Rusty

Every great musician starts somewhere, and in the case of Elvis Costello, his career in music began with a short-lived group called Rusty. A trio playing covers of folk, blues, R&B, and psychedelic acts (mostly from the United States) along with a smattering of originals, Rusty made the rounds of pubs and folk clubs in the early 1970s, with Costello and bandmate Allan Mayes swapping lead vocals and harmonizing with one another. Playing with an unpretentious enthusiasm that reflected the influence of the budding U.K. pub rock scene, Rusty never saw the inside of a studio during their original run, but in 2022, Costello and Mayes teamed up to record The Resurrection of Rust, an EP of songs Rusty performed in their salad days

Elvis Costello -- then billed as Declan MacManus -- met Allan Mayes in their hometown of Liverpool on New Year's Eve 1971, and after they discovered they shared similar tastes in music, Mayes asked Costello to join his band. In January 1972, Costello took the gig, making Rusty a quartet with Costello and Mayes on guitars and vocals, Alan Brown on bass, and a third singer, Dave Jago, who also played tambourine. A month after Costello signed on, Jago left the group, and not long after, Brown quit to attend university, which left Costello and Mayes to proceed as a duo. Their repertoire included the work of American singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Randy Newman; country and folk-rock acts such as the Band, the Byrds, and Crosby, Stills & Nash; U.K. roots-oriented artists including Van Morrison, Brinsley Schwarz, and John Martyn; and a smattering of psychedelic music, in particular the British group Help Yourself.

By the time 1972 was out, Rusty had made enough of a name for themselves that they were playing five or six nights a week at folk venues, pubs, and the occasional wedding gig or church fete. They weren't making much money, though, and Costello had to arrange bookings around his work schedule as a computer operator. In early 1973, Costello decided he wanted to move to London in search of greater opportunities. Costello invited Mayes to join him, but while the former had free accommodations in London (his father, himself a professional trumpeter, vocalist, and songwriter, was living in the city and willing to let his son stay with him), Mayes would have to give up his day job with no tangible financial prospects, so he opted to stay in Liverpool. Mayes continued to play music, joining a band called Severed Head, renaming the group Restless, and gigging regularly through the 1970s. He supported himself as a journeyman musician, playing everywhere from cruise ships to clubs bordering the Alaskan oil fields, before settling in Austin, Texas, where he appeared regularly at local clubs and released an album, 1986's Stumbling in the Aisle. (The album included the song "Maureen and Sam," a revamped version of a tune he and Costello had written together during their days in Rusty.) Costello, meanwhile, joined a country-rock band called Flip City, put a new focus on his songwriting, and landed a deal as a solo artist at a fledgling indie label called Stiff Records.

In 2021, Mayes contacted Costello to remind him that the 50th anniversary of his joining Rusty was coming up, and asked if he'd like to play a show to mark the occasion. Costello had a different idea, suggesting "Let’s make the record we would have cut when we were 18, if anyone had let us." Mayes agreed, and they cut an EP, 2022's The Resurrection of Rust, that featured six songs from Rusty's 1972 repertoire with covers by Nick Lowe, Neil Young, and Jim Ford, along with "Warm House" (written by Costello in 1971) and a new recording of "Maureen and Sam." Members of Costello's band the Imposters sat in for the sessions. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi