Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello

Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello by Thomson, Graeme. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781841956503.

Elvis Costello is undoubtedly one of the most important and challenging musicians of the last thirty years, and this definitive biography paints a detailed portrait of an intensely private, complex and creatively restless individual. It draws on a wealth of new primary research, including exclusive interviews with nearly fifty people from all stages of Costellos life and career : schoolmates, friends, members of his earliest bands Rusty and Flip City, former lovers, members of The Attractions, producers, collaborators and numerous fellow musicians. Complicated Shadows unearths many previously unknown details about Costellos childhood in London and Liverpool and his early years as a struggling musician, as well as his turbulent personal life. It also reveals the circumstances surrounding his marriages to ex-Pogues bassist Cait ORiordan and jazz singer Diana Krall, and the bitter break-up of his long-term backing band, The Attractions. Using the recollections of those who were there at the time - the majority of whom have never spoken publicly before - the book contains a full examination and analysis of the entirety of Costellos vast and varied musical output, both in the studio and onstage.