Any Brighter Flame

As Elvis Costello and the Attractions mosey their way through the country comforts of 1981’s Almost Blue, it’s occasionally hard to determine exactly what they’re bringing to the party. It’s not that their approach is wrong, just that it’s not so much a covers enterprise as it is a copy. 

Here’s a song where they take the original apart and reassemble it around their unique approach. The original “How Much I Lied” was a Gram Parsons co-write that appeared on the singer-songwriter’s 1973 album GP. It’s built around some exceptional pickin’ from James Burton, a guitar legend who at the time was in Elvis Presley’s touring band, and the gorgeous vocal harmonies of Parsons alongside Barry Tashian and Emmylou Harris, who effectively made her country-western debut on the record. 

Costello’s never been afraid of harmony, even though he was the only credible singer in his band until the arrival of bassist Davey Faragher as part of the Imposters. It’s usually EC himself multitracking his own vocal performances. 

That approach might have spoiled the delicate mood of this song, so instead, keyboardist Steve Nieve picks up a bit of what Glen Hardin (pianist on the original song and another member of the Elvis Presley TCB band) was laying down back in 1973. Developing a simple, melodic riff to start the song, the rest of the band fills in around Nieve’s playing, EC strumming simple chords and Pete Thomas’ drums creating a push-pull tension, alternating between restraint and escalating tempo. It’s a subtle reinvention that suits both the performers and the song itself well.