Friday, July 27, 2018

Elvis Costello's Unwanted Numbers: THE WEEKEND MIX



THE FOLLOWING STORY IS TRUE!
(You will just have to believe me.)

Many moons ago, I purchased an "unofficial" 2 CD set entitled "Unwanted Numbers." It was a collection of stray Elvis Costello tracks. These were songs he had written and debuted in concert but never recorded, songs he had written for others, cover versions, etcetera. It was a terrific collection. The clever title came from an E.C. song found on the "Grace Of My Heart" soundtrack, as performed by a short-lived, Destiny's Child-type trio called For Real. It's a personal fave and For Real did a great job with it. This gave me an idea for my own mix of Elvis's "Unwanted Numbers," which I started compiling yesterday afternoon. It includes the same type of songs--demos, live tracks, alternates, etcetera--as well as the live debut of the aforementioned, "Unwanted Number" from a 1996 Boston concert.

I woke up this morning, poured a cup of coffee and checked my e-mail and lo and behold, there was an e-mail from Elvis Costello with pre-order links for his new October release, "Look Now." There was also a link to the first single, "Unwanted Number."

Holy Flipping Coincidence, Batman!

Well, this was meant to be, wasn't it?

The new single is up top and the tracklist for my mix is below.

TRACKLIST

Penny Lane (Gershwin Awards)
Ballad Of A Well-Known Gun (Spectacle)
Unwanted Number (Boston '96)
Forgive Her Anything (B&C bonus track)
Watch Your Step (Get Happy outtake)
Big Boys Cry (National Ransack e.p.)
She Loves The Jerk (demo recorded by John Hiatt)
Really Mystefied (Imperial Bedroom outtake)
What Do I Do Now (Sleeper cover)
Step Inside Love (ATUB extra)
Running Out Of Fools (B&C bonus track)
London's Brilliant (Wendy James Demo)
Impatience (North Japanese bonus track)
Shatterproof (GCW bonus)
The Greatest Love- (River In Reverse Japan bonus track)
Ship Of Fools (GD cover)
Anyone Who Had A Heart (Sessions At West 54th w/Bacharach)
Innocent When You Dream- (Tom Waits cover)
Do You Know What I'm Saying? (Wendy James demo)
April 5th (w/ Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson)

zip



14 comments:

Ken D said...

This must have taken a while... so many thanks! Great idea.
And keep Elvis in your thoughts and prayers—no, scratch that nonsense—keep Elvis loud in your speakers and headphones for a full recovery!

buzzbabyjesus said...

This looks fun! Glad to see the Wendy James demos.

cmealha said...

Woke up to the same email and was excited as I loved “Unwanted Number” and “Under Lime” has me wanting more. Love that you put this together as I’m in an EC frame of mind. Can’t wait to dig in.

JAYESSEMM said...

Oh man ... I'm digging this mix!

Well done Sal -- Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Sal, I've got a 'Holy Batman' as well - three evenings ago, I'm cooking dinner in the kitchen listening to my IPOD - over 8500 songs doing the shuffle on a docking station.

My wife comes home after getting her hair done - her stylist, a huge EC fan, mentions that he had a recent cancer scare - my wife wanted to know if I knew that (I didn't).

So my wife leaves the kitchen and the very next song that comes shuffling up on the IPOD? You guessed it, Elvis Costello. Out of 8500 songs, I probably have only 10-12 EC tunes (I know, I should be ashamed...) What're the odds, huh?


Randy

Shriner said...

This sounds like something I need to hear. Thanks!

heylee said...

Thank you for sharing all things, EC...appreciated.

Anonymous said...

All best wishes to EC, who had to cancel his current tour because it seemed he underestimated his recovery time from surgery after finding a very aggressive cancer (I have digital copies of his last shows before the cancellation and he sounds great, so we are hopeful). Any chance of a link, or a pointer to someone's link for the 2cd Unwanted Numbers you were inspired by? Thanks again for all you do.

Sal Nunziato said...

Link to Unwanted Numbers CD info:
https://www.guitars101.com/forums/f145/elvis-costello-unwanted-numbers-2cd-compilation-unreleased-tracks-live-533586.html

art58koen said...

Many thanks for this collection + the Unwanted Numbers review as I wasn't aware of that one!

Zippy said...

Love it!!

Beyes said...

Thanks for this EC collection! Let's hope he makes a full recovery from his recent illness.

A walk in the woods said...

Oooo, this looks amazing - thank you Sal!

Todd said...

I listened to this all weekend, (Hence the title "weekend mix" I suppose.)
Thanks so much!