Re: Elvis Costello albums set for THIRD round of reissues


"David in NYC" <dbillotti@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1154637570.772436.266460@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
jesskidden@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
But, David, why do you give a "pass" to Costello so often on similar
practices for which you criticize Springsteen?

Assuming this is a serious question...

Springsteen built his whole career, his whole reputation, his whole
shtick on integrity and a professed lack of interest in making money.
It is the thing that used to separate ihm from every other artist.

I never got the impression that money wasn't of importance to him.
Just the opposite.
I remember reading Springsteen lament that he...at one time at least...had
less than $10,000 (or some such sum) in the bank.
I didn't take that to mean that he was a money-grubbing *** who'd sell
his soul to the Saudis in order to make a buck...
But I think that he realized that he was going to have to turn some sort of
profit if he was going to keep on going, particularly as a lot of his
bandmates became more and more in demand (thinking of the E Streeters who
played on Ronnie Spector, Ian Hunter, Meatloaf/Jim Steinman produced
albums).

Remember when Springsteen wouldn't play arenas? Then no one believed
he'd play stadiums in 1985. Then, in 2003 he's playing 15+ dates in
stadiums in the same geographical area not to spread the music, but
JUST BECAUSE HE CAN.

I remember feeling a bit of bewilderment with the first stadium show of his
that I attended in 1985.
Yeah, the words of never playing an arena to never playing a stadium were
still pretty fresh and ringing in my ears....particularly after having seen
him in a relatively small venue such as Winterland*...or even from being
electrified in the seat of the Oakland Arena.
But, damn, the stadium worked...to an extent. I mean, hell, he did play
"Stolen Car."
Okay, maybe half of the folks there were heading for the restroom, but I was
pretty transfixed.

I think where he lost his way a bit...and I've noticed that this is sort of
the trend with others who share his label...is the multiple releases of same
material with a few added
chestnuts that seem to compel the diehards to keep shelling out the bucks
(and folks such as real deal Dylan and the admitted money-grubbing Bowie
have been just as guilty of this...and all share the same record label these
days). I don't know how much of that is/isn't in his control...it seems to
be the routine around Columbia/Sony (going so far back as Bob Dylan's
GREATEST HITS in 1967, which was the only place where a guy/gal could get
"Positively 4th Street" on an album...even though most of his avid listeners
would already have had the other 9 songs in their collections).

Then something that felt like a departure from the old days was the
sound-system being used on THE REUNION Tour. As great and as fun and joyous
as those shows were, one sort of got the distinct impression that gone were
the days when Springsteen ventured to every nook and cranny of a venue to
hear how good the sound was/wasn't.

Oh yeah, then there were the multiple "very last night of the tour" shows
that seemed be popping up....to the point where it seemed as though there
was a new one every day.

These are the things that I find difficult to let slide:

~ The 18 TRACKS thing...I mean, c'mon, we did shell out a chunk of change
for a box-set...and, not to pull an old strawman out of the box, but I
really find it difficult to believe that he didn't know that a lot of folk
would be wanting to hear "The Fever" or "The Promise" for such a
compilation).

~ Multiple hype about last shows of the tour.. with a new one being added on
a (seemingly) daily basis

My difficulty with these two things is that I know that they play to the
somewhat obsessive-compulsive nature of those who follow a performer's
career with great loyalty and through ever
stylistic change. In other words, it's much like preying on a human
weakness. As I'm sure many will point out, no one put a gun to any of our
heads to buy 18 TRACKS or to make sure that we got inside the gates for the
very very last show of a tour...but, when folks are afflicted with that sort
of obsession-compulsion, well, for all practical purposes, you really may as
well just go ahead an put a gun to that person's head (the end result will
usually wind up being the same).

But further along in your post, you mention the ESSENTIAL collection...and
how you've yet to hear "The Big Payback" (really, you're not missing out on
all that much)...and how those "bonus" songs aren't available on iTunes. In
just about every record store that I haunt, I've never seen the ESSENTIAL
collection selling for more than $16. Mercy, that's about the going rate
for one CD, let alone a three-disc set. And, when compared to what a lot of
us would have paid for the bonus disc's material in the form of a
bootleg...it's practically a steal (plus, the first two discs make for
decent enough companions to take along in the car...so it's not as though
they're a complete waste of CDs). You also mention the soon-to-come
expanded edition of WSO:TSS (or whatever it'll be titled in its newer
release). I think that's more of a legitimate gripe...and, again, one that
plays and preys on the nature of those who tend to feel a need to be
completists.
Again, though, that does seem to be lock in step with the way Springsteen's
label operates...and, again, Springsteen isn't the only one on that label
whom one might accuse of shilling the rubes when it comes to those types of
marketing ploys/re-releases.

~ The sound on THE REUNION Tour...that one irks me a bit. For a spell,
there was a photograph of (what I presume to be a much younger) Bruce
Springsteen on his website (www.brucespringsteen.net) that showed him
holding a guitar in what looked like the middle section of an arena (here's
the photo: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/index.html). That reminded
me of the days when I'd read stories in various magazines of how he'd make
damn sure it sounded just as good for the kid in the rafters as it did for
the kid who had a front row seat.

The solo tours...I was fine with those. Liked the JOAD tour more than the
D&D...but, hey, that's just a matter of taste/preference.
The Seeger Session band...I passed on that one, but I admired his spirit of
adventure (and only passed because I'm more interested in hearing him play
the songs that he's penned...it had nothing to do with the style...if
anything, the highly charged/energized style was almost enough to make me
cave in and forget/forgive that he was doing a handful or less of song that
he'd written).
Hell, even the ticket prices didn't really get under my skin (although I can
see how they might for others, particularly for those for whom a hundred
bucks wasn't chump change...and who really really did feel an honest to gosh
need to be in the same building as Springsteen when he was playing a show).

And as I read your arguments on behalf of Elvis Costello (retained down
below)...I'm sorry, but I really don't see that wide a chasm to
differentiate the two (or their practice of re-releasing their material). In
all honesty, for years I've read the words of many a Springsteen apologist
(and, given the passion that folk feel towards his music, I can understand
the hows and whys an apologist's stance might be taken when discussing their
favorite performer)...and what you write about Costello isn't that far off
from the words written by a Springsteen apologist.
Main difference betweeen Springsteen, Costello and the way they handle their
releases? One guy speaks with an English accent, while the other guy
sometimes speaks/sings with a twang.
I think it's pretty naive to paint Costello as a struggling performer who's
merely trying to make ends meet, all the while painting Springsteen as
J.Paul Getty's *** son.
I mean, I still remember the week that MY AIM IS TRUE was released...and I
still remember all the articles I read on EC when it was released...and,
really, at the time, he seemed like the last guy in the world that I would
have envisioned doing multiple releases of his catalogue. I mean, this is
the dude that gave us a little bonus single inside of the vinyl release of
ARMED FORCES...it's not as though he made/encouraged... us to go out and buy
an entirely new version of that album just so we could get the
songs/material that were on that bonus single.

Then again, once I heard Iggy Pop played on commercials advertising stuff
that I never really associated with Iggy Pop (or the same with The Who or
The Clash and a number of others), I've probably become a bit more guarded
and a bit more jaded. Bruce Springsteen was my last hero amongst heroes
that I didn't know personally...and he's not been my hero for well over
twenty years. My expectations for him are now pretty much my expectations
for anyone working in the entertainment industry: provide quality material
(whether it's in the form of books, music, movies, etc.). I've not personal
affinity with him any more, those days are buried with a lot of idealism
that got washed away several years ago. So, even if I find his recounting
the story of "Bruce we need you!" to be a bit lacking in humility, it's not
going to change what I like/dislike about THE RISING. Even if he pulled an
old girlfriend up on the stage to humiliate her a quarter of a century ago,
it's not going to detract from the inspiring songs that dig and delve into
friendship, love and loyalty. Even if he makes more in a night than I'll
ever make in an entire career, it doesn't take away from the power of
whatever he's written of the horrendous plight the downtrodden and less
fortunate.
I'm not about to try to shape or twist your point of view or approach
towards looking at a performer...but, for myself, I find it wise to trust
the art more than the artist.
You know if ol' Wolfgang Mozart were alive and composing in this day and
age, I'm sure we'd be all aghast and appalled by his weird, reckless and
juvenile behavior...to the point where
the majesty and beauty of his symphonies, concertos, arias, etc. would be
lost on a lot of us. And, when you think about it, that'd be a downright
criminal shame.
That said, I find it difficult to imagine anyone from Mozart to Iggy
Pop...from Dylan to Springsteen...from Joe Strummer to David Bowie not
wanting to have the freedom that comes from having no financial worries.

The reality is that...even if we like some albums a whole lot more than
others...I don't think Springsteen has ever put out an album that was
sub-standard (when compared to the great majority of what's been released in
his time). Sure, some of us may find some albums to be lesser works than
others in his canon...but when you can play that game with a performer, then
it becomes relative to that performer's body of work. Still, it must be
pretty nice to be able to find JOAD to be less worthy than NEBRASKA and
WSO:TSS to be less worthy than JOAD...or the live 75-85 box-set to be less
worthy than the recent DVD/CD 1975 live release. Because, when one looks at
each of those things, one is pretty much forced to admit that it's all
pretty good...and none of it was ever a waste of our time or his.

So, a few paragraphs later, it boils down to this: really, I've got three
gripes with the Springsteen dude over the course of a three decade love
affair with his music.
I've had more gripes than that with my wife or children or best of friends
or co-workers or bosses, ...sometimes within the same week.
In other words, in the big scheme of things, it's a pretty small price to
pay for the abundance of bountiful goods that have been delivered over the
span of decades.
It also helps to be able to take a step back and come to the realization
that I really no longer need every single thing that he puts out nor do I
need to see him every single time he comes
slumming round my neck of the woods.



*first gratuitous mention of this show this month...and mine is just as big
as anyone else's, so don't anyone even try to go there...uh, that doesn't
quite sound right.



Even his letter to the NYTimes a little while back was an effort to
burnish his "man of the people image" (even though he falsely claimed
to wonder where it came from).

Do you think Tom Hanks wrote that introduction by himself?

What I rip in Springsteen is that it has become clear that he's largely
full of ***, and maybe even full of himself.

Springsteen controls every single marketing decision, every word that
gets printed in the lyric ***, every note that gets cut off the fade
at the end, and when the accoutant comes to call, Springsteen gets a
much, much, much better than average cut of the proceeds.

Finally, Springsteen is FUCKING RICH. He has more money than everyone
who regularly contributes to this board COMBINED and THEN A WHOLE LOT
MORE.

Now, Elvis Costello - how much say do you think he has in re-releases?
And how much of the proceeds do you think he gets?

Further, Elvis Costello is one of the few musical geniuses working in
popular music today - much more than Springsteen, who is as much
personality as talent (he's said as much) - and yet EC has had, what?
Two albums go platinum in the United States?

I checked - the last time an album of his was certified platimum was 15
years ago, and that was for an album that is now (almost) thirty years
old.

If talent equaled money in this culturally-moronic country, EC would
own Malibu and not Mel Gibson.

Certainly, I'm sure EC is comfortable, but I'm also pretty sure that he
has to work regularly to sustain that.

I don't begrudge EC participating in whatever he needs to get some of
the most seminal rock and pop music made into people's hands, and to
get his bills paid so he can make more music and tour. He deserves as
much.

Also, bear in mind, I never complained about the re-issue of Born to
Run (its THIRD , by the way). It is stunts like the third CD of
Essential (three years later and you STILL can't buy any of the single
songs from the third disc on Itunes; I've never heard the Big Payback)
or adding a few songs to an album to get it to sell more that I
complain about.

And, if Springsteen worked as hard for his fans as EC does for his (not
at the show, but in terms of output), I probably wouldn't complain
about that either.

It's pretty fucked up when the majority of orginal songs released by an
artist of Springsteen's stature in the last twenty years are outtakes.

EC has had, depending on how you count, at least ten albums of new
original material in maybe four or five distinct genres (The Seeger
Sessions is a very close cousin to Springsteen's other recorded output)
since 1989. And, half of those were three and a half stars or better
on All Music and the last two received four and four and a half
respectively, so its not a "quanity vs. quality issue."

Springsteen, in that time, has had only five if you count an album that
was mostly ten year old songs with overdubs.

And now the *** wants me to buy an expanded version of The Seeger
Sessions?!?

But hey, John Henry's swinging his motherfucking hammer and Sal loves
his mule, and *** the war but drive me to the show in an SUV!

Separate your passion for Springsteen's music and all the related
memories and take a good, clear look at it.

The upside for me is I'm so burned out on Springsteen that now, when I
listen to classic rock and folk, I listen almost exclusively to Dylan.

That guy is the real deal.

David in NYC



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