Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Pretty self-explanatory
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waterloosunset94
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Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by waterloosunset94 »

A long (11 dense pages!) article available on line to subscribers and in print this week. I can't figure out how to post it here but maybe someone else can?

http://www.newyorker.com/

Also has a stream to the entirety of the new album, which will be available -- to anyone -- for a week

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/n ... ansom.html
Last edited by waterloosunset94 on Mon Nov 01, 2010 4:41 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Jack of All Parades »

This piece by Nick Paumgarten is perhaps the best profile on EC I have read. It is balanced, not fan obsessed and it portrays a very dynamic, involved and inquisitive artist. I love that it portrays an EC, warts and all.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by nord »

You can buy it from iTunes if you have a US account and an iPad. It would take almost 30 screenshots to copy the article. Maybe later.

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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by johnfoyle »

An endlessly engrossing read, well worth seeking out. I coughed up c. €6 for once-off digital access. Lots of lovely twists and new bits of info. For instance, new to me was the fact that T Bone ( he's quoted extensively throughout the piece) was at Elvis' first U.S. gig back in '77. The twists are that the writer now and puts the boot in, viciously citing Elvis' hat 'n polka dot tie in one case. And the bit about the orchestra members sniggering at Elvis......as I say, well worth seeking out!
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Ypsilanti »

First of all, that's a fantastic photograph. Possibly my favorite EC photo ever.

And I agree there was a lot of interesting new info--the various things he does to protect his voice, like the lemon-sucking and the eucalyptus inhaler thing. Very engrossing, indeed.

However, the article is full of these weird, orphan sentences which are never really expanded on or explained. They bother me. For example, in reference to shitty things Elvis has said about other bands over the years, there's a bit about Led Zeppelin, followed by this...

"He is unkind to the eighties."

OK. Probably. But the author goes no further than that and in the context of the article it doesn't really mean anything. It's just there. Is he unkind to everything about the entire decade? Or are we only talking about the music of the 80's? And unkind in what way, exactly?

Also, this...

"...he's as canny as anyone at choosing songs to cover; he has a record geek's taste for the B side as well as a curator's love for the big ones. He doesn't shy away from My Funny Valentine." What? Well, of course not. He's recorded it at least twice and sings it pretty often. Why single out Funny Valentine in particular? Is there a reason why Elvis ought to shy away? Is it notoriously hard to sing, or something? Again, not explained.

And this, as far as I can tell, is just retarded...

(A discussion about the evolution of the eyeglasses)

"...and then the bigger, rounder ones of the Imperial Bedroom era--Tweety Bird meets Bob Evans." WHAT? :shock: What in the name of God can this possibly mean? I kept reading this sentence over and over, waiting for it to make sense and it just doesn't. Tweety Bird? Seriously? Bob Evans? The Pork Sausage King? Maybe he means Bill Evans, but that still doesn't explain Tweety Bird, who is a bird and doesn't wear glasses as far as I know.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by cwr »

"He is unkind to the eighties."

OK. Probably. But the author goes no further than that and in the context of the article it doesn't really mean anything. It's just there. Is he unkind to everything about the entire decade? Or are we only talking about the music of the 80's? And unkind in what way, exactly?
The funny thing is, for Costello himself "The 80s"-- in a negative sense-- seems to be limited to Punch The Clock and Goodbye Cruel World. Those were his two attempts at making records with hitmaking producers-- every other record he made has almost no hint of the popular styles of the day. Get Happy!!, Trust, Almost Blue, IbMePdErRoIoAmL, King Of America, Blood & Chocolate, and Spike are all records that have aged really well-- even a hit like "Veronica" doesn't really sound like any other late 80s song, which is part of the reason that people found it so memorable and appealing...
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Ypsilanti- any image I have ever seen of Tweety Bird focuses in on his exaggerated goggily eyes in comparison to his small frame-which one can argue may have been equally exaggerated in EC's case by certain glass frame choices at the time.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Ypsilanti »

I'd say Tweety's problem is his enormous head, in relation to his scrawny body--no way could he fly with a melon like that.
I just don't see how
this...
tweety.jpg
tweety.jpg (8.47 KiB) Viewed 21685 times
plus...
bob evans.jpg
bob evans.jpg (9.21 KiB) Viewed 21685 times
equals...
elvis.jpg
elvis.jpg (6.33 KiB) Viewed 21685 times
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by alexv »

I like this article. First things first, though. The fact that EC finally got a New Yorker feature is a biggie. Unless I missed it, this is in fact the first. Even though the New Yorker is not what it used to be, there is still a certain level of prestige attached to it, and as a fan I kind of like that they finally recognized him.

