The Delivery Man is the 21st studio album by Elvis Costello, released on 21 September 2004 through Lost Highway Records. It was recorded with the Imposters at Sweet Tea Studio in Oxford, Mississippi. It peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard 200.

Content The album had its genesis in a conceptual story apparently written for Johnny Cash. Costello himself states: "The Delivery Man started out as a story about the impact on three woman's lives of a man with a hidden past. The story took the song "Hidden Shame" as its unsung prelude. Parts of the narrative ended up being displaced from the final album by more urgent songs taken from the news headlines. One of the songs moved aside was to find an ideal home on Secret, Profane & Sugarcane."Costello at Concord Music Group website, retrieved 29 August 2010.

The album features guest vocals by Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris. "Monkey to Man" derived from a 1950s rhythm and blues hit "The Monkey" by Dave Bartholomew, and "The Judgment", a song written by Costello and Cait O'Riordan (his wife 1986-2002) which had been previously recorded by Solomon Burke on his 2002 release Don't Give Up on Me. The vinyl and United Kingdom compact disc pressings of the album included an additional track, "She's Pulling Out the Pin". The album was issued the same day as Il Sogno.

Shortly after its release, Lost Highway issued a deluxe edition of the album, including a bonus disc containing seven tracks from the Clarksdale Sessions ten-inch vinyl record, a collection of songs recorded live at Delta Recording in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The Clarksdale Sessions, subtitled "Delivery Man Companion", contained new versions of tracks from the proper album as well as an unreleased Costello original "In Another Room", and covers of the Bartholomew original "The Monkey" and "Dark End of the Street". Tom Waits has named it one of his favourite albums.

Track listing

Vinyl pressings, UK CD and the deluxe edition CD include "She's Pulling Out the Pin" (3:22) as an additional track between "Heart Shaped Bruise" and "Needle Time".

Personnel Elvis Costello – vocals, guitars, piano, glockenspiel, tambourine, bass, ukulele Steve Nieve – organ, piano, accordion, harmonium, Hammond organ, theremin, melodica, omnichord Davey Faragher – bass, vocals Pete Thomas – drums Emmylou Harris – vocals (on "Nothing Clings Like Ivy", "Heart Shaped Bruise", and "The Scarlet Tide") John McFee – pedal steel guitar (on "Country Darkness" and "Heart Shaped Bruise") Lucinda Williams – vocal (on "There's a Story in Your Voice")

Charts Chart (2004) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. 89

References

External links