Elvis Costello shares unreleased live cover of Waylon Jennings

“Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” was recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1987

In early 1987 Elvis Costello played a six-night, sold-out stand at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Costello performed three shows with the Attractions and three devoted to his 1986 album, King Of America, and other realms, with a band billed as The Confederates (the dictionary definition for ally or accomplice and nothing to do with America’s Civil War), featuring guitarist James Burton and bassist Jerry Scheff from Elvis Presley’s legendary TCB Band, drummer Jim Keltner, keyboardist Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and T-Bone Wolk, who added accordion and mandolin to the ensemble. The electrifying never-before-released concert is included on the six-disc box set King Of America & Other Realms, releasing November 1st via UMe, and is being previewed with Costello’s performance of “Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line,” written by Jimmy Bryant and made famous by Waylon Jennings.

The third disc of the set, Kings Of America Live At The Royal Albert Hall, recorded on January 27, 1987, and newly mixed from the multi-track tapes, features live renditions of several King Of America titles along with Costello’s take on a host of great American songwriter’s songs including Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham’s “It Tears Me Up,” Arthur Alexander’s “Sally Sue Brown,” Allen Toussaint’s “Riverboat,” Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Your Funeral And My Trial,” Mose Allison’s “Your Mind Is On Vacation,” Ray Charles’ “What Would I Do Without You,” Jesse Winchester’s “Payday,” Dave Bartholomew’s “That’s How You Got Killed Before” and Buddy Holly’s “True Love Ways.”

Elvis Costello’s King Of America & Other Realms celebrates and explores the songwriter’s lifelong love, fascination, and influence of American music, spanning his many albums and inspired collaborations with some of the most celebrated musicians, songwriters and producers in this music, including his longtime creative partnership with T Bone Burnett.

Compiled by Elvis Costello, the six-disc super deluxe edition box set, King Of America & Other Realms, traces Costello’s musical travels from Hollywood, California, where the King Of America album was recorded – to a new take on that album’s opener, “Brilliant Mistake,” recorded in Cape Fear, North Carolina in early 2024, via Costello’s recording adventures in New Orleans, Oxford and Clarksdale, Mississippi, Nashville and Memphis. This one-of-a-kind 97-track musical journey is guided by Costello in a newly self-penned 35-page essay beautifully illustrated with numerous rare and never-before-seen photos in a 57-page booklet. The discs are housed in a handsome 12-inch by 11.5-inch package. A startlingly beautiful cover shot by Terence Donovan reveals the majesty and absurdity of a king in his velvet and bejeweled crown and embroidered denim jacket.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn