Almost Blue is the sixth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his fifth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was recorded in May 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee, and released in October the same year. A departure from Costello's previous works, it is a covers album composed entirely of country music songs, including works written by Hank Williams and George Jones. The project originated with Costello's desire to record a collection of covers after his two previous studio albums commercially underperformed following Armed Forces (1979).
Produced by Billy Sherrill, the recording sessions were marked by a fraught atmosphere, including resistance from Sherrill himself. The Doobie Brothers member John McFee contributed pedal steel as a way to add an authentic country sound. Most of the songs are relatively straightforward renditions of their original counterparts; a few were based on other covers of the originals. Costello's poor health during recording and troubled personal life reflected in the song choices. All of the tracks express a "blue" state of mind, reflected in the cover artwork, an homage to jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963).
The lead single, a cover of Jones's "Good Year for the Roses", received heavy airplay and reached the UK top ten. Almost Blue was released to little promotion, reaching number 7 in the UK and number 50 in the US. It received mixed reviews from music critics, who were divided on the vocal performances and debated on Costello's success as a country singer. It has continued to receive mixed reactions in later decades from critics and has placed low on lists ranking the artist's albums. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone argued in 2016 that the album predicted numerous unexpected musical excursions Costello took later in his career. It has been reissued multiple times with bonus tracks.
Background
thumb|upright=0.8|alt=George Jones in 2002|Before Almost Blue, Costello recorded "[[Stranger in the House (song)|Stranger in the House" with country singer George Jones (pictured in 2012).]]
By 1981, Elvis Costello had experimented with country music throughout his entire career. While he did not grow up listening to country music, his discovery of Gram Parsons' work with both the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers inspired him to explore other country acts such as Merle Haggard and the Louvin Brothers. He played country rock songs during his time with the pub rock band Flip City in the mid-1970s and recorded the country tracks "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger in the House" during the sessions for his debut album My Aim Is True (1977).
The weaker commercial performances of both Get Happy!! (1980) and Trust (1981) following the successful Armed Forces (1979) made Costello question where he was at in his career. He was unable to express his current thoughts in his own music and stated that he "just wanted to sing other people's songs". Songs Costello chose for the project included tracks recorded by Jones, Stonewall Jackson, Janis Martin, Webb Pierce, Conway Twitty and Charlie Rich. Sherrill felt the chosen material was outdated and presented cassette tapes of songs he felt were better suited, such as Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" (1956) and a Willie Nelson demo titled "I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye".|source=—Elvis Costello, NME, 1982|width=25%|align=left|style=padding:8px;
A departure from Costello's previous works,
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Almost Blue received mixed reviews from music critics on release. In the UK, it was greeted with mostly positive reactions. In Melody Maker, Allan Jones positively compared the artist's vocal performances to Trust, arguing that Costello's voice "has rarely enjoyed such freedom and expressive scope", concluding that Almost Blue "unashamedly evoke[s] memories of all the places you thought you'd never leave but did, all the lovers you thought you'd still know, don't, but can't forget." Paul Du Noyer deemed it "a richly satisfying sidestep" in NME, saying that "it has the feel of being both a homage and a holiday". In a five-star review, Record Mirror Mike Nicholls proclaimed that taken on its own terms, "it's as flawless an LP as has been released all year", although he felt Costello's fans would be disappointed due to the lack of originals. a comment supported by Robert Hilburn in the Los Angeles Times, who wrote that Costello's voice is ideal for "expressing ironies and nuances" in his own songs, but "lacks the purity and range" to effectively compete with the original versions of the tracks.
American critics were mixed on Almost Blue as a whole. Carrie B. Cooper found that Costello was "settling for love rather than passion" in Boston Rock. Billboard announced that the album "does for country what the band's Get Happy!! did for R&B—respect the music's form and essence, yet link both to Costello's own writing". More negatively, Hilburn deemed it a "major disappointment" that would serve as an intriguing piece for hardcore fans, but provide little enjoyment to everyone else, exhibiting "little of Costello's usual vision". In Trouser Press, Jon Young felt that the artist would be a worthy participant in country as a whole once he presented more of himself into the genre. Young and Ira Robbins later labelled the album "surprisingly clumsy" and a "dud".
Additionally, several noted the continued absence of Costello's angry persona featured prominently in his earlier works,|source=—Elvis Costello, The Face, 1983|width=30%|align=left|style=padding:8px;
After recording Imperial Bedroom in November 1981, Costello and the Attractions underwent the Almost Blue Tour from December to January 1982, playing major cities in the US and the UK. The setlist was composed of country songs from Almost Blue, as well as older and newer originals. On 7 January, Costello played to a sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall, fronting the 92-member Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The show received praise from Allan Jones, who hailed that "Costello's voice raided every emotional avenue on its way to the heart." A live version of "I'm Your Toy" from the show was released as a single in April, backed by renditions of Johnny Cash's "Cry! Cry! Cry!" (1955) and Webb Pierce's "Wondering" (1951). Costello and the Attractions continued touring throughout 1982 before Imperial Bedroom was released in July.
