My Aim Is True

MY AIM IS TRUE

ORIGINAL ALBUM (36:49)

Welcome To The Working Week (1:23)
Miracle Man (3:32)
No Dancing (2:41)
Blame It On Cain (2:50)
Alison (3:24)
Sneaky Feelings (2:11)
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes (2:48)
Less Than Zero (3:18)
Mystery Dance (1:36)
Pay It Back (2:33)
I'm Not Angry (2:59)
Waiting For The End Of The World (3:22)
Watching The Detectives (3:45)

BONUS DISC (35:30)

No Action (early version) (2:15)
Living In Paradise (early version) (3:00)
Radio Sweetheart (2:31)
Stranger In The House (3:04)
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (live) (2:27)
Less Than Zero ("Dallas version") (4:17)
Imagination (Is A Powerful Deceiver) (3:38)
Mystery Dance (Honky Tonk demo) (2:13)
Cheap Reward (Honky Tonk demo) (2:16)
Jump Up (Honky Tonk demo) (2:06)
Wave A White Flag (Honky Tonk demo) (1:58)
Blame It On Cain (Honky Tonk demo) (3:31)
Poison Moon (Honky Tonk demo) (1:53)

"A Pekingese in a tuxedo could sell you My Aim Is True," Elvis Costello told Billboard as Rhino kicked off its reissue program, which may explain the reasoning behind the relatively slim pickings on Rhino's version of Costello's debut album: Such a highly regarded album could lure plenty of purchasers without much in the way of bonuses. Nine of the bonus disc's 13 tracks are held over from Ryko's 1993 release. Of the remaining four, only two are entirely new, making this easily the skimpiest of the Rhino reissues in terms of previously unreleased tracks.

On the other hand, there's no denying that the bonus disc paints an unusually well-rounded portrait of Elvis Costello turning pro – developing his songwriting skills (the Honky Tonk demos), already exploring genres outside of traditional rock & roll (Bacharach & David's "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," the country-ish "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger In The House"), and hinting at where he would go next with early versions of two tracks from his next album and another two tracks featuring early performances with the Attractions.

It should be noted that "Watching The Detectives" was not part of the 1977 My Aim Is True LP in the UK but was added to the original US release. Although it could arguably still be considered a bonus track, it appears at the end of disc 1 rather than as part of the bonus disc.

WHAT'S NEW

NO ACTION (EARLY VERSION)
Elvis mentioned this outtake recorded at the same time as "Watching The Detectives" in the liner notes for the Ryko release, but at that time it was considered "lost."

LIVING IN PARADISE (EARLY VERSION)
This outtake from the My Aim Is True sessions is notable for substantially different lyrics. It was also mentioned as "lost" in the Ryko notes.

WHAT'S OLD (BUT NOT ON THE RYKO CD)

I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF (LIVE, NORWICH, OCT. 18, 1977)
Originally issued on the various artists album Live Stiffs and also included on 1992's The Stiff Records Box Set, this is its first appearance on a Costello album. It should be noted that "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" exists in at least three unique mixes, described in the "what's missing" section below.

LESS THAN ZERO ("DALLAS VERSION") (LIVE, TORONTO, MAR. 6, 1978)
Although it wasn't on Ryko's version of My Aim Is True, this recording was available as part of Ryko's reissue program on the Live At El Mocambo CD. That album, originally a promotional-only release in 1978, is not scheduled to be reissued by Rhino.

RYKO REPEATS

RADIO SWEETHEART
This track from Elvis' first "professional" recording session was originally the B-side of "Less Than Zero." After appearing on the various artists collection Hits Greatest Stiffs, it was included on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys and used as the B-side of "Getting Mighty Crowded" in the US. The song was remixed prior to its appearance on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys, and the remix was the standard version for many years, also appearing on the Ryko CD. The Rhino release marks the CD debut of the original single mix.

STRANGER IN THE HOUSE
This outtake from the My Aim Is True sessions was first issued on a bonus single included with initial copies of the This Years Model LP in the UK and later included on Taking Liberties, Ten Bloody Marys, and the vinyl version of Girls + £ ÷ Girls = $ & Girls.

IMAGINATION (IS A POWERFUL DECEIVER)
Although several other recordings by Elvis' mid-'70s band Flip City have been available on bootlegs for years, this is the only one so far to receive an official release, having first appeared on the Ryko CD. The bootlegs also include two very similar alternate versions of the song. It was recorded in early 1975 at Hope & Anchor Studios in Islington.

MYSTERY DANCE (HONKY TONK DEMO)
CHEAP REWARD (HONKY TONK DEMO)
JUMP UP (HONKY TONK DEMO)
WAVE A WHITE FLAG (HONKY TONK DEMO)
BLAME IT ON CAIN (HONKY TONK DEMO)
POISON MOON (HONKY TONK DEMO)
These six home demos from late 1975 or early 1976 circulated for years on bootlegs prior to their first official release on the Ryko CD. The Rhino version of "Wave A White Flag" includes a very brief guitar intro which is not on the Ryko release.

WHAT'S MISSING (RELEASED RECORDINGS)

LESS THAN ZERO (SINGLE MIX)
    [A-side of Elvis' first single]
It seems very unlikely that this was ever a contender for the bonus disc, thanks to the more interesting "Dallas version" of "Less Than Zero" already being included. The single mix of "Less Than Zero" is most notable for including a prominent organ part during the opening bars which is absent from the album version. It has never appeared on CD, not even on 2003's Singles, Volume 1, which used the familiar album mix, possibly by mistake. (The 1981 reissue of the vinyl single also reportedly substituted the album mix.) Some sources indicate that a third mix of "Less Than Zero" can be found on the 1977 various artists LP A Bunch Of Stiff Records, but to my ears it is identical to the single.

ALISON (US VERSION)
    [A-side of US single]
"Alison" was subjected to additional overdubs and remixing prior to its release as a US single in an apparent effort to give it a more commercial sound. When asked about its omission from the Rhino reissue program, Elvis responded, "I don't think we need to inflict it on the listeners a second time." Nevertheless, it did eventually make its CD debut on Singles, Volume 1 as a hidden bonus track.

MIRACLE MAN (LIVE, LONDON, AUG. 7, 1977)
    [B-side of "Alison" (US single only)]
BLAME IT ON CAIN (LIVE, LONDON, AUG. 7, 1977)
    [B-side of "Watching The Detectives"]
MYSTERY DANCE (LIVE, LONDON, AUG. 7, 1977)
    [B-side of "Watching The Detectives"]
MIRACLE MAN (LIVE, LEICESTER, OCT. 22, 1977)
    [Live Stiffs album by various artists]
Of the several non-album live tracks first released in 1977-1978, only "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and "Neat Neat Neat," both otherwise unrecorded by Elvis, appeared on either the My Aim Is True or This Years Model bonus discs. These live performances of more familiar album tracks were apparently considered less worthy, despite their historical interest as early performances by Elvis with the Attractions. The fact that demo versions of "Blame It On Cain" and "Mystery Dance" were already slated for the bonus disc probably didn't help the chances of the live versions of those songs being included. It also would have been a bit redundant to include both versions of "Miracle Man," but one version would certainly have been welcome. (The Leicester version of "Miracle Man" could just as easily fit on the This Years Model bonus disc. In fact, two songs from the same show appear there.) Thankfully, despite their absence from the bonus discs, all of these tracks are available on CD. The Live Stiffs CD was released in 1992, and the other three can be found on Singles, Volume 1.

WATCHING THE DETECTIVES ("DEMO VERSION")
    [NME Pogo A Go Go cassette by various artists]
Inexplicably labeled a demo, this extremely tentative performance actually comes from an appearance on UK TV's Top Of The Pops intended to promote the single. In light of its negligible musical value, the mystery is not so much why it didn't make the Rhino bonus disc as why it was ever released in any form at all.

I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF (LIVE, NORWICH, OCT. 18, 1977) (LIVE STIFFS MIX)
    [Live Stiffs album by various artists]
I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF (LIVE, NORWICH, OCT. 18, 1977 (BOX SET MIX)
    [The Stiff Records Box Set album by various artists]
Although they all seem to derive from the same basic performance, "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" exists in three unique mixes for reasons which remain unclear. The version on the Live Stiffs LP and CD includes much more reverb on the vocals than can be found on The Stiff Records Box Set or Rhino's My Aim Is True. All three versions have very slight variations in the lyrics. Both The Stiff Records Box Set and My Aim Is True begin with Elvis singing, "Just don't know what to do with myself, just don't know what to do with myself," while Live Stiffs has him singing, "I just don't know what to do with myself, I just don't know what to do with myself." Toward the end of the song, The Stiff Records Box Set has him singing, "don't know what else to do," while Live Stiffs and My Aim is True have "I don't know what else to do." Also, the "oh oh oh" at the end has Elvis holding the final "oh" longer on Live Stiffs and My Aim Is True than on The Stiff Records Box Set. Obviously one or more of these mixes must incorporate some overdubbed vocals. In fact, there is a hint of a double-tracked vocal on the line "needs the sun and rain" on My Aim Is True. It should also be noted that the Live Stiffs CD runs at a slightly slower speed than the Live Stiffs LP. (Reports of a fourth mix on the UK compilation The Love Songs Of Burt Bacharach are incorrect. That CD uses the Live Stiffs mix.)

