125. Steve Mandel on Elvis Costello 'Blood and Chocolate'

Elvis Costello once called my guest Steve Mandel (songwriter, musician and producer of the Roots) 'a fine judge of horseflesh'. The admiration is mutual.

Steve talks about the impact that Costello's 1986 classic album 'Blood and Chocolate' (and its predecessor 'King of America') had on his teenage self, and how he went from idolising Elvis to producing him on 2013's 'Wise Up Ghost' album. We also talk about Elvis's place in the development of Americana music, how 1986 started the second half of Elvis's career and put the focus back on his lyrics, how the collaboration between Elvis and the Roots and Steve developed, and how Steve's long-gestating Squeeze tribute album is coming along.

My Favorite Album is a podcast unpacking the great works of pop music. Each episode features a different songwriter or musician discussing their favorite album of all time - their history with it, the making of the album, individual songs and the album’s influence on their own music.

Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist and photographer from Sydney, Australia who has worked in the music industry since 2007. He directed the the feature music documentary Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts (out now!) and the feature film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins, in addition to many commercials and music videos.