Ravinia 2024 Issue 2

ELVIS COSTELLO Born in London and raised between there and in Liverpool, D.P. MacManus later came to be known as “Elvis Costello.” He has been perform- ing in public for over 50 years, solo, with the pi- anist Steve Nieve, and with the bands Rusty, the Attractions, His Confederates (including two former members of Elvis Presley’s TCB Band), The Rude Five, an acoustic ensemble The Sugar- canes, and his current ensemble, The Imposters. Costello has also appeared with the Mingus Big Band, the Metropole Orkest, the Jazz Passengers, and, on one occasion in 1983 for a television ap- pearance, with the Count Basie Orchestra with Tony Bennett. He has sung in many sympho- ny halls, including with the orchestras of San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Nashville, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Sydney, Melbourne, Honolulu, and Tokyo, as well as with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, and the Hollywood Bowl Or- chestra. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as the guest of Spinal Tap in 2001, returning in 2006 to appear with The Chieftains on St. Patrick’s Day and to perform “The Long Journey Home,” an anthem co-written with Paddy Moloney before making his own solo concert debut in 2014 with a two-night stand shortly before his 60th birth- day. Costello is the composer or lyricist of over 600 published titles, including 15 songs co-writ- ten with Paul McCartney and renowned col- laborations with Allen Toussaint, the Brodsky Quartet, and T Bone Burnett. He has also writ- ten songs with the likes of Loretta Lynn, Carole King, Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson and his wife, Diana Krall. Costello’s songwriting al- liance with Burt Bacharach began in 1995 with the song “God Give Me Strength,” which led to 1998’s Painted From Memory before their work was collected on 2023’s four-album set The Songs of Bacharach & Costello . In September, A Face In the Crowd opens at the Young Vic in Lon- don with Costello’s songs for Sarah Ruhl’s stage adaptation of the Budd Schulberg story. Elvis Costello has previously played Ravinia with The Imposters in 2005 and 2006 and The Sugarcanes in 2009. PAVILION 6:30 PM SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2024 THE BEACH BOYS with special guest JOHN STAMOS MIKE LOVE • BRUCE JOHNSTON BRIAN EICHENBERGER, musical director CHRISTIAN LOVE • TIM BONHOMME • JON BOLTON KEITH HUBACHER • RANDY LEAGO • JOHN WEDEMEYER THE BEACH BOYS Most artists measure their success by hit songs or albums sold, but few can also claim to have made a lasting impact on the music industry; The Beach Boys are one such group. Throughout the 1960s the group ruled the airwaves and came to define a style of rock with a parade of hits beginning with 1961’s “Surfin’,” co-written by frontman Mike Love and co-founder Brian Wilson. The Beach Boys scored multiple top-10 hits every year for half a decade: in 1963 there was “Surfin’ USA” and “Surfer Girl”; 1964, “Fun, Fun, Fun” and number-one “I Get Around”; 1965, number-one “Help Me, Rhonda” and “Barbara Ann”; 1966, “Sloop John B” and the history-defining “Good Vibrations.” In addition to cre- ating that enduringly popular song, the group altered the fabric of the recording industry with 1966’s Pet Sounds , which would later be named number two on Rolling Stone ’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. With the release of Endless Summer in 1974, The Beach Boys began to enthrall a second generation of fans, and in 1988 “Kokomo” became the group’s biggest hit and first chart-topper since “Good Vibrations,” today its best-selling single. That same year, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2001 The Beach Boys were accorded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2012, the living original members of the group reunited for a 50th anniversary tour, also re- cording their first studio album of original material in over a decade, That’s Why God Made the Radio . The album entered Billboard ’s charts at number three, making it The Beach Boys’ first top-10 record since 1976. Recent years have seen the release of comprehensive archival releases, including Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969–1971 and Sail On Sailor 1972 , featuring alternate mixes and other previously unreleased recordings from the studio tapes. After a 2023 CBS tribute special Gram- my Salute to The Beach Boys —featuring performances by the likes of Beck, Brandi Carlile, Michael McDonald, Pentatonix, St. Vincent, Weezer, Norah Jones, John Legend, and Mumbord & Sons—the group put the finishign touches on their official book, The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys , which was published in April. The Beach Boys first appeared at Ravinia in 2002 and tonight return for their 15th season at the festival. RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 65 MARKSELIGER