Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers

Here are most of the tracks included on this excellent compilation of Elvis Costello rarities from 1977-1980. Their consistent, obvious quality shows just what a fertile, productive and prolific songwriter he was, even in the first few years of his career. I remember buying it when it came out in the eighties and being blown away by it. I knew some of the 'b' sides, of course, but much of it was new to me.

Clean Money. This was a short, frantically punky out-take from the Armed Forces sessions that found some of its lyrics re-worked into Love For Tender off Get Happy!!. Costello retrospectively said this about it -

"....Oddly enough the record was originally supposed to open with “Clean Money”, in an arrangement that owes quite a bit to The Beatles’ White Album rockers or more likely to The Beatles-influenced sound of Cheap Trick. Their record, In Colour (And In Black And White), had been another road favourite. We threw everything at the song: a rock and roll beat that is almost completely absent from the final running order, tracked guitar feedback, a guest background vocal from Dave Edmunds, plus a rare appearance from The Attractions as a vocal harmony group. It’s hard to imagine the record opening with this belligerent tone rather than the blindingly obvious first line of “Accidents Will Happen”.....".

What a lively opener it would have made to the Armed Forces album. It would have left everyone with a totally different first impression of the album, thinking "Elvis is still a punk after all". It is actually so short that I'm sure it could have been included. It is a good track that I have always liked.

 

Girls Talk. This song was taken into the charts by Elvis's mate Dave Edmunds. This was his original of the song. It is a catchy song with a great hook that was, surprisingly, left off the album. I am amazed Costello didn't keep this for himself and release it as a single. It features that rather echoey backing that so characterised both the Get Happy!! and Trust albums.

 

Talking In The Dark. Another from the same sessions. It is a short, romantic number with a catchy beat and refrain. It sounds more like a song from 1978 as opposed to 1979, though. A melodic, sonorous keyboard break is utilised in the middle of the song. It probably would have suited This Year's Model more than Armed Forces.

 

Radio Sweetheart is a country-sounding, upbeat song was left off the album and ended up as the 'b' side to Less Than Zero. It would have suited the general country rock-ish, jangly sound of the album, though, as it features some twangy steel guitar. It also has some nice bass and sharp acoustic guitar too. It is a lively and appealing track. 

Big Tears. This was the 'b' side of Pump It Up in April 1978 and a mighty good song it was too. It is sort of Graham Parker-esque and is notable for featuring Mick Jones of The Clash providing some trademark high-pitched guitar sounds in the middle. It was a track that deserved more exposure and should really have been included on the album. It has a great guitar intro, some evocative organ and a big, singalong chorus. It could have been released as a successful single, I think. Just listen to that wonderful bass line too.

 

Crawling To The USA. This fast-paced, "Costello punky" number was recorded in October 1979 quite a long time after the release of This Year's Model but it would have suited that album easily, in my opinion, with its thumping drums and deep bass. It uses the Radio Radio organ swishing sound in its backing, making it sound rather similar to that song.

 

Just A Memory. This was a romantic ballad with a distant-sounding vocal from Costello sung against a grandiose piano and organ backing. It has a bit of a "demo" feel about it.   

Watching The Detectives provided Costello with his first hit single and remains one of his most famous songs to this day. It hit the charts in October 1977 and was the first Elvis Costello song I ever heard. It has a vaguely reggae beat (very much clunky "white reggae", though) and concerns someone who wants to watch detective shows on TV all the time. The genesis of the song, an early example of Costello's lyrical cynicism is described thus by Costello himself -

"...I was in my flat in the suburbs of London before I was a professional musician, and I'd been up for thirty-six hours. I was actually listening to another inductee's record, the Clash's first album. When I first put it on, I thought it was just terrible. Then I played it again and I liked it better. By the end, I stayed up all night listening to it on headphones, and I thought it was great. Then I wrote "Watching the Detectives."

It features different musicians from those who played on My Aim Is True.

Stranger In The House - this very country song appeared again in 1978 (see This Year's Model) but it originated on the sessions for My Aim Is True. However,  it was thought to be commercial suicide in 1977 to release a Country & Western song in the midst of punk, a genre whose coat-tails Costello was hanging on to. It shows that his liking for C & W music went way back, though. This early demo is certainly very country, full of steel guitar. It was re-recorded for the Almost Blue sessions as a duet with country singer George Jones. I like it a lot, I am not sure I would have been so keen in 1977.

 

Clowntime Is Over #2. The faster track from the Get Happy!! album is considerably slowed down here on a very  evocative alternate version. It begins with an almost hymnal organ from Steve Nieve and Costello's vocal, together with the beat, is slowed-down to walking pace. It is a complete contrast to the fast, Northern Soul beat of the album's original. 

 

Getting Mighty Crowded. The Get Happy!! album had a lot of Northern Soul influences and this was a cover of a Northern Soul original, by Betty Everett. Elvis covers it enthusiastically, in suitably upbeat fashion. The organ parps away and the drums pound behind Costello's throaty but soulful vocal. It is a good track and would have sat well on Get Happy!!. 

Hoover Factory. Similar to the previous two is the appealing little song about a distinctive building on a road out of West London. I remember the building well. The song is short and again minimalist in its backing. These songs were more in tune with the ambience of Imperial Bedroom than Trust and Get Happy!!. 

