elvis costello King of Americathe 1986 album that found the singer-songwriter exploring American music genres, will be the focus of a massive reissue that collects unreleased demos, deleted footage, a concert recording and more from the era, as well as decades-old collaborations with the album's co-producer T Bone Burnett.
Super Deluxe Edition of King of America and Other WorldsThe album will be released on November 1, and includes the newly remastered 1986 album — including the centerpiece, a rendition of the Animals' “Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood” — as well as a second disc titled King without shoes This includes solo demos, unrecorded takes, early drafts, and more album sessions, most of which are taken from two recently discovered demo reels.
If you are familiar with the songs King of America “Then listen to the collection of sketches and individual performances in ‘Le Roi Sans Sabots’ and you might see a different picture,” Costello writes in his 35-page essay included in the reissue.
“Putting together the album 'Le Roi Sans Sabots' was like developing an old negative to discover a photograph, close to a very familiar image but completely different in composition and content. It seems that after a while of these initial solo sessions, I decided to balance the theme of separation with lyrics with a more ironic tone.”
Prior to the re-release's arrival, Costello shared a remastered version of King of America“Indoor fireworks”:
In a 1986 review of the LP, Rolling Stone Books about King of America“It’s as if Elvis and co-producer T Bone Burnett are seeking to unravel Costello’s soul by peeling back the layers of British deception. (For the first time, the songs are credited to McMenus, not Costello under the pseudonym.) On all but one song, the Attractions are replaced by a crew of Los Angeles session players (including legendary guitarist James Burton), who are presumably better equipped to guide Elvis through the “boulevard of broken dreams” described in “A Genius’s Mistake.”
The new release, available for pre-order now in a variety of formats, also includes Costello's entire (and previously unreleased) Royal Albert Hall concert from January 27, 1987, featuring covers of songs by Ray Charles, Waylon Jennings, Buddy Holly, and more American music icons.
Costello's subsequent collaborations with American artists are recorded on the last three discs of the reissue – El Principe de New Orleans and Del Mississippi Market, Prince of Purgatory and Herzog's Dim LightThe album was recorded in locations such as New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, and Mississippi—including songs featuring Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Emmy Lou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and more.
These discs also contain additional recordings between Costello and Burnett – notably tracks from the 2010 album National Ransom – Plus three newly recorded tracks, including radical remixes of King of America songs “Indoor Fireworks” and “Brilliant Mistake.”
King of America and Other Worlds Playlist
Disc 1 – King of America (Remastered 2024)
1. Fatal error
2. beloved
3. Our little angel
4. Don't let me be misunderstood.
5. Glitter Gulch
6. Indoor fireworks
7. Small palaces
8. I will wear it proudly.
9. American Without Tears
10. Eisenhower Blues
11. The Poisoned Rose
12. The Big Light
13. Jack of All Marches
14. Light Suit
15. Sleep of the Just
Disc 2 – The King Without Shoes
Demos, deleted footage, and other worlds
1. People's Limousine – The Cowardly Brothers
2. Next time*
3. The deportee *
4. Great Mistake (First Draft)*
5. Painful face
6. The Poisoned Rose
7. Jack of all trades
8. Sleep of the Just*
9. The Blue Chair*
10. I hope you are happy now.
11. I will wear it proudly.
12. Indoor fireworks
13. Get it all
14. Flat shoes*
15. King of Trust
16. They'll Never Take Her Love From Me – The Cowardly Brothers
17. American Without Tears #2 (Twilight Edition)
Disc 3 – American Kings Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall 27 January 1987
1. The Great Light*
2. The only father who will stick to the line*
3. Our little angel*
4. It's tearing me apart*
5. I will wear it proudly*
6. Beloved*
7. River boat*
8. Sally Sue Brown/36-22-36*
9. American Without Tears*
10. Fatal error*
11. What would I do without you?
12. Your Mind on Vacation / Your Funeral, My Trial*
13. Pour water on a drowning man*
14. Payment Day *
15. This is how you were killed before *
16. Sleep of the Just*
17. Ways of True Love *
Disc 4 – El Principe in New Orleans and the Mississippi Del March
1. There's a Story in Your Voice – with Lucinda Williams
2. Darkness of the countryside
3. Delivery man
4. Nothing sticks like ivy.
5. Heart Shaped Bruise – ft. Emmylou Harris (Live from Hi-Tone, Memphis)**
6. Bedlam (Live At Montreal Jazz) **
7. Both sides of the same city
8. Wonder Woman
9. In another room
10. The Monkey* – Rehearsal with Dave Bartholomew and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
11. From monkey to man
12. Deep Dark Honest Mirror
13. Clown Strike (Live at Montreal Jazz)**
14. Who will help the brother to advance?
15. The river in the opposite direction
16. The Greatest Love – From Tarim*
17. Ascension Day
Disc 5 – The Principe del Purgatory
1. Way of the Cross
2. Quick Like A Flash (previously unpublished)*
3. Sulfur for sugarcane
4. Red cotton
5. Lost on the River #12
6. Slow Pull with Josephine
7. I felt cold.
8. Complex Shadows (Cashbox Version)
9. She pulls the pin.
10. The Condemned Man (Demo)*
11. Hidden Shame
12. Red Wicked Wine – with Dr. Ralph Stanley
13. The Scarlet Tide – with Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings (Live from the Grand Ole Opry)*
14. One bell ringing
15. Bullets for the Newborn King
16. All these strangers
17. For More Tears (Demo)*
18. I hung the moon
Disc 6 – Herzog's Der Ramppenlicht
1. Stella Hurt
2. Mr. Feather
3. Under the lime
4. Jimmy stands in the rain
5. Between wine and spirits
6. Dr. Watson, I suppose.
7. Church Underground (Demo)*
8. Voice in the Dark
9. April 5 – With Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson
10. Indoor Fireworks (Memphis Magnetic Version)*
11. This Isn't the Part of Him You're Leaving Behind – with Larkin Poe*
12. Brilliant Mistake/Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (Cape Fear version)*
13. That Day Is Over – with the Fairfield Four
*Not previously released
**First ever audio release
