Elvis Costello reflects on cancer scare, 'extraordinary' Bruce Springsteen and new Audible project

Those who have witnessed Elvis Costello in concert or spent time scrutinizing his music would conclude his work is a master class in performing and writing.

With his new contribution to Audible’s “Words + Music” series, “How to Play the Guitar and Y,” Costello is bringing a master class of sorts to those who might glean insight about playing music. But even for the instrumentally challenged, it’s a delightful 96 minutes of Costello sharing personal stories with his keen wit and dramatic flair.

The new installment, on Audible Thursday, is one of several Costello sightings. He’s readying a return to the studio with Burt Bacharach – his collaborator on the 1998 album, “Painted from Memory” – and is celebrating the release of “Spanish Model,” a reworking of his benchmark 1978 album "This Year's Model" that features Latin singers Luis Fonsi, Juanes, Nina Diaz and Sebastián Yatra and others.

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Though Costello, 67, endured a prostate cancer scare in 2018 (“I’m fine – I’m very fortunate,” he tells USA TODAY), he’s looking hearty in tortoise-shell glasses and a salt-and-pepper goatee on our Zoom call from his home office in New York, his music library lining the walls.

He expounded on his health, creating his Audible project and his admiration of Bruce Springsteen.

Q: It sounds as if you had a grand time creating “How to Play the Guitar and Y” because it allowed for storytelling and inflection and sound effects. What was your process for putting the installment together?

Elvis Costello: I wrote several drafts of the script. I think I wrote it out without the stopwatch and I thought I'd include all of my thoughts. One version was nearly two hours long and then I realized that's way too long. And then I cut it down and I realized a lot of the fun had been taken out of it because then it was more like a serious instruction manual, which, obviously, you know I would not be equipped to teach anybody anything. That’s completely obvious if you’ve ever heard me play the guitar! (But) the idea behind doing this it's simply to take away the fear of failing … I just wanted to find a way to say, “that was fun” and take away some of the terror. I kept hearing Irving Berlin in my head – “Let Yourself Go.” And that was the point of it, really.

Q: I recently saw Springsteen on Broadway and was thinking about that show while listening to your Audible project, even though yours is obviously more instruction-based. Have you ever thought about playing in a setting like that?

Costello: The reason I hadn’t seen Springsteen until (the last show on Sept. 4) was because when Bruce announced (the first shows in 2017), I had just finished two-and-a-half years on the “Detour” tour and it was, in a sense, the same premise, but not as scripted. When I heard Bruce was doing his one-man scripted show with reflections on his family background, I was a little fearful about going initially because I thought, would I be able to enjoy it and not just take notes about how I had taken the wrong path? I mean, I don’t really think the shows are in any way comparable because Bruce arrived at a script which he developed over time and mine was only semi-scripted, but every night it took radically different turns. But I was now able to completely surrender to the idea of it. What struck me apart from the moments of emotion when he talked about his mother’s Alzheimer’s – my father had Parkinson’s and the last thing that left him was his singing voice – was the delicacy with which he sang songs which the audience would sing for him if he were with the E Street Band. All of the youthful romanticism of the lyrics, everything was valued in the way he sang it. It was extraordinary.

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Q: With some of your musical advice, such as when you riff on the “Impossible F Chord,” does it stem from mental notes through the years or conversations you’ve had with other musicians?

A: Storytelling has always been in the songs, but it was more overt in those “Detour” shows and I thought of this idea when Audible approached me that I didn’t want to do a memoir of my career. I felt we can have some fun with it and the biggest fun part of it, aside from writing and reciting (the script), was indulging a little bit of role playing with the different accents and voices and sound effects. I played it for (wife) Diana (Krall) and during the piano section, I said, “I know what I’m doing is complete nonsense.” It’s a complete bluff. But that’s the point – I’m not a piano player. But I loved having that playfulness and I care very much that people not be fearful (of playing music).  

 Q: You had a significant health scare a few years ago. How are you doing now?

Costello: I’m tickety boo, as they say in England. I’m fine, I’m very fortunate. I couldn’t even presume to place myself in the class of people who had an illness (whereas) I had a misfortune. I’m good, and thank you for asking. I don’t like to dwell on it because you know, the experience of so many friends has been more challenging than anything I’ve faced. I’m very grateful for this time with Diana and my 14-year-old boys. Yes, I did lose my mother in (February), but she was 93 and was at my last show in Liverpool in March (2020). She was in the game of life and in music as long as she physically could be.

Q: Tell me about the reworking of “This Year’s Model” as “Spanish Model,” because it’s a rather cool idea.

A: This Spanish record is about a group of artists with wit, integrity and heart coming to do something I just dreamed up one day. My friends knew people we could propose (the idea) to and we found a cast that ranges from very big stars to those just breaking through and trusted them to do some wonderful things. Like Fito Páez completely rewriting the lyrics to “Radio Radio” and the humor of it, or to hear songs like “La Chica De Hoy,” which is Cami’s version of “This Year’s Girl,” but it means “the girl today.” She’s a young singer from Chile looking outwards from that song. I mean, what an incredible thing for a songwriter to hear.