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Costello on Costello: Steal This Record, and Buy Louis Armstrong Instead
Refreshingly, British singer-songwriter and punk elder Elvis Costello has balked at the outrageous $202.66 price - it "appears to be either a misprint or a satire" - his label imposed on his new box set, "The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook," and is urging music fans to buy “Ambassador Of Jazz,” a ten-album gift box "by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived – Louis Armstrong." He adds, "Frankly, the music is vastly superior."
"All our attempts to have this number revised have been fruitless but rather than detain you with tedious arguments about morality, panache and book-keeping...There are really bigger fish to filet these days....If on the other hand you should still want to hear and view the component parts of the above mentioned elaborate hoax, then those items will be available separately at a more affordable price in the New Year, assuming that you have not already obtained them by more unconventional means."
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11 Comments so far
Show AllIf one wishes to hear good jazz at a far cheaper price then Costello's outrageously priced box set one could do far worse by purchasing Miles Davis's Kind of Blue album and/or Erroll Garner's excellent Magician and That's My Kick albums.
Personally I would suggest the Mosaic records 8 CD set of all the Johnny Smith roost and roulette recordings. Expensive, but some of the most amazing guitar playing every. Well worth it.
I've liked Elvis for quite a while, both as a musician and as a person.
Awwwh! Come on! This is Louie Armstrong folks!
Yes! Its on my list now.
Please don't get me wrong, I love Satch. One of the first 78's in my collection (which I still own) is his Okeh recording of "I'm Confessin' that I love you" and "If I Could Be With You". But I am a guitar player, and I've never really held much affinity for the brass instruments. I just don't get spitting into a bunch of tubing and making music with it. I'm amazed by it, but I don't get it. I get all the other instruments, even the double reeds, but the brass has me confused.
My favorite story from Louis is one he told about trying to figure out how to get his bag of weed from the Islands (don't remember which one) when who should show up but Nixon. Tricky Dick was a HUGE Louis fan, and so he struck up a conversation that lasted while the two of them were on the plane together. When they got to customs, Nixon asked if he could help carry anything, and Louis said that he handed him the bag with the weed in it. Nixon, of course, being an ex vice president at that time, didn't have to be frisked at the gate, so his weed got through unchecked. Nixon waited for him, and then gave him back the bag, and they parted ways. I can't guarantee the veracity of that story, but Louis himself told it in the recording I heard, so it certainly could be true. Things were far more lax, back then.
Elvis lives! Sumak Kawsay; Bem Viver;Teko Porã; Good Living!
Six degrees of separation.
Anyone who has over 200.00 to spend on CDs should be thinking about someone else they should be spending money on besides music company CEOs.
And a few minutes of their time making an acquisitions request to their public library library so everyone has access to this collection.
Sorry, I love Louis Armstrong but this is bullshit.
If you have 200.00 to spend on a record CEO, you should be giving someone a job, if only temporarily. HIRING SOMEONE!
6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION FOLKS. Imagine who you know and what they might be experiencing during your HO HO HO season!
Oh how could you deprive yourself of a little music, as a me-me-me American! ("But I'm a Leftist! How could I be a selfish slob like a Republican?")
If you have 200.00 for a record collection - think 6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION - to whom you should be buying:
a tent for the Occupation
a winter coat
a pair of shoes
a portion of their housing before they're out on the street
Screw all you 200.00 record collection bullshit leftists
You don't know shit about what Louie Armstrong sounds like.
Hire someone and give them your 200.00 instead, or stop pretending.
GFY this jolly Christmas Season!
6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION PEOPLE. It's very simple. Ask your selfish leftist selves: "Who do I know who's up shit's creek this happy holiday season?" while you look at your 200.00 dollars to blow on a set of music CDs?
Ask yourself: "Would they clean my bathroom for this money?" "Would they type my thesis?" "Would they make some phone calls for me?" "Would they write some letters to my representatives in Washington while I go on a date?" "Would they run to the Food Coop to buy my organic groceries for me?" "Would they walk my dog?" "Would they feed and pet my cat while I sleepover at my girlfriend's?" "Do they have any CDs they are selling, instead of someone rich who doesn't any money for the next 20 lifetimes?" So on.
Ask yourself if they have children, if it bothers you to consider beyond your Self by 6 degrees.