Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Pretty self-explanatory
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
sweetest punch
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by sweetest punch »

includes Elvis singing Alison at 3:12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXCm4O3Gk8s
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
erey
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by erey »

More of EC's acceptance speech here: http://americansongwriter.com/2016/06/2 ... rds-recap/
Elvis Costello cited his mother’s advice that no fear or harm would come to him if he could put his thoughts into words and song, which provided the inspiration for his anti-war breakthrough hit “Oliver’s Army.” The singer also referenced his song “Veronica” which details his grandmother’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Costello also credited his wife, jazz singer Diana Krall, for being an inspiration. “I will never be a good enough songwriter to tell her how much I love her.”
Elvis Costello: “This award means all the world to me because I am probably the least commercially successful songwriter to have ever been inducted. I am, if nothing else, persistent. It was my original intention to be a songwriter in the background. I have to be grateful to all the music publishers who sent back my demo tapes because it forced me out of my bedroom and made me raise my most argumentative voice and stand up for my own songs. The next thing I knew I was on a three-bill ticket in Chicago opening up for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.”
Some newsy stuff about unreleased/unrecorded material here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/art ... -cant-see/
I’d never been to these awards, but as soon as they started, I realized they were different. Costello, as if whispering to a friend, revealed that there are 20 songs he has written with Burt Bacharach that he’s yet to record or even publish. Oh, and just this week he got a copy of a newly discovered demo he wrote with Paul McCartney in the late ‘80s.Costello, as if whispering to a friend, revealed that there are 20 songs he has written with Burt Bacharach that he’s yet to record or even publish. Oh, and just this week he got a copy of a newly discovered demo he wrote with Paul McCartney in the late ‘80s.
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by scielle »

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docinwestchester
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by docinwestchester »

scielle wrote:
"The futures lies ahead."

This is good.
erey
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by erey »

It seems worthwhile to transcribe EC's acceptance speech for posterity before the YouTube videos disappear:
I want to thank the Songwriters Hall of Fame for inviting me to stand in this extraordinary company. Take just one look at the list of former chairman and current chairman on the letterheading and you'll know the trouble I'm in: Johnny Mercer, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Webb, Mr. Hal David, and that's before you even get to Gamble and Huff. And, my goodness, the inductees -- how in the world did I end up with my photo next to that of Marvin Gaye?

This honor means all the more to me because I am probably the least commercially successful songwriter to have ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I am, if nothing else, persistent. I honestly did start out with the intention of being a backroom songwriter. So I have to be grateful to all of the music publishers who thoughtfully sent back my demo tapes, because this forced me out of my bedroom and made me raise my most argumentative voice and stand up for my own songs. The next thing I knew I was on a three-buck ticket at the Riviera Theater in Chicago opening up for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. A year later, I was hiding behind a fake, plastic palm tree with Nile Rodgers watching a group of local girls lip-sync their big hit on Dutch television. We knew that either the Attractions and me or Chic would have to follow those girls, and we simply didn't stand a chance.

But then it's never seemed to be my job to write a song just like the last hit, either mine or anyone else's. Instead, I've had, as Marcus told you, the wonderful experience of dreaming a song in the voice of Johnny Cash, or the voice of Roy Orbison, of George Jones, of Solomon Burke, Dusty Springfield, or Chet Baker, and to have them sing my dream back to me.

Most of my songs have been written alone, for me to sing. They have been my only companions in uneasy hours. But I should like acknowledge Linda Ronstadt and Peter Asher for having introduced my song "Alison" to the American public. I wasn't very gracious at the time because I was to possessive of my songs. But that recording and the royalties in generated kept the gas in our tour bus while I got to state my case, of which I'm certain. I'd like also to acknowledge the lessons in grace and measure that I took from working with Allen Toussaint and the mysteries of intimate drama that I've come to understand as I continue to work to this day with Burt Bacharach. Yes, 20 songs we have that are unpublished and unrecorded.

I completed a book last year in which I wrote down a lot of the things that I learned from my father while I was watching him sing at the dance hall and at the radio broadcast theater. But it was my mother who raised me to understand that no fear or heartbreak could harm me if I could put it into words and speak, or indeed sing it, out loud. Therefore, I would like to credit her with the fact that I was able to write about how young men might be put into an army uniform and do other people's dirty work and shoot people with whom they had no quarrel. That song, "Oliver Army", was actually a pretty big hit. It's because of Lillian's advice that I was able to tell the story of Veronica, my grandmother's struggle with Alzheimer's, and write that song with Paul McCartney, and somehow smuggle it onto the radio and into the charts. And there are many, many more. Songs, that is -- not really any hits, but songs, y'know.

I've always believed that there is more time and you must just hold your nerve and wait for your moment. Just this morning I was sent a newly discovered cassette demo recording of a 15th song co-written with 25 years ago Paul McCartney that we both assumed was lost -- and it's pretty good, too. And I stand here tonight having just arrived back from a European tour in which I premiered nine of 17 brand new songs that I've written for a stage musical adaptation of Bud Schulberg's short story "A Face in the Crowd", which my collaborators and I will hear read for the first time tomorrow morning.

I guess it's true, the future lies ahead. I look to my friends who are here tonight, my family, my children, and most of all to my beautiful wife Diana. I will never be a good enough songwriter to tell her how much I love her. And I know I'm a very lucky man to do what I do. And I thank you very much.
Last edited by erey on Fri Jun 17, 2016 9:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Many thanks erey.

The two things that stand out are about the future - the 20 songs with Burt Bacharach and the 17 songs that are ready for Face in the Crowd.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by johnfoyle »

http://americansongwriter.com/2016/06/2 ... rds-recap/


Image

Elvis Costello and Tom Petty. Photo by Larry Busacca.
MOJO
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by MOJO »

Good shot. Both look good although the pose looks like a high school dance photo. Hope to check out Petty's Mudcrutch tour early next week. Catching EC this year - not looking good unless he plays HSB or Bridge School. Bogus!
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Man out of Time
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Re: Elvis in Songwriters Hall of Fame , June 9 2016

Post by Man out of Time »

Another photo of EC, performing Alison presumably.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Larry Busacca
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Larry Busacca
New York.jpg (34.44 KiB) Viewed 13410 times
MOOT
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