Almost Blue is the sixth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his fifth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was recorded in May 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee, and released in October the same year. A departure from Costello's previous works, it is a covers album composed entirely of country music songs, including works written by Hank Williams and George Jones. The project originated with Costello's desire to record a collection of covers after his two previous studio albums commercially underperformed following Armed Forces (1979).
Produced by Billy Sherrill, the recording sessions were marked by a fraught atmosphere, including resistance from Sherrill himself. The Doobie Brothers member John McFee contributed pedal steel as a way to add an authentic country sound. Most of the songs are relatively straightforward renditions of their original counterparts; a few were based on other covers of the originals. Costello's poor health during recording and troubled personal life reflected in the song choices. All of the tracks express a "blue" state of mind, reflected in the cover artwork, an homage to jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963).
The lead single, a cover of Jones's "Good Year for the Roses", received heavy airplay and reached the UK top ten. Almost Blue was released to little promotion, reaching number 7 in the UK and number 50 in the US. It received mixed reviews from music critics, who were divided on the vocal performances and debated on Costello's success as a country singer. It has continued to receive mixed reactions in later decades from critics and has placed low on lists ranking the artist's albums. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone argued in 2016 that the album predicted numerous unexpected musical excursions Costello took later in his career. It has been reissued multiple times with bonus tracks.
Background
By 1981, Elvis Costello had experimented with country music throughout his entire career. While he did not grow up listening to country music, his discovery of Gram Parsons' work with both the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers inspired him to explore other country acts such as Merle Haggard and the Louvin Brothers. He played country rock songs during his time with the pub rock band Flip City in the mid-1970s and recorded the country tracks "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger in the House" during the sessions for his debut album My Aim Is True (1977). At the suggestion of Columbia Records' executive Greg Geller—who signed Costello to Columbia in America in 1977—Costello sang "Stranger in the House" as a duet with country musician George Jones in 1979, which appeared on the latter's My Very Special Guests album the same year. Costello first met Jones's longtime producer, Billy Sherrill, during an initial session in Nashville, Tennessee a year earlier. When Jones failed to show up, the two became friends and agreed to work together if Costello desired to create a country album.
The weaker commercial performances of both Get Happy!! (1980) and Trust (1981) following the successful Armed Forces (1979) made Costello question where he was at in his career. He was unable to express his current thoughts in his own music and stated that he "just wanted to sing other people's songs". Intending to explore his capabilities as a performer of cover versions, he recorded acoustic demos of several popular songs, including "Gloomy Sunday" (1933) and Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" (1930). His initial vision was not limited to country music but rather "a collection of melancholy songs of many styles", similar to Frank Sinatra's Only the Lonely (1958). In an interview with Nicky Campbell, the artist said:
Development While touring Trust in early 1981, Costello and his backing band the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation)—conducted a session at Nashville's CBS Studio B with Sherrill producing and Pete Drake on pedal steel that foreshadowed Almost Blue; the session yielded covers of Hank Cochran's "He's Got You" (1962) and Bobby Bland's "I'll Take Care of You" (1959). The band also road-tested several country songs during the tour. The Attractions had hesitations about the project, but Costello did not want to work with session musicians, stating: "Then it would be just like going to the funfair and sticking your head through one of those little cut-out things and having your picture taken. I thought it could be a good emotional record. It was something that was very real to me when I did it."
Rehearsals for the project commenced at Nick Lowe's Am-Pro Studios in early April 1981. Pete Thomas's associate from his former band Chilly Willy and the Red Hot Peppers, Paul "Bassman" Riley, contributed bass after Bruce Thomas fell ill; Bruce recovered in time for the album sessions. Over 40 songs were rehearsed. Songs Costello chose for the project included tracks recorded by Jones, Stonewall Jackson, Janis Martin, Webb Pierce, Conway Twitty and Charlie Rich. Sherrill felt the chosen material was outdated and presented cassette tapes of songs he felt were better suited, such as Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956) and a Willie Nelson demo titled "I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye". Sherrill was willing to see how the band would interpret the material "unless we write a new one". The producer also convinced Costello to record one of his own songs, "Too Far Gone".
Production Recording
The album was recorded from 18 to 29 May 1981 at Nashville's CBS Studio A; Studio B was being renovated so operations were forced to move to the adjacent studio, which Costello said was more generic and less atmospheric. Sherrill produced while Ron "Snake" Reynolds engineered; it was Costello's first studio album not produced by Nick Lowe. Alongside the Attractions, Doobie Brothers member John McFee was invited to contribute pedal steel and additional guitar overdubs to add an authentic country sound. Costello said: "We wanted the sound but we didn't necessarily want the main instrumental line which usually comes from the steel in country to be somebody we'd never heard before." The sessions were filmed by a camera crew, directed by Peter Carr, for the arts programme The South Bank Show.
