Elvis Costello Trainspotter Gap-Plugger Bonanza: Volume 3.1: Two Memories

Here is a pair of tracks that fell through the cracks of our popular EC series, both from compilations of TV shows:


Just a Memory: VH1 Storytellers
Painted from Memory (EC and Burt Bacharach): The Best of Sessions at West 54th
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6IAYCITE

Please click on the Elvis Costello tag below to find your way to our previous EC posts.


PS See comments for a list of other gap-pluggers available on iTunes, and one more download, too (Let's Misbehave - DeLovely Soundtrack).

Elvis Costello Trainspotter Gap-Plugger Bonanza: Volume 3

And here's the back half of my latest collection of Elvis Costello b-sides, alt-versions, comp tracks and guest spots. The first half contained a track called "April 5th", this one's got "May 17th", so at least we've got about a month and a half covered! The latter track, a brief instrumental, is one of the harder-to-find items here, having only appeared on a CD included with the book Ferrington Guitars. It features EC playing three different guitars made by master luthier Danny Ferrington. Other highlights are the three bonus tracks from the ballads album North, the additional song from the Shakespeare settings on John Harle's album that did not appear on the Juliet Letters bonus disc, one more demo from the Wendy James songs, a rare acoustic version of When I Was Cruel track "Tart", and covers of Randy Newman, Charles Mingus, the Grateful Dead, and, yes, a song from Waiting for Guffman. Also, there's some uncertainty about the origins of the version of "Watching the Detectives" here; it originally appeared on a long-ago free cassette given away with the NME. It was listed there as a demo, but is now believed to be a live performance from Top of the Pops, November 2, 1977. See previous post for a link to the master list of "gaps" in EC's discography.

Speaking of the previous post, I thought I had come up with a sure-fire way to generate responses -- ask people to donate money, or barring that, leave a comment! Unfortunately, all but four people chose option "C" -- neither! If you enjoy adding this stuff to your collection, do me the kindness of letting me know! Or don't, whatever. I can't count the number of times I myself have downloaded without comment. But it's too bad that on the web these days, courtesy is often "The Rare Stuff"!  :^)

The ECTSGPBV3 contains:

Impatience Elvis Costello North

Little Goody Two Shoes Elvis Costello & The Attractions Out Of Our Idiot

London's Brilliant Elvis Costello London's Brilliant Parade 12"

May 17th Elvis Costello Ferrington Guitars

Mistress Mine: When That I Was And A Little Tiny Boy John Harle feat. Elvis Costello Terror & Magnificence

My Mood Swings Elvis Costello with the Brodsky Quartet Moodswings

North Elvis Costello North

A Penny for Your Thoughts (Waiting for Guffman) Elvis Costello thephoenix.com/onthedownload

Radio, Radio Elvis Costello Saturday Night Live: The Music

Real Emotional Girl Elvis Costello with the Brodsky Quartet Moodswings

Ship Of Fools/It Must Have Been The Roses Elvis Costello Stolen Roses: Songs Of The Grateful Dead

Tart (Acoustic) Elvis Costello Cruel Smile [Japan]

Too Blue Elvis Costello North

Watching The Detectives [Demo/Live?] Elvis Costello NME Pogo A Go Go cassette [Top of the Pops(?)]

Weird Nightmare Elvis Costello Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus

The World And His Wife [Live] Elvis Costello & The Attractions Punch The Clock [Ryko]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YW4SE65C

Elvis Costello Trainspotter Gap-Plugger Extravaganza, VOLUME TWO!!!

