Author:Bruce Thomas

A book that deals in a large part about the career of Elvis Costello, that, wait, nope not a memoir but a self published book of blog post style reminiscences of Attractions, Quiver, Roadrunners, Rockestra and Moonrider bassist, Bruce Thomas, released earlier this year. The lion’s share of the book involves his time 1977-1996 (on and off) backing The Beloved Entertainer with all the acrimonious ups n downs. It’s clear from the off that despite a healthy respect for each others musical skills, they have a combative relationship which echoes the tone of the book.

It’s actually surprising how the book pulls it’s punches – the Columbus Incident spares EC his blushes by not recounting the gory details and he later defends him when he encounters Michael Jackson who relays that “Quincy didn’t dig what that guy said”. It will be interesting to see if Bruce and Elvis’ memory of the key events in the band’s history match or not.

I can’t help feeling that Bruce’s stance that he did nothing to cause friction or dissent is undercut by two occasions in the book where he reports conversations with T Bone Burnett and Pete Thomas where they are … Continue reading Rough Notes