Release date : Monday, May 13, 1991
By Elvis Costello • Official album • Part of the collection “Paul McCartney as producer, composer, or session musician in the 90s”
Last updated on March 18, 2017
Previous album Dec 14, 1990 • "Liverpool Press Conference June 1990" by Paul McCartney released globally
Concert May 08, 1991 • Spain • Barcelona
Concert May 10, 1991 • United Kingdom • Harlesden
Album May 13, 1991 • "Mighty Like a Rose" by Elvis Costello released globally
Live album May 20, 1991 • "Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)" by Paul McCartney released in the UK
Live album Jun 04, 1991 • "Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)" by Paul McCartney released in the US
Next album Sep 30, 1991 • "CHOBA B CCCP" by Paul McCartney released in the UK
The Other Side Of Summer
3:56 • Studio version
Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)
4:06 • Studio version
How To Be Dumb
5:14 • Studio version
All Grown Up
4:18 • Studio version
Invasion Hit Parade
5:34 • Studio version
Harpies Bizarre
3:44 • Studio version
After The Fall
4:36 • Studio version
Georgie And Her Rival
3:38 • Studio version
Written by Paul McCartney, Declan MacManus / Elvis Costello
4:37 • Studio version • A
Marc Ribot : Electric guitar, Spanish guitar Elvis Costello : Acoustic rhythm guitar, Electric guitar, Producer, Vocals Mitchell Froom : Celeste, Chamberlain, Mellotron, Producer Jim Keltner : Drums Larry Knechtel : Tack piano Jerry Scheff : Bass T-Bone Wolk : Intro/outro bass figures Kevin Killen : Producer
Recording : Late 1990 - early 1991 • Studio Ocean Way, Hollywood & Westside Studios, London
Interlude- Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 2
0:22 • Studio version
Written by Paul McCartney, Declan MacManus / Elvis Costello
3:20 • Studio version • A
Marc Ribot : Guitar section Elvis Costello : 12-string rickenbacker, Big stupid guitar, Cox organ, Producer, Vocals Mitchell Froom : "piano frenzy", Cox organ, Producer Jim Keltner : Drums Larry Knechtel : "piano frenzy", Upright piano Jerry Scheff : Bass Kevin Killen : Producer Benmont Tench : "piano frenzy"
Recording : Late 1990 - early 1991 • Studio Ocean Way, Hollywood & Westside Studios, London
Sweet Pear
3:37 • Studio version
Broken
3:37 • Studio version
Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4
3:49 • Studio version
From Wikipedia:
Mighty Like A Rose is the 13th studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1991 on compact disc as Warner Brothers 26575. The title is presumably a reference to the pop standard “Mighty Lak’ a Rose“, and although that song does not appear on the album, the words of its first stanza are quoted in the booklet of the 2002 reissue. It peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, and at No. 55 on the Billboard 200.
Content
Originally this album was to be released under Costello’s actual name Declan MacManus, having grown tired of the Elvis Costello pseudonym. Record label pressures, however, won the day and it was released as an Elvis Costello record.
Mighty Like a Rose continues in the vein of Costello’s previous album Spike from 1989, although with Mitchell Froom taking over the producer’s chair from T-Bone Burnett. This time, the tracks were recorded in one location, Ocean Way in Hollywood, with orchestral and vocal overdubs taking place at Westside Studios in London. Two more songs from his collaboration with Paul McCartney appear, “Playboy to a Man” and a song selected as a single, “So Like Candy“.
Costello refers to this as an angry record, recorded in the aftermath of the Gulf War. The opening track, “The Other Side of Summer” was designed as a Beach Boys pastiche after their style in the early 1970s. The track “Invasion Hit Parade” features a trumpet solo by Costello’s father, Ross MacManus. The album also features a song written by his wife at the time, Cait O’Riordan, “Broken“. The album is dedicated to her.
The lead single, “The Other Side of Summer“, peaked at No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. Although it missed the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, it reached No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 40 on the Album Rock Tracks chart. The second single, “So Like Candy“, did not chart in either nation.
Release history
The album was released initially on compact disc in 1991. As part of the Rhino Records reissue campaign for Costello’s back catalogue from Demon/Columbia and Warners, it was re-released in 2002 with 17 additional tracks on a bonus disc. Several of these were recorded at Costello’s home. […]
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