Music Banter - View Single Post - Bulldog's Armchair Guide To Elvis Costello

mazymay · 09-12-2010, 10:16 PM

A one year + one month later reply, but...I was thrilled to find your audio recording of this classic VHS-only "Sessions at West 54th." In 2000 after hearing that there would be no CD release of this Bacharach/Costello once-in-a-lifetime performance I had my 1998 Mercury Records video release professionally transferred to CD at great expense (digital track $$$eparation...Yikes!). After making copies for all my friends I thought it would be a good idea to make a back-up copy for myself in the event that the original CD were to be damaged down the line. The bad news is that I was too late! The good news is that the mysterious scratch (gouge) I found only wiped out two tracks ("This House Is Empty Now" & "Such Unlikely Lovers") - and now because of your generous forum I have the complete performance again!

That said, your audio upload is missing 4 songs from the original 1998 Mercury Records VHS release (which I've owned since the first day of it's USA release - perhaps yours is a version I'm unaware of?). The first 2 missing tracks ("Just A Memory" & "My Little Red Book") are performed in between "Accidents Will Happen" & "My Thief." The other 2 missing tracks from your upload are performed at the end of "Sessions...." Costello closes the audio/visual portion of the VHS with the most brilliant, heartbreaking rendition of "Anyone Who Had A Heart" EVER recorded. The screen goes dark as the applause fades, and as the credits role Costello is heard (off-camera) giving another classic performance of another classic Bacharach/David song, "Make It Easy On Yourself."

Curiously you add a song ("God Give Me Strength") that (to my disappointment) was not recorded for this "Sessions" VHS...or was not on the version I bought. In any case, as a fellow Costello fanatic you absolutely MUST track down Costello's "Sessions at West 54th" rendering of "Anyone Who Had A Heart"! - the London 10/29/98 version is average in comparison. If I could upload or email it somewhere/somehow I'd be more than happy to do so.

PS - I can't thank you enough sharing the 1998 London concert which closes with "God Give Me Strength," THE Costello/Bacharach masterpiece.

09-12-2010, 10:16 PM	#182 (permalink)
mazymay Groupie Join Date: May 2010 Location: Los Angeles CA USA Posts: 2	FOUR tracks missing from your Costello/Bacharach "Sessions at West 54th" upload A one year + one month later reply, but...I was thrilled to find your audio recording of this classic VHS-only "Sessions at West 54th." In 2000 after hearing that there would be no CD release of this Bacharach/Costello once-in-a-lifetime performance I had my 1998 Mercury Records video release professionally transferred to CD at great expense (digital track $$$eparation...Yikes!). After making copies for all my friends I thought it would be a good idea to make a back-up copy for myself in the event that the original CD were to be damaged down the line. The bad news is that I was too late! The good news is that the mysterious scratch (gouge) I found only wiped out two tracks ("This House Is Empty Now" & "Such Unlikely Lovers") - and now because of your generous forum I have the complete performance again! That said, your audio upload is missing 4 songs from the original 1998 Mercury Records VHS release (which I've owned since the first day of it's USA release - perhaps yours is a version I'm unaware of?). The first 2 missing tracks ("Just A Memory" & "My Little Red Book") are performed in between "Accidents Will Happen" & "My Thief." The other 2 missing tracks from your upload are performed at the end of "Sessions...." Costello closes the audio/visual portion of the VHS with the most brilliant, heartbreaking rendition of "Anyone Who Had A Heart" EVER recorded. The screen goes dark as the applause fades, and as the credits role Costello is heard (off-camera) giving another classic performance of another classic Bacharach/David song, "Make It Easy On Yourself." Curiously you add a song ("God Give Me Strength") that (to my disappointment) was not recorded for this "Sessions" VHS...or was not on the version I bought. In any case, as a fellow Costello fanatic you absolutely MUST track down Costello's "Sessions at West 54th" rendering of "Anyone Who Had A Heart"! - the London 10/29/98 version is average in comparison. If I could upload or email it somewhere/somehow I'd be more than happy to do so. PS - I can't thank you enough sharing the 1998 London concert which closes with "God Give Me Strength," THE Costello/Bacharach masterpiece.