The record was produced by T Bone Burnett and recorded by Mike Piersante during a three-day session at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studio. Joining Costello were Jerry Douglas (dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mike Compton (mandolin), Jeff Taylor (accordion) and Dennis Crouch (double bass), some of the most highly regarded recording artists and musicians in traditional American country music, Bluegrass and beyond.
Several of these songs, including “Down Among The Wines and Spirits”, were given their first public performances during Costello’s acclaimed solo appearances as part of “The Bob Dylan Show” in late 2007.
The album includes ten previously unrecorded songs. “Sulphur to Sugarcane” and “The Crooked Line”, were co-written with T Bone Burnett while, “I Felt The Chill” marks Costello’s second recorded songwriting collaboration with Loretta Lynn.
Costello revisits two songs from his catalogue in string band style. Both songs were originally written for Johnny Cash. “Hidden Shame” was indeed included on Cash’s album, “Boom Chicka Boom”.
The album title makes reference to “The Secret Songs”, Costello’s unfinished commission for the Royal Danish Opera about the life of Hans Christian Andersen.Seeking a new connection from the author to the Anglophone world, Costello wrote about the Andersen’s relationship with the world famous singer, Jenny Lind in “She Handed Me A Mirror” and “How Deep Is The Red”.
“She Was No Good”, relates some of the chaotic details of Lind’s famous “All-American” concert tour of 1850, which was promoted by P.T. Barnum. In its aftermath, “Red Cotton” imagines Barnum reading an Abolishionist pamphlet, while manufacturing cheap souvenirs of the adventure.
“Complicated Shadows” Audio Streams:
These four episodes were newly adapted for the instrumentation of this record.
Indeed these are first Costello compositions to be predominantly rooted in acoustic music since his 1986 album, “King Of America”, which was produced by T Bone Burnett. He also produced the 1989 album, “Spike”.
T Bone adds his distinctive Kay electric guitar to several of numbers, the only amplified instrument on the recording.
Jim Lauderdale takes the close vocal harmony part throughout the record and Emmylou Harris contributed a third vocal part on the chorus of “The Crooked Line” on the final day of recording.
The record concludes with the waltz, “Changing Partners”, a song made famous by Bing Crosby.
The cover artwork of “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane” is an ink drawing by the renowned cartoonist, illustrator and author, Tony Millionaire.
Elvis Costello first recorded in Nashville with George Jones in 1979 and returned to the city for “Almost Blue”, his 1981 album of classic country covers.
He returned to the city in 2004 to record a duet rendition of “The Scarlet Tide” with Emmylou Harris.
This song, co-written with T Bone Burnett, received an Academy Award nomination for Alison Krauss’ rendition in the motion picture, “Cold Mountain” in 2003.
The 7” vinyl single, “Complicated Shadows” b/w “Dirty Rotten Shame” will be released on Independent Record Day, April 18th (CHECK)
Select US tour dates featuring musicians from the album — dubbed “The Sugarcanes” — will follow in June and August, 2009.
SECRET, PROFANE, & SUGARCANE TRACK LIST
1. Down Among the Wine and Spirits
2. Complicated Shadows
3. I Felt the Chill
4. My All Time Doll
5. Hidden Shame
6. She Handed Me a Mirror
7. I Dreamed of My Old Lover
8. How Deep is the Red
9. She Was No Good
10. Sulfur to Sugarcane
11. Red Cotton
12. The Crooked Line
13. Changing Partners
Due to the division of the music over four sides, the vinyl edition will contain two additional tracks, an arrangement of Lou Reed’s “Femme Fatale” and Costello’s sequel to the old Appalachian murder ballad, “Omie Wise”, entitled, “What Lewis Did Last”.
Beginning June 2, ‘Secret, Profane & Sugarcane’ will be available at participating Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada and wherever music is sold.
Elvis Costello Official Site
and Tour page:
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The Dave Matthews Band iTunes Pass launches today, April 21, on the iTunes Store. With iTunes Pass, music fans can get new and exclusive music, video, remixes, art and other content from their favorite artists over a set period of time, delivered to their iTunes library as soon as it’s available.
Fans who purchase the Dave Matthews Band iTunes Pass ($19.99) beginning today will receive an instant download of the band’s latest single, “Funny the Way It Is,” and the new album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, as soon as it’s released on June 2nd. They’ll also receive plenty of additional content from now through September, including Scenes from Big Whiskey, a documentary on the making of the record, exclusive bonus music (including b-sides and live music from the band’s Spring and Summer 2009 tours), two tracks in advance of the album’s release (“Shake Me Like A Monkey” and “Lying In the Hands of God”), a download of the “Funny the Way It Is” music video, a deluxe digital booklet of the album artwork, drawn by Matthews, and more.
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, which was produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance), is the follow-up to 2005’s Stand Up, the fourth consecutive Dave Matthews Band studio album to enter The Billboard 200 at No. 1. With its celebratory spirit and lyrical ruminations on fragile mortality, Big Whiskey pays tribute to the band’s saxophonist, LeRoi Moore, and features some of his last recordings. Moore passed away in the summer of 2008 while the group was on tour and midway through making the album.
The remaining founding members – Carter Beauford (drums), Stefan Lessard (bass), Dave Matthews (vocals, guitar) and Boyd Tinsley (violin) – kicked off the group’s Spring 2009 tour last week at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The group, named the top-drawing American band in the world by Billboard, will perform on NBC’s “TODAY” show on Rockefeller Plaza on June 5th.
Check out the band’s new single, “Funny The Way It Is” here.
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King hits stores on June 2nd.
