Jan 292010
Elvis Costello & Bruce Springsteen together with just about the best band I could ever put together (Nils Lofgren, Steve Nieve, Roy Bittan, Davey Faragher, and Pete Thomas).
Seriously, this would be my dream band right here. (Or at least my dream back-up band.)
99% of the time this kind of thing is a train wreck, but EC and Bruce have bands that actually know their place as back-up musicians.
Having the balls to play a Sam & Dave song at The Apollo to boot!
I saw that last night too. I thought they played well together although I don’t like the Professor much at all. I find him to be a bit cold and sterile.
Also, I thought that Bruce and Elvis were excessively hammy with their vocals but I think that was to compensate for the decline in musicality of their voices that has taken place over the years.
Not entirely on point but I was thinking the other day that Elvis’ version of I Stand Accused might be my favorite thing that he’s ever done.
It’s interesting that the last two times I’ve seen Costello perform on TV he’s performed tracks from Get Happy!! (playing a weird version of “High Fidelity” on Jimmy Fallon’s show a couple of months ago). That’s my favorite album of all-time, so I’m not complaining.
EC and Bruce were “excessively hammy with their vocals”? Another first.
“EC and Bruce were “excessively hammy with their vocals”? Another first.”
Adjusted for scale.
I really liked when Bruce said “Bob Dylan is the father of the country I live in now.” I think that’s a good way to put it.
EC’s voice has been pretty ragged through much of this series. I think they tried to cram taping too many episodes into too few days, and the fatigue showed. When he sang that Patti Scialfa song I was wincing.
At least Bruce doesn’t insist on singing this in his Iowa corn farmer voice. Boy, did he suck the wind out of the Haiti benefit with that schtick. Every time he does it I feel like grabbing him by the lapels and saying: “DUDE. You’re from NEW JERSEY.”
Oh my. Sorry, but that doesn’t do a thing for me. Hammy vocals and no soul.
Am I the only one not blown away by Nils Lofgren?? He seems like a nice guy & all, but I’ve never quite understood why he’s so adored by music critics.
And yes, I have seen him “LIVE.”
Nils is witout questn the guitar player I would want in my band. He has a unique style but does not take over the music. He can tear it up when he wants to as well.
His solo record from 1975? (Self titled)is one I play all the time (with Keith Don’t Go and The Sun Hasn’t Set On Ths Boy Yet) there is a live in teh studio Cd out where he does most of this record as a trio that is very good as well.
Nils — n. — a faceless adjunct to a rock and roll band, hired for the express purpose of playing just well enough, and looking just cool enough, to make the band leader look as good as possible. SEE: “Oliver,” “William B. Williams.”
Hey! That needs to go into the RTH Glossary. Strong work!
I was at the taping for the episode with Levon Helm, Allen Touissant, Nick Lowe and Richard Thompson and Steve is completely on-point. I’ve seen EC live many times, but I’d never, ever heard his voice so worn out. It sounded much better on TV, if you can believe that. I think they definitely cleaned it up a bit.
As for the Bruce episode, I thought that the version of “American Skin (41 Shots)” was far better than anything else on there, including that kinda cringe-inducing duet version of “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down”.
Fritz, I agree with you re: the “you’re from NJ” comment. I don’t get where that accent comes from, either.