UNFAITHFUL MUSIC & DISAPPEARING INK - Oct. 2015

[johnfoyle]

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-revi ... aring-ink/

KIRKUS REVIEW

Review Posted Online: Sept. 15th, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1st, 2015


Everything you ever wanted to know—and more—about hyperliterate songwriter and performer Costello.

It becomes immediately clear in this voluminous debut memoir that Costello’s prose cuts with the same spiky wit and observational power as his well-known lyrics—e.g., upon meeting Bruce Springsteen: “he laughed like steam escaping from a radiator.” What this memoir could’ve used was a more proactive editor to rein in its disjointed structure and rambling eccentricities. In one chapter, we learn about Costello’s 20-something rise to stardom in 1977; the next chapter covers his birth. Readers will need to forget trying to follow this memoir in a chronological way, which may be appropriate when considering his unconventional songwriting. Whatever the Byzantine structure, certainly there’s no part of his life left untouched—from his childhood growing up in Liverpool and London watching his father perform as a singer with the Joe Loss Orchestra to getting his first band together and on to becoming the jittery 1970s New Wave answer to Bob Dylan. Although Costello (born Declan MacManus) led a routine, working-class existence in his teens and early 20s, not surprisingly, the most scintillating time in his life to read about is his unlikely rise to fame in the ’70s with his band the Attractions and Stiff Records. Costello isn't coy when discussing the origins of his songs and detailing the often surprising musical influences behind them. His writing on his later elder statesman years—including his marriage to Diana Krall and his dabbling with string quartets and orchestras—are pleasantly informative, but his discussions of his middle ages are mostly akin to reading someone’s CV. They lack the same thrill of youth that drives the recollection of his hand-to-mouth days as a struggling punk.

Overlong but still packed with great lines, vivid anecdotes, and plenty of photos. Certainly a treat for his many fans.

[erey]

That's a pretty encouraging review. Kirkus is known for being so brutal, publishers don't even submit some books to them.

[erey]

The book seemed to have gotten a nice notice in Booklist, although it doesn't appear to be up on their site yet. Excerpt from the publishers website:

“This is a big book, literally, by one of the best rockers in the business. Given the singular, and eclectic, nature of his career, it is no surprise that Elvis Costello’s anecdotal autobiography is an idiosyncratic journey through his music and the people and places that have inspired him…A must for Costello fans everywhere.” –Booklist (starred review)

This presumably means we USAians can count on finding it on the shelves of our local public libraries, if nothing else.

[johnfoyle]

Via Twitter

[And No Coffee Table]

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/unfait ... 1040025811

"The deluxe eBook edition of Elvis Costello’s Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink features two hundred additional photos and images, including more from Costello’s original lyrics notebooks and a selection of his family’s most intriguing documents and vintage photographs. Pages from his father’s scrapbooks from the early ‘50s Merseyside jazz scene are contrasted with a ledger of setlists and meager fees from the author’s early musical partnership in Rusty on the Liverpool club scene and other mementoes from Costello’s musical apprenticeship. There are numerous candid shots of the artist and his collaborators, both on stage and behind the scenes, along with a touching collection of signatures, mostly dedicated to the young Declan MacManus in his autograph book from the 1960s, all of which charts a journey from fan to pop star and back again. Over an hour of excerpts from the audio edition are also featured, including several wonderful anecdotes that were ultimately omitted from the book. These additions serve to enrich the story of an incredible life in music, phenomenally well told."

[sweetest punch]

From facebook:

[johnfoyle]

For those who can't wait a week or two , this site claims to have (overpriced) review copies for sale -

http://www.abebooks.com/Unfaithful-Musi ... e=viewbook

[johnfoyle]

Via Twitter
There's some moving stuff in the Elvis Costello memoir
https://twitter.com/hiattb/status/649298663227936768




Terry Staunton has this quote, presumably, going by a similar account with a Almost Blue reissue, about the video for Good Year For The Roses -

"My own rather pale and trembling appearance in the clip was a consequence of having spent the entire previous afternoon sampling single malts with a gentleman who had struck up a conversation with me in the hotel bar. He turned out to be the headmaster of a private school near Manchester, and proved to be an enthusiastic advocate of the malt distilleries and a man intent on dissolving his cares and responsibilities in a stately progress along a shelf of the rarest and finest whiskeys in the book-lined bar. I'm not sure if he was much concerned with who I was or what I did. He just needed a drinking cohort who understood the rhythm of the briefly illuminated conversation between periods of companionable silence."


