Watch Elvis Costello Perform Gem From Bob Dylan’s ‘Rough & Rowdy Ways’ Album In Chicago

Elvis Costello and longtime collaborator Steve Nieve delivered the first of four concerts at Chicago’s Park West on Tuesday. The concert saw the duo covering Bob Dylan’s “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” off his 2020 album, Rough and Rowdy Ways.

Costello and Nieve offered Dylan’s “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” after covering a song by the blues great, “Take Out Some Insurance.” Costello played the Jimmy Reed and Dylan numbers on a Kay Kraftsman electric guitar, which was the model Jimmy Reed used, as Elvis explained:

“This here guitar I’m playing was given to me by Steve Nieve, Davey Faragher, Pete Thomas and Charlie Sexton picked this out for me. It’s a Kay Kraftsman guitar, same one Jimmy Reed played. It’s not exactly the same one. It just does this one thing. In fact, if I take my hands off the fretboard, it’ll just keep playing that one riff.”

That riff was the standard blues shuffle in E. It’s likely one of the first riffs most young guitarists learn and the foundation of rock ‘n’ roll. Costello then broke into Reed’s “Take Out Some Insurance.” Reed released the song in 1959 and it was subsequently covered by English musician Tony Sheridan, whose backing band on the recording was a group he met met in Hamburg, The Beatles. “Take Out Some Insurance” also appears on Reed’s 1973 album, I Ain’t from Chicago.

Costello mentioned that the guitar was given to him by members of his band The Imposters including guitarist Charlie Sexton. The latter also collaborated with Bob Dylan. Following Reed’s “Take Out Some Insurance,” Costello and Nieve headed into Dylan’s “Goodbye Jimmy Reed.” Nieve added some well-placed piano touches to the bluesy number.

Following the Dylan ode to Jimmy Reed, Costello fit in his own “Mystery Dance,” albeit a slowed-down bluesy version compared to the rollicking rocker on his 1977 debut, My Aim Is True. All three songs are basically the same, showcasing the universal influence of the blues on American popular music in the blues mecca of Chicago. Watch Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve perform “Take Out Some Insurance” > “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” > “Mystery Dance” below:

Costello and Nieve opened the concert with the former’s “Deportee.” The setlist in Chicago also included Costello favorites such as “Alison,” “Harpies Bizarre,” “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea,” and “Veronica.” Additionally, Costello welcomed several guests including longtime Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier. Costello and Nieve sealed the set with a cover of The Chieftains’ “Long Journey Home.”

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve’s four-night Chicago engagement resumes on March 14. Scroll down for itinerary and ticket info.