Great live version of Painted From Memory

[Neil.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7i6HhSUxAo

[jardine]

WOW. That is fabulous. He sounds so at ease in this song. Sometimes I wonder if you can record a song too soon. It can take time to find your way around in it. This version has really ripened and he really seems to know his way around his own song better than the CD version. Lovely.

[docinwestchester]

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... 999-01-05l
Broadcast on P2. This recording circulates (it's pretty spectacular).
The first 9 tracks are available for download on MediaFire: http://www.mediafire.com/?cqsrq1b89gsz5

1. Accidents Will Happen - including Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa - with Steve and orchestra, EC on acoustic guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsYUZnvoshU

2. Painted From Memory - with Steve and orchestra
3. All This Useless Beauty - with Steve and orchestra, EC on acoustic guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4cVYbFvGsg

4. Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue - with orchestra
5. Put Away Forbidden Playthings - with orchestra, followed by intermission
6. I Still Have That Other Girl - with Steve and orchestra
7. What's Her Name Today? - with Steve and orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngs8M-YOiEY

8. Almost Blue - with Steve and orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj6ffmDnXVQ

9. This House Is Empty Now - Elvis and Steve only
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U51OQOq80HE

Encore
10. The Birds Will Still Be Singing - with Steve and orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgczIYxgb3o

Bonus
11. What's Her Name Today? (rehearsal)

[MOJO]

Missing, but yet on the latest Spectacular Spinning Songbook Super Deluxe Limited Edition - God Give Me Strength - Best EVER version... It's true. No joke.

[jardine]

this is so good. i'm realizing more and more how very little of e.c.s work I actually know anything about at all, and how small a portion of his work are his official releases. i still act as if the internet doesn't really, not REALLY exist, and as if mp3s are just temporary things. I listened to this concert earlier and part of me is warning to not like it too much, because it isn't really there, like it could disappear at any moment.

Still stuck, I guess, on having an albeit reproduced object, or something. Can't read books on line either, or even on the screen. old habits...very odd day i'm having!

[docinwestchester]

Still stuck, I guess, on having an albeit reproduced object, or something.

If it's on your hard drive, it's real and reproducible. Did you download it?

[when i was cruel]

As much as I love an support Elvis I am thinking about finding a rip of the Spectacular box set, how good is the sound quality ? Plus I love this show with the orchestra !

[jardine]

"If it's on your hard drive, it's real and reproducible." Yeah, sort of, but me reproducing it is, for me, still too much of me. It is linked to me still lamenting the loss of record stores, even, and I find little pleasure i being able to toss things together myself that I've trolled to find instead of waiting for the artist to deliver something to me. I understand, yep, strange and archaic thinking. But something about that arrival is still so dear to me that I still avoid a certain affection for things downloaded like this. yep, i downloaded it. Yep, I burned a cd, but then i won't put it on the shelf beside e.c.'s c.d.s. because this, in this weird head of mine, is not that.

It's the reason I was so overwhelmed in my other message about realizing how much so many of the folks on this board have heard of e.c.'s work, how broad is your experience of all that, how rich a collection of things I've never even imagined existed. And, of course, how this pathology of mine has sad consequences.

a few years ago i had a paper published on line, but when it came time to report it to "the boss," the journal had folded altogether. When I inquired about whether this meant it was simply "out of print" I was told, no, it no longer exists and now counts as if it had never existed. I still have a copy on my hard drive. nevertheless, something strange has happened. I now have several (other) things published on line, and i understand all the stuff about access and so on, but still...

Weird, I know, and simply me being old fashioned and full of old habits hard to break. I will seek professional help.

ok, enough of that. it seems that nowadays if you are devoted to an artist, the amount of material you can collect is far and away beyond any previous measure. sure, vinyl bootlegs etc. (I remember where I bought greatwhitewonder in 1970), but still and all nothing like now.

Question, then: what percentage of your e.c. collection is, for lack of a better term, "officially released"? And, a much vaguer question, what effect does this have on your understanding/appreciation etc. of e.c.?

[docinwestchester]

Yep, I burned a cd, but then i won't put it on the shelf beside e.c.'s c.d.s. because this, in this weird head of mine, is not that.

Weird head indeed. It's definitely an important part of his oeuvre. Create some artwork if you want to, put it on the plastic jewel case, and put it on that shelf, right next to the official release of Painted From Memory NOW!

what percentage of your e.c. collection is, for lack of a better term, "officially released"? And, a much vaguer question, what effect does this have on your understanding/appreciation etc. of e.c.?

The officially released material is a tiny percentage of what's available right now. My collection is probably less than 10% official, but I'm too lazy to do the math. I would guess for someone like ba or sulky, this number is really low. Just look at the Gigography section on the EC wiki site - there are audio downloads from hundreds of concerts. Do an "elvis costello" search on YouTube and you'll find some amazing stuff. Sadly, my old YT channel is gone, but there are many others. I've spent many many hours watching obscure videos with 24 views that will knock your socks off.

All this "unofficial" material is invaluable when it comes to appreciating Elvis. You don't need professional help. You need a bigger hard drive. Embrace digital, then learn how to use torrents.

[krm]

You don't need professional help. You need a bigger hard drive. then learn how to use torrents.

That sums it up quite well I think!

[jardine]

sorry. didn't mean to divert the thread. It is a great set of recordings no matter where i end up placing it.

And, I don't think the side-issue I raised is simply a technical problem needing a technical fix (bigger hard drive), or a just-learn how to do it issue. Some amazing and profound shift has occur/is occurring, and it is far more important than my own pathologies or technical lack. If 10% of one's e.c. collection is officially released by the artist themselves, this is really big and relevant far beyond my own "issues" with it or my own clumsiness w. technology. That I am so very amazed by this does clearly indicate my own out of datedness-ness, so to speak. But it really is a new atmosphere. There have always been boots, sure, but 10% to 90% ratio?

I think this really means something important from the artist's point of view as well, knowing that the ratio of their own/their label's release decisions is around 9:1 with devoted fans of their work. I just find it really interesting. . .

so, if you just stuck with the official releases, how skewed a view would you have of e.c.? Would your understanding of e.c. be skewed or just thin? fascinating...