Issue No. 37 of Johnny Be Good features one of 45 songs from the book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John Pearson's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes). Each blog will spotlight a song from the book and a guest blogger’s color commentary. Click here to subscribe. Each issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting will highlight the latest blog.
Written in 10 Minutes!
Today’s blogger: John Pearson
Song: #37 of 45
Title: “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes”
Musicians: Elvis Costello
Released: November 1977
I APPRECIATED THIS:
No one had heard of Elvis Costello (at age 22)—yet he still leveraged his songwriting giftedness and cranked out this song in just 10 minutes! In this chapter, he describes taking a train “on holiday” from London to Liverpool to visit his mother. At the time, in mid-1976, he worked as a computer operator for Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics company.
He tells Marc Myers, “As the train pulled out of Runcorn [the last stop before his destination], I began to write. The idea for ‘Red Shoes’ came to me fully formed, with the song’s summarizing chorus line—'the angels wanna wear my red shoes’—appearing first. So in the minutes that followed, I worked backward from the chorus line on the rest of the lyrics. I could write snappy lines like ‘Oh I used to be disgusted / and now I try to be amused’ in my sleep, but it perplexed me a little to be suddenly writing this song about mortality at only 22.”
The chapter is a must-read—especially about the creative process on song writing. “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” is featured in the album, “My Aim is True.” The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
Read more about the song in Marc Myers’ WSJ article, Nov. 17, 2015, “How Elvis Costello Created ‘Red Shoes.’ Before he became a recording artist, Elvis Costello wrote ‘Red Shoes’ on a train to Liverpool in 1976.”
Listen to “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” sung by Elvis Costello.
MY FAVORITE NOTES & QUOTES:
Costello did not have a tape recorder with him on the train. “As I walked through the Liverpool Lime Street station to find a cab, I must have looked deranged. I was muttering and singing the song to myself over and over, trying to block out noise and distractions. Fortunately, the cab ride was quiet. The driver wasn’t playing the radio or eager to talk.
“When I arrived at my mother’s house, I shouted a brief hello and rushed upstairs to my old room. I pulled out my old Spanish guitar and tuned the steel strings carefully, since I didn’t have spares if these snapped. I also didn’t have a tape recorder to capture what I was playing. By playing it over and over, I had it down.”
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD THIS SONG?
(I know. You’re not gonna believe this.) I had only heard of Elvis Costello—and didn't know his music. I wondered why he would use the first name of The King of Rock and Roll? But when reading this book in 2023, I found this chapter fascinating—and immediately said, “Alexa…play ‘(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.'” (Note: Elvis Costello's given name is Declan Patrick MacManus and he is now 70.)
JOHNNY BE...GOOD, BETTER, OR BEST?
• GOOD: “We recorded ‘Red Shoes’ and the rest of ‘My Aim Is True’ in late 1976 and early ’77 at Pathway Studios in London. Nick Lowe produced. The studio was a small space with an 8-track board and a bit of magic in the sound. The beauty of that studio is you didn’t have room to overcomplicate your ideas. I was right on top of the music, which meant I couldn’t get further away from anyone else or myself to gain perspective on what was going on.”
• BETTER: “John Ciambotti, Clover’s bassist, referred to ‘Red Shoes’ as ‘the song that sounds like the Byrds.’ I said to myself, ‘Well, OK, if it sounds like the Byrds, that’s a good thing.’”
• BEST: “Today, I start most of my concerts with ‘Red Shoes.’ I always want a strong starting point. My shows open with a reel of my music videos on a large screen. I figure no one else is going to show them, so why not me. But today, they look like Buster Keaton films. So much time has passed.”
THIS ISSUE'S COMMENTARY BY John Pearson
This is not John Pearson, but if he had lived in London in 1976, maybe he could have been on that train and watched Elvis Costello write a song in 10 minutes—just before they arrived in Liverpool! (Yes. 10 Minutes!)
TODAY’S BLOGGER, John Pearson, writes these blogs only when his friends and family keep saying “too busy” or “not my musical style.” By John’s count, there are eight more blogs in this 45-song blog series and he plans to wrap up this musical celebration by New Year’s Eve 2024. (Watch for the announcement of the Big Finale!)
NEXT UP: Song #38 of 45, “Heart of Glass,” by Blondie.
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It all started in 2023, when John Pearson read and reviewed a "fun" book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes).
If you'd enjoy being one of 45 guest bloggers, along with John Ashmen, Dick Nelson, Suzy West, Dave Barton, Patsy Barton, Paul Palmer, Bill Butterworth, Jim West, Melinda Schmidt, Jason Pearson, Gary Rea, Callista Dawson, John Walling, Ed Barrett, Larry Beatty, Skye Matlock, Scott Anderson and others, read more here and contact John Pearson. Click here to subscribe to this blog and enjoy the toe-tapping musicians in each weekly blog post—reminding you of these iconic songs of yesteryear.