Sir Paul McCartney joins Stephen Colbert for the Last Show

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ended it's run at the Ed Sullivan Theatre appropriately with guest Sir Paul McCartney.

Music biz legend Joe "Mr. C" McEwen has a memoir on the way

 A&R exec, writer and music fan Joe McEwen's memoir Tastykakes, Soul Songs & Shining Stars is out April 28th via ZE Books.

Here's the scoop...

ZE Books has announced the release of Joe McEwen’s ‘Tastykakes, Soul Songs and Shining Stars’ on April 28, a labor of love - half a century in the making - from a respected music industry stalwart. A Philadelphia native and an A&R executive for Columbia, Sire/Warner Brothers, Verve, and Concord Music Group - McEwen gathers a lifetime’s worth of encounters, essays, and reveries into one radiant collection, a love letter to rhythm-and-blues and soul music. Its pages are bursting with vivid, compelling, up-front and personal profiles (predominantly written by McEwen while working as a music journalist in the 1970s) with a host of indelible figures: Pops and Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Allen Toussaint, Betty Wright, Michael Jackson, Gamble and Huff, Don Covay, and many more.

“This book is meant to be a fan’s notes with, as its heart and soul, a collection of profiles all written between 1973 and 1978,” reflects McEwen in the book’s introduction. “While rereading these during Covid down time, the vitality of the voices and the vivid memories reconnected me with feelings and emotions that had been long stored in my mental attic. I thought they deserved a second airing.”

Alongside these portraits of legends at the peak of their powers are heartfelt musings spanning the 1960s through the ’80s - illuminating the creative processes behind the songs that defined a generation. Interwoven throughout are reflections on basketball, memory, and movement — parallel sources of rhythm, improvisation, and joy. The book culminates in an extended 2024 conversation with esteemed music author and longtime confidant Peter Guralnick (Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke), a fitting finale to a collection that captures the soul of a lifetime in music.

“This is a tribute to some of the music and artists that have provided me with the building blocks, the sturdy foundation for a career and a never-ending journey of wonder,” McEwen summarizes as the book’s final chapter concludes. “I saw James Brown at the Arena in West Philadelphia in the fall of 1966. It was the first music performance I had ever attended. Somewhere inside remains the heart of a 16-year-old kid at the Arena, overcome by a sense of uncomprehending, incredulous amazement at the drama and spectacle unfolding before me.”

Praise for Tastykakes, Soul Songs & Shining Stars...

“Joe McEwen has long been one of our most incisive connoisseurs of Black music, a journalist with the rare gift of radical empathy. Among the hits collected here: the best profile of Michael Jackson ever written. Read the book, play some music-and rediscover the gospel truth of American soul music.” - JAMES MILLER, author of Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock & Roll 1947-1977 and original editor of The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll

“Joe McEwen’s collection is an essential text that captures the textures of pre-hip hop Black pop culture with a sensuous eye. The writing here is as soulful as the music it celebrates.” - NELSON GEORGE, author of The Death of Rhythm & Blues and City Life: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success

“Joe McEwen’s essays on essential musicians and athletes are so heartfelt and deep that this collection has the emotional wallop of a searing memoir. Every piece here is sweeter than a Tastykake.” - STEVEN LEVY, author of Hackers, Insanely Great, and Facebook: The Inside Story

“Joe McEwen writes beautifully about the Soul greats that he encounters in this book. It’s as electrifying as hearing ‘Dancing in the Street’ for the first time. Each chapter sends you straight back to the music. American art at its finest.” - GEOFF TRAVIS, Founder and currently joint MD, Rough Trade Records

You can pre-order Joe McEwen’s ‘Tastykakes, Soul Songs & Shining Stars’ right here. Check out an interview with Joe McEwen conducted by Barney Hoskyns for the Rock's Back Pages podcast. 

 

Elvis Costello plays his early stuff with The Imposters @ Massey Hall, Friday

Elvis Costello will be playing his best loved tunes at Massey Hall on Friday as part of his "Radio Soul!" tour. 

Here's the scoop...

