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Coward Brothers, The

IMP

IMP-006

1985

The People's Limousine

Henry Coward - Howard Coward

Henry Coward - Howard Coward

not listed

They'll Never Take Her Love from Me

Henry Coward - Howard Coward

Henry Coward - Howard Coward

not listed

--

VG+ / VG+ (UK pressing)

yes

$8.00

none

This one-shot collaboration between Elvis Costello and T. Bone Burnette is all but unknown to American audiences.  That's too bad since it's actually pretty good.  The 'A' side is a surprisingly commercial slice of music with kind of a rockabilly feel to it.  Certainly not what I would have expected from Costello, though I can see T. Bone Burnett exploring the genre..

Here's what Costello had to say about the collaboration (taken from the liner notes to one of his Rykodisc compilations - 

"Then there were The Coward Brothers ....    Declaring this to be their "Second Comeback Tour", these embittered characters made several unscheduled appearances in my shows with T-Bone.  Despite claiming authorship of most of the very famous songs they performed, the profits of their "First Comeback Tour" had been squandered when they were persuaded to fake their own deaths in advance of the "Ultimate Comeback Tour."  These and other shabby admissions were exclusively revealed in The Cowards' impromptu television interview with C.N.N. - whose news crew happened to be killing time while waiting for President Reagan to emerge from his holiday hideaway - when the Brothers - Howard resplendent in a white brocade jacket, Henry in that sober little Nudie Nuber with the rhinestone lapels plus sunglasses - stumbled into their poolside barbecue for a drink.

This masquerade was really an excuse for performing songs ranging from their theme tune, the George Jones classic "Ragged But Right", through Bobby Charles' "Tennessee Blues" to a medley of "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" and "If You're Going to San F..." You probably get the picture...... As their ghost writers T-Bone and I composed "The People's Limousine" during a long and occasionally surreal journey through Italy.

In early '85 The Coward Brothers' first and only single was recorded in Los Angeles with David Miner on bass and Ron Tutt on drums.  The b-side was a Leon Payne song made famous by Hank Williams "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me" on which the Cowards were joined by D. Miner and Stephen Bruton on mandolin.

James Burton is one of the few guitar players who is almost always called "legendary. "  This is because he IS amazing AND his credits stretch from Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q" through his years with Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley to a fantastic range of session and stage appearances, Jerry Lee Lewis, Emmylou Harris, and Randy Newman being only three of my favourites from the hundreds of artists he has played with."