KOA reissue - ICE Magazine article

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:05 pm

Craig writes to listserv -

There's an article in the new March issue of ICE that
spills the beans about the Rhino reissue of KOA. The
text follows (I corrected the references to "Jack of All
Parades" as "Jack of All Trades", but all else is as it
appears in the article:

-------------------------

A Royal Upgrade for Costello's King of America

The third time might well be the charm for Elvis Costello's
King of America. His adventurous, roots-leaning first
album without the Attractions barely nudged the Top 40
of Billboard's album chart when it was released in 1986.
In 1995, it was reissued by Rykodisc, with a second disc
of rarities. On April 26, Rhino takes a crack at the King,
loading up two CDs with the original album's 15 tracks
and a whopping 21 bonus cuts from 1984-85.

Originally intended as part of the label's Costello reissue
program, which for the last four years has released his
catalog in groups of three albums, King of America will
arrive as a stand-alone. But that's no accident. Co-
producer (with Val Jennings) and iTunes Chief Music
Officer Gary Stewart gives two reasons why KOA is
swinging solo.

"First," Stewart tells ICE, "it's coming on the heels of The
Delivery Man [last year's Costello set on Lost Highway],
which is kind of a roadhouse, roots-rock, country-meets-
soul record. King of America is the first time he tried this
approach with his own material. You hear him working
with T-Bone Burnett, [Los Lobos'] David Hidalgo and
the other Elvis' "T.C.B. band" [guitarist James Burton,
bassist Jerry Scheff, drummer Ronnie Tutt].

"Second, it's Elvis' favorite album, and it's often cited by
fans of his as one of their favorites. It's really the album
that in many ways rehabilitated the term "singer-
songwriter" [from its association with more sedate
autobiographers] and brought back that sort of literate
element of Costello, his love of American music and his
storytelling."

For the fans, already familiar with the original album
(which contianed "Brilliant Mistake," "Sleep of the Just"
and a cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"), the
big news is the new set's second disc. Eleven of its cuts
appeared on the Ryko reissue, most notably the solo
demo "Suffering Face," KOA outtakes "King of Confidence"
and "Shoes Without Heels" and both sides of Burnett
and Costello's Coward Brothers single "The Peoples'
Limousine"/"They'll Never Take Her Love From Me."
Six live covers of songs previously done by Mose Allison,
Waylon Jennings, Percy Sledge and others were performed
by Elvis Costello & His Confederates (Burton, Scheff,
keyboardist Mitchell Froom and drummer Jim Keltner).

Rhino's reissue adds the solo demos of KOA songs
"Indoor Fireworks," "Poisoned Rose," "I'll Wear It
Proudly," "Jack of All Parades" plus "Having It All"
(intended for KOA but unused), "Deportee" (a rewrite
of "Deportee's Club from 1984's Goodbye Cruel
World) and a demo of that same LP's "I Hope You're
Happy Now." Elements of "Betrayal," heard here in
demo form, wound up in "Tramp the Dirt Down" on
1989's Spike.

"Then there's a gorgeous cover of Richard Thompson's
'End of the Rainbow,'" says Stewart. "The only way
people could have heard that was on an anti-drug
benefit record [1986's It's a Live-in World], where the
producers added a bass and background singer without
Elvis' permission." Rounding out the bonuses is a live
version of the Confederates doing Buddy Holly's "True
Love Ways."

The complete track list for Disc Two: "Having It All,"
"Suffering Face," "Deportee," "Indoor Fireworks," "I
Hope You're Happy Now," "Poisoned Rose," "I'll Wear
It Proudly," "Jack of All Parades," "The Peoples'
Limousine," "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me,"
"King of Confidence," "Shoes Without Heels," "End of
the Rainbow," "Betrayal," "That's How You Got Killed
Before," "The Big Light," "It Tears Me Up," "The Only
Daddy That'll Walk the Line," "Your Mind is on Vacation/
Your Funeral My Trial," "That's How You Got Killed
Before (Reprise)," and "True Love Ways."

