The Paul McCartney/Elvis Costello Tunes

Some of the collaborations were songs where one or the other had almost everything done and needed a little finishing. I'm pretty sure that was the case with "Veronica", "Back On My Feet", "Pad, Paws And Claws". I think that "My Brave Face" is mostly an Elvis song even though McCartney recorded it. I think "So Like Candy" is mostly McCartney even though Elvis used it. I thought "Shallow Grave" was mostly Elvis, but I'm not sure.

I think that "You Want Her Too", "Mistress and Maid", "Don't Be Careless Love", "The Lovers That Never Were", "That Day Is Done", and "Playboy To A Man" were true collaborations started from scratch.

I didn't know there was an issue with how to record the songs. Elvis' renditions were a tad on the slick and produced side too. My impression is that the collaboration simply ran it's coarse.

 

Costello had this to say about being in the studio with Paul:

 

I gave the compilation to a music friend and he laughed
and called the collaboration "The Big Mac Attack"

Which is even more interesting given that I added a
third "Mc" to the CD.

McCartney
MacManus
McGuinn


I have the thing listed in my notes as

"The Album That Never Was" by The Big Mac Attack

Of course my title is a variation on the song title
"The Lovers That Never Were"...

And, yes, I've heard the few extra songs that
are only available as acoustic demos ("Tommy's
Coming Home Again", "Twenty Five Fingers" (?))
on the grey market...

There's also a few extra legit recordings that
were Costello bonus tracks.

"Veronica (demo)" by Costello
"That Day Is Done" by Costello backed by the Fairfield Four
and at least one (live) song in the Costello/Nieve live EP box

I think there's one I never picked up as well - but I can't
remember which song. It was a song title that was released
elsewhere... maybe a Rhino bonus track for MIGHTY LIKE
A ROSE...

 

There's a very exciting clip of Costello playing "So Like Candy" on SNL - much more edge than on the released version. The song itself is a real high point for both of them in that period, IMHO. It's a real shame they didn't do a record together, with a strong producer.

 

It's funny... I heard "So Like Candy" on the radio the other day, and was thinking how much better it could have been if McCartney had sung at least one of the vocal parts. In particular, the "what'd I do... to make her go..." section, if he'd really laid into it, could've been great (picture Paul on the high part, and Elvis, with a bit of a Lennon inflection, singing the low part... ok, wishful thinking ).

Elvis, as brilliant as he is as a writer/musician, does sometimes push his voice into places it isn't suited to going. (my opinion)

 

Yet another reason to like the guy. He has great conflict resolution skills. I'm going to have to try that one.

 

You can hear them doing it exactly this way on the demo, if you can find it that is.

 

Of the 1987 songs, I think the true 50-50 collaborations are the ones on the bootlegged demo tape: "The Lovers That Never Were," "So Like Candy," "You Want Her Too," "Playboy To A Man," "Don't Be Careless Love," and "My Brave Face," plus the unreleased "Twenty-Five Fingers" and "Tommy's Coming Home."

"Veronica" and "Paws, Paws And Claws" were definitely unfinished songs Elvis brought to their first writing session, and the same is true of "Back On My Feet" for Paul. "That Day Is Done" was written mainly by Elvis (with Paul suggesting the repeating "that day is done" chorus), although I'm not sure if it was among his batch of unfinished songs.

I think both "Mistress and Maid" and "Shallow Grave" are 50-50 collaborations. Elvis has credited Paul with most of the "Shallow Grave" lyrics.

 

Yeah, that makes sense actually. I can't imagine what EC contributed to "So Like Candy" melodically. It's just such a McCartney song. If they really wrote face to face as McCartney said, then they probably are true collaborations along the lines of the early Lennon/McCartney, with both guy contributing both melody and lyrics.

 

This is essentially correct. I heard Elvis sing "Veronica" before McCartney worked on it. The difference was the verse melody was originally a little more downbeat, more of a minor key feel (A minor as opposed to C major) and the middle eight ("The Empress of India" bit) wasn't as well worked out. Elvis still occasionally does his minor-key variant of "Veronica" live. I think McCartney's contribution to "Pads Paws and Claws" was more on the lyrical side, as the melody sounds like one of these EC could write in his sleep.

"That Day is Done" is about Elvis arriving late for his grandmother's funeral - he was in the US when she died. The chorus melody does have a McCartneyish ring to it.

