Costello & Cash take on The Butcher's Boy

Elvis Costello and his friend Rosanne Cash, backed by a terrific all star group of musicians in an old-time lineup, turned in a hushed, gripping performance of the ancient murder ballad The Butcher's Boy at a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman last evening. No happy ending in that one. Costello's steady lead singing definitely fit the subject matter, and it recalled the matter of fact source version by Buell Kazee, recorded in 1928 and found on the famously influential Anthology of American Folk Music Edited by Harry Smith.
(above in the L-R: Cash, Larry Campbell [fiddle], Costello [guitar - a beaut!], Todd Phillips [stand up bass] and Mike Compton [mandolin]. Putting his guitars away at the time was John Leventhal)

This performance (to air this Friday, Nov 10), reprises Costello's performance on the recently released The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited, a live cd/dvd box set produced by the matchless Hal Wilner.