ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS : ALMOST BLUE

 

  1. Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used To Do)
  2. Sweet Dreams
  3. Success
  4. I'm Your Toy
  5. Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
  6. Brown To Blue
  7. Good Year For The Roses
  8. Sittin' And Thinkin'
  9. Colour Of The Blues
  10. Too Far Gone
  11. Honey Hush
  12. How Much I Lied

Label : F-Beat

Length : 32:35

Release Date : October 23, 1981

Review (AllMusic) : Elvis Costello's "country record" is usually written off as a vanity project, but Almost Blue is quite a bit more than that. It's one of the most entertaining cover records in rock & roll, simply because of its enthusiasm. The album begins with a roaring version of Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me" and doesn't stop. Costello sings with conviction on the tear-jerking ballads, as well as on barn burners like "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down." It's clear that Costello knows this music, and it's also clear who he learned it from: Gram Parsons. Costello covers Parsons' "Hot Burrito No. 1" and "How Much I Lied," and all of the music on Almost Blue recalls Parsons' taste for hardcore honky tonk and weepy ballads. It's to Costello's credit that he made a record relying on emotion to pay tribute.

Review (Wikipedia) : Almost Blue is the sixth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his fifth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was recorded in May 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee, and released in October the same year. A departure from Costello's previous works, it is a covers album composed entirely of country music songs, including works written by Hank Williams and George Jones. The project originated with Costello's desire to record a collection of covers after his two previous studio albums commercially underperformed following Armed Forces (1979). Produced by Billy Sherrill, the recording sessions were marked by a fraught atmosphere, including resistance from Sherrill himself. The Doobie Brothers member John McFee contributed pedal steel as a way to add an authentic country sound. Most of the songs are relatively straightforward renditions of their original counterparts; a few were based on other covers of the originals. Costello's poor health during recording and troubled personal life reflected in the song choices. All of the tracks express a "blue" state of mind, reflected in the cover artwork, an homage to jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963). The lead single, a cover of Jones's "Good Year for the Roses", received heavy airplay and reached the UK top ten. Almost Blue was released to little promotion, reaching number 7 in the UK and number 50 in the US. It received mixed reviews from music critics, who were divided on the vocal performances and debated on Costello's success as a country singer. It has continued to receive mixed reactions in later decades from critics and has placed low on lists ranking the artist's albums. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone argued in 2016 that the album predicted numerous unexpected musical excursions Costello took later in his career. It has been reissued multiple times with bonus tracks.