"My Brave Face" is a true collaboration, but probably 60% Elvis/40 % McCartney. "Shallow Grave" was McCartney's idea, but it's got Elvis' fingerprints all over the lyrics. Certainly all the songs on the demo tape were songs that came out of their writing sessions.

 

For what its worth...

In 1989, I was living in NJ and I had tickets to see Elvis Costello
at the Garden State Arts Center.

As luck would have it, Paul McCartney was in NYC around the same
time. Macca had rented an empty broadway theater and was
using it to rehearse for his upcoming tour.

I'm unclear on the exact dates at this point - but I think Macca
held his tour announcement/concert/press conference the same
week Costello was in town.

Of course, being a young naive lad, I was hopeful that Paul
would join Elvis Costello on stage for at least one of three
(maybe four) concerts local to the NYC area.

I'm positive Elvis played at Jones Beach on Long Island
and I seem to recall a venue in Manhattan - but it wasn't
a usual one that I was familiar with. Costello was actually
scheduled for two concerts in NJ... one at the usual shed/ampitheater
in Holmdel (where I had purchased tickets months in advance)
and one at a venue that I had never been to called "Waterloo
Village"...

I knew Waterloo Village had a lot of the same concerts that
the Arts Center and Jones Beach had... but it was foreign
to me... in part, because it was located fairly far from NYC
and even farther from where I lived... almost up in the
mountains - near the NJ/PA border.

On a last minute whim, I bought tickets to see Elvis at
Waterloo Village. The Waterloo concert was on a friday
night, and my Holmdel tickets were for the following tuesday.

So I was going to get an advance peek at Mr. Costello's
"Spike" concert set and I was very hopeful that McCartney
would show up !!!

Unfortunately Paul didn't show up :-(

But the venue was amazing. I recall a very small audience.
Maybe 100-200 people tops... and there wasn't a proper
stage... just a temporary one built at the end of a field.

Costello at one point remarked "Welcome to my backyard
barbeque!" The atmosphere reminded me of some gigs
I saw in college when a band would be hired for a "spring
fling" and they would play in the quad - or on a small field
near campus.

During the Waterloo concert it became clear that it was Costello's
birthday. I think Elvis announced it from the stage.

Elvis played a very generous set (as he usually does) but
he seemed in great spirits - and I eventually forgot the
disappointment I felt that Paul wasn't there for the
birthday party

I went to the concert by myself - but as luck would
have it - I ran into a music friend of mine at the concert
who was also a big Elvis Costello fan. He and I were
basically in heaven that evening....

But his evening turned out even better than mine.

My friend wanted to savor the moment after the concert
ended - and he didn't immediately go looking for his
car... the following monday he hunted me down and
told "Man - you missed it...."

Basically, my friend said he was standing there for about five
minutes minding his own business, trying to decide when
he should turn around and go find his car... and then
out of the blue, Elvis Costello, red shoes and all,
comes over to my friend and introducs himself
(as if it was actually necessary),

My friend peppered Costello with some obscure/hardcore
music questions... the only one that sticks with me concerned
the song "That's What Friends Are For" which Elvis had
never recorded but was sitting in a music book of Costello
songs that came out around 81... Elvis informed my buddy
that he had given that song to Dusty Springfield.

It might be on that Rhino CD of songs Costello gave away.
If it's not... I've still yet to hear it. I know its NOT that
song that was a hit for Elton John/Gladys Knight/et. al.
(despite the fact thats the song I hear in my head
when I read the title)...


Anyway... discussions about that era always remind me
of that night.

The concert at the Garden State Arts Center a few days
later paled in comparison.

 

He gave it to Georgie Fame, not Dusty Springfield. He did write a new verse of "Just a Memory" for Dusty. (For some reason her cover is retitled "Losing You" on most releases.)

 

Elvis may have gotten his wires crossed. "That's What Friends Are For" was recorded by Georgie Fame around '79.

 

Apart from a few of the finished versions ("My Brave Face" certainly), I actually find the 1987 demo tape to be much more enjoyable, especially the demos of "So Like Candy" and "Playboy To A Man." Plus, as mentioned previously, two of the songs on the demo tape were never properly recorded or released ("Twenty Five Fingers", which is actually the weakest of anything they did in my opinion, and "Tommy's Coming Home").

Is the below list, compiled off the top of my head and what little info I have at my fingertips, all of their known collaborations?