At last! Here's the long overdue, second full-length installment of our trip through Elvis Costello's back pages. The entire group of rare items I've compiled for this next batch totaled 32 tracks; I have placed them in alphabetical order and split 'em in half. Here's the first half of the batch, featuring the tracks listed below. In addition to uncompiled tracks from the '90s Rykodisc reissues of his catalog, bonus tracks from import versions of some albums, and a few guest spots and/or compilation contributions, I've also thrown in two tracks (one in each part) which were made available only through "official" free downloads from media sources; specifically, The New York Times' nytimes.com (the excerpt of the writing demo of the Costello/Cash/Kristofferson collaboration "April 5th," which the three would ultimately perform on Spectacle); and the Boston Phoenix' phoenix.com (the delightful version of Waiting for Guffman's "A Penny For Your Thoughts" from an award ceremony for Christopher Guest). I included these last two because they're semi-official, lots of fun, and many might not know they exist. Apart from those two, these tracks are all (well, almost all) out-of-print and otherwise unavailable; none are available to purchase for download (at least in the U.S.), and all are, generally, hard to find on the 'net. I should mention that a very few tracks here differ only slightly from some that have been officially released, in the forms of remixes or alternate takes; here, again, is the master list of "gaps" from the great Costello wiki.

Sorry I've kept the faithful waiting so long, but here's one half of a heaping helping of The Rare Stuff, Costello-style! Next part posting later this week -- I promise. Meanwhile, enjoy.

Oh, and I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't also take this opportunity to ASK FOR CONTRIBUTIONS. I've spent oodles of dough over the years to gather these rare tracks -- and more recently, specifically for the purpose of sharing them with you. I know times are tight, but if you can bestow any thanks in the form of a small donation to the Paypal address in the right column -- a mere fraction of what you'd have to pay to purchase all these recordings -- it would make a humble blogger very happy. I know, I know, everything online's supposed to be free. If you can't swing anything, don't feel bad, of course, please help yourself to the tracks and enjoy the heck out of 'em! But at least please leave a comment, and perhaps investigate a commercial message or two to the right as well. Every little click helps.

The Gap-Pluggers, Part 2 are:

April 5th (excerpt) Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash & Kris Kristofferson nytimes.com

Cry, Cry, Cry [Live] Elvis Costello & The Attractions Almost Blue [Ryko]

Deportee Elvis Costello Goodbye Cruel World [Ryko]

Dirty Rotten Shame Elvis Costello Complicated Shadows 7"

Do You Know What I'm Saying? Elvis Costello 13 Steps Lead Down 7"

Don't Get Above Your Raising Ricky Skaggs w/Elvis Costello Live In London

Don't Throw Your Love Away Elvis Costello & Amsterdam Liverpool - The Number Ones Album

...Dust Elvis Costello My Flame Burns Blue: Live with The Metropole Orkest [Japan]

Egypt Elvis Costello Labour Of Love: The Music Of Nick Lowe

The End Of The Rainbow Elvis Costello The Anti-Heroin Project: It's A Live-In World

Everyday I Write The Book [Live] Elvis Costello & The Attractions Punch The Clock [Ryko]

Forgive Her Anything [Original Version] Elvis Costello & The Attractions Blood & Chocolate [Ryko]

Get Yourself Another Fool Elvis Costello & The Attractions Out Of Our Idiot

Gloomy Sunday Elvis Costello Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod - O.S.T.

He's Got You [Live] Elvis Costello & The Attractions Almost Blue [Ryko]

I Almost Had A Weakness [Live] Elvis Costello with the Brodsky Quartet Live at New York Town Hall

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8INIK51L

Elvis Costello Trainspotter Gap-Plugger Stopgap (Vol. 1.9)

Hello Elvis Lovers, 

Sorry y'all have been waiting so very long for the next mega-batch of odd socks from Elvis Costello's copious back catalog. But I have been acquiring a few more items in order to make it as groovy and inclusive as possible. In fact, I spent a little bit of birthday cash on one last release that should arrive in the next few days, whereupon I will wrap it all up nice and it will be my present to you!

Meanwhile, in honor of my birthday (yesterday), and Record Store Day (today), here's a mini-post of remixes from EC's mid-'80s period, when seemingly every single had to be fed through an electronic blender to produce some sort of vaguely dance-y extended version, no matter how inappropriate or self-consciously "modern". Funny how the more up-to-date an artist tried to sound in the '80s, the more dated that work is today.

Of course, Elvis being Elvis, some of these are at least a bit more tasteful and cool than the above mini-rant might imply. But I know this isn't the juicy rare meat Costellians have been salivating for here, just a 12" plate of salad greens to whet your appetite. 

The tracks are:

Everyday I Write The Book (Extended Mix)

Everyday I Write The Book (Special Version)

Everyday I Write The Book (Instrumental)

Let Them All Talk (Extended Remix)

I Wanna Be Loved (Extended Smoochy 'n' Runny Version)

I Wanna Be Loved (Version Discotheque)

The Only Flame In Town (Version Discotheque)

Pump It Up (1984 Dance Mix)

... all credited to Elvis Costello & the Attractions. None of these tracks are available on an EC album release. Hope this tides you over for a few more days until The Rare Stuff can present the ECTSGPB (the "B" is for "Bonanza"!) Volume 2!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2ATEXQTF

Elvis Costello and Friends (Death Cab For Cutie, Fiona Apple, Billie Joe Armstrong) - VH1 Decades Rock Live 5/19/06 Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City

Posting's been light, to say the least, and I still have to gather a few loose ends before I share the next installment of Elvis Costello gap-pluggers. And I'll be away for ten days so it won't be up 'til I get back.

In the meantime, here's an interesting show with Elvis and the Imposters and guests Death Cab For Cutie, Fiona Apple, and Billie Joe Armstrong. This is not the complete concert, but the songs broadcast on VH1. In the gap-plugger post, I plan to share the withdrawn iTunes single of Fiona's killer version of I Want You, which here shares a single track with another song. Meanwhile, here's an enjoyable set with some unusual material... or should I say, some Rare Stuff!

Tracks [AUDIO ONLY]:

Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello & Death Cab For Cutie

I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Elvis Costello & Ben Gibbard

Kinder Murder - Death Cab For Cutie

Shabby Doll - Elvis Costello & The Imposters w/Fiona Apple

I Know - Elvis Costello & The Imposters

Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)/I Want You - Elvis Costello & The Imposters w/Fiona Apple

Wake Me Up When September Ends - Elvis Costello & The Imposters w/Billie Joe Armstrong

Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)/Alison - Elvis Costello & Billie Joe Armstrong

No Action - Elvis Costello & The Imposters w/Billie Joe Armstrong

Basket Case/Radio Radio/Pump It Up - Elvis Costello & The Imposters w/Billie Joe Armstrong

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello & The Imposters w/all guests

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=81E69M3O

Elvis Costello Trainspotter Gap-Plugger Extravaganza Part 1.5: Special St. Patrick's Day Edition!

It's been a week since I've posted anything here, and I don't have too much time tonight, so here's just a quickie pre-St. Patrick's Day 6-song Elvis Costello post. Not the 20-song batch which comprised our EC Trainspotter Gap-Plugger Part 1 post, so I've called this 1.5. Plenty more coming in parts 2 and 3, fret not!

Meanwhile, a half-dozen hard-to-find Costello tracks with their Irish up. To wit:

The MacManus Gang: A Town Called Big Nothing; 3 versions; 1987 single featuring Elvis' then-wife Cait O'Riordan, his dad Ross MacManus on trumpet, and Attractions Steve and Pete. Weird fake-spaghetti-western-soundtrack song, but Irish band name/members!

All This Useless Beauty - Live from 6A: Great Musical Performances from Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Recorded May 21, 1996; w/Steve Nieve. O'Brien, he's Irish, right?

Many Rivers to Cross - Brilliant Attractions cover of Jimmy Cliff classic from the Live for Ireland anti-heroin charity concert CD (actual concert title was Self-Aid) from 1986.