"The quality of the bonus material," Stewart concludes,
"is so good that the five grade-A songs on there, if they'd
been added to the original album, could have made King
of America a double album on a level with Blonde on
Blonde, Exile on Main Street or London Calling."

-- Gene Sculatti

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:12 pm

April 26, maybe the shows in May will be KOA based!!!

Emotional Toothpaste · Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:30 pm

That'll be a dandy!

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:51 pm

Thanks for posting that John -- one EC article a year hasn't been enough to sustain my ICE subscription. Some surprises in the bonus tracks -- I'm happy to finally be "Having It All" (ba-dum-pum) and I'm especially intrigued about "Betrayal".

April 26 would be nice, though I expect the usual Rhino two-week delay from the original ETA. And I'm still curious about a Juliet Letters reissue....

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:02 pm

Great to see the KOA demos finally getting a commercial release, Betrayal is the only track I've never heard, the version on the Logan Hall boot is worth tracking down. Good to see True Love Ways getting released as well, the bootleg version is dreadful, it's a great performance. Once all these re-issues are out of the way, hopefully Elvis will look into giving similiar stuff, only available on bootlegs, a proper release, even its only downloadable.

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:03 pm

Comparing my notes with the speculation at nunki's site, I see one glaring omission: the live version of "DLMBMisunderstood" from 2/11/86. I also see that there are no Attractions outtakes from the sessions, leaving me still to wonder if the alternate mix of Brilliant Mistake on the King Of Americana boot is them or not.

Nonetheless, I'm still looking forward to this.

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:10 pm

Here's Nunki's page about KOA.

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:15 pm

The Foyles have been very helpful today, as usual! I intended to put a similar link in my post, but forgot. Thanks Martin!

guidedbyvoices · Post by **guidedbyvoices** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:21 pm

Holy crap, True Love Ways is one of my all time favorite songs, can't believe EC covered it.

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:42 pm

Having It All and Suffering Face opening the bonus disc.
When you think about it, it's truly unbelievable - two beautiful ballads that 99% of songwriters could only dream about ever coming close to, are on a disc of EC outtakes, demos, B-sides etc.

Still think it could easily be a 3-disc release. Where is the demo for Sleep Of The Just ? Or Little Palaces and Our Little Angel ?

Anyway, I adore King Of America and just cannot wait for April 26.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:15 pm

A date! He has already been airing some of KOA in the UK with Suit of Lights and Our Little Angel, and was doing Indoor Fireworks and Sleep of the Just and Brilliant Mistake on the North tour, but yeah, let's have more.

And No Coffee Table · Post by **And No Coffee Table** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:26 pm

wardo68 wrote:I also see that there are no Attractions outtakes from the sessions

There actually is one Attractions outtake: "Betrayal."

There are a couple of other new details at the EC on Rhino site.

http://www.geocities.com/ned3705/koa.html

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:46 pm

And No Coffee Table wrote:There actually is one Attractions outtake: "Betrayal."

Aha! I see nunki's on the stick. I'll be watching that space for further details....

sweetest punch · Post by **sweetest punch** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:30 pm

Rhino's releasedate is april 26, could this mean that we will see the Demon version a few weeks earlier?

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:47 pm

*anxiously awaiting re-release*

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:05 pm

Wow. Can't wait to get my hands on this one. This is the re-release that I have most been looking forward to, since I still have the crappy Columbia CD and never picked up the Rykodisc version.

Branst · Post by **Branst** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:19 pm

Yes! Finally! Can't wait to get my hands on it! I was sure that I wasn't going to see this until at least August but I'm glad it's coming out so soon,

migdd · Post by **migdd** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:19 pm

Definitely drooling in anticipation over this one! Elvis' crown jewel getting the royal treatment. . .Imperial margerine bedammed. . .bring on the King!!!

Okay, I'll stop now!!!

