Spectacle season 2

[FAVEHOUR]

Last year the show was a co-production between Sundance Channel, CTV, Channel 4, and FremantleMedia. This season only Sundance Channel and CTV appear in the credits. The budget restrictions EC has mentioned may be related to this change.

Also I don't see Dell as a sponsor anymore, seems to be Infiniti only.

[johnfoyle]

John Ottaviano
to COSTELLO-L



Hey, gang, I'm interviewing one of the producers of Spectacle this Monday
night. Feel free to shoot me some questions and I'll be happy to ask them.
Details are below. Feel free to post all around the internet:

Monday night, December 18 at 9 pm EST on the Salvage & Recovery Radio Show,
host John O will interview Jordan Jacobs, executive producer and co-creator
of “Spectacle” the acclaimed music interview show hosted by Elvis Costello.
First season guests included Tony Bennett, Smokey Robinson, Lou Reed, Norah
Jones, Rufus Wainwright and this season’s guests will include Bruce
Sprinsteen, U2, Neko Case, Levon Helm, Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson, Ray
Lamontagne and, Elvis Costello himself. We’ll find out how they arrive at
their guests and the unique atmosphere created when great musicians are
interviewed by one of their own. We’ll also be giving away a DVD of the
first season of “Spectacle with Elvis Costello”

Listening details are below.

Thanks,
John O

Salvage & Recovery Radio
Every Monday Night 8 to 10 pm EST
WUSB 90.1 FM, Stony Brook, LI, NY
www.wusb.fm - johno@wusb.fm
Listen online @
http://stream.wusb.stonybrook.edu:8090/listen.pls

Archived @
http://stream.wusb.stonybrook.edu:8090/ ... n-2000.pls
http://stream.wusb.stonybrook.edu:8090/ ... 2000.1.pls
and
http://stream.wusb.stonybrook.edu:8090/ ... n-2000.pls
http://stream.wusb.stonybrook.edu:8090/ ... 2000.1.pls

[Ken(adian)]

Canada AM: Elvis Costello on his return to TV

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/top-picks/elvis-returns

Canada AM: Elvis Costello on his return to TV
Elvis Costello chats about hosting the second season of the critically acclaimed music-talk show.

Really enjoyed the U2 episode last night.

Cheers,
Ken(adian)

[sweetest punch]

The episode with Bono and The Edge is available on Dime.

[johnfoyle]

Pump It Up + Get On Your Boots: Elvis Costello, Bono, The Edge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXUaE2D7_cU

[charliestumpy]

Thanks for the links and to the poster of the Bono etc performings/EC Mysterious ways-Stuck in a moment ycgoo ...

[johnfoyle]

"Stay (Faraway, So Close)" - Bono, The Edge on Elvis Costello's Spectacle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xZZ5fLMh-g

[scamp]

I decided to check that out since I don't have cable. Wonderful show thank you EC for saving us from the (so-called) reality show epidemic.

[johnfoyle]

"Stuck in a Moment..." - Elvis Costello, Bono, The Edge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD6VeasB ... r_embedded

[charliestumpy]

Mysterious ways - Spec.2 2009-12-10

EC - also posted on Youtube by deerfried ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIITYnvF ... re=channel

[sweetest punch]

http://www.playbackonline.ca/articles/d ... sheet.html

Meanwhile, the broadcaster (CTV) drew 350,000 viewers for a sneak peek of the new season of Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... on Friday at 10 p.m. The episode featured special guests Bono and The Edge. The rest of the musically minded talk show's sophomore season will roll out midseason

[johnfoyle]

Although no U.K. broadcast details seem to be available it's interesting to see that a newly set up U.K company has the copyright for this series -

http://www.ukdata.com/numbers/07006600.html

Company name - CHATTING GLASSES 2 UK LIMITED
Company incorporation date - 02/09/2009

Registered Number: 07006600 - Registered at Companies House on 02/09/2009
Type of business: Unknown
Address: 1 BLYTHE ROAD
LONDON
W14 0HG