And finally the absolute gem of this little collection:

Long Journey Home (Anthem) - Elvis Costello with Anuna. Co-written with Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains, this stirring anthem was the title song of a documentary celebrating Irish-American history. Jimmy Fallon recently sang a bit of this in harmony with Elvis on his recent appearance on Late Night; you can track it down at the show's section of NBC's website. Add this to your St. Pat's mix, and hoist a glass of Jameson's or Guinness and wave it to and fro. Happy St. Patrick's Day from The Rare Stuff!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=84W0R7KX

Elvis Costello & Paul McCartney: The McCartney/MacManus Collaboration

Another of my favorite cd bootleg releases of all time, on the classic Vigotone label, this is an unparalleled look at the raw creative processes of two true geniuses of popular music. Listening to Elvis and Paul excitedly demo a skiffle-y track like "Twenty-Five Fingers", if you squint and tilt your head just right, it's almost like listening to a writing demo of John and Paul working out "One After 909"! There are so many amazing songs here, some of which came out in overproduced versions on McCartney albums, one of which was one of the best singles of his later career, one of which became Elvis' biggest hit ever, one of which was a highlight on a pretty dire Elvis album, but couldn't match the drama of this demo version, and a couple which have never emerged except on this boot. And this is some of my favorite McCartney singing EVER -- why? Because he doesn't care about how he sounds! This is just him throwing around some ideas with a mate, and showing off the rawer side of his personality at that, to impress Elvis. The voice is rough but beautiful. And they sound like they were born to harmonize with each other.

None of this is more true than on what I feel is the true undiscovered gem of this collection, track 3, "Tommy's Coming Home". This keening melody, haunting harmony, and obscure but brilliant lyric combine into a song whose brilliance I can't begin to describe. The meter and tone of the lyrics put me somewhat in mind of "Band on the Run" -- especially on the line, "And a hawk hovered high above a skinny jackrabbit/ Pursued by a hungry fox". But this song is so much deeper, though the story it tells eludes literal sense in the same way that the earlier song does. It concerns a soldier who returns home, but in a coffin, apparently accompanied by his sweetheart, who is then flirted with by a man on the train... the story shifts in and out of focus in a fascinating way. Here is a best guess at the lyrics. I love that "Down, down, down" motif. And ohhh the harmony on the last word of the phrase "and it's almost April Fools' Day."

To me and most, the real meat of this release is the first eight selections; the other eleven basically amount to bonus tracks -- some really good bonus tracks, but nothing matches the brilliance and fascination of those amazing duo demos. Here's a rundown of the album. Unfortunately, I can't find scans of the whole package including the 24-page booklet. This CD isn't totally unheard of elsewhere online, but seems pretty hard to find, so I think it qualifies for The Rare Stuff. It's certainly a rare pleasure!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3K2T42AZ

Elvis Costello Interview Trifecta

As an addendum to our Elvis Costello posts below and above, here are three different interviews with the man, one from a promo disc, one from a bonus disc, and one from a CD single.

The gem of the bunch is probably An Overview Disc, which was included with initial runs of the 1995 Rykodisc reissue of Blood & Chocolate. Since that album rounded out the series of reissues, the disc was a nice, yes, overview of his career up to that point. This epic session lasts almost the full length of a cd, some 78 minutes long!

Here's what it says on the back:

Elvis Costello * An Overview Disc

Occasion: Completion of Rykodisc's Elvis Costello re-issue programme

Artiste: Elvis Costello * Interviewer: Peter Doggett (Record Collector magazine)

Period discussed: 1977-1986 * Location: Dublin * Date: 21st July 1995

The next interview is actually from a year earlier, but serves as a nice follow-up to the above disc, as it concerns Brutal Youth, the album that reunited EC with his Attractions and old friend Nick Lowe, and harked back to that earlier period. It's from the Warner Brothers promo cd Elvis Costello: Words and Music (a series of promo interviews with WB artists on occasion of an album release; I'll post one with Paul Simon soon). The talk is interspersed with song clips. The interviewer this time is Bill Flanagan of Musician magazine(later to head VH1, and author of one of the best ever books of interviews with songwriters, Written in my Soul. If you can track down a copy, do. He's got a cool new novel out about rock 'n' roll history, too, by the way.) It's split into two segments of about 24 and 22 minutes.

