King of America is the tenth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 21 February 1986. Co-produced by Costello and T Bone Burnett, the album originated following a series of tours the two made under the name "the Coward Brothers". Recording took place in mid-1985 at various studios in Los Angeles, California, with a group of American session musicians dubbed "the Confederates". Selected by Burnett, they included Ray Brown, Earl Palmer and former members of Elvis Presley's TCB Band. Costello's regular backing band, the Attractions, were intended to appear on half of the album before poor sessions led to them appearing on only one track, "Suit of Lights".
Featuring a mostly acoustic sound, King of America was a departure from Costello's previous albums, exploring roots rock, country, folk, R&B and Americana. Its personal songs delve into themes of romance, betrayal, alcoholism and the American dream. The cover artwork features Costello wearing a crown and matching jacket, which commentators at the time found both "ridiculous" and "serious". Costello credited himself on the album sleeve under his real name, Declan MacManus; the album itself was credited to "the Costello Show featuring the Attractions and Confederates" in the UK and Europe and to "the Costello Show featuring Elvis Costello" in North America.
King of America reached number 11 in the UK and number 39 in the US. It was supported by a cover of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", a UK top 40 single. Hailed as a return to form for Costello and his best record in years, the album was praised for its production, depth and vocal performances. Mixed reviews found the album too complex and lacking accessibility to attract new fans. Later reviewers call King of America one of Costello's best works, praising its personal tone and the songwriter's growing maturity, and arguing the album anticipated Costello's various musical excursions and collaborations in the following decades. It received expanded reissues in 1995 and 2005, which were positively received.
Background and development
Elvis Costello undertook a series of solo tours during late 1984 and early 1985, sharing the bill with the musician T Bone Burnett. Touring under the name "the Coward Brothers"—partially based on the Everly Brothers—the duo assumed the personas of Howard (Costello) and Henry Coward (Burnett), performing numerous country songs and covers. According to Costello, the Coward Brothers were on their final tour after the failure of the previous one. The solo shows were successful, leading Burnett to encourage Costello to record his next studio album with his voice and acoustic guitar as the main instruments, so the music itself would "shine through relatively unadorned". Trial sessions began in January 1985 at the Sound Factory in Los Angeles, California. Acting as a blueprint for the recording of King of America, the sessions yielded a track called "The People's Limousine", written by Costello and Burnett during trips to Italy. The song was released as a single under the Coward Brothers name in July 1985, backed by a cover of Leon Payne's "They'll Never Take Her Love Away from Me".
Around the same time, Costello recorded solo demos of new material at Sunset Sound studios with Burnett and the engineer Larry Hirsch. The songs were musically straightforward and emphasised emotional honesty, a stylistic departure from Costello's two previous studio albums Punch the Clock (1983) and Goodbye Cruel World (1984). Costello said at the time that he stripped the songs of the "musical kinks" and made the words clearer: "I started thinking more about the songs and much less about the records. It became clear to me that I had to write very, very simple songs." Given that the new material was America-centred, they wanted American musicians to play on the record.
Costello and Burnett planned session dates and musical lineups, which would be tailored to each song, during the flights on their Coward Brothers tour of Australia and Japan in June 1985. Burnett later stated: "There was a tremendous amount of planning that went into that record. We had pages and pages of production notes." Burnett was responsible for selecting the musicians and experimenting with sounds and styles.
Recording Recording for the album began in July 1985 immediately after Costello performed solo at Live Aid. The sessions took place between Ocean Way and Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles, with Costello and Burnett co-producing and Hirsch engineering. For the initial recording dates, the core band was assembled: guitarist James Burton, bassist Jerry Scheff, and drummer Ron Tutt, members of the TCB Band who had backed Elvis Presley in the 1970s. According to Costello, tracks were recorded "as 'live' as possible" with minor overdubs added later. Songs recorded included "Our Little Angel", "The Big Light", "American Without Tears", "Glitter Gulch" and "Shoes Without Heels"; the group also attempted versions of "Lovable" and "Indoor Fireworks". About half of the final album's songs were completed in three days. Costello's working relationship with the musicians was vastly different than with the Attractions: he played the songs first and explained what they meant so the players could understand what Costello desired. Scheff later said: "In the studio [Costello] kept control of everything. It was very much his deal and his visions."
