Elvis Costello 5: Taking Liberties

With the differences between American and British versions of his first three albums, plus several B-sides and EP tracks taking up space in the import racks, Elvis had amassed more than enough for a “rarities” compilation. The UK version (Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers) was initially released only on cassette, but Columbia in the US put a little more interest into the Taking Liberties LP. Each boasted twenty songs—just like Get Happy!! And of course, the albums were different: Ten Bloody Marys sported the three singles added to the US albums (“Watching The Detectives”, “Radio, Radio”, “Peace, Love And Understanding”), while Taking Liberties includes “Night Rally”, “(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea”, and “Sunday’s Best”. Well, two out of three ain’t bad.

Both albums included detailed discographical liner notes, right down to catalog numbers, as to the origin of the tracks, but Taking Liberties had a glowing endorsement on the back cover by Columbia’s A&R guy, much like Don Kirshner used to do for the Monkees. It also sported customized retro labels, which must have delighted Elvis no end.

Some of the songs made it all too clear why they’d been left off albums, but those who hadn’t been chasing down singles and imports had several new favorites to smile about. “Clean Money” is a revved-up template for “Love For Tender”, and feature the now-rare Attractions harmonies. “Girls Talk” had already been a hit for Dave Edmunds, and would soon be covered by Linda Ronstadt, along with “Talking In The Dark”. “Radio Sweetheart” was one of his first B-sides, and along with “Stranger In The House” gives hints of a Nashville influence that would resurface all too soon. Along the same lines, “Black And White World” is a low-key demo, wiped away by the snotty rock of “Big Tears” (with Mick Jones of the Clash on lead guitar). The aching “Just A Memory”, written for Dusty Springfield, shows his sensitive side, and the alternate take of “Clowntime Is Over”, which cuts the pace in half, is arguably as good as the standard version.

Van McCoy’s “Getting Mighty Crowded”, which Elvis either knew from Betty Everett or the Alan Price Set, would have been extraneous on Get Happy!!, and here sets up the odd portrait in “Hoover Factory”. But then there’s “Tiny Steps” a B-side similar to “Big Tears” but just as solid. The impenetrable “Dr. Luther’s Assistant” is just plain ugly, a one man band trifle, as is the closing “Ghost Train”, but “Crawling To The U.S.A.” and “Wednesday Week” are more great performances from the Attractions. His brief solo “My Funny Valentine” is as surprising as it is lovely.

While obviously not as strong a set as any of the first four albums, anyone would be happy to have leftovers of this quality. Once the catalog had been standardized with the first expanded reissues, Taking Liberties (and Ten Bloody Marys) went out of print, but the seventeen common songs could all be found on various Rykodisc and Rhino versions of My Aim Is True, This Year’s Model, Armed Forces, and Get Happy!! (The later Deluxe Editions of the first three include some of these tracks as well.) The six swapped songs from the first three albums are on their respective CDs.

Elvis Costello Taking Liberties (1980)—3
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