Elvis Costello has announced a new boxset and has shared a cover of country classic ‘Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line’ – check it out below.
The song was written by Jimmy Bryant and recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1968, reaching Number Two on the US Hot Country Songs chart. It has subsequently been covered by artists including Linda Ronstadt and Hank Williams Jr, and now Costello has released his own version.
The recording was captured live at the Royal Albert Hall in London when Costello played a six-date residency at the venue in early 1987. Recorded with backing band The Confederates, it has never been made available before.
Listen here:
The track will be included on ‘King Of America & Other Realms’, a new six-disc box set reissue of his 1986 album ‘King Of America’. The record, and this expanded deluxe version, is a celebration of Costello’s love of American music, and was originally recorded with producer and Americana legend T Bone Burnett.
The boxset will be released on November 1 via UMe, and will feature a total of 97 tracks and a 35-page essay written by Costello, illustrated with never-before-seen photographs from Costello’s tours from the era. The 57-page booklet will also be housed in a 12” x 11.5” package, complete with cover art by Terence Donovan.
The full 1987 Royal Albert Hall concert is included in the boxset, as is a disc of demos and three discs of albums from throughout Costello’s career that are also inspired by traditional American music. Pre-order yours here.
Last December, Costello joined Billy Joel on stage in Madison Square Garden for performances of his own 1978 hit ‘Pump It Up’ and Joel’s ‘Allentown’.
He has also joined a host of other musicians, including Billie Eilish, Robert Smith, Stevie Wonder and Nicki Minaj, in signing an open letter warning against the “predatory” use of AI in music. The April letter came from the Artist Rights Alliance was titled ‘Stop Devaluing Music’ and can be read in full here.