Elvis Costello & Guests - The Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA (1989) [EX SBD]

Info & tracklisting:

Elvis Costello & Guests (Friends)
Date: 1989-04-24
Venue: The Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA
Guests: Jerry Scheff, Austin Delone, Nick Lowe, James Burton, Scott Matthews, Charles Brown, Kim Wilson, Jerry Garcia, Pete Sears, Commander Cody, Mitch Woods, Annie Sampson, Sammy Hagar & Bob Weir.
Sets: All
Number: 2
Source: SBD: Master Cassette > DAT > CD
Quality: A

Setlist:

Disc 1
(Elvis Solo)
Accidents Will Happen
Brilliant Mistake
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
*Joined by Jerry Scheff & Austin Delone
Mystery Dance
Poisoned Rose
(ELVIS Solo)
God's Comic
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
New Lace Sleeves
Pads, Paws and Claws >
Radio Sweetheart >
Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (w/ Nick Lowe)
*James Burton (g), Austin Delone (keys), Jerry Scheff (b), Scott Matthews (d)
The Big Light
Pouring Water on a Drowning Man
Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
Leave My Kitten Alone
*Joined by Charles Brown & Kim Wilson
I Stepped in Quicksand (Charles Brown, vocals)

Disc 2
Drifting Blues (Charles Brown, vocals)
*Kim Wilson leaves
All My Life (Charles Brown, vocals)
*Charles Brown leaves, Kim Wilson & Nick Lowe return
One's Too Many (And a Hundred Ain't Enough) (Kim Wilson & Nick Lowe, vocals)
Real Gone Lover (Kim Wilson, vocals)
*Elvis returns, joined by Jerry Garcia & Pete Sears
You Win Again
Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down
*Joined by Commander Cody, Mitch Woods, Annie Sampson & Sammy Hagar
Riot in Cell Block #9 (Commander Cody, vocals)
*Jeff Burton returns
Goin' Down (Sammy Hagar, vocals)
*Garcia leaves, Bob Weir joins
C.C. Rider (Bob Weir, vocals)
Turn On Your Lovelight (Bob Weir, vocals)
Let the Good Times Roll
Encore: Lovable

1988 marked the first year since 1977 that Elvis did not release a new album and/or tour extensively. Thus, no concerts available from 1988. His next album, Spike, was released in early 1989, and he started touring again in Spring 1989, continuing with predominantly solo shows, most often with Nick Lowe opening and joining Elvis for 2-3 songs. The shows were structured much like the 'Spinning Songbook' shows of 1987, with a solo set from Elvis, culminating with the duos with Lowe, then coming back out as his 'Napoleon Dynamite' alter-ego and doing an encore set of talk, requests, and various audience participation bits. The main difference obviously being the inclusion of several songs from Spike. The show presented here, however, was truly a one-of-a-kind event, in which, Elvis is joined onstage by none other than Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and other West Coast rockers for a wild and spontaneous jam session. During his Spring US tour, he was asked to perform for the Village Music (a legendary music store) 21st Birthday celebration at The Sweetwater in Mill Valley, CA. So, after his initial solo set (culminating with the Lowe duo on 'Peace, Love and Understanding'), he then did a few songs with his back-up band, a modified version of the Confederates). After that, however, other rock luminaries in attendance were called up to the stage. First Charles Brown and Kim Wilson sang a few songs, then Jerry Garcia joins Elvis onstage for some country tunes (with Elvis on vocals). Then Elvis asks if anyone else wants sing, and up comes Commander Cody and Sammy Hagar(?). Bob Weir eventually also joins the group for couple more, finally ending with Elvis back on vocals for 'Let The Good Times Roll' and 'Lovable'. Strange assemblage of artists, but alot of fun. It is not clear if Elvis stayed onstage and played throughout during the Brown and Wilson songs (probably not), but he was definitely jamming with Garcia and Weir, and Garcia does play through til the end of the set. Elvis and Jerry talked about the spontaneity of this show in a later interview with Musician magazine (March 1991 Issue), as excerpted here:
"Elvis: Certainly a candidate for the world's greatest record store is Village Music, in Mill Valley. Every year John Goddard has a party for his friends and customers, and he always has a really good bill of people. So last year on the twenty-first anniversary, I did a show with Nick Lowe, and he invited James Burton and Jerry Scheff, who'd played with me on the road. I did my little set, Nick did his set and then it was a free-for-all; Charles Brown did a piece, and people were getting summoned to the stage. I was standing in the corridor when I suddenly heard, "Jerry Garcia to the stage!" And, emboldened by several margaritas, I decided to join him.
Jerry: Not only that, but it was one of those situations where I had the choice of playing either Elvis' guitar, which is low and it's stiff, and the strings are quite wide as well, and all this confusing script, or of playing Burton's guitar, which is strung with spider webs. I mean it's the absolutely lightest you can string a guitar and still get a sound out of it. I'd take Burton's and play a note on it and it goes "spack." So I opted to play Elvis' guitar as the lesser of two evils. [*laughter*] And I vowed I would never go to another one of those shows without my own.
Elvis: It was a whole Three Stooges routine – "Here, you take my guitar," "No, I'll take your guitar." I think I had Burton's old Telecaster for half a song, and James had my old Martin acoustic which wasn't cranked up so he couldn't solo–and Jerry's struggling with my guitar. But once everybody got settled we managed to struggle through a couple of Hank Williams songs. Like any sort of jam thing it inevitably came to degenerate towards lots of blues. But we managed a few songs with changes.
Jerry: A pretty high level of jam-sessionry really, considering what it was. Really fun. And Elvis' solo set was phenomenal, I thought. That's one of those things that I can't do at all, just playing the guitar and singing. You're so solid with that, you don't miss a band. I always feel like I'm missing a band."