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duffypratt 's review for:
Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
by Elvis Costello
This is probably the best, and most personal, memoir by a rock musician I've read. The only one that comes close is Keith Richard's Life. The main difference between this and all the others is that it actually feels like Costello wrote the words, or much of them. And its structure (or lack of structure) also seems to indicate that the book is really his. A ghost writer would likely have insisted that the book take on the traditional chronological approach.
For a quasi punk, quasi pop star, Costello has had about as varied a career as its possible to imagine. From his early, angry stuff with the Attractions, to the Country laced stuff, to dabbling in classical forms, to becoming a crooner, to collaborating with the likes of Bacharach and McCartny, to marrying a fine jazz pianist and collaborating with Allan Toussaint, to becoming the host of a TV show. He has taken a more seemingly haphazard, and eclectic path than just about anyone I can think of. Here, he somehow manages to make sense of it, or at least to turn it into something like a mosaic picture.
Unlike some of the other music memoirs I've read, he does not seem to be afraid of diving into some of the details of music and how he approached it from a more technical aspect, and I very much enjoyed these parts of the book. I had a feeling he downplayed, or only hinted at, some of the more standard "sex and drugs" aspects that tend to be de rigueur for these kinds of books. The depravity is hinted at, and not really denied or ignored. It's just not a main feature.
Throughout, in relation to other musicians, Costello comes across as surprisingly humble. This is not the brash, arrogant man from the late seventies. Then, his persona seemed simultaneously angry, disgusted, awkward and ashamed. I loved him at that time. I still think he's one of the top song writers, and song interpreters (his stripped down covers of Love for Sale and The Very Thought of You are just wonderful) of my generation. Now, he seems much more mellow, but its kind of hard for me to believe that his humility is genuine, and not simply a veneer of politeness. Unlike then, he now has good reason for not being humble, since he has done so much and generally done it quite well. However, having watched some of the more recent interviews on YouTube, while reading this, I have concluded that if the humility is false, then he's also a fine actor. I prefer to think that he has grown up, and grown up well.
The best thing about this book is that it's gotten me listening to his music again, and exploring some of the more recent music that I've never heard. His best stuff is as good as anything.
For a quasi punk, quasi pop star, Costello has had about as varied a career as its possible to imagine. From his early, angry stuff with the Attractions, to the Country laced stuff, to dabbling in classical forms, to becoming a crooner, to collaborating with the likes of Bacharach and McCartny, to marrying a fine jazz pianist and collaborating with Allan Toussaint, to becoming the host of a TV show. He has taken a more seemingly haphazard, and eclectic path than just about anyone I can think of. Here, he somehow manages to make sense of it, or at least to turn it into something like a mosaic picture.
Unlike some of the other music memoirs I've read, he does not seem to be afraid of diving into some of the details of music and how he approached it from a more technical aspect, and I very much enjoyed these parts of the book. I had a feeling he downplayed, or only hinted at, some of the more standard "sex and drugs" aspects that tend to be de rigueur for these kinds of books. The depravity is hinted at, and not really denied or ignored. It's just not a main feature.
Throughout, in relation to other musicians, Costello comes across as surprisingly humble. This is not the brash, arrogant man from the late seventies. Then, his persona seemed simultaneously angry, disgusted, awkward and ashamed. I loved him at that time. I still think he's one of the top song writers, and song interpreters (his stripped down covers of Love for Sale and The Very Thought of You are just wonderful) of my generation. Now, he seems much more mellow, but its kind of hard for me to believe that his humility is genuine, and not simply a veneer of politeness. Unlike then, he now has good reason for not being humble, since he has done so much and generally done it quite well. However, having watched some of the more recent interviews on YouTube, while reading this, I have concluded that if the humility is false, then he's also a fine actor. I prefer to think that he has grown up, and grown up well.
The best thing about this book is that it's gotten me listening to his music again, and exploring some of the more recent music that I've never heard. His best stuff is as good as anything.