And this

'' When my father died in 2011, all the other achievements of his career were laid aside as tabloids sensitively noted his passing under the headline 'Secret Lemonade Drinker Dies.'"

[johnfoyle]

Chalkie Davies shows off his copy

[erey]

The memoir completes its tour of the big US book trade journals, with reviews in Booklist and Publishers Weekly.

Booklist gave it a starred review and put it on its list of Best Adult Nonfiction of 2015. Interestingly, they also recommend it for "young adults" (that is, teenagers, usually 12 and up): http://www.booklistonline.com/Unfaithfu ... id=7718342

This is a big book, literally, by one of the best rockers in the business. Given the singular, and eclectic, nature of his career, it is no surprise that Elvis Costello’s anecdotal autobiography is an idiosyncratic journey through his music and the people and places that have inspired him. Born Declan Patrick MacManus, he fondly recalls his father’s show-business career in England, the first time he heard the Beatles’ “Please Please Me” (“thrilling and confusing”), his early gigs, his wide-eyed first time in America, his controversial debut on Saturday Night Live, his collaboration with Paul McCartney, and his marriage to jazz singer–pianist Diana Krall. Costello offers many small delights and revelations. For example, we learn that Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops is one of his heroes and that the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is his “favorite stage in the world.” We learn, too, about the inspiration for many of his songs, from “Alison” to “Pump It Up” to “Watching the Detectives.” Despite the name-dropping (Dylan, Springsteen, Bowie, Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis), Costello comes across as the perennial outsider, as someone who is surprised that he has been invited to the party. A must for Costello fans everywhere.
— June Sawyers

This title has been recommended for young adult readers:
YA/Mature Readers: Rock fans and aspiring musicians will find Costello accessible, entertaining, and inspiring. —June Sawyers

Publishers Weekly was less impressed, and, frankly, just seems kind of confused: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-399-16725-6

In this massive, circuitous biography, rock music icon Costello attempts to put his life into context, with varying degrees of success. Declan Patrick McManus, aka Elvis Costello, had music in his blood. His grandfather was a trumpet player with the White Star Line, and his father had a long, quirky career as a singer in a dance band and a radio show host, keeping him away from home a great deal. Young Costello was constantly surrounded by music and musicians. Though he spent most of his childhood living with his mother, it was his father who had the greatest influence on him as a performer. He was privy to the latest releases and shared them with his eager son, bonding over a mutual love of music. The narrative rambles, though there are plenty of tales to keep the pages turning. Readers will be fascinated by Costello’s stories of witnessing the Clash recording “London Calling,” absentmindedly leaving his guitar at the White House, and performing at Live Aid, yet he offers them only as asides. Hits such “Accidents Will Happen” and “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” are mentioned only in passing. However, many of his albums are covered in greater detail, as are observations on David Bowie’s skill at party games and Burt Bacharach’s charm. Costello’s an endearing, humble narrator, frequently awed by the opportunity to work with legends such as Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and Chet Baker. For better or worse, his book feels like a discussion between friends over a pint. (Oct.)

[verbal gymnastics]

I'd need quite a few pints to discuss this book.

Sounds like we need a meet up

[scielle]

Some new(?) photos here: http://rockshot.co.uk/dir/16585/rock-me ... aring-ink/

[sweetest punch]

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/unfait ... 1040025811

"The deluxe eBook edition of Elvis Costello’s Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink features two hundred additional photos and images, including more from Costello’s original lyrics notebooks and a selection of his family’s most intriguing documents and vintage photographs. Pages from his father’s scrapbooks from the early ‘50s Merseyside jazz scene are contrasted with a ledger of setlists and meager fees from the author’s early musical partnership in Rusty on the Liverpool club scene and other mementoes from Costello’s musical apprenticeship. There are numerous candid shots of the artist and his collaborators, both on stage and behind the scenes, along with a touching collection of signatures, mostly dedicated to the young Declan MacManus in his autograph book from the 1960s, all of which charts a journey from fan to pop star and back again. Over an hour of excerpts from the audio edition are also featured, including several wonderful anecdotes that were ultimately omitted from the book. These additions serve to enrich the story of an incredible life in music, phenomenally well told."