Elvis Costello has extended his “Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello” tour with 22 new East Coast and Midwest dates starting September 18th in Bethlehem, PA and running through October 22nd in Omaha, NE and he'll make a Toronto stop at Massey Hall this Friday (September 26) with special guest Charlie Sexton at 8 pm. Click for a live clip right here and another one here.

As the playful billing suggests, the show will feature numbers drawn from record releases from “My Aim Is True” in 1977 to “Blood & Chocolate” in 1986, along with other surprises.Those nine years saw the first appearance of some of Elvis Costello’s most renowned compositions from “Watching The Detectives” to “I Want You”, along with songs that have remained in The Imposters’ live repertoire over the last 20 or more years, including “Alison,” “Man Out Of Time” and “Brilliant Mistake.”

Asked about the surprising theme of this tour, Costello responded:

“For any songwriter, it has to be a compliment if people want to hear songs written up to fifty years ago. Among them, “Radio Soul,” the first draft of what eventually became “Radio Radio.”

Here's an entertaining early theatrical version of "Radio Radio" along with the young Elvis Costello's first television interview along with his recent sit-down chat with author Peter Guralnick about the other Elvis discussed in Peter's new book "The Colonel and The King" 

My Darling Clementine cancels Hugh's Room gig, playing home show on Sunday

UK country/soul duo My Darling Clementine will be playing Andrew's Place in Toronto on Sunday (April 6) at 2 pm. 

My Darling Clementine Live at Andrew's Place

Sunday, April 6 at 2 pm.

Doors at 1:00 pm.  $40 donation per person suggested. 

Reservations and details: avb1964 <at> yahoo <dot> com 

Don’t miss the highly anticipated Toronto return of My Darling Clementine, the critically acclaimed UK country-soul duo of Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish – the British George & Tammy! What began as a homage to the golden era of country duets with their 2011 award winning debut "How Do you Plead?" My Darling Clementine have now released six albums, played over 100 shows around the world and won numerous awards. Their most recent album, 2020's “Country Darkness” a collaboration with keyboard genius Steve Nieve best known for his work with Elvis Costello & The Attractions. My Darling Clementine's show at Hugh's Room matinee show slated for Saturday was cancelled by the venue but undeterred, the duo will be coming to Toronto this weekend, playing an intimate home show at Andrew's Place on Sunday (April 6) where they'll be showcasing songs from their forthcoming new album, as well as many fan favourites from their impressive catalogue, and will also include a mini set of the "songs of Elvis Costello." Note: a donation of $40 per person is suggested and all proceeds will go directly to My Darling Clementine. Before the show and during intermission, free drinks (beer, wine, pop, juice, water) and snacks will be provided. If you like, feel free to bring some of your own baking / snacks to share.

A must-see performance that Americana-UK calls “Spectacular,“ while Uncut Magazine wrote "King and Dalgleish have re-invented the country duet - the mingling of these two voices is just heavenly."

For more information about My Darling Clementine, visit their site right here. Watch a BBC performance of "I Felt The Chill" right here and check out a few clips including a great version of the Elvis Costello/George Jones classic "Stranger In The House" below. 

Happy Birthday Michael Weston King!

Raising a glass to Michael Weston King with My Darling Clementine's update of "Stranger In The House" followed by Elvis Costello's performance with George Jones. 

Watch a documentary on the Liverpool Olympia feat. Elvis Costello

Here's a 17 minute film about Liverpool's legendary Olympia Theatre with a cameo from Elvis Costello who plays there next week. 

Elvis Costello hits the Liverpool Olympia with Steve Nieve on September 11. Get tickets right here. 

Happy 70th Birthday Elvis Costello!

Yep, Elvis just turned 70! Check his takes of Bobby Charles' "Before I Grow Too Old," "Big Boys Cry" and the original. 

Margo Price shares cover of "Pump It Up" cut for Downtown Owl soundtrack

Margo Price recorded Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" at the behest of his old pal T Bone Burnett. Check out her version below.

Writes Margo...

"When T Bone Burnett calls and asks you to write a song for a movie soundtrack, you do it. Our original song “Shelter Me” and my cover of “Pump It Up” by Elvis Costello are out now!" https://i.margoprice.net/downtownowl

Responds Elvis Costello...

