(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True - 1977

You know it's really easy to think of Elvis Costello as a punk. He certainly had the attitude and came out of the same scene...but with the passing of time, it's easy to see past the attitude and the clever lyrics and see how in line with his contemporaries in the AOR scene. Often I'll listen to My Aim Is True and think "Wow, he sounded so much like Springsteen".

And everytime I hear the intro to this song? I think I'm about to hear a Tom Petty song. I mean sure, they both owe a debt to Roger McGuinn...but it's taken the passing of time to realize that they were cut from the same cloth. Yet try telling that to my fifty year old "rock and roll" uncle who loves Petty and dispises Costello as a wussy british dork in nerd glasses.

Great story about this...my uncle went to go see John Cougar Mellencamp in Indianapolis in the late 70's...he walked out of the concert because he couldn't stand the opening act...who was...Elvis Costello. This of course raises the bigger point, what the fuck was Elvis Costello doing opening up for Mellencamp (Back when he was Johnny Cougar) in Indianapolis?

Alison (Live) - Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Armed Forces (Disc 2) - 1978

Okay, it occurs to me that perhaps I've been a touch harsh on Indiana in the past few days. It didn't help that my family spent the entire weekend driving me insane, and that I missed that first beautiful weekend in NYC, but perhaps I was a bit harsh on the Hoosier State. I will say, as lame as it can be, it was absolutely gorgeous there on Friday. And that I had a really great time hiking through the woods with my dad and my brother. Also, in it's defense Indiana did produce both James Dean and Steve McQueen...two of the most classic icons of cool there are. And of course Izzy and Axl of GnR. And then there's the Jacksons...which is obviously a mixed bag. On one hand you have "Rock with You" and Tito...but on the other hand you have Jesus Juice and LaToya.

Anyway, I've also been hard on Elvis Costello...but I've yet to reach any of the songs in which I can wax rhapsodic about him. Sadly, this live version of Alison is yet another precursor to the modern Elvis, stripping away the little bit of grit the studio version has for a torch song rendition. For a guy who could tremendously, wonderfully angry (Despite his protests to the contrary) he could also be a tremendous sap.

Alison - Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True - 1977

More Things I Learned in Indiana:

B) Apparently, there is a desperate shortage of early 30 something men in Indianapolis who are neither fat, bald, or saddled with 37 children. Here in NYC, in a sea of the model thin and perfectly coiffed, I'm a drunk slob coasting on Irish charm and Midwestern "Aw shucks" manners...but back there it was like I was Brad Freaking Pitt. Waitresses, clerks, and bar tenders were all over me. One poor cashier at Trader Joe's was basically ready to jump me across the counter.

Look people who know me know that I am not a vain man (intellectual vanity doesn't count)...I'm not a "She was all over me" kinda guy...this shit was just really happening. It was a tremendous ego boast. If I weren't also a principled man (and staying with my grandparents) I might have nailed a swath right through the city of Indianapolis.

Anyway, Allison...what was once the pretty ballad on an angry album has become the prototype for any new music Elvis puts out. Still a great song though.

Accidents Will Happen (live) - Elvis Costello - Armed Forces Disc 2 - 1979

This is one of the informative uses of this project, listening to these two versions back to back you can see both sides of the Elvis coin. In one you have Elvis the snot nosed punk, in the other you have the future Bacharach colleague peaking his flaccid head out.

What happens to musicians as they get older that they decide the world needs more piano ballads? And what's worse is he's turning a great song into this treacly nonsense. The great thing about Accidents is that he is so freaking ambivalent about his confession...making the song mournful robs it off that dissonance.


Honestly, it's not terrible...but why?

Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello - Armed Forces - 1979

The great thing about young Elvis Costello was his understanding of masculinity. He gets it. We're kinda fuck ups, we're disappointments, but his unique approach was to be completely unapologetic about it. Before the Paul McCartney and Burt Bacharach collaborations, before Diana Krall, before VH-1, Elvis was just a pissed off British kid with hipster glasses and a "fuck you" snarl who was tired of being asked to live up to unreasonable expectations. He just wanted to be loved for who he was.

And if he goes home with that girl from the bar, even though he knows it's a stupid thing to do, accidents will happen...