Elvis Costello is accountable for some 600 revealed songs, however that is hardly saved him from exploring the catalogs of fellow artists.

Below, in no specific order, we’re having a look at 20 of the most effective covers Costello has both recorded formally or carried out reside. And to be additional clear: this merely scratches the floor. This author, for instance, has witnessed Costello carry out covers of issues corresponding to “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan and “Domino” by Van Morrison, neither of which seem to have discovered their approach to YouTube but.

But within the meantime, listed below are 20 glorious interpretations, Elvis model.

1. “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” the Beatles

Like many musicians of his era, Costello grew to become fascinated with the Beatles from a younger age. He even spent a time period collaborating with Paul McCartney on over a dozen songs. Below is a studio model of his cowl of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” however you might also need to try a few of his reside renditions, which have been mashed with Costello’s personal “New Amsterdam.”

2. “Edith and the Kingpin,” Joni Mitchell

Costello has been a fan of Joni Mitchell since his faculty days. “My father gave me my first Joni Mitchell record and I followed everything she did after that,” he informed Pitchfork in 2020. “No one is remotely operating on her level.” In 2007, Costello participated in a tribute album to Mitchell, masking “Edith and the Kingpin” from The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

3. “She,” Charles Aznavour

Recorded as a single by Charles Aznavour in 1974, “She” served because the theme for the British TV sequence Seven Faces of Woman. It was a No. 1 hit then, however Costello took his personal stab at it in 1999. That model was used within the movie Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. It went to No. 19 within the U.Okay., Costello’s first Top 20 hit in his dwelling nation in over a decade.

4. “Good Year for the Roses,” George Jones

Country music icon George Jones had successful with “A Good Year for the Roses” in 1970. Just a little over a decade later, Costello lined it for his country-themed album Almost Blue. “I do want to say, though,” Costello informed Jones himself when talking with him for Interview journal in 1992, “that I tend to think of you as an American vocalist — rather than just a country singer — in the same frame of mind as the great singers in other styles of music, like Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.”

5. “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down,” Sam and Dave

The authentic model of “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down” was recorded by Sam & Dave in 1967 and launched because the B-side to their very own cowl of Sam Cooke’s “Soothe Me.” In 1980, Costello and his band the Attractions recorded it for the album Get Happy!!, taking it from a gradual ballad to an upbeat, easy-to-dance-to quantity. It was an enormous hit within the U.Okay., staying close to the highest of the chart for a number of weeks.

6. “The Weight,” the Band

Costello was caught a number of occasions masking “The Weight” by the Band, together with within the clip under, which additionally options Nick Lowe, Allen Toussaint, Ray LaMontagne, Richard Thompson and authentic Band member Levon Helm. Costello as soon as bumped into Helm and Band bassist Rick Danko on a New York City hearth escape within the mid ’80s. “Dumbstruck in their presence, [I was] running off at the mouth,” he wrote in his memoir Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, “the way people sometimes do when they are excited.”

7. “You’re No Good,” Linda Ronstadt

Frankly nobody will be capable to high Linda Ronstadt’s authentic vocal on “You’re No Good,” however Costello gave it his personal spin for his 1989 album Spike. This model, nonetheless, wouldn’t come out till the 2001 bonus disc was launched. Ronstadt herself has lined a number of of Costello’s songs, together with “Alison.”

“Five years ago,” Costello wrote in 2019, “shortly before an encore performance of ‘Alison,’ I told the audience at the Hollywood Bowl, that it was Linda Ronstadt’s rendition of that song – which was featured on her big hit album Living in the U.S.A. – that kept petrol in our tour bus at a time when we were sharing double bill with everyone from Talking Heads to Eddie Money for a $1.99 ticket.”

8. “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” Nina Simone

Various artists have accomplished covers of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” first recorded by Nina Simone in 1964. The Animals had successful with it lower than a yr later. Costello obtained a maintain of it for his 1986 album King of America, describing it as a “slow, violent version” in liner notes.

“[W]e borrowed Michael Blair from Tom Waits band to add a marimba part and the record was complete,” he wrote. “This may seem ironic as I attacked the song with a vocal capacity that Tom might have rejected as being too hoarse.”