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:22 pm

from Billboard.com:

Costello's 'King' Receives Rhino Revamp

"King of America," the 1986 album that saw Elvis Costello ditch the Attractions and turn introspective and even rootsy, is the latest of the artist's catalog titles lined up for reissue via Rhino. Due April 26, the Warner Bros. set is expanded to two discs, the second of which boasts a host of Costello's solo demos, as well as rare Coward Brothers and live recordings.

The set was originally credited to the Costello Show Featuring the Attractions and Confederates, since one song -- "Suit of Lights" -- survived scrapped recordings with Costello's longtime band that were intended to make up half of the album. The rest of the set features a crack lineup of musicians that includes guitarists T-Bone Burnett and James Burton, drummers Jim Keltner, Mickey Curry, Ron Tutt and Earl Palmer, bassists Ray Brown and Jerry Scheff, keyboardist Mitchell Froom and multi-instrumentalist T-Bone Wolk.

A critical success, "King of America" found mediocre commercial acceptance upon release, reaching No. 39 on The Billboard 200. Although a cover of the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" received the lion's share of rock radio's attention at the time, several songs on the album are top favorites among fans, including "Brilliant Mistake," "Indoor Fireworks," "The Big Light" and "Glitter Gulch."

The new edition's 21-song second disc relies heavily on solo demo recordings to differ it from Rykodisc's 1995 reissue of the title. In addition to several songs that made it through to the original album, there are other notable demos, including "Having It All" and "I Hope You're Happy Now." Only one new live recording not on the Ryko edition appears on the new set, a version of Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways."

While the recordings of "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me" and "The People's Limousine" by the aforementioned Coward Brothers, which consisted of Costello and Burnett, were included on Ryko's version of "King of America," they are still a necessary inclusion relating to this period of Costello's career.

During a Q&A session at last week's South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, Costello insisted that reissuing his catalog again is not a ploy to confuse or milk the cash of his diehard fans. "[They are] for those who missed it the first time around," he said, not for "those obsessed with having everything."

-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

guidedbyvoices · Post by **guidedbyvoices** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:28 pm

Although a cover of the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" received the lion's share of rock radio's attention at the time, several songs on the album are top favorites among fans, including "Brilliant Mistake," "Indoor Fireworks," "The Big Light" and "Glitter Gulch."

Really? God, I can't stand Glitter Gulch or Big Light, the only 2 blights on the album for me.

VonOfterdingen · Post by **VonOfterdingen** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:38 pm

sweetest punch wrote:Rhino's releasedate is april 26, could this mean that we will see the Demon version a few weeks earlier?

Is there a difference? Is one of the labels American and the other European? I don't get it...

sweetest punch · Post by **sweetest punch** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:56 pm

VonOfterdingen wrote:
sweetest punch wrote:Rhino's releasedate is april 26, could this mean that we will see the Demon version a few weeks earlier?
Is there a difference? Is one of the labels American and the other European? I don't get it...

EC has lincensed his backcatalogue to two recordcompany's: Rhino releases his albums in the USA and Canada; Demon/Edsel releases his albums in the rest of the world (Europe and Japan).
The reason for this is somewhat unclear... Maybe Warner wouldn't sell his albums (from Spike to All This Useless Beauty) to him for rereleasing, so he had little choice but giving Rhino (that is part of Warner) the rights to his other albums? Maybe Rhino was primarily interested in the American market? Maybe he had some old 'deals' with Demon (that he co-owned until a few years ago)?

VonOfterdingen · Post by **VonOfterdingen** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:07 am

Ok - thanks. So i guess that both versions contain the same songs

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:08 pm

guidedbyvoices wrote:Really? God, I can't stand Glitter Gulch or Big Light, the only 2 blights on the album for me.

[/quote]
Indeed, an absurd misrepresentation!

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:25 pm

Just one little question. I was just going to order King Of America from amazon.com when I looked at the tracklisting of Disc 1 and ... there are only 14 songs on it !! Where the hell is "Sleep Of The Just" ?!

I hope it's just a stupid mistake but it's the same on amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk (import).
Can anyone please check it at some other US internet stores ?