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Tierney Smith
ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS
Almost Blue
Rhino (R2 76485)
Goodbye Cruel World
Rhino (R2 76486)
ELVIS COSTELLO
Kojak Variety
Rhino (R2 76487)
Rhino's latest batch of Elvis Costello reissues is as finely packaged as its predecessors, with the singer's lengthy self-penned liner notes bringing a wealth of insight into the songs and the creative process itself -- liner notes simply don't get any better than this.
Of 1981's Almost Blue Costello describes a love of country music kick-started by his discovery of The Byrds' Sweetheart Of The Rodeo and The Flying Burrito Brothers' The Gilded Palace Of Sin , then goes on to mention the personal backdrop of marital strife that led him to choose songs that suited his blue mood.
While hardly a natural country singer -- Costello's voice is all nasal and no twang -- his versatility as a performer, not to mention his good taste in cover songs, is beyond reproach.
The mostly melancholy numbers here, augmented by Billy Sherrill's trademark smooth production, are lovingly delivered in classic country style. Costello deftly connects with the heartache of a man who can't let go of the woman he's loved for years in Sherrill's "Too Far Gone," brings a rich poignancy to a life destroyed by his wife's personal achievement in "Success" and confers a ring of authenticity to George Jones' divorce lament "Brown To Blue." Costello dispenses with restraint altogether on a fierce rockabilly version of Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used To Do)?" and offers a rousing take on the Merle Haggard...