[johnfoyle]

Full picture -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOJAUs4b ... re=related

High definition ( better sound) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgjLdLGz ... re=related

Bono & Steve Nieve (on piano) - Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad UNPLUGGED on Spectacle

[johnfoyle]

I got this neat image by photographing the Youtube clip -

[Jack of All Parades]

Favorite part of the second show of the new season- the gentlemanly Jesse Winchester and "The Last Tennesse Waltz"-bringing back memories of a small club date 38 years ago-fan then and still a fan-nice to see him again- "Defying Gravity" indeed.

[Ypsilanti]

Last night's show (12/16) is my favorite of the entire series, hands down. Wow! Cheryl Crow was clearly the least amazing of the group (although she's probably sold 100 times more albums than Elvis and the other performers, combined), but I have no beef with her--she was OK. The other 3 guests, however, were really something special! It was a great, great show! Having been in the audience for this one I can say it's a real shame so much awesome stuff didn't make the broadcast--I'll have to wait for the Season 2 DVD set, I guess.

Seriously--if there isn't a 3rd season and then a 4th, and so on...it's a crime against God.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.examiner.com/x-16590-Manhatt ... -Spectacle


Three of 19 "Spectacle" posters picturing Elvis Costello in Times Square Station.
Jim Bessman

Elvis Costello's subway 'Spectacle'

Jim Bessman

December 17 '09

Manhattan Local Music Examiner

The second season of Sundance Channel’s Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…. is being promoted in New York with one of the biggest subway poster campaign ever.

Over 2,000 Spectacle: Elvis Costello With… outdoor ads have been plastered on subway station walls, covering more than 40,000 square feet. A similar push is targeting Los Angeles and Nashville, with the promotion being further buttressed by a mix of national and local print, on-air and online media placements, as well as radio promotions in the Top 10 Markets where listeners have a chance to win a DVD box set of the complete first season of Spectacle.

“It’s a very ambitious subway roll-out—but it’s a very important show,” says Sundance Channel’s senior VP of marketing Shari Weisenberg. “Elvis speaks to everything that Sundance is about--the caliber of artists we have on our air, and the intimate conversations we’re able to have and bring to viewers.”
Costello, she continues, “has such great respect from the music community, and his understanding of it makes the show so compelling. Just looking at the roster of guests shows why we made such a big investment.”

The seven-part second season of the hour-long weekly Spectacle: Elvis Costello With… began Dec. 9, with guest artists including Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, Nick Lowe, Levon Helm, Richard Thompson and Allen Toussaint.

“The posters announce the series as a whole as well as each of the guests individually,” notes Weisenberg, and sure enough, Times Square Station has a wall of 19 floor-to-ceiling posters jammed together, each with a subtly different Costello facial expression and promoting one artist or the entire series.

“It’s a great way to bring him to life,” says Weisenberg of the varied Costello poses. She adds that it also distinguishes the channel in focusing on the stature of Costello and his peers.

“There are a lot of talk shows and music shows, but it’s really something to get someone of Elvis’s caliber—and the conversations and performances that come out of it,” she says.

Weisenberg adds that Sundance has a big Spectacle exposure at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, as well as the entire face of the CNN building on Sunset Boulevard. Huge billboards are also up in Nashville.

“These cities, of course, are also very important from a music perspective,” she says.

All signage also features Infiniti branding, since each Spectacle episode also has an Infiniti-underwritten “Inspiration Sessions” segment consisting of behind-the-scenes footage of Costello’s guests discussing the artists and the music that inspired them.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.sweepstakesdaily.com/sundanc ... eepstakes/

Win a Gibson Pure Guitar, Autographed by Elvis Costello and Elton John

Prize(s): One (1) GRAND PRIZE: a Gibson Pure guitar, autographed by Elvis Costello and Elton John.
ARV of the Grand Prize is $1,200.

