Review: Vinyl Reissue of Elvis Costello's 'King of America'

By the mid-eighties, there was trouble in the Attractions, although Elvis Costello wasn't quite ready to lop "and the Attractions" from his album covers just yet. So he put out King of America, which could rightfully be deemed his first solo album since My Aim Is True, as The Costello Show, even though the Attractions do back him on "Suit of Lights". Elsewhere his support is the American studio-group he unfortunately christened the Confederates.

Ten Great Bruce Thomas Basslines

Bruce Thomas is a controversial guy in Elvis Costello-fan circles. Some have never forgiven him for portraying their hero as a whiny guy who sweats a lot in the semi- autobiographical novella The Big Wheel.  Elvis certainly hasn’t. Yet few Elvis fans would be stupid enough to dismiss Bruce Thomas as a musician, and as bass guitarists go, he deserves a place at the top with James Jamerson, John Entwistle, and Paul McCartney. Today, on his 65^th birthday, let’s take a listen to some of the lines that make Bruce one of pop’s most amazing bassmen (Bruce has done some fantastic work outside of The Attractions, particularly with Suzanne Vega on the great 99.9F°, but here I’ll just be focusing on his work behind Elvis).

1. “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea” (1978)

Elvis Costello has always been more of a colorist than a lead guitarist. This often left Steve Nieve and Bruce Thomas responsible for the hook. In the case of the first single released as Elvis Costello and the Attractions, all three musicians supply memorable riffs, with Elvis jittering out triplets and Steve Nieve countering the amphetamine paranoia of that guitar riff with a languidly creepy descending line on his Vox Continental. Yet it is Bruce Thomas’s uncharacteristically simple reggae bassline that best catches the ear. His halting major triad riff pins down the verses, while his capricious slides give momentum to the bridge even as the overall dynamic remains constant.

2. “Pump It Up” (1978)

Bruce Thomas’s bass stands out on “Chelsea.” On “Pump It Up,” it practically is the song. Elvis’s Dylanesque rap, which droves of kids learned word-for-word as a sort of New Wave badge of honor (until it R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” took it’s place), is no small thing. However, all the melody flows from Bruce’s fingers. He squeezes in two totally distinct, totally memorable lines: the hopping riff of the verse and the three-note descent that supplies super-gravity between verses. His two-steps-forward/-one-step-back climb under the chorus is not as iconic as those other two riffs, but it’s the most technically spectacular bass work on the track.

3. “The Beat” (1978)

August 10, 2009: The 20 Greatest Songs by Elvis Costello

A quick jaunt to iTunes reveals that I have 420 files by Elvis Costello in his various guises (solo, with the Attractions, with the Imposters, with the Brodsky Quartet; with Allen Toussaint, and with Flip City). Narrowing such a sprawling selection of songs down to 20 is not easy, especially when so many of them rank among the wittiest, nastiest, and most thrilling ever spat out by a wiry geek fueled on “guilt and revenge.” While no fan of the true king of Rock & Roll will ever agree on what his 20 greatest moments are, I’ve decided that mine are so perfectly selected, so definitive of the man and his immense body of work, that these are, indeed, The 20 Greatest Songs by Elvis Costello! Seriously, these aren’t just my personal favorites. I mean it.

20. “Riot Act” (from the album Get Happy!! 1980)
At the tail end of an amphetamine blast of 19 punk-soul numbers, “Riot Act” is an almost shocking change of pace. Quite unlike the rest of Get Happy!!—and possibly any other song in Costello’s repertoire—“Riot Act” is a slow-burn that could sit quite comfortably on an old Procol Harum album. The song shares Procol’s penchant for funereal pacing and soulful climaxes, but Gary Brooker never sounded as desperate, so unhinged as Elvis does when “Riot Act” reaches its pitch. For sheer drama, it has few peers.

19. “Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head” (from the album Blood and Chocolate 1986)