Elvis Costello's Music May Be 'Unfaithful,' But It's Always Surprising

Burt Bacharach. The Pogues. Chet Baker. The Roots. Alison Krauss. The Brodsky String Quartet. Paul McCartney. 

It's a far-flung litany of musical luminaries, and many of them make appearances in the new autobiography from Elvis Costello, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. 

The book begins with a young Declan MacManus sitting in the balcony of London's famous Hammersmith Palais, watching his father rehearse with a big band. The musical and geographic horizons bolt outward from there, as Declan dons his boxy spectacles and, over the course of 600 pages and five decades, goes from angry young man to sophisticated orchestral composer, from punk rock ne'er-do-well to elder statesman, from amateur provocateur to the annals of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 

Elvis Costello joins Soundcheck host John Schaefer for a lengthy and thoughtful interview to talk about the first sounds he heard as a boy, to expound on the inspiration behind some of his many musical projects, and to explain why Bob Marley has Irish roots.

Songs heard in this episode: 

Elvis Costello – Every Day I Write The Book
Elvis Costello, live at the Hammersmith Palais, 1983 – Oliver’s Army
Ross McManus & The Joe Loss Orchestra – If I Had a Hammer
The Beatles – Please Please Me
The Beatles – Penny Lane
Hank Williams – You Win Again
Elvis Costello – I’m Not Angry
Elvis Costello, feat. Paul McCartney – Veronica
Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach – Toledo
Elvis Costello & Brodsky String Quartet – Romeo’s Séance
Roy Nathanson, feat. Elvis Costello – Fire Suite from “Fire at Keaton’s Bar & Grill”
The Rolling Stones – Stupid Girl
Elvis Costello – This Year’s Girl (from “This Year’s Model”)
Elvis Costello – Watching The Detectives (two excerpts)
Elvis Costello – Church Underground
Elvis Costello & The Charles Mingus Big Band – Invisible Lady
Elvis Costello & The Metropole Orchestra – My Flame Burns Blue (Billy Strayhorn song)
Diana Krall sings “When Summer Comes” for Oscar Peterson’s 80^th birthday
Robert Wyatt – Shipbuilding
Elvis Costello – Shipbuilding
Chet Baker – Almost Blue (Elvis Costello song)
Elvis Costello – Il Sogno (ballet score, two excerpts)
Elvis Costello – Less Than Zero
Alison Kraus – Scarlet Tide (song by Elvis Costello & T-Bone Burnett from the film “Cold Mountain”)
Elvis Costello – Radio Radio