(10) Each Runner-Up prize winners will receive a complete Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…Season 1 DVD set.
ARV of each Runner-Up prize set is $39.99.

Expires: January 27, 2010

Minimum Age: 18 years and older

Open To: Legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia

Entry Frequency: Daily

http://www.sundancechannel.com/spectacle/sweepstakes/

The Ultimate Spectacle Sweepstakes!

Sundance Channel wants you to experience the rock n roll life with the Ultimate Spectacle Sweepstakes giveaway.

Tell us your favorite Elvis Costello song and enter for a chance to win your very own official Spectacle Gibson guitar signed by host Elvis Costello and Executive Producer Elton John.

Plus 10 lucky winners will win a complete Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...Season 1 DVD pack sure to inspire your inner rock star.

And check out the entire Season 2 line-up plus exclusive behind the scenes coverage....Enter now!

[wordnat]

I agree that Sheryl Crow was in over her head. I taped last night's episode and skipped over her tunes. Jesse Winchester was a revelation, however -- what a voice! GREAT episode....

[sweetest punch]

From the episode with Sheryl Crow, Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case and Jesse Winchester (Thanks to deerfried):
Everyday I Write The Book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgYO3Se-VHk
Ring Them Bells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckkHB3Y2DcI
Leaving Las Vegas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzCne3wm ... re=channel
Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKGWpqn ... re=channel
Don't Forget Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9KrotLt ... re=channel
If It Makes You Happy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEgGPuxc ... re=channel
Secret Heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsCy4AW_ ... re=channel

[charliestumpy]

Thanks for sharing the links, and to deerfried again ....

[johnfoyle]

http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfilte ... nick-lowe/


Elvis Costello with Nick Lowe on SPECTACLE


SPECTACLE REPORT: Elvis Costello’s Must-Hear Tracks

Levon Helm, Allen Toussaint, Richard Thompson and Nick Lowe
December 22nd, 2009 by Elvis Costello


BUILDING THE BAND

This was one of the more chaotic SPECTACLE evenings. It was also one of the most joyful. We began with the simple idea of constructing a one-time-only band of guitar, piano, bass and drums, each member having taken some kind of cue from another somewhere along the line. It was a pretty unique combination of players and writers…

RICHARD THOMPSON – Electric Guitar

I first heard Richard play the guitar in 1970 with Fairport Convention, a group that amplified English folk airs in much the same way The Band drew from the rivers and tributaries of American music.

A year later I saw him playing Buddy Holly songs with an ensemble of traditional folk stars who were moonlighting as The Bunch; they shared a festival bill with Tim Hardin, Dion, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, James Taylor and The Byrds.

I have admired Richard’s work these long years – singing or recording “Withered and Died” and “End Of The Rainbow” myself, and even making a feeble attempt to imitate his writing style in a song called “Joe Porterhouse.”

However, what he can achieve with an acoustic or, especially, an electric guitar solo, is almost beyond my comprehension – and quite beyond my reach.

His SPECTACLE solo on “Shoot Out The Lights” took but a few moments to reach an intensity that few guitar players even know about. I tried to describe the effect to a friend and could only manage “It was like driving a Maserati off a cliff in six seconds and surviving.”

Here are some other songs of his that you shouldn’t miss.

“The Calvary Cross” – I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (1974)

One of the most beautiful and unsettling songs from Richard & Linda Thompson’s masterpiece. Seek out the nine-minute live rendition to hear Richard’s guitar playing at his most extreme and inventive.

“How I Wanted To” – Hand of Kindness (1983)

If there were still record producers with great ears, or A&R men with respect and influence, this song might have enjoyed many covers. I dream of hearing an R&B singer like the late and remarkable James Carr singing this desolate song.

I even tried to bring my own, rather more modestly skilled, rendition of the song to the SPECTACLE stage, but the rigors of the working week didn’t allow me to do it justice, and the song stayed on the editing room floor.

“Poppy Red” – from Sweet Warrior (2007)

Richard continues to write songs of wit and surprise, laced through albums awaiting your discovery. This is an absolute gem.

ALLEN TOUSSAINT – Piano

The transformation of a studio-based songwriter, producer and occasional recording artist to a travelling and performing artist is one of the more inspiring stories among the many trials and sorrows which faced New Orleans musicians after the post-Katrina disasters.

I’ve been fortunate to know Allen Toussaint for over 25 years, but our brief studio collaborations in the mid-to-late ‘80s cannot not compare with the experience of writing, recording and touring with this great musician in the last few years.

Allen’s modest demeanor belies the distance that some of his songs have travelled. The Rolling Stones were just one of a thousand groups who recorded “Fortune Teller.”

His impact is broad. Check the writing credits of R&B classics (Ernie K-Doe), rock ‘n’ roll songs (The Who), countrypolitian hits (Glen Campbell) and even TV show themes (The Dating Game). The name will read “Allen Toussaint.”

When I was a 20-year-old novice, I would see Nick Lowe play in the band Brinsley Schwarz. He would sometimes sing a great Lee Dorsey cover, “Hello Mama,” while his bandmate Bob Andrews took lead vocal on another Dorsey rarity, “Wonder Woman.” Both are songs from the Toussaint catalogue.

A couple of years ago I got to participate in one of Levon Helm’s “Midnight Ramble” shows in Woodstock, and there I witnessed the reunion of Allen and Levon, some 30 years after Allen had contributed those incredible horn charts to The Band’s live album, Rock of Ages. So perhaps it’s only appropriate that the SPECTACLE performance of Allen’s “A Certain Girl” concludes with a dialogue between just piano and drums.

Here are a few wonderful Allen Toussaint songs and performances that you should seek out.

“Freedom For The Stallion” – The Complete Warner Brothers Recordings (2004)

This is one of the Toussaint songs that was true when it was written, and seems even timelier today. Allen’s live rendition has a gravity and beauty that just about edges ahead of the Lee Dorsey recording on the Yes We Can album sessions – which, of course, A.T. also arranged and produced.

Lee Dorsey, “Riverboat” – from Yes We Can (1970)

Many of Allen’s songs provide a glimpse through a curtain into another way of living. “Riverboat” is just that sort of song. First cut by Lee Dorsey, it was later given a wonderfully cinematic reading by Van Dyke Parks on the Discover America album.

“Blue Drag” – from Bright Mississippi (2009)

Producer Joe Henry gathered an incredible ensemble to compliment Allen on his recent album of traditional New Orleans jazz compositions and related numbers, such as this Django Reinhardt tune. Hearing Allen’s piano connect with Marc Ribot’s guitar, both on record and during the three sets I caught during his five-night stand at New York’s Village Vanguard, was among 2009’s musical highlights – proof that the riches of the past permit the future that lies ahead.

NICK LOWE – Bass

I’ve known Nick Lowe ever since I bought him a drink in a pub near the Cavern club when I was living in Liverpool in the early ’70s. When I returned to London in 1973 to pursue my musical vocation, Nick was the one approachable person who I knew was making a living by playing in a band.

During Nick’s appearance on SPECTACLE we didn’t speak much about how he ended up producing five of my albums, or the fact that I had revived “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” a song that probably kept the wolf from Nick’s door after another artist cut it for the soundtrack of a hugely successful motion picture. Neither of us is sentimental or nostalgic by nature, but it was quite emotional for us to stand side by side on the famous stage of the Apollo Theater.

I want to take this opportunity to say how much I admire Nick’s more recent song writing. He always took cues and played songs by writers such as Allen Toussaint, Charlie Rich and Dan Penn. I think his ballads now have the same easy grace as Allen’s “It’s Raining,” Charlie’s “Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs,” or Dan’s “Out of Left Field.”

Here are few more of Nick’s songs that I love.

