BG: Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet

[JNRoot]

British rock star Elvis Costello, accompanied by Emmylou Harris, performed "Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet" at his show on Sunday night at the Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia.  I thought the song was great, and I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't realize it was a Stanley Brothers' song until I read the review in the Washington Post.  The review is copied below.   Jeff Root Fairfax, Virginia ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/01/AR2005080101334.html?sub=AR   Elvis Costello and Company At Wolf Trap: All in Good Time Tuesday, August 2, 2005; Page C02   Elvis Costello's concert Sunday night at Wolf Trap was a test of endurance: His three-hour set included a 10-song encore and a 13-song country mini-set with guest Emmylou Harris.   But even with such a lengthy nod to Nashville, the night was typical Costello: earnest vocals, tightly executed arrangements as his backing band, the Imposters, followed his every speeding guitar riff, and a casual sense of humor. In introducing Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down," he joked that earlier in life his mission was "to rid the world of alcohol -- by drinking it!"   While Costello's fervent energy built momentum through his set, some of the evening's best songs were exercises in restraint. He, Harris and bassist Davey Faragher clustered around a single microphone to sing the Stanley Brothers' "Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet," accompanied solely by Costello's guitar and a violin. And Costello's mellow vocals harmonized seamlessly with Harris on a cover of Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons' "Wheels."   Not surprisingly, there were several tributes to Parsons, Harris' partner early in her career, from a tender duet of "Love Hurts" to a majestically melancholy version of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," which Parsons recorded with his Flying Burrito Brothers. But even in a set so packed with covers, Costello's own material was the most memorable, as he closed the night with his passionate antiwar song "The Scarlet Tide," with a haunting plea to "bring the boys back home."   -- Catherine P. Lewis