Although Get Happy!! had represented Costello's first instance of shifting musical styles, Almost Blue stood as his first true departure, predicting a career of ever-changing songwriting approaches, musical styles and experimentation.
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Retrospectively, Almost Blue has received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. In 1994, Q magazine's David Cavanagh acknowledged that "its exact point eluded most of us, although it arguably turned many others on to the genre from which it drew", further remarking that its first expanded reissue presented it as "a little too good to class as a career blip". In 2022, Chris Ingalls of PopMatters named Almost Blue one of Costello's ten most under-appreciated albums, finding the artist's embracement of the genre and the Attractions' fine performances make for a "worthwhile listen" and a "charming change of pace".
Costello's biographers have shown appreciation for Almost Blue. In his book Elvis Costello: God's Comic, David Gouldstone describes the album as "a brave experiment, and a successful one". Tony Clayton-Lea deems it "one of rock's finest and enriching sidesteps", summarising it as "another collection of good, even great songs". St. Michael commends the performances and overall good execution, further stating that Costello had already displayed "his command of the country lyric idiom" on tracks such as "Stranger in the House" and Trust "Different Finger". The author James E. Perone calls the record uneven but finds it "presents Elvis Costello as a successful country balladeer who could effectively sing American country ballads and not simply try to capture the style." Graeme Thomson, on the other hand, describes Almost Blue as "a difficult record to love". He opines that despite its brevity—at a little over 30 minutes in length—it drags and "merely sound[s] funereal and oppressive", with the more up-tempo tracks "lumbering rather than fleet of foot".
In lists ranking Costello's albums from worst to best, Almost Blue has consistently ranked in the lower tier. In 2021, writers for Stereogum placed it at number 18 (out of 27), deeming the material "serviceable" with "surprisingly perfunctory" results. They highlighted the album as a showcase for Costello's growth as a singer, particularly on "Good Year for the Roses", ultimately dubbing Almost Blue "a tentative dry run" for the artist's reach into more experimental territories. A year later, Al Shipley of Spin magazine, placed it at number 17 (out of 31), calling it "a fascinating early fusion of Costello's personal vision and his aspirations to master a wide variety of genres." Conversely, Michael Gallucci placed it at number 27 (out of 29) in Ultimate Classic Rock the same year – only above Costello's second all-covers album Kojak Variety (1995) and Goodbye Cruel World (1984) – deeming it the first misstep of the artist's career, failed by Costello's handling of the material.
Reissues
Almost Blue was first released on CD through Columbia and Demon Records in January 1986. Its first extended reissue through Demon in the UK and Rykodisc in the US on CD came in May 1994, which came with numerous bonus tracks, including outtakes and live recordings. The author Brian Hinton finds this reissue "more satisfying" than the original album, particularly highlighting the live performances in Aberdeen as "possessing a snap and crackle" lacking on the studio recordings. He also lists the Royal Albert Hall performance of "I'm Your Toy" as "pull[ing] dimensions out of Costello's voice barely hinted at in the studio version: urgency, passion and danger." Almost Blue was again reissued by Rhino Records on 3August 2004 as a two-disc set with additional bonus tracks. The album was later remastered and reissued by UM<sup>e</sup> on 6November 2015.
Track listing
Side one
- "Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)?" (Hank Williams) – 1:40
- "Sweet Dreams" (Don Gibson) – 3:00
- "Success" (Johnny Mullins) – 2:41
- "I'm Your Toy" (Gram Parsons, Chris Ethridge) – 3:23
- "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" (Merle Haggard) – 2:09
- "Brown to Blue" (George Jones, Virginia Franks, "Country" Johnny Mathis) – 2:40
Side two
- "Good Year for the Roses" (Jerry Chesnut) – 3:10
- "Sittin' and Thinkin" (Charlie Rich) – 3:02
- "Color of the Blues" (Lawton Williams, George Jones) – 2:21
- "Too Far Gone" (Billy Sherrill) – 3:28
- "Honey Hush" (Lou Willie Turner) – 2:15
- "How Much I've Lied" (Parsons, Pam Rifkin) — 2:55
Note: "I'm Your Toy" was originally recorded by the Flying Burrito Brothers as "Hot Burrito No. 1" (on their 1969 album The Gilded Palace of Sin).
- Elvis Costello – vocals, guitar
- Steve Nieve – piano, organ
- Bruce Thomas – bass
- Pete Thomas – drums
Additional personnel
- John McFee – lead guitar, pedal steel guitar
- Tommy Millar – violin
- Nashville Edition – backing vocals
Technical
- Billy Sherrill – producer
- Ron "Snake" Reynolds – engineer
- "Fast" Eddie Hudson – assistant engineer
- Keith Morris – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Weekly chart performance for Almost Blue
! scope="col"|Chart (1981–82)
! scope="col"|Peak<br/>Position
|-
| scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
|align="center"|50
|-
| scope="row"|Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)
|align="center"|21
|-
| scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
|align="center"|17
|-
| scope="row"|UK Albums Chart
|align="center"|7
|-
| scope="row"|US Billboard Top LPs & Tape
|align="center"|50
|}