A Face In The Crowd: London 2024

Pretty self-explanatory
sweetest punch
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A Face In The Crowd: London 2024

Post by sweetest punch »

Elvis has played a lot of new songs in the last few days:
- A Face In The Crowd
- Blood & Hot Sauce
- Town Called Riddle
- Burn The Paper Down To Ash
- Vitajex Jingle
People on this board have alreay found a link with the movie "A Face In The Crowd" from Elia Dazan (1957): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Face_in ... owd_(film)

Are these new EC-songs from his next project?
Last edited by sweetest punch on Thu Feb 08, 2024 2:10 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Ask him!
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by sweetest punch »

Elvis played another new song from "A Face In The Crowd" in Eugene last night.
The song is called: "They Call Me Mrs. Lonesome".
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by sweetest punch »

Wiki has this information on this project so far:
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... _(project)

A Face In The Crowd (project)

In April 2016, Elvis Costello premiered six songs that seem connected to A Face In The Crowd, the 1957 film written by Budd Schulberg, directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Andy Griffith.

Elvis has spoken about working on three stage musicals, but there is not yet any confirmation that a musical adaptation of A Face In The Crowd is one of them.

Songs

"A Face In The Crowd", premiered 2016-04-12 in Salt Lake City, obviously shares a title with the film.

"Vitajex", premiered 2016-04-13 in Jackson, concerns the miracle pill featured in A Face In The Crowd. (Vitajex is also the subject of song in the film, but Elvis' song seems to be an original.)

"Blood & Hot Sauce", premiered 2016-04-13 in Jackson, is about Lonesome Rhodes, the character portrayed by Andy Griffith in the film.

"Town Called Riddle", premiered 2016-04-15 in Boise, refers to Lonesome Rhodes' hometown of Riddle, Arkansas.

"Burn The Paper Down To Ash (title unconfirmed)", premiered 2016-04-15 in Boise, is in the voice of a female character and was sung by Rebecca Lovell in Boise.

"They Call Me Mrs. Lonesome", premiered 2016-04-16 in Eugene.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by Neil. »

Hmm - interesting! Again, wishing him luck - have everything crossed for him that one of these musicals sees the light of day very soon!
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by bronxapostle »

funny...i have been on a real ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW kick lately. LOVE when he sings and/or plays guitar! VERY AMERICANA! 8) 8) 8)
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by Man out of Time »

So here's the thing. Aside from something like "The Secret Songs" commission, has there been a time when Elvis unexpectedly dropped seven new songs in as many days? What is interesting is why he might doing this now.

It was only at the end of last month, in a preview of his March 29th show at Santa Rosa, that Elvis said this to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

"Will you be introducing any new songs on the tour?

I may well do. I'm not going to commit to that, or announce it, because then the pirates will be there with their fingers lurking over the "record" button. Then everything you do is overheard before you've got it to where you want it. That's one of the best ways to discourage recording conventionally. There's no obligation on my part to release every single thing that I write. I like to know what I'm offering people, and give ‘em a square deal. I might do something expectedly, but you won't know when it's coming.

Are you continuing to write new songs on a regular basis?

I have written a phenomenal amount of songs over the last four years, all of which have been for stage musicals, three of them in different states of preparation. It is slightly frustrating to have really good songs you're dying to play for people, but of course, if you're writing them for a production, you have to be patient and wait for that opening night."

As it happens, it seems that no "pirates" were present for the dates on which songs from A Face In The Crowd were performed, and maybe there were checks on the audience going in and the stewards discouraged any filming or recording. Or was the apparent haste with which these songs were premiered, at five shows that were mostly sold out ahead of time, a way to beat the pirates? But what I wonder is whether Elvis now has these songs where he wants them, or whether whatever production was planned might have been delayed or even fallen through? Only time will tell, but it would be interesting to ask Elvis about this at some point.

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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by verbal gymnastics »

We can ask him next month at the Palladium. It looks like our American friends aren't going to do it for us :P
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by Neil. »

Hmm. MOOT, the implication from the interview you pasted is that he won't play stuff before the premiere of a musical. So the fact that he's playing these suggests that the musical has fallen through and won't get a premiere. Darn! He deserves a musical success, I think - his melodies are far better than most of the stuff that gets dished out in the West End - though he needs to rein in his scattershot, impressionistic lyrics (much as I love them) if he's gonna be a success in musicals.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by And No Coffee Table »

In the Jackson thread I mentioned my theory that EC deliberately chose a 500-seat theater in Wyoming (the least populous state in the country!) as a low-profile venue to try out some material for the musical he still expects to happen. (He had played one song the previous night in Salt Lake City, but it was in Jackson it became clear it was part of a larger project.)