Lastly, an interview from a year earlier still comes from the "Collector's Edition" UK cd single for the Juliet Letters track "Jacksons, Monk and Rowe". The 14 minute segment is drawn from the Juliet Letters video, and is also mixed with album samples. This is probably the least desirable of the bunch, especially if you have the video or DVD.

I know these will be of limited interest, but I hope those who are interested will enjoy.

Overview:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9DASMIHH

Interviews (Brutal Youth & Juliet Letters):

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=J47HGMPK

Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach - Royal Festival Hall 10/29/98 EXPANDED EDITION

One of my favorite silver-CD boots I've ever owned is this beautiful concert by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. I've always known, though, that the dozen tracks on the disc didn't come close to presenting the night's entire performance. So I was glad to find, on the swell Mystic Chords of Memory blog, a download of the WDR German Radio broadcast of portions of the concert. The Elvis Costello Info wiki listing says portions were also broadcast on the BBC and Radio 1 Italy; I'm not sure which of those the CD is sourced from, but it seems that each broadcast featured different selections from the setlist. Neither my bootleg nor the Italian or BBC broadcasts, meanwhile, seem to be available online.

What you have here are the 12 tracks from the CD, with three additional tracks from the radio broadcast slotted into their proper running order in the set. While I transferred the CD tracks at 320, the radio broadcast is 256Kbps, so sharp ears may notice a slight difference in quality, or hear the "edit points" when a CD track ends and a radio track begins, but I think the whole thing still flows smoothly, and it's still an exquisite listen. For clarity's sake, though, I've kept the date legend [10.29.98] in the titles of the radio tracks to distinguish them. If anyone wants to better finesse those transitions, have at it, just repost it and let us know, 'kay? Or, if anyone knows where to find a recording of the complete performance -- 26 tracks, including 2 Elvis-free Bacharach medleys -- or any other tracks missing from this batch, please share! Meanwhile, enjoy the most thorough look at this classic concert currently available.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5715XUI7

Elvis Costello Trainspotter Gap-Plugger Bonanza, Part 1!

Despite the fact that Elvis Costello has reissued his catalog three times, heaping on bonus tracks with each successive version (though only on the first two albums in the latest batch), there are still those recordings which Costello nuts call "the gaps" -- b-sides, promo cuts, guest spots, compilation contributions, etc. that have not yet appeared on any official EC release. There's a lot of 'em -- see here -- and among them is some work as good as anything the man's done. Which is to say: really, really good.

So here are 20 tracks from among their number, with more to follow in the coming days. Included here are three demos of the songs Costello wrote for the Wendy James album, and one live version of perhaps the best of those songs, "Basement Kiss"; two live cuts with Richard Hell from a CBGB's show in 1978 (EC only sings and plays backup on "Shattered", however); covers of Paul Simon and Mose Allison; and collaborations with Elvis' great bands the Attractions, the Confederates, the Imposters, and the Sugarcanes, as well as Steve Nieve and the mighty Allen Toussaint. Full details in the comments. I'm afraid that since I just loaded 'em all into a folder and zipped 'em up, they won't be in any coherent order once you open 'em up, but you should be able to sort 'em out.

I think some people will be really excited about this post -- I know that if this weren't my blog, I'd be freakin' thrilled to find all these in one place! Believe me, since I had to hunt high and low to round 'em all up. Coming soon are more Costello/Nieve tracks from the Painted By Memory Australian bonus disc, the powerful Attractions version of "Many Rivers to Cross" from the Live for Ireland benefit, plus covers of Randy Newman and Joni Mitchell, and some stunning, though little-known Costello originals! I'll also be posting a collection of interviews with the always-erudite maestro.

Comments are appreciated, Paypal donations welcome at the address in "About Me" section -- I bought all these, yanno! (As are clicks on those lil' ol' commercial messages on the right, but you didn't hear that from me!)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6EQFZQ83

PS EC's latest release, the legendary Live at Hollywood High show from 1978, is available here.