The band that made Elvis Costello fall in love with country music: “That just led me down that road”
No matter what point in your personal musical education it happens, there will always be a point where you’re driven down the rabbit hole to explore a genre or style of music that you wouldn’t have otherwise discovered. If, for example, you were raised on rock, the draw to discover everything you’ve missed in the world of country could potentially be a world-changing revelation.
This was almost certainly the case for Elvis Costello, who, despite being an icon of punk and new wave from the late 1970s onwards, had something of an affinity for country music, something he demonstrated on his 1981 covers album, Almost Blue. However, his admiration for the style had seemingly developed far before he attempted putting together an album dedicated to his love of country, and in a 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, he explained that he’d been digesting certain artists for as long as he could remember.
The first names that were mentioned were the likes of Hank Williams and George Jones, both icons of the country scene during the 1940s and ‘50s, who were considered to be pioneering figures within this world. Costello was introduced to these during his adolescence, and quickly found himself gravitating towards other music of a similar ilk as a result.
One thing that particularly struck him about much of the country music that he was soaking up was its use of religious themes and iconography, and it was one person, whom he called an “evangelist” and a John the Baptist-style figure from the 1960s, when he was beginning to fully immerse himself in country music, who struck him as being one of the most important figures.
Having briefly been a member of The Byrds during a period where the band were seemingly making the transition from folk rock to country, Gram Parsons made an immediate impression on Costello, although it was actually some of his work outside of the band that he was most enamoured with. Prior to his stint with the group, he was a founding member of the International Submarine Band, alongside guitarist John Nuese, who had introduced him to the style in the first place.
However, it was his work with the Flying Burrito Brothers after he’d departed from both of these earlier projects that Costello was most fascinated with, largely because of how they used to cover songs by the likes of other country stalwarts such as Merle Haggard, while also making nods to other prominent figures in pop, soul and R&B from the era like Aretha Franklin.
“One of the first albums I had was Aretha Franklin’s first record on Atlantic,” Costello reminisced. “And among the songs on that is ‘Do Right Woman’. And then, [there’s] a Burritos record that’s got the same song on it!”
“It’s these guys in nudie suits on the cover, and they’re doing ‘Do Right Woman’ and ‘Dark End of the Street’,” he said, referring to the song by James Carr.
Costello continued to wax lyrical about how hearing the Flying Burrito Brothers performing songs that he was familiar with in another context drove him to want to find out more, and this eventually spiralled into an obsession that remains with him today. “That just led me down that road,” he added. “I realised that road went to a point where all this music kind of met, and that was Hank Williams.”
It certainly opened up an entire world for him during his adolescence, and while not all of Costello’s music was heavily informed by his country love affair, it was arguably a discovery that helped mould his wide-reaching approach to songwriting.
