Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink

Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink is the long-awaited memoir from Elvis Costello, one of rock and roll's most iconic stars. Born Declan Patrick MacManus, Elvis Costello was raised in London and Liverpool, grandson of a trumpet player on the White Star Line and son of a jazz musician who became a successful radio dance band vocalist. Costello went into the family business and had taken the popular music world by storm before he was twenty-four. Costello continues to add to one of the most intriguing and extensive songbooks of the day. His performances have taken him from a cardboard guitar in his front room to fronting a rock and roll band on your television screen and performing in the world's greatest concert halls in a wild variety of company. Unfaithful Music describes how Costello's career has somehow endured for almost four decades through a combination of dumb luck and animal cunning, even managing the occasional absurd episode of pop stardom.This memoir, written with the same inimitable touch as his lyrics, and including dozens of images from his personal archive, offers his unique view of his unlikely and sometimes comical rise to international success, with diversions through the previously undocumented emotional foundations of some of his best known songs and the hits of tomorrow. The book contains many stories and observations about his renowned co-writers and co-conspirators, though Costello also pauses along the way for considerations on the less appealing side of infamy. Unfaithful Music &amp; Disappearing Ink is destined to be a classic, idiosyncratic memoir of a singular man.

Biographies & Memoirs

Costello, Elvis

Arts & Literature

VIKING

Blue Rider Press

The perfect gift for music lovers and Elvis Costello fans, telling the story behind Elvis Costello’s legendary career and his iconic, beloved songs. Unfaithful Music &amp; Disappearing Ink provides readers with a master’s catalogue of a lifetime of great music. Costello reveals the process behind writing and recording legendary albums like My Aim Is True, This Year’s Model, Armed Forces, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, and King of America. He tells the detailed stories, experiences, and emotions behind such beloved songs as “Alison,” “Accidents Will Happen,” “Watching the Detectives,” “Oliver’s Army,” “Welcome to the Working Week,” “Radio Radio,” “Shipbuilding,” and “Veronica,” the last of which is one of a number of songs revealed to connect to the lives of the previous generations of his family. Costello chronicles his musical apprenticeship, a child's view of his father Ross MacManus' career on radio and in the dancehall; his own initial almost comical steps in folk clubs and cellar dive before his first sessions for Stiff Record, the formation of the Attractions, and his frenetic and ultimately notorious third U.S. tour. He takes readers behind the scenes of Top of the Pops and Saturday Night Live, and his own show, Spectacle, on which he hosted artists such as Lou Reed, Elton John, Levon Helm, Jesse Winchester, Bruce Springsteen, and President Bill Clinton. The idiosyncratic memoir of a singular man, Unfaithful Music &amp; Disappearing Ink is destined to be a classic.

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

Humor & Entertainment

The world's leading authority on jazz and popular song, Benny Green was a prolific writer whose material spanned every aspect of the musical arts. As an insider who knew and worked with most of his subjects, Benny wrote from a matchless personal perspective. Now, for the first time, previously unpublished writing joins sleevenotes and live reviews, books and obituaries in a unique collection put together by his son, Dominic, following Benny Green's death in 1998. Included in SUCH SWEET THUNDER are discussions on the great songwriters and leading jazz singers; the role of jazz in musicals; the leading jazz musicians. From Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra, Irving Berlin to Rodgers and Hammerstein, SUCH SWEET THUNDER is essential reading for all music fans.

Such Sweet Thunder: Benny Green on Jazz

Arts & Photography

Green, Dominic

Music

SIMON SCHUSTER (TRADE DIVISION)

A collection of reviews, sleevenotes, obituaries and previously unpublished works written by the late Benny Green. There are discussions on great songwriters and leading jazz singers, the role of jazz in music, and leading jazz musicians.

GREEN, Benny

Songs from the albums My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!!, Taking Liberties. Songs include: Blame It on Cain * Alison * No Action * Little Triggers * Accidents Will Happen * Chemistry Class * Love for Tender * Motel Matches * Girls Talk * Radio Sweetheart * Just a Memory * Sunday's Best and more.

Elvis Costello -- A Singing Dictionary

Alfred Music

A fantastic collaboration between two titans of pop. Songs include: God Give Me Strength * I Still Have That Other Girl * In the Darkest Place * The Long Division * My Thief * Painted from Memory * Such Unlikely Lovers * The Sweetest Punch * Tears at the Birthday Party * This House Is Empty Now * Toledo * What's Her Name Today?

Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach -- Painted from Memory: Piano/Vocal/Chords

Bacharach, Burt

Born Declan Patrick MacManus, Elvis Costello was raised in London and Liverpool, grandson of a trumpet player on the White Star Line and son of a jazz musician who became a successful radio dance-band vocalist. Costello went into the family business and before he was twenty-four took the popular music world by storm. Costello continues to add to one of the most intriguing and extensive songbooks of our day. His performances have taken him from strumming a cardboard guitar in his parents’ front room to fronting a rock and roll band on our television screens and performing in the world’s greatest concert halls in a wild variety of company. Unfaithful Music &amp; Disappearing Ink describes how Costello’s career has endured for almost four decades through a combination of dumb luck and animal cunning, even managing the occasional absurd episode of pop stardom. This memoir, written entirely by Costello, offers his unique view of his unlikely and sometimes comical rise to international success, with diversions through the previously undocumented emotional foundations of some of his best-known songs and the hits of tomorrow. It features many stories and observations about his renowned cowriters and co-conspirators, though Costello also pauses along the way for considerations of the less appealing side of fame. Unfaithful Music &amp; Disappearing Ink provides readers with a master’s catalogue of a lifetime of great music. Costello reveals the process behind writing and recording legendary albums like My Aim Is True, This Year’s Model, Armed Forces, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, and King of America. He tells the detailed stories, experiences, and emotions behind such beloved songs as “Alison,” “Accidents Will Happen,” “Watching the Detectives,” “Oliver’s Army,” “Welcome to the Working Week,” “Radio Radio,” “Shipbuilding,” and “Veronica,” the last of which is one of a number of songs revealed to connect to the lives of the previous generations of his family. Costello recounts his collaborations with George Jones, Chet Baker, and T Bone Burnett, and writes about Allen Toussaint's inspiring return to work after the disasters following Hurricane Katrina. He describes writing songs with Paul McCartney, the Brodsky Quartet, Burt Bacharach, and The Roots during moments of intense personal crisis and profound sorrow. He shares curious experiences in the company of The Clash, Tony Bennett, The Specials, Van Morrison, and Aretha Franklin; writing songs for Solomon Burke and Johnny Cash; and touring with Bob Dylan; along with his appreciation of the records of Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, David Ackles, and almost everything on the Tamla Motown label. Costello chronicles his musical apprenticeship, a child's view of his father Ross MacManus' career on radio and in the dancehall; his own initial almost comical steps in folk clubs and cellar dive before his first sessions for Stiff Record, the formation of the Attractions, and his frenetic and ultimately notorious third U.S. tour. He takes readers behind the scenes of Top of the Pops and Saturday Night Live, and his own show, Spectacle, on which he hosted artists such as Lou Reed, Elton John, Levon Helm, Jesse Winchester, Bruce Springsteen, and President Bill Clinton. The idiosyncratic memoir of a singular man, Unfaithful Music &amp; Disappearing Ink is destined to be a classic.
 From the Hardcover edition.

Penguin Audio

Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story

By the mid-1980s, singer-songwriter John Hiatt had been dropped from three record labels, burned through two marriages, and had fallen deep into alcoholism. It took a stint in rehab and a new family to inspire him, then a producer and an A&R man to have a little faith. By February 1987, he was back in the studio on a shoestring budget with a hand-picked supergroup consisting of Ry Cooder on guitar, Nick Lowe on bass, and Jim Keltner on drums, recording what would become his masterpiece, Bring the Family . Based on author Michael Elliott's multiple extensive and deeply personal interviews with Hiatt as well as his collaborators and contemporaries, including Rosanne Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, and many others, Have a Little Faith is the journey through the musical landscape of the 1960s through today that places Hiatt's long career in context with the glossy pop, college-alternative, mainstream country, and heartland rock of the last half-century. Hiatt's life both pre- and post- Family will be revealed, as well as the music loved by critics, fellow musicians, and fans alike.

Elliott, Michael

Chicago Review Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Costello, Elvis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Costello, Elvis

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Costello, Elvis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink

Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

Such Sweet Thunder: Benny Green on Jazz

Such Sweet Thunder: Benny Green on Jazz

Elvis Costello -- A Singing Dictionary

Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach -- Painted from Memory: Piano/Vocal/Chords

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story