It Was Only Fascination

As we arrive at our first song from the sessions for Elvis Costello’s 1981 covers album Almost Blue, it might be worth a brief examination of the project itself, which at the time must have seemed incredibly odd–a country & western cosplay record by an artist known primarily for his own original new wave/pop/punk songs. 

Fortunately, EC himself has already told this tale in detail, not once but twice–in the liner notes for both the 1994 Rykodisc and 2004 Rhino reissues of Almost Blue. Those links will take you right to those notes as republished on the invaluable Elvis Costello Wiki, and I encourage you to read them in full. 

Almost Blue began its life as an album that would contain gloomy songs of all genres, but it quickly shaped itself into an album of solely country covers. Ultimately EC and his Attractions traveled to Nashville and employed storied producer Billy Sherrill to man the boards. 

The end result is a curious artifact of a somewhat successful experiment–the Attractions adapt admirably to the stylistic shift, but it’s EC’s voice that really creates the tension in these songs. Let’s be real; at this stage in his career, his voice was well-suited to many types of pop music, but it was not necessarily a “country ballad” voice. Today, he could bring an entirely new level of maturity and feeling to these songs. Back then, it was a thinner, reedy instrument paired with Brit new wavers attempting twang and the occasional intrusion of a tasteful pedal steel or string section. 

This cover of a 1968 Conway Twitty single didn’t make the cut for Almost Blue; it first appeared in 1994 on the Rykodisc reissue of the album. In his liner notes, Costello remarks that this track sounds soaked in the gin that he favored during these sessions and especially during evening recreations throughout Nashville. 

There’s nothing ironic or even very humble about these recordings; EC throws himself into these songs with complete sincerity, and with absolute conviction that he has something to contribute to the genre. Instead, it feels more like the genre contributes something to his own artistic viewpoint; these UK transplants bend country & western a little bit to fit their style, but the circle remains unbroken. 

And the Conway Twitty original from 1968: