Get Happy!! charted at No. 2 in the UK and No. 11 in the US, but sold less than Armed Forces. Costello and the Attractions had supported his third studio album, Armed Forces, on the Armed Funk tour in America from February to April 1979. The tour was plagued with issues, including drug and alcohol problems, aggressive behaviour from Costello and his manager Jake Riviera toward the press, and uneven performances that led to critical and audience backlash. In March, Costello engaged in a drunken exchange with Stephen Stills, where he insulted various American musical artists, including James Brown and Ray Charles, using racial slurs. Costello quickly acknowledged the incident without apology in a press conference when details became public, and he received further backlash including death threats and Armed Forces being pulled from radio stations.By the tour's end, Costello's reputation in America was nearly destroyed. Bruce Thomas later admitted: "We never really recovered from that tour. Every time Elvis is doing something well, he kind of sabotages it.
Costello and the Attractions regrouped at London's Eden Studios in September and October 1979 to rehearse the new tracks but, having written and performed some of the material during the preceding tour in a style similar to Armed Forces, Costello was displeased with the results, finding them derivative and too "new wave". Wanting a new direction, Costello immersed himself in the soul music he'd enjoyed as a teenager, and purchased several soul records in London's Camden Town, such as Motown Chartbusters Vol. 3 and Atlantic Records' This Is Soul, which he gave to the band as inspiration. They then went back and re-arranged many of the songs in a more rhythm-and-blues style.
Recording took place throughout the remainder of October 1979. Despite the change in scenery, the sessions were enveloped with problems. The band drank frequently, while Béchirian recalled it being a "cocaine haze", adding: "It wasn't pleasant at all. You could see the seams coming apart at that point." Having played the majority of songs live before going into the studio on previous albums, the band now had little time to pause as the new songs were being rearranged frequently.
The band recorded a large number of songs during the sessions, and almost all of the 20 tracks fitted onto the resulting album were under two-and-a-half minutes in length. According to Costello, the vinyl cutting and pressing process had to be precise to fit all of them onto the two sides of an LP. Two cover versions made the final tracklist: the Sam & Dave B-side "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" and the Merseybeats' "I Stand Accused". The Archipelago recording of "New Amsterdam" was kept for the final album, as Costello felt it could not be improved upon.
Musically, Get Happy!! represents a departure from Costello's previous records, taking influences from the R&B and soul sound of the 1960s, as well as ska. Costello said that not all the tracks took direct influence from R&B and soul: "Human Touch" was influenced by his recent work producing the Specials; "Men Called Uncle" and "Beaten to the Punch" owed a debt to the early-1960s Liverpool sound that also included The Merseybeats' "I Stand Accused".
The album opener "Love for Tender" is an upbeat R&B track that demonstrates the soul influence with a James Jamerson-style bass and Motown-era handclaps and percussion. The rushed song uses thematic punning to reference both affection and monetary advances. "The Imposter" is the narrator's attack on a man who has won the affection over a woman he is also in love with; to the narrator, he is an 'imposter' and is surprised no one else sees it."Secondary Modern" utilises a slower soul groove with downbeat lyrics. Like other tracks, the narrator pleas for a woman to accept him. Like "The Imposter", "King Horse" is aimed at tough guys who harass waitresses and stewardesses. "Possession" was written in Holland during a five-minute taxi ride heading back to the studio from a local café. In "Men Called Uncle", the narrator shows distaste for a woman and her older man. As in other tracks, he displays indifference toward her, but deep down he desires her love and affection.
The lyrics of "Clowntime Is Over" are vague, the song has a "familiar feeling of aggressive assurity, relayed in a sudden jerk at the end of every verse".Musically, Nelson compares the song to "circus music from the Weimar Republic" Unlike the rest of the album, "New Amsterdam" is a folk-like number, and was recorded by Costello alone as a demo. "High Fidelity" marks a return to the soul influences, with a sound echoing the Supremes; its opening line also quotes a song title by them.
Opening side two is the cover of "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down", a soul track that describes a hurtful love affair. Gouldstone stated that its presence adds "authentic sixties atmosphere" to the LP. The title of "Black and White World" recalls the early days of cinema and the simpler days of childhood. With a theme of nostalgia similar to "New Amsterdam", the song reflects on days of innocence gone by, and also combines ideals of time, the media and battles between the sexes set against, in Gouldstone's words, "powerful and gripping music". "5ive Gears in Reverse" implies that society is digressing rather than progressing, with the chorus relating hopelessness and futility.
Both "B Movie" and "Motel Matches" feature wordplay referencing Costello's life while on the road for three years, complementing the lyrics on Armed Forces. Returning to ska rhythms in the ambivalent "Human Touch", the narrator is disgusted by his partner and the world, begins drinking heavily and physically assaulting her, yet he longs for her "human touch". Costello based "Temptation" on Booker T. & the M.G.'s' "Time Is Tight" (1969). As a song about alcoholism and defenselessness, it is similar to other Get Happy!! tracks, and presumed by Gouldstone to concern the troubles of living in a competitive and bureaucratic society. The author also argues that the cover of "I Stand Accused" could pass as a Costello original due to its performance and use of thematic punning. The final track, "Riot Act", reflects on a past relationship with "abject desolation" rather than disdain.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario