Most will know Costello for his wide spanning career with the attractions starting in the late seventies of humble beginnings in the pub rock scene of London. Then known by his birth name D.P Macmanus. Yet before his inevitable stardom, Costello was a member of a Liverpool band named Rusty. Along with his then colloaborator and bandmate Allan Mayes. Rusty toured extensively in from early 1972 but in a cruel twist of fate they never ended up in a recording studio. Now, a full 50 years later, Costello and Mayes will ride again for their debut album titled; The Resurrection of Rust.
The LP was produced by Costello and Sebastian Krys and will feature six songs lifted from the old band’s set lists. With covers of “I’m Ahead If I Can Quit While I’m Behind” by Jim Ford and reimagining of Nick Lowe’s “Surrender to the Rhythm” and “Don’t Lose Your Grip On Love”. There will also be an arrangement which will incorporate the Neil Young Songs “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” and “Dance, Dance, Dance” (the latter seeing Costello debut his skills on electric violin). Along with two original Rusty tracks “Warm House” and “Maureen and Sam”
In a statement, Elvis Costello reminisced on the memories of Rusty’s origins;
“In 2021, my pal and singing partner in the Liverpool clubs, Allan Mayes wrote to me from his home in Austin, Texas. He wanted to remind me that it would soon be fifty years since I joined his band, ‘Rusty’, just after our first meeting at a party on New Year’s Eve, 1971. The group was then a quartet, with Allan’s school friend, Alan Brown ‐ who would play bass until he left for university later that year ‐ and there was also another vocalist called ‘Dave’, whose main credentials as a singer were the ownership of a microphone and tambourine. A month later, after a couple of pretty ragged gigs, Allan and I became the only vocalists and there was not a tambourine in sight. Show business is a cruel game.”
He later added; “Allan Mayes has been a hard working musician for more than the fifty years since we met. So, when he asked me if I wanted to celebrate this anniversary by getting together to play a few songs that we used to know. I said, ‘Absolutely not!’- ‘Let’s make the record we would have cut when we were 18, if anyone had let us”.
The LP is set to drop on the 10th of June 2022 via Capitol initially in CD format with a vinyl release later this summer. However, copies can be bought in person at any of Costello’s current tour dates. To pre order your copy, follow the link here.