Tiny Steps. The 'b' side of Radio Radio was typical of The Attractions' sound at the time - lots of swirling keyboards and a mysterious lyric which made it quite an attractive, if slightly inconsequential track. It has a big, solid beat that make it always listenable. It wouldn't have been out of place either on This Year's Model or Armed Forces. 

 

What's So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding. A Nick Lowe song from his Brinsley Schwarz days, this is a marvellous song. Costello often ends his shows with a barnstorming rendition of it. It is a rousing number with a message that will always resonate. It has long been one of my favourite Costello numbers. 

 

Dr. Luther's Assistant. This was an odd out-take, sounding far more like something from Armed Forces sessions but it was actually recorded after the release of Get Happy!!, in March 1980. It is a mysterious song full of swirling, fairground-style organ parts and a bit of a grating vocal. What is was all about is unclear.

 

Radio Radio. This frantic, organ-powered number was a single in the early Autumn of 1978. It is a breakneck rant about "the radio" - a pet subject for many artists to moan about in 1978. Apparently we were forced to listen to whatever the radio wanted us to listen to. There was a simple cure for that - just put a record on!

 

Black And White World #2. This is a slowed-down version of a Get Happy!! track, with a unique-sounding brassy, oompah backbeat of the sort that is often used to back images of cartoon elephants. It is a short, interesting cut, but, like its original, it is way too short, but catchy all the same.

Wednesday Week. The punky energy of this song would seem to be a bit at odds with the crafted "new wave" pop of a lot of the Armed Forces material. It sounds like the sort of thing Costello was trying to leave behind in 1979. So, unsurprisingly, it didn't make the album. Just check out Steve Nieve's crazy organ flourishes on this, though. Also, it strangely changes ambience half way through and ends up sounding like something off Imperial Bedroom. It is quite an interesting track in that respect, showing Costello's composing development.

My Funny Valentine. Elvis Costello always liked an easy-listening, crooning ballad and here he records a Rodgers and Hart number that lasts only a minute and a half. It appeared as the 'b' side of Oliver's Army. I remember my girlfriend at the time had the single and said to me "you must listen to this Elvis Costello song". She loved it. I was quite underwhelmed at the time. Now I guess it is ok, but far too short. Just sing the verses again, eh, Elvis?

 

Ghost Train. From the same session as Dr. Luther's Assistant is this equally sparse, stark and enigmatic song. Both these tracks were deviations away from the sixties soul sound of Get Happy!! to a denser, more stripped back style. This is not something that would continue on to Trust, however, which was far more full-sounding and melodic.

 

Not included on here, some more non-album tracks from this era were, firstly from 1981's Trust sessions -  

Twenty-Five To Twelve. This is a very typical Costello song from this period, and sounds like others on the album - driven by vibrant piano as opposed to organ, pounding drums, solid bass and Costello's couplet-based lyrics sung in a deep soulful fashion. It is a fast-paced, attractive number. It a quality reject. Bruce Thomas's bass is rumblingly superb. There is also a bit of the Get Happy!! album in its backing. 

Sad About Girls. A track that would not have sounded out of place on Imperial Bedroom, with its laid-back, but bassy and tinkling piano style. It is another song that makes you think "my goodness there is some seriously good material left on the cutting room floor here...". 

Slow Down. A cover of the old Larry Williams song, previously done by The Jam on their In The City album. The Attractions and Elvis rock out convincingly. It is the sort of thing that would have gone down well live, and it was performed occasionally. Love For Sale. Cole Porter's song is delivered by Costello crooningly, over a subtle guitar background. Elvis always liked to do a few peaceful torch songs like this. Weeper's Dream. Also in the same vein is this very Style Council-esque brief guitar instrumental. Gloomy Sunday..and again, more laid-back fare in the smoky, late-night sorrowful sound of this ballad. This provided a pointer to much subsequent Costello material. It started here.

...and from the Imperial Bedroom sessions -

I Turn Around. This hails from February 1982 and has a lively Get Happy!! beat to it and an infectious bass line. Its organ sound goes right back to the Armed Forces era. It has a couple of lines that would re-appear in 1983's The Invisible Man. The World Of Broken Hearts. From the same sessions comes this Doc Pomus/Mort Shuman cover. It is given a grandiose Costello ballad makeover. It doesn't quite do it for me, being a bit too melodramatic vocally.

Night Time. This is a cover of a song by an artist called Paddy Chambers, whose work I am not familiar with. It is played slightly jazzily by The Attractions and would have fitted nicely on the Trust album, if it had to go anywhere. Really Mystified. We now get a fourth cover, this time going back to the sixties and The Merseybeats. It was as if Elvis was just having a bit of fun with these covers in the studio and had no intention of putting them on the album. This is a very sixties/Beatles-ish number, typical of its era.

Seconds Of Pleasure. There are a couple of versions of this track. I am sure some of the lyrics end up on a song on Punch The Clock. Both the versions are Costello singing over a clunking piano backing. The "demo" version is marginally better than the eventual recording, although both date from the same session. The song meanders around without ever getting where it was heading, for me.

As I said earlier, prolific or what?