Elvis Costello Holds a Unique Spot in McCartney's History
Keep this factoid handy the next time you're looking to impress someone with arcane Elvis Costello trivia:
“In the continuity of Paul McCartney collaborators, I’m the person that stands between Michael Jackson and Kanye West and Rihanna," Costello told Rollingstone.com. "You just didn’t know that about me. And that’s a pop fact with which you can probably win a bet.”
The revelation, such as it is, was part of a short story in which the website talked to both musicians about their collaboration on McCartney's 1989 Flowers in the Dirt album, which is set for re-release in expanded form on March 24.
Although Costello told Rolling Stone he disagrees, McCartney says writing with Costello was like working with John Lennon on Beatles’ songs.
“We would write in the same method that me and John used to write,” McCartney said. “I figured, in a way, he was being John. And for me, that was good and bad. He was a great person to write with, a great foil to bounce off, but here’s me, trying to avoid doing something too Beatle-y!”
The dozen or so resulting McCartney-Costello joints went on to appear on Flowers in the Dirt, 1993’s Off the Ground and records by Costello, who had a hit with “Veronica,“ also in ‘89.
Among the previously unreleased McCartney-Costello gems to be included on the Flowers re-issue and already released as advance singles are original demos of “Twenty Fine Fingers,“ “That Day is Done” and “My Brave Face,” about which McCartney rightly says: “the energy and the performances on the demos were better in some cases” than the finished product.
Three additional demos - "I Don't Want to Confess," "Shallow Grave" and "Mistress and Maid" - will be released on cassette for Record Store Day, April 22, according to Jambands.com.
Read Sound Bites’ review of “Twenty Fine Fingers” (original demo) here: http://krispyweiss.tumblr.com/post/156688267963/song-review-paul-mccartney-elvis-costello
Read Sound Bites review of “That Day is Done” and “My Brave Face” (original demos) here: http://krispyweiss.tumblr.com/post/157661173483/song-reviews-paul-mccartney-elvis-costello
3/15/17