Brinsley Schwarz, “Don’t Lose Your Grip On Love” – Nervous On The Road (1972)

This beautiful R&B ballad was one of two songs on which I modelled my early tune “Alison” (the other was The [Detroit] Spinners’ “Ghetto Child”). I’ve even begun performing the song with the Imposters in recent years.

Dave Edmunds, “Here Comes The Weekend” – from Get It (1977)

At the time Nick was producing my first records, he was also in real live rock ‘n’ roll band with Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams called Rockpile. Unfortunately, contractual commitments prevented the band from recording under that banner when they were working at full tilt, but Nick and Dave contributed to each other’s records, often taking cues from the Everly Brothers. This is a perfect three-minute record.

“36 Inches High” – from Jesus of Cool (1978)
“Big Kick, Plain Scrap” – from Labour of Lust (1979)
“Basing Street” – from 16 All-Time Lowes (1984)

Nick would probably now scoff at the idea of being a legendary punk or New Wave producer, but quite apart from directing the Attractions and I to “Make it sound like a dinosaur eating cars,” and using a whip and chair in the task of corralling The Damned, between 1976 and 1980 he also made some wonderfully original – and just plain weird – records. Dig that crazy organ break on Jim Ford’s “36 Inches High,” the chemical strangeness of “Big Kick, Plain Scrap,” and a vocal on the tragic portrait of “Basing Street” that is so beyond intimate, it sounds as if it’s coming from within the singer’s head.

“Shelley My Love” – from The Impossible Bird (1994)
“I’m A Mess” – from The Convincer (2001)
“The Man That I’ve Become” – from Dig My Mood (1998)

There’s a great new compilation available called Quiet Please – The New Best of Nick Lowe, but even this survey of nearly 50 tracks misses some gems, so do seek out The Brentford Trilogy, a series of records featuring Nick’s more recent, confidential, approach.

LEVON HELM – Drums

The Band’s music seems both timeless and strange. I suppose you might call it simultaneously arcane and familiar. The precision songwriting was animated by five unique instrumentalists and inhabited by three remarkable vocalists.

All kinds of musicians have tried to take a similar approach; a few of them have shared the SPECTACLE stage. But no one I can think of ever released anything of equal results – though a lot of fine music was created in the attempt.

The Band’s music doesn’t acknowledge borders. Perhaps this explains how the work of a group containing four Ontarians came to be so identified with the American South.

Through the benefit of hindsight, it’s possible to see that a lot of The Band’s old world mischief and easy authority came from a son of Arkansas who sat at the drum chair.

“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” – from The Band (1969)

This rightly famous performance contains just about everything that is great about The Band, framing Levon’s heartbreaking vocal with the superb commentary of his own rhythmic press rolls and military drum fills. Even though your head tells you that this was a record made in the second half of the 20th century, it also creates the illusion that this music could be beaming in from the era described in the lyric.

“Life Is A Carnival” – from Cahoots (1971)

While writing of my unique experience of sitting in at a snowbound “Midnight Ramble” show, I was trying to describe Levon’s playing. Words never really do justice to music, so the closest I could get to explaining the magical effect of Levon escaping a tight musical corner with a remarkable drum fill was by saying that he played, “Like a tap-dancer in a rapidly flooding room.”

During the SPECTACLE gathering, Allen Toussaint gives a pretty good account of the impact of hearing Levon’s idiosyncratic playing upon his superb horn arrangement for this track. The combined talents create a kind of funk that can’t be duplicated.

Levon Helm, “Kingfish” – from Electric Dirt (2009)

The first time I heard Levon’s rendition of Randy Newman’s great song, it seemed impossible that this version had not existed until now. It is an absolutely perfect song for Levon to sing.

Following the wonderful Dirt Farmer, this album is the rock ‘n’ roll record that I’ve wanted to hear from Levon since seeing him and Rick Danko playing at New York’s Lone Star Café in the 1980s.