The second set of musicians included the jazz bassist Ray Brown and the New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer, the pianist Tom Canning and the keyboardist Mitchell Froom. Costello was intimidated by Brown and Palmer at first, as he had not intended "off-the-peg 'legends for the project. The lineup recorded "Poisoned Rose" and a J.B. Lenoir song called "Eisenhower Blues", which Costello said was only taped to "[give] everyone a chance to relax and play a bit". Other musicians that contributed included the drummer Jim Keltner ("Lovable", "I'll Wear It Proudly", "Sleep of the Just" and the outtake "King of Confidence") and the bassist T-Bone Wolk and the drummer Mickey Curry ("Jack of All Parades", "Brilliant Mistake" and the outtake "Blue Chair"). The American musicians were dubbed "the Confederates" on the LP sleeve.
Costello's regular backing band the Attractions—the keyboardist Steve Nieve, the bassist Bruce Thomas and the drummer Pete Thomas (no relation)—flew in from England in mid-August 1985, about two-thirds through the sessions. Costello had originally intended to use them on half of the album's songs to differentiate their style from the American musicians, but by the time they arrived half of the album was already completed. Together they recorded "Suit of Lights" and an outtake called "Baby's Got a Brand New Hairdo". Work with the Attractions was tense, for Costello and the band were drifting apart. Upset at their sidelining, Costello later said: "I think [the situation] put them on edge and made them defensive and hostile, which made me defensive and hostile. The sessions were a disaster." He scrapped any remaining plans to record with the Attractions and failed to inform them, leaving them to spend the remaining time waiting in their Los Angeles hotel for a call that never came.
The sessions overall lasted under three months. According to Costello, most of the songs were mixed at the end of each session. "Little Palaces" was recorded by Costello alone during a separate solo session, with string bass added by Scheff later. At the request of Columbia Records, who failed to hear a single, Costello taped a rendition of the Nina Simone song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" with the Keltner, Scheff and Froom lineup; Michael Blair of Tom Waits' band overdubbed marimba. The album was completed around September 1985, after which Costello toured with the Pogues from October to December.
Music and lyrics In a departure from his previous albums, King of America represented Costello's foray into roots music, exploring genres such as roots rock, country, country folk, R&B, and Americana. Other commentators found elements of folk, blues, folk rock, pub rock, lounge jazz and late-1950s rockabilly. The album has received musical and lyrical comparisons to the works of Bob Dylan and the Band.
In contrast to the studio-driven production of Costello's previous albums, King of America features a mostly acoustic sound emphasised by stand-up bass, Hammond organ, brushes and rim-shots. The songs themselves, both musically and lyrically, are also simpler than earlier ones. According to the author Graeme Thomson, the artist's complex wordplay was replaced with "a compelling honesty". Costello stated at the time:
While the artist denied it was a concept album, many of the album's 15 tracks concern America (United States), offering studies into the American dream from an outsider's point of view. Encompassing descriptions of rejection and isolation ("I'll Wear It Proudly") and confrontation ("Indoor Fireworks"), the songs on King of America are introspective and motivated by romance, with themes of alcoholism, betrayal and venality. "Jack of All Parades" and "I'll Wear It Proudly" were declarations of love for Cait O'Riordan, the bassist of the Pogues. Costello had begun a relationship with her in 1984 following the collapse of his first marriage; O'Riordan co-wrote "Lovable". Other songs offer social commentary ("Little Palaces") and humour ("Glitter Gulch"). The author David Gouldstone notes that the narrators on King of America are "nicer" compared to the ones on records like My Aim Is True (1977), and only three songs are negative ("Indoor Fireworks", "Little Palaces" and "Eisenhower Blues").
Side one The opening track, "Brilliant Mistake", is a slow piece that examines the goals and aspirations of pursuing the American dream and the reality of obtaining it. Its verses follow three individuals who, in the words of the author James E. Perone, "suffer from self-delusion". Gouldstone analyses: "America is 'brilliant' because there's so much potential, but a 'mistake' because it's gone so horribly wrong." Perone argues the song could be interpreted as an abandonment of the Elvis Costello persona, which the songwriter possibly believed was a "brilliant mistake". "Lovable" is an up-tempo rockabilly and R&B number about the complexity of love. It features David Hidalgo of Los Lobos on vocal harmonies. "Our Little Angel" is a country number that combines "poetic" lines such as "dress she wears like a question mark" with themes of family protection. It follows a woman in a bar, whom the narrator is protective and sympathetic of.
Costello described his rendition of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" as "a slow [and] violent version". Some commentators interpreted its inclusion as a possible restatement of the shedding of the Elvis Costello persona, as in the past, the artist felt misunderstood as a songwriter and performer. Like Goodbye Cruel World "Worthless Thing", "Glitter Gulch" acts as an attack on the absurdity of television game shows. The narrator rebels against the host halfway through the song, choosing to be an "outlaw" rather than succumb to the show's silliness. Perone said it was reminiscent of Dylan with its "fast-paced country style" and images of "presumably fictional quirky characters".