I like the fact that the writer focuses on EC’s status as a “music nut”. I’ve always thought that this aspect of our boy explains an awful lot. He’s a huge music fan, a devourer really. And a lot of what he’s been up to for many years is I think a reflection of his musical obsessions and not just a dilettante’s quirks. How many pop musicians spend a year listening to classical, following a diva around Italy? We know of at least one, and he ended up taking a stab at classical. His love of music sometimes leads him astray, taking him where his talents don’t fit. But more often we benefit from his passion for music.

I also like the writer’s characterization of EC’s current “incarnation”: “ a winking anachronism, a clever rogue”. T Bone chimes in: “an entertainer. A song-and-dance-man”. I think folks have pointed out here before that the look and the style is similar to Dylan’s current look and style. I don’t think it’s accidental. As you age, and the pop world moves away from you, and your goal is to stay in the game you can go the way of The Stones (not everyone can) and play the young man’s game no matter how silly it may look, or you go the way of EC and Dylan: forget who I was or what I did, what I am now is just a working musician, a travelling entertainer, happy to play for Las Vegas conventioneers or the Nobel folks. Just pay me. It’s a cagy way to escape your past and ensure yourself a present that you hope is divorced from expectations tied to your past.

Continuing on the Dylan analogy, I also like this thought: “To a certain crowd of people who were in school in 1977 and are now about 50, Costello’s stature can almost Dylanesque. In some circles, he is considered to the greatest songwriter of his generation” I am one of the folks he’s talking about and agree with the first sentence, emphasis on “almost”. Love EC, but he no Dylan. The second sentence I also agree with, with one caveat: he’s my favourite songwriter, but when you have Springsteen, for one, in your generation I’d be hard pressed to say that EC is “the greatest”. He’s more prolific, and has written more good songs, more great songs, even. But…

I also think this is good: Pete…Bruce…and Steve…would turn out to be as essential to Costello’s sound, over his first and best ten years, as any felicity he had in turning a phrase”. We’ve had threads here on this, and I agree with this one hundred percent. The link with the Attractions and those first and best ten years is no accident.

The writer also picks up on something pointed out in one of our recent threads: how Almost Blue was the beginning of “a pattern of experimentation and genre curiosity”. He writes: “Almost Blue is the runt in a litter of great, muscular early-middle-period albums—Get Happy, Trust, and Imperial Bedroom—but it may have been the most momentous insofar as it predicted a career-long infatuation with American vernacular music”. Right on.

I also liked his take on Spike and what it meant for the future: From that point forward, his albums, whatever their musical ambitions, became smaller affairs, both in conception and in commercial reach”. “ He has indulged his curiosities and whims, tending to a variety of smaller audiences”. I think this is dead on. I don’t think EC is happy with this, since what folks don’t really mention about him is his fierce careerist streak. No matter what he says, I bet anything that he’s always trying to reclaim the old status.

Finally, I like his take on the lyrics: “Some rock critics and listeners pore over lyrics. I hear lyrics in fragments often out of context—the context, anyway, of the rest of the song’s words and whatever their intent may be. A phrase, a couplet, or a verse will catch my ear and burrow…lyrics as cryptic as Costello’s often either demand or resist close reading, depending on your cast of mind. Half the time I have no idea what he’s saying or what it means”. Perfect encapsulation of EC as a songwriter. And he uses Deep Dark as an example, perfectly mixing the beginning of the song (gorgeous) with the stripping puppet on a liquid stick part.

Ypsi, on the My Funny Valentine quote, to understand why he singles out that song all you have to do is read what precedes it: the prior sentence is saying that EC has a record geek’s taste in selecting cover songs but that he doesn't shy away from teh obvious cover choices. You would expect record geeks to therefore pick “unusual” songs to cover. For example “I Wanna Be Loved” is a perfect choice for a record geek’s to cover, and EC covered it. But My Funny Valentine is a standard. Not your typical “obscure” choice. But EC, not your average record geek goes ahead and covers it. He doesn’t shy away from the obvious.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Poor Deportee »

That photo is really great, but the key to its appeal is his weight loss - for the first time I can remember, he really does look exactly like the 50-year-old incarnation of the 20-year-old spindly kid from the cover of My Aim Is True.

Elvis is at a very interesting juncture in his career. He seems to have quietly gotten over the hump from being 'obscure, inaccessible eclecticist/genius who used to be kinda popular' to being, well, vaguely cuddly, something of that 'beloved entertainer' ironically referenced on Spike. Marrying Diana Krall helped, I think, conveying to the semi-conscious public the question: 'if he's married to her, how weird, uncool and scary can he be?' But Spectacle seems to have been the key that worked wonders in allowing him to complete the refashioning of his image as something both approachable and worthwhile and in raising his profile with an entire generation. It really was the opportunity he was looking for, I think - considering how hard he laboured throughout the 1990s and beyond to escape his old persona.

It'll be interesting to see where EC goes from here. He's in a really good place, with tremendous creative freedom born of his hard-earned technical skills, reputation, and endless networks of superb musicians. He has the potential to take up the mantle as the Grand Old Genius of Popular Music once Dylan shuffles off. Knowing EC, though, he'll find some way to fuck it up :D
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Ypsilanti »

alexv wrote:Ypsi, on the My Funny Valentine quote, to understand why he singles out that song all you have to do is read what precedes it: the prior sentence is saying that EC has a record geek’s taste in selecting cover songs but that he doesn't shy away from teh obvious cover choices. You would expect record geeks to therefore pick “unusual” songs to cover. For example “I Wanna Be Loved” is a perfect choice for a record geek’s to cover, and EC covered it. But My Funny Valentine is a standard. Not your typical “obscure” choice. But EC, not your average record geek goes ahead and covers it. He doesn’t shy away from the obvious.
I did, of course, read the previous paragraph--and fully comprehended it. I'm sure I must be mistaken in my impression that you're explaining things to me like I'm a 5 year old, right?. :wink: Look--it was a great article (and your assessment of it was very interesting to read) and this is a small point--not a big deal--but the author didn't say, "he doesn't shy away from standards" or "he doesn't shy away from standards, such as My Funny Valentine" or "he doesn't shy away from classics of the American songbook" or "he doesn't shy away from My Funny Valentine, for example" . By singling out only this one song in particular, with no additional explanation or qualification, he suggests there is something special about this one song in particular. I understand what the author means, but the way he says it is a little sloppy and unclear. It's a bit frustrating to read.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by the_platypus »

sigh




Great article.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by johnfoyle »

Nick Paumgarten, the profile writer, has some backround to the feature in this comment on 'Ransom-

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/n ... ansom.html

November 1, 2010

Album Preview: Elvis Costello’s “National Ransom”
Posted by Nick Paumgarten

The first time I talked to Elvis Costello for my story in this week’s magazine—he was in British Columbia, looking after his kids—the phrase “evasively effusive,” or maybe “effusively evasive,” came to mind: he said so much and yet revealed so little. And we were just talking logistics. A good example of this mode of his, and a great primer, if you have a few hours, is the series of interviews he posted on his own Web site, a couple of months ago, to explain himself a bit, prior to the release this month of “National Ransom,” his new album. Whether or not he was interviewing himself, this dialogue, in four parts, provides effusion and evasion, illumination and obfuscation, in abundance.

“National Ransom” is not a bluegrass album or a country album, even though it was produced, as his last record was, by T-Bone Burnett, and even though the Sugarcanes, the Nashville hotshots who played on that one, worked on this one, too. “National Ransom” ranges farther. It tries on more hats. It also features the playing of the Imposters—his old bandmates Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas—and other longtime collaborators, like Marc Ribot, as well guest appearances by Vince Gill, Buddy Miller, and Leon Russell. The album sounds great really loud. Random moments to listen for: Tom Peterson’s bass clarinet bits on “One Bell Ringing,” Mike Compton’s vocal harmony on “Slow Drag with Josephine,” and the specters of George Jones and Percy Sledge hovering over “That’s Not the Part of Him You’re Leaving.”
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by docinwestchester »

This is one of those articles you read slowly because you don't want it to end. I'm a subscriber, so I read the magazine pretty much every week, sometimes cover-to-cover, and not just the cartoons. It's wonderful and totally appropriate for EC to get the "The New Yorker" treatment - in depth, intelligent, and original writing.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Jack of All Parades »

PD, I have often thought he could pick up from Dylan as a radio host and both indulge his "fandom" for all types of music and his inexhaustible enthusiasm for discussion. This would seamlessly be an easy segue for him as he enters the later stages of a career. Certainly would not cost near the amount needed to produce a Spectacle season of espisodes. Would not even need the artist in the same room with him so logistics should be easier. Sirius/XM would be a great venue.

