King of America

Content

During late 1984 and early 1985, Costello undertook a series of solo tours, sharing the bill with musician T-Bone Burnett. Costello and Burnett recorded a single together in early 1985, and ventured to imagine appropriate backing musicians for Costello's new songs. They booked time at Ocean Way and Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles, and assembled members of the TCB Band who had backed Elvis Presley in the 1970s (Costello being more familiar with their work on records by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris). Other sessions included the jazz bassist Ray Brown and New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer, and a group of musicians dubbed 'the Confederates,' featuring T-Bone Wolk, Mickey Curry, and producer Mitchell Froom. Elvis's usual backing musicians the Attractions appear on only one track, "Suit of Lights", but returned to record in full Costello's next album, Blood & Chocolate.

In the album credits, Costello uses three different noms de plume for himself: his given name of Declan MacManus; his stage name of Elvis Costello; and the nickname awarded him by producer Nick Lowe earlier in his career; the Little Hands of Concrete, the last being a reference to his habitual breaking of guitar strings during recording sessions.

The version of the 1964 song by Nina Simone "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was released a single, and peaked at #33 on the UK singles chart but missed the Billboard Hot 100, as did the follow-up single released only in America; "Lovable." The single by Burnett and Costello as the Coward Brothers did not chart in either nation.

Release history

The album was released initially on vinyl in 1986, with the Rykodisc Records reissue arriving nine years later on a single compact disc with five bonus tracks, including the 1986 single by Costello and Burnett and credited to "The Coward Brothers" (Elvis being Henry and T-Bone being Howard). Early limited edition pressings also included a six-track bonus disc: Elvis Costello & The Confederates - Live on Broadway, 1986.

In 2005, Rhino Records issued a two-disc, remastered version of the album. The bonus disc contained all five bonus tracks from the Rykodisc version and all six Live on Broadway tracks, as well as ten more bonus tracks. The Rykodisc and Rhino editions are both out of print.

The album was issued a third time on CD by Universal Music Group after its acquisition of Costello's complete catalogue in 2006. This release was a standalone version featuring no bonus tracks and features the same mastering as the Rhino edition.

Track listing

All tracks written by Declan MacManus (Elvis Costello) except as noted; track timings taken from Rhino 2005 reissue.

Side one

1. "Brilliant Mistake" — 3:45
2. "Lovable" (MacManus, Cait O'Riordan) — 2:53
3. "Our Little Angel" — 4:06
4. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (Bennie Benjamin, Sol Marcus, Gloria Caldwell) — 3:22
5. "Glitter Gulch" — 3:17
6. "Indoor Fireworks" — 4:10
7. "Little Palaces" — 3:49
8. "I'll Wear It Proudly" — 4:25

Side two

1. "American Without Tears" — 4:34
2. "Eisenhower Blues" (J. B. Lenoir) — 3:46
3. "Poisoned Rose" — 4:07
4. "The Big Light" — 2:33
5. "Jack of All Parades" — 5:18
6. "Suit of Lights" — 4:06
7. "Sleep of The Just" — 3:51

1995 bonus tracks

1. "The People's Limousine" (The Coward Brothers) (Henry Coward & Howard Coward) — 3:43 IMP single #006
2. "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me" (The Coward Brothers) (Leon Payne) — 2:55 IMP single #006 b-side
3. "Suffering Face" — 3:08 demo recording
4. "Shoes Without Heels" — 4:20 released as the b-side to "Blue Chair"
5. "King of Confidence" — 2:48 session outtake

Live on Broadway, 1986 (Limited Edition Bonus Disc)

1. "That's How You Got Killed Before" (Dave Bartholomew) — 3:14
2. "The Big Light" — 3:08
3. "It Tears Me Up" (Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham) — 3:27
4. "The Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" (Ivy J. Bryant) — 2:42
5. "Your Mind is on Vacation" / "Your Funeral and My Trial" (Mose Allison) / (Sonny Boy Williamson) — 5:16
6. "That's How You Got Killed Before" (Reprise) (Dave Bartholomew) — 7:00

2005 bonus disc

Tracks 1-8 and 13 are solo demo recordings; tracks 15-20 are the Live on Broadway tracks; track 21 is a previously unreleased performance from the Broadway show.

1. "Having It All" — 3:57
2. "Suffering Face" — 3:08
3. "Deportee" — 3:35
4. "Indoor Fireworks" — 3:50
5. "I Hope You're Happy Now" — 3:06
6. "Poisoned Rose" — 4:12
7. "I'll Wear It Proudly" — 3:26
8. "Jack of All Parades" — 3:32
9. "The People's Limousine" (The Coward Brothers) (Coward & Coward) — 3:43 IMP single #006
10. "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me" (The Coward Brothers) (Payne) — 2:55 IMP single #006 b-side
11. "King of Confidence" — 2:48 session outtake
12. "Shoes Without Heels" — 4:20 released as the b-side to "Blue Chair"
13. "End of the Rainbow" (Richard Thompson) — 3:28
14. "Betrayal" — 2:25 session outtake with The Attractions
15. "That's How You Got Killed Before" (Bartholomew) — 3:14
16. "The Big Light" — 3:08
17. "It Tears Me Up" (Penn/Oldham) — 3:27
18. "The Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" (Bryant) — 2:42
19. "Your Mind Is On Vacation/Your Funeral My Trial" (Allison) / (Williamson) — 5:16
20. "That's How You Got Killed Before (Reprise)" (Bartholomew) — 7:00
21. "True Love Ways" (Buddy Holly & Norman Petty) — 3:33

Personnel

Additional personnel