The fact that he's continued to play these songs at subsequent shows muddles this theory a bit, but I'll wait to see if he plays these songs in London next month before dismissing the idea entirely.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by stricttime81 »

If any of the 3 projects pans out, I hope it's Painted From Memory.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by sweetest punch »

When I google "A Face In The Crowd", I find some articles that make a connection between the movie and the rise of Donald Trump:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/30/opini ... the-crowd/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHqX0SC8a-s
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... me-rhodes/#!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-ro ... 78590.html

Maybe this new project isn't just an musical based on an old movie, but tells Instead a very topical and political story.
If so, this project makes a lot more sense.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by And No Coffee Table »

ecsongbysong's blog has a really good article detailing everything he knows about this project:

https://ecsongbysong.com/2016/04/25/a-f ... the-crowd/
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by bronxapostle »

And No Coffee Table wrote:ecsongbysong's blog has a really good article detailing everything he knows about this project:

https://ecsongbysong.com/2016/04/25/a-f ... the-crowd/
I only had time to read 1/3 of this just now. But, a couple things. Firstly, this kid can WRITE. much better than others here who like to blab on ad nauseum. ME included. :lol: :lol: Secondly, who is this writer? I first met up with him about a month back at twitter and we did hit it off immediately with mutual follows.... HE KNOWS HIS STUFF. & Lastly, the implication sure seems that each show was indeed recorded. For even if songbysong was at each show, could he remember every word E said preceding these songs? PHENOMENAL WORK, new (?) legend here in the EC community.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by krm »

bronxapostle wrote: Lastly, the implication sure seems that each show was indeed recorded. For even if songbysong was at each show, could he remember every word E said preceding these songs.

My thoughts as well!
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by johnfoyle »

Towards the end of this epic account -

* Although it’s my custom to provide links at the head of each blog entry to the song or songs up for discussion, these seven songs remain uncirculated as of now. Several, at least, have been recorded, and I admit have heard them – but in refraining from posting bootleg links here I promise I don’t mean to be what the taping community would very pejoratively call a hoarder. Rather, I’m yielding to EC’s recent comments in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, where he excoriated the activities of what he called “the pirates” and said they discourage him from recording and, presumably, from airing material he considers in-progress. With that in mind and in hopes that Costello will continue to tease new songs when “Detour” moves to Europe next month, I have to confess I kind of hope this stuff stays under wraps for a while.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by johnfoyle »

That account got taken down because of the transcription of unpublished lyrics.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Lucky I got to read it then. 8)
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by bronxapostle »

johnfoyle wrote:That account got taken down because of the transcription of unpublished lyrics.
Damn I didn't finish reading it.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by MOJO »

Bummer. I was digging this blog guy. Decent writer, clearly an EC fan. Oh well / whatever.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by charliestumpy »

Fortunately I read it/correctly I did not scan-save-share my pages.

From absolute experience of e.g. audio-video-digital games, I know that a legitimate shared sample leads to genuine purchases-enjoyment ...

Artistes get more dosh-everyone sharingly is suitably legally happier ...
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by And No Coffee Table »

And No Coffee Table wrote:In the Jackson thread I mentioned my theory that EC deliberately chose a 500-seat theater in Wyoming (the least populous state in the country!) as a low-profile venue to try out some material for the musical he still expects to happen. (He had played one song the previous night in Salt Lake City, but it was in Jackson it became clear it was part of a larger project.)

The fact that he's continued to play these songs at subsequent shows muddles this theory a bit, but I'll wait to see if he plays these songs in London next month before dismissing the idea entirely.
He played three of the Face in the Crowd songs the first night in London, so I am officially abandoning my "low-profile venue" theory.

I hope this means he changed his mind about holding the songs back until opening night rather than that the musical has been abandoned.
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by docinwestchester »

And No Coffee Table wrote:He played three of the Face in the Crowd songs the first night in London, so I am officially abandoning my "low-profile venue" theory.

I hope this means he changed his mind about holding the songs back until opening night rather than that the musical has been abandoned.
But what about the "thieves"?
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by johnfoyle »

And No Coffee Table posts in the ASACP thread -

Quite a few new songs have been added to the ASCAP site, including all seven songs associated with "A Face In The Crowd":

A FACE IN THE CROWD (Work ID: 890398741)
AMERICAN MIRROR (Work ID: 890398548)
BLOOD AND HOT SAUCE (Work ID: 890398570)
BURN THE PAPER DOWN TO ASH (Work ID: 890398583)
THEY CALL ME, "MRS. LONESOME" (Work ID: 890398924)
TOWN CALLED RIDDLE (Work ID: 890398935)
VITAJEX (Work ID: 890398957)

Plus these titles I don't recognize:

BIG STARS HAVE TUMBLED (Work ID: 890398567)
BYLINE (Work ID: 890398585)
DOES YOUR DOLL SPEAK? (Work ID: 890398726)
DON'T PUT ME ON (Work ID: 890398727)
HE MAKES MY WATER BOIL (Work ID: 890398770)
HOW COULD YOU KNOW? (Work ID: 890398782)
MISS HOT MISCHIEF (AMERICAN TRUTH) (Work ID: 890398831)
NICE GUYS COME LAST (Work ID: 890398843)
THE LAST WORD (Work ID: 890398814)
WHY DON'T YOU JUMP IN? (Work ID: 890398967)
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Re: A Face In The Crowd: new musical project?

Post by sweetest punch »

In this interview Elvis speaks about the new musical: http://www.newsletter.co.uk/what-s-on/m ... -1-7380210

Costello remains at his impish and most playful best for Belfast date

(...)
There have been a couple of new songs performed on Detour, belonging to a yet-to-be announced theatre show.

He says it’s not the done thing to premiere a song from a musical before opening night, but his co-conspirators, as he calls them, told them he should.

“The reaction was astonishing,” he says. “That was in the States. If there’s a stony silence on these new shows, we’ll just say it’s a cultural divide, but you have no real way of knowing how something is going to be received beforehand.

“It’s good to play them, even if it’s just to get a sense of how they’re going to go down in the future. But there is that fear that if you play new songs, everyone is going to be looking for the exit sign or the bar, so you don’t want to create that effect."
(...)
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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