eMusic Review
Elvis Costello was raised in Liverpool and has lived everywhere from Dublin to New York, but a good chunk of his heart belongs to Nashville. That much would be obvious even if Sacred, Profane & Sugarcane hadn't been recorded in that city's Sound Emporium Studio in three days and produced by Americana doyen T-Bone Burnett with a crack band of Nashville session all-stars including Jerry Douglas, best known for his dobro playing for Alison Krauss's Union Station. All you need to do is pay attention to the album's regret-soaked selections to figure it out.
None of this is especially surprising: Costello has been writing convincing country music since his career began. The year he began recording, 1977, saw both "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger in the House" issued as B-sides, and from 1981's Almost Blue, a country-covers album, to 2004's The Delivery Man, featuring co-vocalists Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams, he's recorded extensively in Nashville.
The songs on Secret, Profane & Sugarcane come from a wide assortment of places. A few are Costello collaborations with other writers, including Burnett ("The Crooked Line" and "Sulphur to Sugarcane") and Loretta Lynn ("I Felt The Chill Before The Winter Came"). A handful of others, notably the… read more »