9. “Sugaree,” Jerry Garcia

Bear with us right here. In the under video from 2022, you will discover Costello performing a superb rendition of Jerry Garcia’s “Sugaree,” however you will additionally discover covers of three Grateful Dead songs: “Brown-Eyed Women,” “Wharf Rat” and “Ramble on Rose.” And as if that wasn’t sufficient, there’s additionally covers of Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” and “Dance Dance Dance.” More on Young later…

10. “I Still Miss Someone,” Johnny Cash

Not solely did Costello file Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone” through the classes for 1991’s Mighty Like a Rose — mixed with George Jones’ “The Last Town I Painted” — he additionally did the music reside a number of occasions as a duet with Emmylou Harris.

11. “Running Out of Fools,” Aretha Franklin

When Aretha Franklin appeared on The Cliff Richard Show in 1970, 16-year-old Costello was watching. “After a moment like that you’re never the same again,” he informed The Guardian in 2022. Costello’s cowl of Franklin’s “Running Out of Fools” appeared on 1995’s Kojak Variety, which featured an entire bunch of different nice covers, too.

12. “So You Want to be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” the Byrds

The factor that appeared to attract Costello to the Byrds was their obvious metamorphosis over a fairly quick time period. “The band itself, the Byrds, were the band that I’d followed and like a lot of people, I suppose you might say they were an American vocal group that answered the Beatles in some ways,” he stated on Nights With Alice Cooper in 2022. “And then they became, like, a psychedelic group, almost in a way — the 5D album — and by the time they got to the Sweetheart of the Rodeo, that was quite a shock.”

13. “I Threw It All Away,” Bob Dylan

At one level within the late ’70s, Costello discovered himself at a Bob Dylan live performance after Barbara Streisand could not make it. He took her place and was invited backstage. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” Dylan stated to him. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” Costello replied.

Costello has lined quite a lot of Dylan songs through the years, each reside and on data, however his model of “I Threw It All Away” is especially charming.

14. “Brilliant Disguise,” Bruce Springsteen

Every so typically through the years, Costello and Bruce Springsteen have shared the stage. In 2003, Costello contributed a canopy of “Brilliant Disguise” to the album Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen. “I wanted to somehow make magic out of the things around me the way he did in those very early songs,” Costello as soon as defined, citing the Boss’ earliest data as having a profound affect on his personal band. “We wanted to be like that, you know. We didn’t know how to be like that.”

15. “Long Distance Love,” Little Feat

On the night time that his first son was born in 1975, Costello went to see Little Feat in live performance on the Rainbow Theatre in London. (His then-wife Mary had insisted he go and that he’d have time to be again for the delivery.) “The show was everything I could have wished for,” Costello wrote in his memoir. “The group felt funkier and wilder than their records, but the delicate weirdness of a song like ‘Sailin’ Shoes’ and the tenderness of ballads like ‘Willin” came through loud and clear without being bent out of shape.” Many years later, Costello lined “Long Distance Love” for a tribute album to Lowell George.

16. “Baby, It’s You,” the Shirelles

In 1987, Costello launched a compilation album referred to as Out of Our Idiot, that includes an array of beforehand unreleased recordings and demos relationship again to 1979. One of them was a duet of “Baby, It’s You” with Nicke Lowe they’d put to tape in 1984.

17. “Tell Me Why,” Neil Young

Before Costello lined these Neil Young songs in 2022, he carried out a canopy of “Tell Me Why” from 1970’s After the Gold Rush on the annual Bridge School Benefit in 2010. (Young and his late spouse Pegi organized the occasion yearly for speech-impaired kids from 1987 to 2016.)

18. “Wild Night,” Van Morrison

Costello has accomplished a number of Van Morrison covers, together with “Domino,” “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)” and, as evidenced under, “Wild Night.”

19. “Beginning to See the Light,” the Velvet Underground

Costello clearly pertains to the Velvet Underground in relation to the New York band’s perspective towards industrial success. “You know the story about the Velvet Underground?” he stated to The Daily Beast in 2018. “They didn’t sell any records, but then everybody who did buy the record started a band. That’s legend, at least, whether or not it’s real, there’s some sort of truth to it. There’s music that resonates in ways that has nothing to do with sales.”

20. “Purple Rain,” Prince

Costello as soon as requested Prince for permission to cowl his music “Pop Life” for a compilation album, a request Prince swiftly turned down. That did little to squash Costello’s appreciation of Prince — here is a clip of him performing “Purple Rain” in 2013.