and disco.
After some spoken reflections on the history of highlife by 93-year-old musician Koo Nimo, this soulful album offers nine numbers penned by Somuah and performed by a group that includes a tenor saxophonist, a keyboard player, a drummer, a bassist, and several vocalists. Their bright, happy, rhythmic music writes a new and notable chapter in the story of the highlife genre.
Uncle Walt’s Band, Thought You’d Never Ask: The Complete 1975 Armadillo Records Recordings. The acoustic Uncle Walt’s Band, which formed in Spartanburg, South Carolina, then moved to Nashville and later to Austin, Texas, developed a following in the latter city in the 1970s and early 1980s. The trio’s folk-based, country and jazz-influenced material never captured a significant national audience, but the Omnivore label appears determined to belatedly change that. In recent years, the company has issued expanded versions of the group’s eponymous debut LP; several of its other albums, including Recorded Live at Waterloo Ice House and An American in Texas; and a compendium called Anthology: Those Boys from Carolina, They Sure Enough Could Sing.
Now comes the 22-song Thought You’d Never Ask, which consists almost entirely of previously unissued material, the exceptions being three numbers that appear as bonus tracks on the rereleased first LP. Uncle Walt’s Band recorded all the music on this latest CD on Jan. 16, 1975, as demos for Warner Brothers, which later opted not to sign the outfit. God only knows why because these pioneering Americana tracks, which feature wonderful harmonizing, are sublime. Memorable originals dominate the program, which also fits in covers of such classics as “Sitting on Top of the World” and Lead Belly’s “Rock Island Line.”
Trust Fund, Has It Been a While?. The answer is ‘yes’ to the question posed by the title of this fifth album from Trust Fund. That’s the name of the musical project of British singer/songwriter Ellis Jones, whose last LP, Bringing the Backline, came out six years ago. Jones called it quits after that but apparently had second thoughts and began releasing new material in 2022 – five singles, then an EP, and now this full-length CD.
Featuring a string quartet, his acoustic guitar and understated vocals, and soothing, melodic material, the album often recalls Nick Drake, as well as 1960s UK folkies like Bert Jansch, John Martyn, and Ralph McTell. At times – and especially on “The Mirror,” when Jones duets with vocalist Celia Macdougal of the London folk duo Radiant Heart – you’ll also be reminded of early Belle & Sebastian.
Jeff Burger’s website, byjeffburger.com, contains five decades’ worth of music reviews, interviews, and commentary. His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters.