Included on the demo tape:
1. The Lovers that Never Were (released by Paul on "Off the Ground")
2. Twenty-Five Fingers (unreleased)
3. Tommy's Coming Home (unreleased)
4. So Like Candy (released by Elvis)
5. You Want Her Too (released by Paul on "Flowers in the Dirt")
6. Playboy To A Man (released by Elvis)
7. Don't Be Careless Love (released by Paul on "Flowers in the Dirt")
8. My Brave Face (released by Paul on "Flowers in the Dirt")

Additional tracks released by Paul:
9. That Day Is Done (released by Paul on "Flowers in the Dirt")
10. Back on my Feet (released by Paul as a b-side)
11. Mistress and Maid (released by Paul on "Off the Ground")

Additional tracks released by Elvis:
12. Veronica
13. Pads, Paws, and Claws
14. Shallow Grave

I'm probably missing something or have something attributed incorrectly, and I think there might have been another title or perhaps a few other titles that have floated around over the years that have never surfaced in any recorded form.

 

I'm not sure if this is the Australian pressing or the UK (Paul?) -- but, I'd been looking for this since 1981 and only found it this year!

 

McCartney's contribution to the song was the "She pads around the bedroom" bridge, or at least the idea for it.

According to Costello's notes on the "Mighty Like a Rose" reissue, he and Paul coproduced rough versions of "So Like Candy" and "Playboy to a Man" for Flowers in the Dirt but they were never used. Costello feels their demos are the best versions of these songs (certainly that's true of Playboy!)

 

No. I think it's MY wires that were crossed.

It's possible Elvis wrote it for Dusty Springfield and it somehow was
then given to Georgie Fame... but I probably just remembered the
answer incorrectly.

I just looked at the Rhino "Bespoke..." collection and its not on
there. So I've never actually HEARD the song.

I think there's a 10-20% chance that my memory is correct and that
Elvis did say he WROTE it for Dusty... but the point is somewhat
moot because Dusty never recorded it (or at least released it)
and Georgie Fame did.

I was well aware of the connection with Dusty for "Just A Memory"
and so was my friend... so I know my friend wouldn't have bothered
to ask about "Just A Memory"...




.

 

The more I think about it - the more I seem to recall that my
friend said Elvis told him that he wrote it for Dusty Springfield
but the song ended up with Georgie Fame.

My reason for this is I don't think my friend would have ever
asked about "Just A Memory"... so Elvis would have had
to have brought her name up.

I'd forgotten the Georgie Fame part of the story... largely
because I never had the record in question, nor was I
sure where to find it... unless it showed up in a Costello
bin at some point and hit me square in the face (where
I would have promptly purchased it)...

To the person who posted the label scan... does the
song sound like it was written for a woman or a man?

I'm going to go see if I can dig up the lyrics on the
costello web-site

 

I had no luck locating the lyrics to "That's What Friends Are For"
on the Costello web-page (it had lyrics to darn near every other
song he wrote).

So then I got curious if I could find the Georgie Fame song on
half.com (it was - its on a compilation called "Funny How Time
Slips Away")

Then I tried to see if I could find a similar compilation for Dusty.

There are TONS of them out there - but I found it was easier
to locate what was apparently the original album

WHITE HEAT (Track Listing below)
1. Donnez Moi- Give It To Me
2. I Don'T Think We Could Ever Be Friends
3. Blind Sheep
4. Don'T Call It Love
5. Time And Time Again
6. I Am Curious
7. Sooner Or Later
8. Losing You
9. Gotta Get Used To You
10. Soft Core


I'm now very curious to hear track number 2. If track number 8
is actually "Just A Memory" - then it seems possible that track
number 2 is an alternate version of "That's What Friends Are
For"

Can anyone with the WHITE HEAT album refute my theory ????

 

toptentwist - Sorry, but, your theory doesn't hold water. Track 2: Music by Jean-Alain Roussel/Lyrics by Sting.

BTW - the POV in "That's What Friends Are For" is male.

 

He says that Macca's contribution was merely to pare it down
to a useable length. Elvis had written verse after verse about
his grandmother and was "too close to the subject" to edit it down.

 

That's pretty comprehensive, though it's worth noting that EC has subsequently released two more recordings of songs from the collaboration. A full studio recording of "That Day is Done" (performed with The Fairfield Four) and a demo of "Mistress and Maid" can both be heard on the Rhino edition of ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY. Paul's "Back On My Feet" also appeared as a bonus track on the UK reissue of FLOWERS IN THE DIRT.

 

Yeah, the THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR LP was quite elusive for me too. It wasn't too long after I finally found a copy that the title track became readily available on CD on a Georgie Fame anthology FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY.