To me, this was THE SUMMIT…two of my very favorite artists collaborating together for an album and a tour…and one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen! Costello was always a fan of Burt Bacharach, covering his song “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” right from the beginning of his career. Their collaboration began with this song written for the 1996 Allison Anders film “Grace Of My Heart” which was loosely based on the story of 1960s Brill Building pop songsmiths. The two worked together by email and telephone and found they had a knack for writing great songs. They continued their long distance writing to write the batch of songs that became their sole album, “Painted From Memory.” The ensuing 1998 tour was, for my money, a meeting of two of the greatest songwriters of all time…right up there with Lennon and McCartney!
