The initial word on Almost Blue was that it was going to be career suicide, but while the album scored no hits in the United States (unsurprising, since Elvis Costello didn't finally bag a Top 40 single until "Everyday I Write the Book" scraped into the lower 30s in the fall of 1983), his sensitive reading of the George Jones hit "A Good Year for the Roses" hit the U.K. Top Ten, making it one of his biggest chart singles ever. (A creepily atmospheric video that got a lot of U.K. airplay probably helped a lot.) The song is sentimental almost to the point of self-parody, and Costello seems to recognize this; a barely perceptible wink seems to accompany the first verse, in which the singer compares himself unfavorably to a lipstick-marked cigarette and half-drunk cup of coffee. This is the most identifiably Billy Sherrill-produced song on the album, complete with the strings and female backing vocals that are his trademark; take out Costello's inimitable lead vocal and you could easily slot Jones, Ray Price, or Charlie Rich in its place. This proves only how suitable Costello's vocals are to the countrypolitan sound, despite the complaints of some of the less open-minded reviewers at the time. "A Good Year for the Roses" is both a great Elvis Costello song and a great country song.
A - Good Year For The Roses (3:05)
Written-By – J. Chesnut
B - Your Angel Steps Out Of Heaven (1:55)
Written-By – Jack Ripley
Companies, etc.
- Manufactured By – WEA Records B.V.
- Manufactured By – WEA Records SA / NV
- Distributed By – WEA Records B.V.
- Distributed By – WEA Records SA / NV
Credits
- Producer – Billy Sherrill
Notes
Release: 1981
Genre: Pop Ballad
Label: WEA Records
Catalog# WEA 18.879
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