"Elvis Costello: Spectacle" Premieres Tonight On The Sundance Channel

Jake Kalish — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:35:00 GMT

So just when we were pining for those days before we were born, when serious music shows like The Johnny Cash Show featured serious musicians doing serious songs, all grown-up like, we find out about Elvis Costello: Spectacle, set to premiere tonight at 9 on Sundance (and, if you happen to be across the pond, also on BBC 4). The show, created by Elton John and his partner in love and business, David Furnish, will feature Costello sitting down with guests and talking music after first performing a song written by or inspired by the guest. Here's Sir Elton discussing the concept for the show:

Wouldn’t it be great to do a proper, full-length musical show, because we live in a sound-bite culture. Elvis has experience, he’s got an encyclopedic knowledge of music...He's the one.

No argument here, especially after seeing Costello doing such a stand-up job guest-hosting for Letterman in 2003, and watching him on other shows talking shop in a deeply intelligent, never pretentious or insider-y way. These are Elvis' hopes for the show:

(I want to) hear about a deep love or a curiosity that might be obscured by fame. This is a wonderful opportunity to talk in complete thoughts about music, movies, art or even vaudeville, then frame it with unique and illustrative performances.

Well, doesn't that sound...adult. The first guest Wednesday will be Elton John (How did Elton John book that guy?), followed the 10th by Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel, and then, on the 17th, Bill "Saxophone Collossus" Clinton. We look forward to it.

PREVIOUSLY:
Holiday Gift Suggestion #1: "The Johnny Cash Show" On DVD

Holiday Gift Suggestion #1: "The Johnny Cash Show" On DVD

Jake Kalish — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:31:00 GMT

So we're flipping through the channels on Thanksgiving, waiting for the first of three terrible football games, when we come up on PBS and see Roy Orbison singing Crying. Next segment was Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell duetting on Long Black Veil, followed by Neil Young on guitar doing The Needle And The Damage Done. No messing around, just very brief introductions (if any at all), and then the songs, performed beautifully. We thought, damn, this is good. What the hell are we watching?

Well, it was Johnny Cash: A Man And His Vision, a compilation of the best moments from The Johnny Cash Show, which aired from 1969-71. We were tempted to keep watching until the public television people came on and tried to sell us stuff, but instead we looked to see if we could get it a DVD ourselves, for a less exhorbitant price. (But, of course, without the satisfaction that comes from supporting public broadcasting.) Sure enough, Amazon has a 2-DVD set called The Best of The Johnny Cash Show, for a very reasonable $25.97. We'll spare the sales pitch (and no, none of us are related to Johnny Cash, we won't get this money) but, to give you an idea, these are the first six performances on just the first DVD:

Johnny Cash - Ring Of Fire
Bob Dylan - I Threw It All Away
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash - Girl From The North Country
Kris Kristofferson - Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)
Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash - Blue Yodel #9
Stevie Wonder - Heaven Help Us All

Pretty damn good, right?

The Remote Island : The Johnny Cash Show

"Elvis Costello: Spectacle" Premieres Tonight On The Sundance Channel

Holiday Gift Suggestion #1: "The Johnny Cash Show" On DVD