Recording his fourth album, Elvis Costello became heavily influenced by classic Soul music. An oft-repeated story has him sited leaving London record shops with stacks of classic singles as he prepared to write and record Get Happy!! More than anything, he and the Attractions went for the feel of the record rather than adapt arrangements to current musical trends. Sometimes that feel was cliched - not that a classic soul cliche is anything bad, mind you - but to emulate records and sounds he had loved since childhood (Costello was a record geek/nut/junkie growing up), Costello makes it effortless.
He had the Attractions as witting foils for this change in tone. The rhythm section - Bruce Thomas (bass guitar) and Pete Thomas (drums) are up for the challenge. Bruce Thomas' bass percolates throughout the album and provides not just the rhythmic undertones of the project but also a fluid lead instrument. Pete Thomas is efficient in his percussive style. He holds the beat steady, with little flourishes or embellishments. And Steve Nieve plays the perfect Booker T. Jones role - holding the music together as Costello's guitar is less of a focus. And Costello's smartest move? Well, he's no Sam Moore or Dave Prater - and he knows it. Costello does not try to emulate the soul shouters of the era nor the balladeers. (No Sam Cooke, no Otis Redding, no Jackie Wilson, and even though Costello can display humor and warmth in his voice, no Joe Tex.) The key to the success here: Costello is the boy singer walking in on the session and doing what he does best. (There is an out-take on one of the deluxe editions where Costello does try to sound like one of these legends. Thankfully, he redid it.)
That said, the lead single was not a Costello original. Instead, it was "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down", rescued from the b-side of Stax 218 (a live version of "Soothe Me" from The Stax-Volt Revue - Volume 2 -Live In Paris). The original was written by Stax songwriters Homer Banks and Allen Jones. Banks would later co-write Johnnie Taylor's "Who's Making Love," Stax's biggest selling single and the 1970s classic "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right." Jones would concentrate on producing records for Albert King at Stax and the re-formed Bar-Kays, who he would manage until his death in 1987.
In the end, Costello and Attractions deliver a classic reinterpretation of a well-written, well-executed soul gem. Watch and add your own spastic dance steps:
Reached No. 4 in the UK charts.
US release on Columbia - did not chart.
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