Elvis Costello, with guest T Bone Burnett as the Coward Brothers
Royal Hall
Harrogate, England
9 November 1984


01. Strict Time
02. Stranger In The House
03. Men Called Uncle
04. The Only Flame In Town - slow version
05. Mouth Almighty
06. High Fidelity
07. Just A Memory
08. Almost Blue
09. Green Shirt
10. Kid About It
11. I Hope You're Happy Now
12. New Amsterdam
13. Luxembourg
14. Worthless Thing
15. The World And His Wife
16. What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend
17. Home Truth
18. End Of The Rainbow
19. Riot Act
20. I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know
21. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
22. I Still Miss Someone
23. Alison - including You Win Again and The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)
24. Ragged But Right - The Coward Brothers
25. She Thinks I Still Care - The Coward Brothers
26. Inch By Inch
27. I'll Make It All Up To You
28. A Smiling Shore
29. Shipbuilding
30. Peace In Our Time


Elvis Costello
The Coward Brothers:
- Howard Coward (Elvis Costello)
- Henry Coward (T Bone Burnett)


Recorder: Unknown
Lineage: Unknown


Comments by area51GM:
---------------------
40 years on .....................................

Less than a week after the end of the gruelling tour with The Attractions Elvis revisits a few prime U.K. venues along with a trip to Dublin and then a trip to the continent for a fairly extensive tour matching those undertaken over the previous 7 years with a band with just his guitars and evolving keyboard technique. At this time few of us would have been aware of what the solo performances were likely to sound as even though 6 months had passed since the first solo tour in the United States, recordings seemed quite slow to cross over and the shows were almost entirely sold out in short time. The anticipation was therefore great and the promotion was somewhat muted in comparison to the band tour but it still produced one of the most iconic images of Elvis in Chalky White’s magnificent black and white poster with Elvis clutching a double bass. It’s still being used as a tee-shirt to this day by the official Elvis merchandise store. It seems strange that the tour kicks off at a venue Elvis had never performed in before but all the concerts were played in halls or theatres known for their use as both popular and classic venues and the feeling must have been that Elvis in the isolation of a solo accompaniment must warrant the best acoustics. Stepping up to the mic Elvis must have wondered what sort of reception he might get but he need not have worried as every concert is rapturously received even when he played lesser known songs from his repertoire. The concert here kicks off unpredictably with “Strict Time” and even changes some of the lyrics but there are enough genuine fans who recognise and applaud the song as it finishes before we get a song sometimes introduced as “a song about when I was another person” in “Stranger In The House” a song which must have seemed prescient to Elvis in the state his marriage was in at this time. “Mouth Almighty” is another L.P. track given special treatment in this manner and after “High Fidelity” Elvis says we’ve reached the nerve wracking part of the show when he has to play the piano. “Almost Blue” also follows on piano but there are some crackles in the P.A. during this. A tape flip occurs at the start of a slowed up version of “The World And His Wife” and we get the only performance of Jerry Dammers “What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend”. The main part of the concert ends with “Alison” preceded by Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone”. The first U.K. appearance of The Coward Brothers only has two songs, their signature song “Ragged But Right” and then “She Thinks I Still Care”. Elvis then chooses to end the concert here and throughout the tour with three hugely powerful anti-war songs in June Tabor’s “A Smiling Shore”, a magnificent encapsulation of the PTSD that had been ignored or unrecognised in millions of survivors of the two World Wars and so many conflicts subsequent. This is then followed by two of his great songs in a tradition of his telling and poignant compositions in the familiar “Shipbuilding” and the “Peace In Our Time”.

I received this in trade quite late into the early 90s rather than the 80s and this tape needed to be taken up nearly 50 cents to correct the pitch.

Lineage: TDK SA chrome cassette > Nakamichi DR3 (no Dolby) > Marantz DR6000 > EAC > Nero Platinum for track separation and pitch adjustment > TLH > FLAC


Update by JohnE on 27 Jan 2025:
Lineage: FLACs supplied by area51GM > Mp3tag (added tags). Added artwork.

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