Hands up – is there anyone out there who hasn’t heard of Elvis Costello?

Not many of you. And I’m worried about those of you over there.

Right from the first notes, he’s staked his claim as a singular artist.

He was following nobody.

Elvis rose to prominence on the strength of three albums.  One after the other.

 My Aim is True, This Year’s Model and Armed Forces.

Never afraid to speak his mind or get in trouble for it he was branded a troublemaker. That got my attention right away.

His latest album is Hey Clockface. 

Recorded in Helsinki Finland and Paris France.

The Paris session was an amazing 9 songs in 2 days.

Elvis adlibbing his way through lyrics while being accompanied by French Jazz musicians, also adlibbing.

In several cases, Elvis spoke the words rather than sing them.

There’s a nod to Fats Waller & Tin Pan Alley.

There are elements of rap, hip hop, 1920’s Ukulele Ike traditional jazz songs, crooning like a Mel Torme session, and much more.

This is the complete interview. Wherein he talks about his new musical A Face in the Crowd, now stalled because of the Pandemic, and sings a song from the musical.

The re-release of Armed Forces, the possibility of working again with Nick Lowe, a fantastic story of Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen.

His life growing up in England.

And a bag load of other moments in his life.

 

We welcome Elvis Costello to The Mulligan Stew Podcast