Amazon's Kindle edition has two versions of the book: a standard version ( http://www.amazon.com/Unfaithful-Music- ... s+costello ) and a deluxe edition ( http://www.amazon.com/Unfaithful-Music- ... s+costello ).

[johnfoyle]

Another extract from the audio -

https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/un ... um=twitter

[johnfoyle]

Another tweeted extract -

[Top balcony]

Another extract from the audio -

https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/un ... um=twitter

love the " ...full of boy-eating spiders..." bit - this will be a great read

Colin Top Balcony

[johnfoyle]

The first few chapters can be read here -

http://www.penguin.com/ajax/books/excerpt/9780399167256

[johnfoyle]

Extract from the above excerpt , about a show in Belfast in March 1978-

On the way to our show at the Queen’s Hall, we saw the Queen’s soldiers on patrol. They looked like little kids, but they were little kids holding machine guns. You knew they’d come from towns that really looked no different from Belfast.

It was all so normal, except for the barbed wire and the observation towers and the armored cars and a tangle of old hatreds and grievances that you could never imagine being reconciled. In the middle of the show, a lad ran up from behind me and grabbed the microphone and started yelling something incoherent. We were so wound up by then that I thought it must be a political statement and left him to it.

It turned out that he was just a local punk rocker trying to make a name for his band. Before the security could grab him, the lad tried to make a spectacular exit by stage diving into the audience.

I think a lot of people had read about Iggy Pop doing this and copied him. I’d even seen Joe Strummer attempt it at the Lyceum Ballroom. On this occasion, the audience just parted like the Red Sea and let the local hero knock himself out on the concrete floor.


In 2008 I researched the 1978 shows that happened in Dublin & Belfast -

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... f=2&t=7052

Greg Cowan of Belfast punk band The Outcasts e-mailed me -

Although memories are hazy of '78 I do remember that Colin (Cowan) ( 19?? - 1982) had come up with a cunning plan to publicise the name of the Outcasts by jumping on stage with any of the few major artists that were playing Belfast at that time. I can't remember in which order it came but during a three month period Colin had jumped on stage with Graham Parker and the Rumour, Boomtown Rats and ,of course, Elvis Costello.

I particularly remember the Elvis Costello gig because our plan was to push Colin on stage from the front so it was a complete surprise to us when Colin suddenly appeared from the rear of the stage and grabbing Elvis Costello's microphone from him began shouting about the Outcasts. As this was during the height of the troubles in Belfast Elvis himself, quite understandably, went into a blind panic and ran off stage (for about five minutes). As we later found out he thought this was some sort of political attack on him. As the bouncers closed in from the wings to apprehend Colin he made a stage dive into the mass crowd who conveniently separated causing Colin to knock himself unconscious on the floor where we collected his limp body and spirited him away.

[johnfoyle]

Going by this extract , this book is going to be a joy to read. Funny, informative and rich in detail.


Being the anorak I am I was , of course, reading the excerpt and just gagging to find mistakes. I was disappointed. Elvis has , it seems, remembered well or done his research.

I did , however, spot this minor one.


Early in 1964, the Joe Loss Orchestra starred in a short cinema release called The Mood Man, in which my Dad reprised the number that he had sung by Royal Command. My mother and I went to see it as a second feature at the local Odeon.


He's a year out -

https://vimeo.com/67602033


The Mood Man , April 1965

BBFC Reference AFF045255 Date passed 19/01/1965 Runtime 26m 04s
Approved Footage 2346 Certificate U
Distributor: United Artists Corp. Ltd.


I'l get my coat etc.

[Ulster Boy]

Well John, one mistake right there. The 78 Belfast show was in the Ulster Hall. There is/was no such place as the Queen's Hall.

[johnfoyle]

Well spotted !

[erey]

So, one tiny error per 10,000 words, is it? For a homeopathic dilution of one hundred parts per million...

[And No Coffee Table]

The excerpt seems to have been removed. (I'm glad I read it in time.)

[johnfoyle]

If anyone wants it , send me a email address via private message.

[johnfoyle]

The extract is still here - scroll down -

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039916 ... eature_div