Spike

by Elvis Costello

Spike cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 6 February 1989
  • Label: Warner Bros.
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Length: 1:04:20
  • Community rating: 3.14/5 from 2 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

'Spike' marks a highly collaborative and eclectic phase for Elvis Costello, prominently featuring co-writing credits with Paul McCartney. The album's production incorporates a wide array of instrumentation, traversing various genres from pop-rock to New Orleans jazz, reflecting a deliberately fractured and diverse compositional approach.

Genres

Descriptors: folk, instrumental, melodic

Tracklist

  1. ...This Town... (4:30)
  2. Let Him Dangle (4:45)
  3. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror (4:05)
  4. Veronica (3:09)
  5. God's Comic (5:31)
  6. Chewing Gum (3:44)
  7. Tramp the Dirt Down (5:41)
  8. Stalin Malone (4:08)
  9. Satellite (5:44)
  10. Pads, Paws and Claws (2:54)
  11. Baby Plays Around (2:46)
  12. Miss Macbeth (4:23)
  13. Any King's Shilling (6:06)
  14. Coal-Train Robberies (3:16)
  15. Last Boat Leaving (3:31)

Credits

  • Elvis Costello - primary artist, design, producer [produced by], vocals, vocals [vocal], electric guitar [electric guitars], vocals, electric bass [hofner bass], vocals, guitar, vocals, electric guitar, piano [bass-piano], vocals [vocal], guitar [sub-aqua], acoustic guitar, electric bass [hofner bass], piano, vocals, vocals [vocal], acoustic guitar [acoustic guitars], electric organ [hammond bass pedals], bells, vocals, mandolin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar [acoustic guitars], mandolin, piano, organ, bells [ship's bell], vocals
  • Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus - arranged by [horn arrangements by], composed by, arranged by, written-by, electric guitar [rickenbacker 6-string], guitar [gretsch], guitar [spider], acoustic guitar, organ, piano, melodica, tambourine, vocals
  • The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - arranged by [horn arrangements by], featuring
  • Kathe Duba-Noland - coordinator [editorial]
  • Jeri Heiden - design
  • John Heiden - design [logo design]
  • Edgar Duchrow - direct metal mastering by
  • Michael C. Ross - engineer [additional], engineer [assistant, ocean way]
  • Lance Phillips - engineer [assistant, air london]
  • Stacy Baird - engineer [assistant, ocean way]
  • David Farrell - engineer [assistant, southlake]
  • John Grimes - engineer [assistant, windmill lane]
  • Kevin Killen - engineer, mixed by, producer [produced by]
  • Bob Ludwig - mastered by
  • Brian Griffin - photography by [photographer]
  • T-Bone Burnett - producer [produced by], acoustic guitar, bass [trigger bass]
  • Aldus Type Studio - typography [typesetting]
  • McCartney/Mac Manus - written by
  • O'Riordan/Mac Manus - written by
  • Cait O'Riordan - written-by, maracas [lunge], bells [snowbells]
  • Paul McCartney - written-by, electric bass [rickenbacker bass], electric bass [hofner bass]
  • Jim Keltner - drum [extra snare drum], drum [snare drum], cymbal [chinese cymbal], drums [snare drums], tom tom [tom-tom drums]
  • Roger McGuinn - electric guitar [rickenbacker 12-string]
  • Ralph Forbes - electronic drums [electric drums]
  • Michael Blair - glockenspiel, bells, drum [chinese drum], percussion [oldsmobile hubcap], drum [parade drum], tambourine [tambourines], timpani [tympani], glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, drum [snare drum], performer [magic table], percussion [metal pipe], tambourine, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, timpani [tympani], glockenspiel, bells, marimba, performer [martian-dog bark], percussion [crash-box], glockenspiel, tambourine, temple bells, drum [snare drum]
  • Jerry Scheff - bass, double bass
  • Jerry Marotta - drums, drum [snare drum]
  • Marc Ribot - electric guitar [all electric guitars], acoustic guitar [spanish guitar], banjo, sounds [distant sound], electric guitar, guitar ["alligator" guitar]
  • Benmont Tench - piano, piano, spinet [baldwin spinet], clavinet [hohner clavinet]
  • Roger Lewis - baritone saxophone, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone
  • Allen Toussaint - grand piano
  • Kirk Joseph - sousaphone
  • Kevin Harris - tenor saxophone
  • Efrem Towns - trumpet
  • Gregory Davis - trumpet
  • Mitchell Froom - electric piano [wurlitzer electric piano], electric organ [chamberlain], electric organ [chamberlain], harmonium [indian harmonium], electric organ [chamberlain], organ, organ [distant], electric organ [chamberlain], electric piano [wurlitzer electric piano], organ
  • Buell Neidlinger - double bass, cello, double bass [double basses]
  • Willie Green - drums
  • Donal Lunny - bouzouki, acoustic guitar, bouzouki [electric bouzoukis], bouzouki [acoustic bouzoukis], bodhr谩n [bodhran]
  • Pete Thomas - drums
  • Steve Wickham - fiddle
  • Davy Spillane - low whistle, uilleann pipes [uileann pipes], uilleann pipes [uileann pipes], low whistle
  • Lionel Batiste - bass drum
  • Jenell Marshall - drum [snare drum]
  • Charles Joseph - trombone
  • T-Bone Wolk - bass, bass, accordion
  • Chrissie Hynde - harmony vocals [harmony vocal]
  • Christy Moore - bodhr谩n [bodhran]
  • Frankie Gavin - fiddle
  • Derek Bell - harp [irish harp], hammered dulcimer [tiompan]

More from Elvis Costello: full discography