The sessions were marred by a tense atmosphere. Costello himself was in poor health: he looked pale, was overweight and constantly drinking, which led to the recording of Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" (1966) and Rich's "Sittin' and Thinkin". According to Costello, Sherrill was a poor producer. Compared to Lowe, Sherrill was distant, uncommunicative and more interested in personal ventures than producing. With different work ethics, the producer and artist clashed frequently, with the latter stating that "after a while it was less of a collaboration and more of a contest in cultural differences". Costello recalled at one point finding Sherrill and Reynolds comparing handguns behind the mixing desk.
Sherrill had little faith in the project itself; he and CBS saw the sessions as an "Englishman's indulgence ... in music he didn't really understand". He later recalled he lacked interest in Costello as an artist and failed to understand what he could contribute. McFee remembered an instance where Sherrill pulled him aside and asked him "What the hell does this guy think he wants to make a country record for?" The Attractions also disliked Sherrill. Nieve and Pete Thomas enjoyed country music and the project as a whole, while Bruce did not. One day the band ran through a fast rendition of Hank Williams's "Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)?", which Sherrill enjoyed. He later said that the way they played the track is what he thought the whole album itself would sound like.
Despite the fraught atmosphere, Costello stated the sessions progressed quickly and productively, limiting the tracks to one or two takes before moving on to the next. According to Costello, over 25 songs were recorded during the sessions, although a good portion attempted were never in serious contention for inclusion on the album, recorded simply as backing tracks and lacking final mixes. The band attempted Costello's original "Tears Before Bedtime", a non-country number which Sherrill rejected. In the final days, Sherrill identified the recordings of Jones's "Good Year for the Roses" (1970) and Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" (1955) as potential hits, adding strings by Tommy Millar and backing vocals by Nashville Edition. After mixing, Costello and the Attractions had dinner with Johnny Cash and his family to celebrate the occasion.
Composition
A departure from Costello's previous works, Almost Blue is composed of 12 country songs that all reflect a "blue" state of mind. In his review for Melody Maker, Allan Jones stated that the tracks are divided between "driving, shitkicking honky tonk tunes and exquisitely poignant ballads". Costello's troubled personal life, including his failing marriage and alcoholism, were reflected in the song choices, particularly "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down", "Sittin' and Thinkin" and George Jones's "Brown to Blue". Rolling Stone Will Hodge argued that other than the fast-paced version of "Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)?" that opens the album, the album itself bears little resemblance to the artist's previous works. The author Mick St. Michael added that the opening track does not represent the album as a whole, a statement supported by Costello, who said "the meat of the album is the ballads".
The majority of the songs are mostly straightforward renditions of their original counterparts; "Sweet Dreams" and Big Joe Turner's "Honey Hush" (1953) were based on the Tommy McLain and Johnny Burnette Trio renditions, respectively. Costello said Nieve devised new piano lines for "Brown to Blue" and "How Much I've Lied". Three tracks by George Jones appear: "Brown to Blue", "Good Year for the Roses" and "Color of the Blues" (1958). The band recorded the Johnny Mullins-penned Loretta Lynn number "Success" (1962) at the insistence of Nieve, who recalled: "We must have gone through hundreds of albums, trying to find that one song that we could make our own." Other tracks include Sherrill's "Too Far Gone" and Parsons's "How Much I've Lied" and "Hot Burrito No. 1", the latter retitled "I'm Your Toy". Costello commented that "Hot Burrito No. 1" was one of his favourites and "an ambition" of his to cover it. St. Michael states that Costello utilised looser and less formal vocal performances on the Parsons tracks, which aid in their successes.
Packaging and artwork The album's design is an homage to Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963) and was packaged in four different coloured sleeves, all with blue as the base. Photographed by Keith Morris, the image depicts Costello with his glasses removed and face covered with one hand – a ring on his middle finger – appearing as though he is hiding tears. The original LP came with a removable sticker reading "Warning: This album contains country & western music and may produce radical reaction in narrow minded people". In his memoir, Costello stated the "warning" was a tease for listeners who desired "More New Wave Hits". On the back cover, Costello and the Attractions appear with small grins, along with an image of McFee in a Stetson. A logo reads "no spoiler signal".
Release