WHAT'S MISSING (UNRELEASED RECORDINGS)

THIRD RATE ROMANCE
LIVING IN PARADISE (FLIP CITY VERSION)
RADIO SOUL
PAY IT BACK (FLIP CITY VERSION)
KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
PACKIN' UP
PLEASE MISTER DON'T STOP THE BAND
EXILES ROAD
All of the above were recorded with Flip City in the mid-'70s. Only a brief excerpt of "Exiles Road" is widely available, but the rest have been available on bootlegs for years. (The bootlegs include two versions each of "Radio Soul" and "Packin' Up.")

BASEBALL HEROES
WRECK ON THE SLIDE
ON THE ROAD
YOU WIN AGAIN
SWEET REVIVAL
The existence of these additional 1974-1975 recordings with Flip City is noted on the Flip City website, and Costello biographer Graeme Thomson apparently had a chance to hear them as well. "Baseball Heroes" (an early version of "Miracle Man"), "Wreck On The Slide," and "Sweet Revival" are unreleased MacManus originals. "On The Road" was written and sung by Flip City guitarist Steve Hazlehurst, while "You Win Again" is based on the Grateful Dead's version of the Hank Williams song.

RADIO SWEETHEART (DEMO)
LIVING IN PARADISE (DEMO)
RADIO SOUL (DEMO)
Apparently some collectors have these, but I have never heard them. Reportedly similar in sound and recording date to the familiar Honky Tonk demos from late 1975 or early 1976, they are mentioned in Richard Groothuizen and Kees den Heyer's book Going Through The Motions (Elvis Costello - 1982/1985). They are described as coming from a 15-song demo tape which also included the six familiar Honky Tonk demos as well as six other songs which have evidently never reached collectors' hands.

CALL ON ME (DEMO)
I HEAR A MELODY (DEMO)
BLUE MINUTE (DEMO)
Elvis recorded demos for these unreleased original compositions at Pathway Studios, probably in 1976. "Call On Me" includes a few lyrics which later appeared in "Lipstick Vogue" and "Moods For Moderns." "I Hear A Melody" made an unexpected return to Costello's concert repertoire in 2005, when he identified it as having been written in 1975 and based on Van Morrison's "You're My Woman."

ADDITIONAL NOTES

"Mystery Dance" on disc 1 ends with a fadeout, just as it did on the original LP. The Ryko version (and the Columbia CD and the Girls + £ ÷ Girls = $ & Girls compilation) favored a slightly different version which ended with a cold stop.

Although they are not listed above, technically all of the Live At El Mocambo songs other than "Less Than Zero" belong on the list of "what's missing," as Rhino has no plans to reissue that album.

The Rhino release was actually the second post-Ryko attempt at an expanded My Aim Is True. A "20th anniversary edition" had been considered in 1997. The following year, Elvis explained to interviewer Simon Grigg:

"I came very close to releasing an album and a half — or at least a good album's worth — of material that came prior to My Aim Is True last year. And then I thought better of it, these being a bunch of tapes which I thought had been lost but came to light unexpectedly. I'm in two minds as to the quality of it. Some of it is incredibly precocious. I'm talking about stuff that goes right back to 1977 — and even 1975 — so whether or not anyone would be interested in it, I don't know. What I feel about it changes. I nearly released it, but the time wasn't right. This has never been bootlegged as it has been sitting in cupboards and not been seen by anybody until very, very recently. Some of it goes right up to crossing over with stuff which was released on my reissues. But some things which I noted as being missing — like stuff recorded at the time of 'Watching The Detectives' — has come to light too." (The full interview can be found in Beyond Belief #18/19.)

While the two new tracks on the Rhino bonus disc were obviously included among the batch of material described, it is also clear that much of what was considered for the 20th anniversary edition does not appear on the Rhino. The only pre-My Aim Is True tracks on the Rhino version are the ones carried over from the Ryko edition. Since Rhino definitely had access to some earlier recordings, including the demos for "Call On Me," "I Hear A Melody," and "Blue Minute," it would appear that either these are being saved for a separate release or Elvis still believed "the time wasn't right" to delve seriously into his earliest work.

In 2004, Stiff Records co-founder Dave Robinson told MOJO magazine of some early Costello recordings: "I had about 36 of his songs. I recorded him one evening after a gig. I merely said to him, 'Have you got any songs?' — after which I didn't get sleep for about a day and a half. I eventually sent them to him for his birthday and they became his first five or six records." It is unclear whether some or all of this material was under consideration for the 20th anniversary edition of My Aim Is True. It is possible that some of it overlaps with what is already available, especially since Robinson was responsible for some of the familiar Flip City recordings. The part about "his first five or six records" is almost certainly an exaggeration, although it could indicate that the tapes included some of the early songs which were later recorded as Get Happy!! B-sides or on Trust.

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