My Darling Clementine - Country Darkness (2020)

My Darling Clementine are Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish, a married couple sometimes compared to George Jones and Tammy Wynette - and the even more famous couple of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Because the duo is from Birmingham, England instead of the American South they don't sound like any of those aforementioned country legends, but they perform with the same spirit.  

In 2019 and 2020 My Darling Clementine recorded twelve Elvis Costello songs that possess a country flare with help from Steve Nieve, keyboard player for both The Attractions and The Imposters, two of the English star's supporting groups. 

Country Darkness was originally released as three, four-song EPs, but in November 2020 they were all packaged together onto one full length album. There is also one bonus track, "Powerless," an original written with Costello in mind. The Coronavirus caused those releases to get lost in the morass along with a myriad of worthy recordings by other artists. Fortunately, the push is now on to make sure My Darling Clementine's excellent tribute album is heard, and I'm happy to help them achieve their goal.

Let it be said that I am not a Costello fan. His vocals are very hard to take, so for me, it all ends there. Because I'm unable to listen to of the bespeckled, British rocker sing I never cared about what he had to say, but King and Dalgleish helped change all of that. My Darling Clementine makes me appreciate how good Costello's songwriting is when performed by great singers in the same way that Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez helped music lovers care about Bob Dylan.

There are many highlights. The pair covers "That Day Is Done," a Paul McCartney collaboration with Costello that appeared with a completely different arrangement on the former Beatle's very nice Flowers In The Dirt album. Nieve plays excellent organ on "The Crooked Line," written with T-Bone Burnett and featuring backing vocals from country queen Emmylou Harris on the original version. Costello's co-write with Loretta Lynn, "I Felt The Chill Before Winter Came" is the most traditional country track on the album after the sprightly "I Lost You." The upbeat "Stranger in My House" is another highlight.

Nieve's outstanding keyboard work is everywhere and should not be ignored. He's one of the reasons Country Darkness is so enjoyable. Because of my dislike of Costello's singing I never took the time to notice how excellent and versatile his playing is. My apologies to you, sir.

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