Alex, do not relish him becoming the George Jessel of musical tributes which he is in danger of becoming. Most definitely not 'almost' Dylanesque or for that matter Simonesque amongst others.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by alexv »

Christoper, I don't think we are talking Jessel here!! I think his participation in tributes and the like has been pretty classily done. You think he's in danger of becoming a caricature? I do think that he's adopting a Dylan pose these days, and that's not a bad thing.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by johnfoyle »

Some extracts -

"It's naturally bound to make you self-regarding, this business," he told me. "But in the assumption that everything you do is a trick, or is being done for effect, what's lost is that, actually, its not. It's too much hard work to do some things for effect. I'm just doing things because I want to do them. Not even because I want to do them but because I am doing them. I'm not doing them thinking about how l look doing them. People who don't create anything think like that. `What do I look like doing this?' Well, you look like a fucking idiot, actually. I’m not looking at my own reflection doing this— I’m actually doing it." This from a man in a Stetson and a polka-dot tie.

In 2003, when he was backstage with Krall at a gala performance, Ray Charles walked by, but Costello couldn't bring himself to say anything. "There are some times when you've just got to be smaller," Costello told me. "You know when people get sober, and they come and tell you all the terrible things they did? You know, `I stole money from you once.' `Well, actually I felt fine until you told me.'" He added, "You also can’t keep explaining."

He has applied this principle to the latest mess he has created for himself. In May, he announced that he was pulling out of a pair of planned summer performances in Israel. He issued a statement that was as hard to decipher as some of his songs, citing the risk of his appearance there being taken the wrong way. Needless to say, he came in for some criticism and abuse; to some, his singling out of Israel seemed, at best, arbitrary and, at worst, an unsavory bookend to Columbus. "You must be aware that it was a very difficult decision to make," he told me. "It's quite the opposite of what people always assume about singers, that they are grandiose and they're on a big platform and they're asserting their own ego. I'm actually trying to be humble and say I don't actually know the answer. I don't have a solution within my songs."

A few years ago, after he'd released "The River in Reverse," a post-Katrina New Orleans-inspired album that he made with Toussaint, Costello was so dispirited by the way the record industry worked, or didn't work, that he decided to quit making albums. "I will just write and perform," he told friends. Joe Henry, the singer and songwriter, told me that he called Costello right away and said, "Are you out of your mind? How can you let the industry decide what you do?" A few days later, Costello called him and said, "You're right. I'm making two albums." Those became "Momofuku," with the Imposters, and "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane," with T Bone and the Nashville gang.

Frustration has again given way to a kind of bravado that has sustained him over the years. As he told me, "Now that I'm through the door, I can basically do what the fuck I want."

At any rate, he doesn't feel that knowing a thing or two about an artist's private life can enhance one's appreciation or understanding of the work; he claims to be a textualist, at heart. "Some songs have lines in them which have very personal meanings, and there's nothing to be gained by my sharing them," he said. "They're like an emotional anchor in the song, which means I can sing it and it has some significance to me."

"It's too bad for the people who want to know, 'cause they ain't gonna know," he said. They can't be there when what ever happened between those people happened. They don't know when you started loving them, or when you stopped loving them, or if you stopped loving them. And songs don't tell the truth.”


Costello no longer embarks on long and arduous tours. He performs in microbursts with different ensembles. He has to be careful how many sidemen he brings along, to insure that he is not the only guy on the stage who is not getting paid. He makes a good living, but he isn't Billy Joel or Sting rich. "There's not enough for me to stop today," he told me. "No way. Well, I could stop if I wanted to go live in a hut." Krall more than holds up her end. She sells a lot of records; she does ads for Rolex. Costello told me that he couldn't abide the idea of not working while his wife travelled the world. It wouldn't be fair. "And, anyway, I like doing this," he said.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by migdd »

John, thanks for posting. I'm dying to read the entire article but I'd like to have it in print. Not so easy to find The New Yorker in this part of the country. Again, many thanks!
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

Ypsilanti wrote:"...he's as canny as anyone at choosing songs to cover; he has a record geek's taste for the B side as well as a curator's love for the big ones. He doesn't shy away from My Funny Valentine." What? Well, of course not. He's recorded it at least twice and sings it pretty often. Why single out Funny Valentine in particular? Is there a reason why Elvis ought to shy away? Is it notoriously hard to sing, or something? Again, not explained.
It follows on from the previous sentence. He often covers obscure B-side songs, but isn't afraid to cover very well known standards (or 'big ones') like 'My Funny Valentine'.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by johnfoyle »

If anyone wants the text, PM me with a e-mail address and I can send the feature as a attachment. I won't , by the way, be online again for few hours.
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

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This is so good: "You're not making the records for people who are not listening."
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Re: Elvis profiled in Nov 8 2010 issue of The New Yorker

Post by migdd »

Simply the best, most intuitive piece I've read about Mr. Costello. Thanks again, John.
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