Levon’s recovery from throat cancer brought an increased workload which has temporarily caused him to take a vocal rest. He only played drums on his SPECTACLE appearance – if it could ever be said that he only plays drums. No question, though: the vocal performances on “Kingfish” and throughout Electric Dirt are among the finest that he has ever put on tape. I hope that there are even more to come.

[johnfoyle]

Elvis has 'blogged' for this site before -


http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfilte ... u2-tracks/


SPECTACLE REPORT:

Elvis Costello’s Must-Hear U2 Tracks

December 9th, 2009 by Elvis Costello


Our esteemed host has a discerning ear. For the second season of Spectacle, we asked him to choose a track or two from his guests’ sizable songbooks. Not “the greatest” or most iconic tunes necessarily, but pieces that have always knocked him out. We’ll update the list each week.


BONO & THE EDGE

I really became a true fan of U2 after the release of Achtung Baby, and particularly dig both the Zooropa and Pop albums.

Perhaps what really pulled me in were those occasional melodic references to David Bowie, and what I take to be the most overtly audible influence of Brian Eno in all of U2’s recordings.

After all, during our U.S. tours of late ’77 and early ’78, the Attractions and I had ridden around in a station wagon listening to little else than ABBA and Bowie and Iggy Pop’s Berlin records, so these most European U2 albums naturally appealed to me.

Perhaps I was too involved with the pace of my own life and work to spend much time with the earliest U2 records. I can’t pretend that I understood what the band was doing when I first heard them.

That’s not to say that I don’t like any of those great early songs; in fact I love the way they take their place in U2’s stage shows.

I’ve seen the band play many times and give stellar performances of songs such as “Bad,” “Mysterious Ways,” “Gone,” “Kite” and especially, the magnificent “One,” which utterly dwarf the scale and impact of the recorded renditions.

Those shows are the work of U2, the four-piece band. My conversation with the singer and guitarist took in the whole band’s approach to music making, but gave a little more idea of their personal contribution to particular songs.

Here are two of U2’s tunes that I like for different reasons.

“Please” – from Pop (1997)

Having seen the band play this in concert several times, I was delighted to find a re-mixed single which seemed to allow the song to speak with similar clarity.

The cover of that E.P. release featured Warhol-style portraits of four major figures of the political conflict in Northern Ireland. The relationship of this song to the painful, self-defeating progress towards peace needed no further underlining than the appeal, “Get up off your knees.”

I’ve recorded and performed the song before in a solo arrangement based on an open-tuned acoustic guitar figure. The Imposters and I attempted to combine this with a rhythm section approach during the opening set of songs taped at the Spectacle episode with Bono and The Edge.

Not everything can make it into 52 minutes, and that version didn’t make the cut, but my appreciation of the song was only deepened by the fact that it remains both fluid and elusive.

“In A Little While” – from All You Can’t Leave Behind (2000)

I remember visiting U2’s Dublin H.Q. around the time the band had finished the studio recordings for Rattle and Hum. Edge played me mixes of “Angel of Harlem” and “Desire,” and I recall being surprised at U2 employing these more conventional songs structures to such good effect.

Since that time, they’ve done it as the mood and material suited, while at other times their songs seem not to have any ancestors at all. Either approach will work.

“In A Little While” seems to have echoes of Curtis Mayfield or Jimi Hendrix ballad, while ultimately sounding like nothing other than U2.

In richer days, I could have imagined some great R&B singer making this one their property. Perhaps it’s not too late.



http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfilte ... ll-tracks/


From left, Jesse Winchester, Neko Case, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and Ron Sexsmith
on SPECTACLE’S “Guitar Pull.”

SPECTACLE REPORT:

Elvis Costello’s Must-Hear “Guitar Pull” Tracks

December 14th, 2009 by Elvis Costello



RON SEXSMITH
I’ve known Ron since just after the release of his first record. He’s probably gotten tired of reading my name in a paragraph with his simply because I’m among those who think it extraordinary that at least one of his records isn’t in every household in the land. So, where should you begin if for some reason you don’t already know Ron’s songs? The answer is everywhere. Buy his first record. Buy his next release and then everything in between, if you can afford it. Each collection contains gems that you will be happy to have heard. Here are a couple of songs you shouldn’t miss.