"This is just terrific, @MissMargoPrice!!! Thanks. E.C."

LINKS

Watch Elvis Costello & The Attractions perform "Pump It Up" in Paris back in 1979 right here.

Elvis Costello's King of America and Other Realms Concert

Elvis Costello and friends gathered for a King of America reprise for Austin City Limits last December. Here's how it went. 

Dave "Robbo" Robinson talks about Stiff Records and much more

Listen to Stiff Records mainman Dave Robinson talk about working as a photographer, band manager and label honcho. 

You can catch Dave Robinson on his UK speaking tour. Read an interview with Dave Schulps right here.

Elvis Costello recalls his first face-to-face encounter with Bob Dylan

Elvis Costello takes a crack at "I Threw It All Away" after an entertaining tale about meeting Bob Dylan for the first time in 1978. 

Swamp pop icon Tommy McLain makes a comeback

Watch the trailer for Tommy MeLain's new C.C. Adcock-produced album "I Ran Down Every Dream"

Here's the scoop...

I Ran Down Every Dream is the first album in over four decades by swamp pop legend Tommy McLain. Produced by his musical protege C.C. Adcock, I Ran Down Every Dream was recorded in Louisiana, Texas, California, and England, with a similarly disparate group of friends and fans, including Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe (both of whom contribute co-writes), plus Jon Cleary, Denny Freeman, Ed Harcourt, Roy Lowe, Augie Meyers, Ivan Neville, Van Dyke Parks, Mickey Raphael, Steve Riley, Speedy Sparks, Warren Storm and more.

As an album, I Ran Down Every Dream is both a celebration and a requiem. It bookends a career that has seen Tommy scale the upper reaches of the Billboard charts, share the stage with the likes of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, The Yardbirds and ZZ Top, and become a global ambassador for the swamp pop sound - that singularly affecting combination of rhythm and blues, country and western, gospel, and traditional French Louisiana styles. The album also looks back, with more than a little heartache, in tribute to some of the fellow musical travelers that McLain has lost. Two tracks on the album were written by McLain’s dear friend and Louisiana music royalty Bobby Charles, and it also marks the final sessions for two legendary musicians who died in 2021; Texas guitar slinger Denny Freeman, and Tommy’s close collaborator Warren Storm. For McLain himself, the years-long road to I Ran Down Every Dream was beset by a heart attack, two hurricanes and a house fire. With every obstacle he overcame, McLain's resolve to complete I Ran Down Every Dream grew stronger.  

Get a copy of Tommy McLain's new album I Ran Down Every Dream via Yep Roc Records right here. Check the trailer followed by a Late Late Show performance of the title track with C.C. Adcock below. 

Rusty (feat. Elvis Costello) vs. Jim Ford

Elvis Costello reunited with his Rusty bandmate Alan Mayes to record some old faves by Jim Ford and others.

Elvis Costello & The Imposters play Massey Hall, Monday

Elvis Costello and his Imposters promise to knock out at least a few of the old faves tonight at Massey Hall. Showtime is 7 pm.  

Elvis Costello takes the Colbert Questionert

Elvis Costello has Gregory Peck's signature in his autograph book. For an encore, he sings Bob Dylan's "I Threw It All Away." 

Elvis Costello shares pleasantly pounding "Magnificent Hurt"

Check out Elvis Costello's snarling Attractions-style swinger "Magnificent Hurt" off The Boy Named If due in January. 

Elvis Costello talks about his encounters with Chet Baker

Here's a revealing Elvis Costello chat about finding a Chet Baker 10" at Village Music and later working with him. 

Elvis Costello enlists Iggy Pop to sing "No Flag" en Français

Listen to Iggy's rendition of "No Flag" followed by his entertaining 48 minute zoom chat with Elvis Costello. 

Listen to Nick Lowe chat with Gary Kemp & Guy Pratt

Hear Nick Lowe discuss Tennessee Ernie Ford, his Bay City Rollers salute and being underwhelmed by Chrissie Hynde's songs.

Elvis Costello discusses Armed Forces reissue and Hey Clockface album

The Complete Armed Forces box set – with 9 pieces of vinyl – is due November 6; Hey Clockface is out Friday.