King of America is the tenth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 21 February 1986. Co-produced by Costello and T Bone Burnett, the album originated following a series of tours the two made under the name "the Coward Brothers". Recording took place in mid-1985 at various studios in Los Angeles, California, with a group of American session musicians dubbed "the Confederates". Selected by Burnett, they included Ray Brown, Earl Palmer and former members of Elvis Presley's TCB Band. Costello's regular backing band, the Attractions, were intended to appear on half of the album before poor sessions led to them appearing on only one track, "Suit of Lights".
Featuring a mostly acoustic sound, King of America was a departure from Costello's previous albums, exploring roots rock, country, folk, R&B and Americana. Its personal songs delve into themes of romance, betrayal, alcoholism and the American dream. The cover artwork features Costello wearing a crown and matching jacket, which commentators at the time found both "ridiculous" and "serious". Costello credited himself on the album sleeve under his real name, Declan MacManus; the album itself was credited to "the Costello Show featuring the Attractions and Confederates" in the UK and Europe and to "the Costello Show featuring Elvis Costello" in North America.
King of America reached number 11 in the UK and number 39 in the US. It was supported by a cover of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", a UK top 40 single. Hailed as a return to form for Costello and his best record in years, the album was praised for its production, depth and vocal performances. Mixed reviews found the album too complex and lacking accessibility to attract new fans. Later reviewers call King of America one of Costello's best works, praising its personal tone and the songwriter's growing maturity, and arguing the album anticipated Costello's various musical excursions and collaborations in the following decades. It received expanded reissues in 1995 and 2005, which were positively received.
Background and development
Elvis Costello undertook a series of solo tours during late 1984 and early 1985, sharing the bill with musician T Bone Burnett. Touring under the name "the Coward Brothers"—partially based on the Everly Brothers—the duo assumed the personas of Howard (Costello) and Henry Coward (Burnett), performing numerous country songs and covers. According to Costello, the Coward Brothers were on their final tour after the failure of the previous one. Due to the success of the solo shows, Burnett encouraged Costello to record his next studio album with his voice and acoustic guitar as the main instruments, so the music itself would "shine through relatively unadorned". Trial sessions began in January 1985 at the Sound Factory in Los Angeles, California. Acting as a blueprint for the recording of King of America, the sessions yielded a track called "The People's Limousine", written by Costello and Burnett during trips to Italy. The song was released as a single under the Coward Brothers name in July 1985, backed by a cover of Leon Payne's "They'll Never Take Her Love Away from Me".
Around the same time, Costello recorded solo demos of new material at Sunset Sound studios with Burnett and engineer Larry Hirsch. The songs were musically straightforward and emphasised emotional honesty, a stylistic departure from Costello's two previous studio albums Punch the Clock (1983) and Goodbye Cruel World (1984). Costello said at the time that he stripped the songs of the "musical kinks" and made the words clearer: "I started thinking more about the songs and much less about the records. It became clear to me that I had to write very, very simple songs." With the new material American centred, they wanted Americans musicians to play on the record.
Costello and Burnett planned session dates and musical lineups, which would be tailored to each song, during the flights on their Coward Brothers tour of Australia and Japan in June 1985. Burnett later stated: "There was a tremendous amount of planning that went into that record. We had pages and pages of production notes." Burnett was responsible for selecting the musicians and experimenting with sounds and styles.