''Painted from Memory'' is a collaboration album by

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

and

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

, released on 29 September 1998 through

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, a division of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

Background

The collaboration commenced with "God Give Me Strength", a commission for the 1996 film '' Grace of My Heart'', directed by

Allison Anders Allison Anders (born November 16, 1954) is an American independent film director whose films include '' Gas Food Lodging'', '' Mi Vida Loca'' and '' Grace of My Heart''. Anders has collaborated with fellow UCLA School of Theater, Film and Telev ...

, starring Illeana Douglas, with lead vocals by Kristen Vigard. Apparently pleased with the result, the pair expanded the project to this full album, the first for Costello after an absence of two years, and for Bacharach after an absence of 21years. Lyrics and music are co-credited to both Bacharach and Costello. In his 2015 autobiography, ''Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink'', Costello wrote, "To have written a song like "God Give Me Strength" and simply stopped would have been ridiculous, so about a year later we began a series of writing sessions .." A companion album, '' The Sweetest Punch'', was made concurrently by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant ...

, released in 1999 on another Universal label,

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. It consists of jazz arrangements of the ''Painted From Memory'' songs done by Frisell and his studio group. It features vocals by Costello on two songs, and by

singer Cassandra Wilson on two songs, one of which is a duet employing both. Costello had long been a Bacharach fan, and had recorded several Bacharach songs, beginning with "

I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. The song was recorded by Dusty Springfield and it reached No. 3 on the UK chart in 1964. Composition and early versions The song's life be ...

," released on a 1978

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

compilation '' Live Stiffs Live''. Costello would also cover " I'll Never Fall in Love Again" for the soundtrack to ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', with both he and Bacharach performing it in the film – a callback to Bacharach's

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in the first film. "I Still Have That Other Girl" won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 1998 for " Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" for Bacharach and Costello. Costello later wrote, "One day, while writing "I Still Have that Other Girl", we reached an impasse as to how to get to the full chorus. I was looking out of the window for inspiration when Burt began to play something I'd never heard before. It sounded beautiful, sort of Viennese. We were running a digital recorder to catch our working sketches, but when the recording was played back it was mostly obscured by me yelling, "That's it, you've got it, ..Fortunately my overexcited babble didn't completely cover the invention, and we were able to decode the recording and complete the song". The album was recorded and mixed by Kevin Killen. Following the album's release, Costello and Bacharach performed songs from the album together at only a limited number of venues. One of these comprised a second-season episode of the American

public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

program '' Sessions at West 54th'', later released on VHS. Also at this time, however, Costello began playing a different style of live concerts, accompanied by only longtime keyboardist Steve Nieve on piano. In 1999, Costello subsequently embarked on the Lonely World Tour, performed in this style with Nieve receiving equal billing; songs from ''Painted from Memory'' were a prominent part of the setlists on this tour. Songs from the album remain in both Costello and Bacharach's live repertoires. A rendition of "God Give Me Strength" closes Costello's 2004 orchestrated live album '' My Flame Burns Blue'', while some of Bacharach's later concerts with regular singer John Pagano also incorporated "God Give Me Strength".

Track listing

All songs written by

and

. #"In the Darkest Place" – 4:19 #"Toledo" – 4:35 #"I Still Have That Other Girl" – 2:46 #"This House Is Empty Now" – 5:10 #"Tears at the Birthday Party" – 4:38 #"Such Unlikely Lovers" – 3:24 #"My Thief" – 4:20 #"The Long Division" – 4:15 #"Painted from Memory" – 4:12 #"The Sweetest Punch" – 4:09 #"What's Her Name Today?" – 4:08 #"God Give Me Strength" – 6:11

1999 limited edition bonus disc

#"This House Is Empty Now" (live on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'', 27 November 1998) #"I Still Have That Other Girl" (live at Shibuya Hall, Tokyo, 10 February 1999) #"In the Darkest Place" (live at the Athenaeum, Melbourne, 16 February 1999) #"Painted from Memory" (live at the Athenaeum, Melbourne, 16 February 1999) #"What's Her Name Today?" (live at Shibuya Hall, Tokyo, 10 February 1999)

Charts

Documentary

Prior to the recording of the album, Irish film producer Phillip King proposed to Costello that a film should be made to document the process. The resulting film, ''Because It's a Lonely World'', was produced by King's company, Hummingbird Productions; the title, taken from the lyrics of "What's Her Name Today?", was also originally a

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

for the album itself and part of a promotional

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

for the album. The hour-long documentary originally aired in the UK on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

on 26 December 1998, and in the U.S.,

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, which was then expanding its original programming lineup during the midst of a major advertising campaign, aired it on 20 October 1999.

2014 musical

On 24 September 2014, the album was performed by Australian musical theatre stars Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox at Sydney's City Recital Hall. Falzon approached Fox in 2014 with a view to recreate the iconic 1998 album because, according to him,

"It's very much written from the heart and experience and it resonates so deeply with people. Because of the lyrics and because you can hear that hurt, you get all the emotions. And with Bacharach and Costello it's not just the lyrics; there are the clever arrangements that take you there anyway."

The concert version featured popular hits by Bacharach and Costello during the first act, with a retelling of the album by Fox and Falzon in the second featuring Laura Bunting. It was produced by City Recital Hall and directed by

Jonathan Biggins Jonathan Martin Biggins is an Australian actor, singer, writer, director, and comedian. He has appeared on film, stage and television as well as in satirical sketch comedy television programmes. Early life and education Jonathan Martin Biggi ...

with musical director Isaac Hayward.

References

External links

* * Karen Schoemer
The Odd Couple
, originally from ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' 10 May 1998, online on bacharachonline.com {{authority control Elvis Costello albums 1998 collaborative albums Albums produced by Elvis Costello Albums produced by Burt Bacharach Mercury Records albums Burt Bacharach albums Baroque pop albums