“Child Star” – from Other Songs (1997)

Ron’s elegant, restrained vocal style might make people attach the word “melancholy” to his work, but he has written songs that are both poignant and of a hopeful spirit. There’s also a sharp, unsentimental edge to some of his lyrics that is easily missed in the beauty of his singing. “Child Star” is one of three portraits, or narrative songs, that I could have picked from Ron’s second album. I could easily have chosen “Clown In Broad Daylight” or “Strawberry Blonde,” but I’m going for this wonderful ballad about a tragic show-business life. It’s a song that is worth the weight of a book or film. I remember thinking that Ron could have teased the audience a little more by choosing his most boyish picture and making this song the title track of that album.

“The Words We Never Use” – from Rarities (2000)

No matter how well Ron’s songs are framed on record, I find nothing as persuasive as his solo performance. Therefore I was delighted to hear this unadorned live rendition of one of the many timeless songs from his debut record in a collection called Rarities. This performance puts the spotlight on the easy grace his voice. It shouldn’t surprise anyone Ron is a fan of Bing Crosby, as well as the Brothers Everly and Louvin. The song also contains one extravagant, poetic image, “the willow of your smile,” painting a sad visage with one word. It is the epitome of his austere and admirable use of language.
Another album that is really worth tracking down is Destination Unknown. That’s where Ron and his colleague Don Kerr are co-billed, and give us their take on the vocal harmony duo style. My favorite cut is “Reacquainted.” Finally, I would recommend “Comrade Fill No Glass For Me,” Ron’s beautiful contribution to Beautiful Dreamer, a collection of songs by Stephen Foster, whose melodies are now known to everyone, but who died with 29 cents in his pockets. Fame can ebb and flow, but like Foster, Ron Sexsmith is the best version of Ron Sexsmith available to us, now and forever.

SHERYL CROW
One of the surprises of SPECTACLE is in hearing big hit tunes played in the manner in which they may have sprung to life – as accompanied by one guitar. Sheryl certainly has plenty of those in her bag. However, some of my favorites of hers have come about when her songwriting has taken an unexpected turn, whether by design or, unblinking, through the challenge of fate.

“Superstar” – from Sheryl Crow (1996)

“Make It Go Away (Radiation Song)” – from Detours (2008)

Sheryl is a wonderful harmony singer, so I had the idea that SPECTACLE’s “Guitar Pull” episode would give her numerous opportunities to shine, in both foreground and middle distance. She’s part of a wonderful duet with Willie Nelson on “If I Were A Carpenter,” from Anchored In Love, John Carter Cash’s tribute record to his mother, June Carter. The “original” rendition of this arrangement of Tim Hardin’s song was by June and Johnny Cash. Now, I’ve sung with both Willie and Johnny Cash and I know that with such indelible, vivid vocal stylists any duet partner has two choices: get out of the way or cling on for dear life.

Sheryl rides the harmonic lines, bringing her bright clear tone to whatever turn that Willie takes in the tune. It is like magnetic attraction. Bob Dylan is another vocalist from whom you dare not look away when attempting to harmonize. It is shame that we ran out of time to rehearse a version of “Mississippi” – a Dylan song of which Sheryl made the debut recording – but I enjoyed harmonizing spontaneously with her behind Ron Sexsmith’s beautiful rendition of “Ring Them Bells.”

NEKO CASE

“Prison Girls” – from Middle Cyclone (2009)

“Margaret Vs Pauline” – from Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (2006)

Another of the bonuses of working on Spectacle is the motivation to dive deeper into an upcoming guest’s catalog. I’d always liked what I’d heard of Neko Case when I had happened upon her singing, but had spent far too little time with any one of her albums. It probably isn’t a requirement that I know every track of every record by our guests, and in some cases that would be impossible, but I do like to get reacquainted even with that music that I think I know well.

One bright moonlit night last summer, I was driving from Telluride to Denver on my way to a 48-hour visit to London. Neko’s records were my companions during that trip, and there is something hallucinatory about listening to music of such lyrical richness and harmonic surprise at every unlikely hour of the day and night.

In the end, I asked Neko if Steve Nieve and I might accompany her on a wonderful song from her recent album, Middle Cyclone. It took us a few rehearsals to find a way to play “Prison Girls” as a trio, and I commend Neko for taking the chance and believing that when the red light went on Steve and I would not fail her. Abandoning the regular cues of an arrangement is sometimes daunting, but this is what our evening of music was all about.

Neko gave us a couple of other great performances, one of which did not make the final cut, but her portrait “Margaret Vs Pauline” is a gem of writing. If we’d had another hour of two, I might have asked her to sing “Twist The Knife” from Furnace Room Lullaby or a number of her songs that seem to have more to do with the soul and mystery of country and don’t require that prefix of “Alt” as any kind of warning or apology – especially when the mainstream is so parched and barren.

JESSE WINCHESTER

Apart from a fleeting handshake and mumbled compliment from a nervous young singer at his London show around 1975, the SPECTACLE taping was my first meeting with Jesse Winchester, a songwriter who I have admired for nearly forty years. I’d even written a liner note for a Best Of Jesse Winchester collection and received a beautiful handwritten letter of thanks, but this was our first real face-to-face meeting. That it should be SPECTACLE’S privilege to introduce Jesse’s voice and songwriting to any new listeners says more for our good fortune than any inequity. Jesse’s path in the musical life has been entirely his own.

“Shama-Ling-Dong-Ding” – from Love Filling Station (2009)

It was startling but not unexpected that the first eight bars of Jesse’s first rehearsal should bring several experienced SPECTACLE production staffers to tears at the elegant beauty of his hushed vocal. The fact that this was achieved with an evocative song of a lover recalling the heartfelt meaning in the apparent nonsense lyrics of a doo-wop tune speaks of the consistent quality of his writing over the years.

“Black Dog” – from Jesse Winchester (1970)

I spent a lot of time alone listening to that first album, wondering how these songs came in existence. On record, they had an edgy, uneasy feeling – some of which came from the guitar playing of producer, Robbie Robertson – but as Jesse illustrated on SPECTACLE, his first songs stand outside of time.
“Black Dog” is a song from that first collection and one which you should not dwell in the dark with for too long. It seems to contain everything about Jesse’s songwriting that I value: a mysterious melody wrapped around the narrative, a novelistic eye for detail, and decent sense of fate, faith or dread at the loss of it.

If I had an hour or two your time, I could recommend such songs as “Isn’t That So,” the gentle “Dangerous Fun,” or Jesse’s re-imaginings of “Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt” and the Everly Brothers’ “Bowling Green,” but it is a fine and welcome compliment that it is another song with which I would introduce his voice to a new listener: “Bless Your Foolish Heart,” from the new Love Filling Station.

[pophead2k]

I could read Elvis' writing about music all day long. Thanks for these!

[johnfoyle]

Elvis , Dec. '09-

'Perhaps I was too involved with the pace of my own life and work to spend much time with the earliest U2 records. I can’t pretend that I understood what the band was doing when I first heard them.'

Indeed!

Elvis , 1983 -

http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/ ... 31201a.txt

MusikExpress, Germany, late 1983.

The interviewer plays the candidate 10 songs and, without being told who the artist is, they must comment on each one.

U2: "40 (How Long)"

Who is this? He's continually singing "40 How Long" and then nothing happens. Overblown bombastic arrangement. Could Steve Lillywhite be behind this? He ruins everything with his monster productions. I have nothing against hard, crashing drum sounds, but when it's used just for the sake of it...? No, I can't get this one, who is it? ... Oh, U2! Never liked them. No subtlety. Solid sound-wall. Mush."