Liner Notes - The Sweetest Punch – The New Songs of Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach
The new songs of Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharash arranged by Bill Frisell
Performed by Brian Blade, Don Byron, Billy Drewes, Curtis Fowlkes, Bill Frisell, Viktor Krauss, Ron Miles
Almost as soon as they had finished writing, I received some piano scores and a demo tape with Elvis singing and Burt playing the piano. What a thrill and honor it was to hear these twelve beautiful new tunes before anyone else on the planet. I was then left on my own to decide how to arrange them.
This recording was done in New York while Burt and Elvis were working in Los Angeles on Painted From Memory. None of us heard what the others were doing until we all finished. I can’t imagine this ever happening again – a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.
This project could never have happened if it weren’t for a long chain of people working together. There are too many to thank and I’m scared I’ll leave out half of them – but to give you some idea of what was going on here – there’s Elvis and Burt for writing the music, all the musicians, Lee Townsend, Joe Ferla, Judy Clapp, Chuck Mitchell, Noel Grey and everyone at Verve and Decca, Bob Hurwitz, David Bither and everyone at Nonesuch, Louise Spier, and lots of other people. This was a pleasure from beginning to end. Thanks to all these folks.
BILL FRISELL
It’s hard to believe that Bill Frisell began arranging these tunes just a few days after the ink was dry on the last of our original manuscripts. In fact, much of The Sweetest Punch was recorded while Burt and I were still completing Painted From Memory. I didn’t dare listen to these interpretations until our record was safely delivered to the factory. My curiosity quickly overcame me.
I want to thank Bill for listening so imaginatively to both the words and the music. He has distilled the mood and feeling of these songs through the voices of this extraordinary ensemble and his own playing. Thanks also to Lee and all the production team at Verve and Decca, and to Cassandra for her lovely reading of “painted From Memory” and for having the good humour to venture into our duet.