Elvis Costello & The Imposters – The Delivery Man
Another Taranna find…
I don’t always dig on Costello, it has to be the right day for me to want to hear him. But this album has a sweet sound to it, country sensibilities even when it’s not country, bluesy, rockin’ and clear and overall pretty damn listenable – I didn’t skip a single song! In fact, it’s some of the best Costello I’ve heard in a long while.
Add Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams as guest vocals, and it just gets better. The album has a cool story behind it, and Tom Waits loves it. So it has that going for it, too.
Hit It Or Quit It? Hit.
Posted on 2018-10-07, in posts by aaron and tagged elvis costello and the imposters. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
I have most of his stuff and will eventually bag this one.
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If you have/have heard most of his stuff, this one will please you greatly (I’d wager)!
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For me, I find Costello has a high floor but a low ceiling, regardless of the album I’ve heard, it always feels like a B+ or A-.
Though add in Emmylou & Lucinda vocals, he may set a new ceiling!
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‘High floor but a low ceiling,” Geoff that’s brilliance right there.
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I’m awfy fond of this one, Aaron. First Elvis album I heard start to finish… nothing has lived up to it, but I enjoy what I’ve heard.
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That’s an excellent choice for your first of his, if late to the game. Sometimes that’s better though, you hear something sweet like this before getting to the ‘classic’ records…
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Definitely, aye – this one led to me delving in to some other stuff.
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I am the same way. I like Elvis, but I must be in the mood. I can’t just throw something of his on willy-nilly.
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Yeah, I find he gets pretty nasal, and sometimes the songs just hit me sideways and I can’t do it. But when it hits, I love it. This was one of those records, for me.
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Somebody posted a pic on FaceCrack the other day that Costello played Tbay back in 1980…
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That’s cool! Wonder if he’d play there now… I’d hope so!
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Na..that was his only time here I think…
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Well, it’s been 38 years, time to bring Elvis back to TBay! I was just wondering if ‘big and important’ Elvis would add TBay to a tour or if it’d just be the standard Taranna Montreal Vancouver (maybe Calgary Regina or Winnipeg… maybe) and then back out kinda tour for him. Which would be odd considering his wife is Canadian… maybe she’d convince him!
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She was here a few years ago so you never know. He co wrote a bunch of stuff on McCartneys Flowers In The Dirt album….
I know Beatle Paul irks you..hahaha
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At this point, Deke, the Beatles in general just make me tired. I think the hype is kept alive by a cabal of baby boomers, and until the all die off we won’t truly be free… but yeah, Paul would probably be my least favourite of the four.
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Ahhh oh oh here comes ‘The Whte Album’ reissue for the baby boomers
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Yeah I saw that. And six months from now it’ll be a different edition packaged slightly differently or something and so it goes…
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