Costello biographer Graeme Thomson

[the_roofdog]

I was sent the paperback copy of the same book, and discovered that the 2,000-word update I had written for the revised edition had been omitted entirely through an act of almost heroic incompetence.

Wow! Well if you're going to do incompetence, do it properly. Did this update ever see the light of day anywhere? I thought CS started well but somewhere around 'Armed Forces' got stuck in a rut going through the discography describing how each record was recorded then how it was received over and over again. The "formative years" stuff is great though. Compare and contrast with the recent Keith Richards book where he only mentions about four of the records. That's probably because he can't remember the rest though.

[johnfoyle]

Did this update ever see the light of day anywhere?

It's on page 3 of this thread.

[johnfoyle]

Elvis is mentioned three times in the index. Graeme thinks Johnny could have done a good version of Different Finger if given the chance. Later he thinks The Big Light is a highlight of Johnny's 1987 album Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town.Finally he mentions Elvis' n Johnny's 1979 duet recording of We Ought To Be Ashamed . Graeme further adds that this recording was released on the 2005 collection Johnny Cash:The Legend. It would, of course, be awfully nerdy of me to mention that it appeared a year earlier on the '04 re-issue of Almost Blue!

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... Be_Ashamed

Graeme's bio. note says he is the author of 'acclaimed biographies of elusive, often difficult musicians'.


I'm looking forward to reading this . A casual flick through it indicates it has Graeme's usually pleasing mix of editorial and narration.

[johnfoyle]

I've just submitted this review to Amazon -

5.0 out of 5 stars

A thoughtful exploration of Johnny Cash's last 'myth', 22 April 2011

The hydra-headed beast that was the public personae of Johnny Cash is carefully explored in Graeme's latest book. The emphasis is on the Rick Rubin devised version of Johnny was would be the Man In Blacks send off , with ample reference to his past career giving depth to the portrayal. The fact that calculation and premeditation were abiding elements is plainly stated and are shown to be acceptable in that at its core was the powerhouse and force of nature that was Johnny. Assessments of the recordings are skillfully blended with many an apt quote from the people involved. U2's Adam Clayton is exceptionally cogent in his comments, time and again encapsulating facets of the story. It's a book that'll have you re-listening to Johnny's work with a whole new frame of mind.

[johnfoyle]

I don't know how legit this is but most of the first chapter of Graeme's bio of Elvis is here -

http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/servlet/DC ... cerpt=true

[johnfoyle]

Graeme's excellent biography of Kate Bush is now out in paperback -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1780 ... d_i=468294

[johnfoyle]

Graeme has a new book out this week -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1780 ... d_i=468294





George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door


Book Description

Publication Date: 17 Sep 2013

Published to co-incide with what would have been the 70th anniversary of George Harrison's birth. Explores Harrison's work both within and without the Beatles and at the same time examining in detail his private and public passions, from Eastern spiritualism to horticulture, from comedy to film-making, from fast cars to working with UNICEF. His career renaissance in the 80s with the Travelling Wilburys. His last few years which were scarred by two bouts of cancer and a knife attack which almost killed him. His legacy, including his final album and memorial concert.

A review -

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20130 ... 19643#full

[johnfoyle]

Elvis biographer Graeme Thomson talks about that book at about 17 minutes into this - the rest is interesting too - quite a life!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02j8c1c

[johnfoyle]

Graeme has new book out & once again I have to declare a bit of a bias....






Graeme asked us to read the account of Phil's growing up in Dublin, the first 120 pages or so, just to see if there was anything that us as Dubliners might spot as being a bit iffy. A few misspellings of street names aside , it was grand , Graeme really conveying the spirit of the times and place. Shamefully, I ended up learning a lot about the time and situation that I really should have known!

[Man out of Time]

Better late than never... A review of 'Complicated Shadows' by Tierney Smith, published on page 64 of Goldmine magazine in the US on February 17, 2006:

" Complicated Shadows: The Life And Music Of Elvis Costello

by Graeme Thomson

Canongate (hardcover, 342 pages, $24)

Though he didn't interview Elvis Costello for this meticulously researched bio, journalist Graeme Thomson talked to several people intimately acquainted with Costello, from ex-classmates to friends and lovers, which collectively brings the man and the artist vividly to life. The former Declan Patrick MacManus' lifelong passion for a wide range of music began early. His father was a vocalist with The Joe Loss Orchestra, the U.K.'s most famous Big Band, and Costello, writes Thomson, was from birth ''simply immersed in an ocean of wide-ranging sounds as an integral part of a rounded, liberal and socially aware upbringing.''

In his early 20s Costello was fronting the pub rock band Flip City (which he now dismisses as ''just a regular bar band''). Their signature tune, ''Radio Soul'' was, according to Thomson, an ''earlier, gentler version of 'Radio Radio''' and ''a straightforwardly affectionate nod to the wireless rather than the withering attack it later became.'' Thomson's album-by-album examination of Costello's work brings a wealth of new insight into his songs, often revealing the inspiration behind many of those tunes (such as how Costello's tempestuous union with first wife Mary fueled the ire present in his early songs). Always a multifaceted songwriter, Costello nevertheless embraced a punk attitude at the onset of his career, ''astute enough to know it gave him the perfect opportunity to make his mark.''

His lauded 1977 debut, My Aim Is True , which Costello terms ''the only songs in a rock idiom where a guy is admitting absolute defeat. I'm talking about being a complete loser,'' firmly established his persona as an angry young man. As it turns out, that was no mere image. Costello's antagonistic stance toward his audience and his tense, sometimes volatile relations with his band, The Attractions (whose members never bonded as individuals), are detailed here as are the tumultuous American tours plagued by the band's ''loutish rock star behavior.'' That includes the well-publicized dust-up at a Columbus, Ohio, bar with Stephen Stills and his entourage which found a drunken Costello hurling racist invective at the mere mention of James Brown and Ray Charles' names, an incident that served to slow down Costello's commercial momentum.

Thomson doesn't gloss over the sometimes dirty details of Costello's private life, from his stormy affair with model/groupie Bebe Buell (which seemed to bring out the worst in him) to his subsequent marriages to Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan (much to the consternation of her band, who heaped taunts and abuse on him) and jazz singer Diana Krall.

Costello's eventual transformation into a kinder, gentler, more press-accessible artist mirrored the changes in his music. Moving in and out of the mainstream, Costello went on to tackle classic country and pop, but, as revealed here, was frequently stung by criticism of his work and disappointed by less-than-stellar record sales. The author notes that Costello's ''almost pathological eclecticism and fearsome drive'' seemed motivated by ''a keen awareness of his own legacy, a desire to ensure that his musical obituary will be as monolithic and far reaching as humanly possible.''

Considering the wide scope of Costello's career, the only thing missing from this deeply illuminating bio is a handy discography."

MOOT