Taking Liberties is an Elvis Costellocompilation album, consisting of tracks not previously released on his albums as released in the US. It is largely made up of B-sides, but features three previously unreleased recordings. It was released only in the US and Canada; its track listing is very similar to that of the UK release Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers. The differences are that on the latter, the tracks "Night Rally", "Sunday's Best" and " Chelsea" are replaced by "Watching the Detectives", "Radio, Radio" and " Peace, Love, and Understanding". The sleeve note by Gregg Geller is very nearly a direct lift from the 1958 album A Gene VincentRecord Date, with names and song titles being substituted as appropriate. The LP version features nostalgic Columbia labels. The legendon the Side One label reads "COSTELLO" instead of "COLUMBIA", in a similar fashion to This Year's Model.
Track listing
All songs written by Elvis Costello except as indicated.
Side one
"Clean Money" – 1:57
"Girls Talk" – 1:56
"Talking in the Dark" – 1:56
"Radio Sweetheart" – 2:24
"Black and White World" – 1:51
"Big Tears" – 3:10
"Just a Memory" – 2:14
"Night Rally" – 2:41
"Stranger in the House" – 3:01
"Clowntime Is Over" – 3:44
Side two
"Getting Mighty Crowded" – 2:05
"Hoover Factory" – 1:43
"Tiny Steps" – 2:42
" Chelsea" – 3:07
"Dr Luther's Assistant" – 3:28
"Sunday's Best" – 3:22
"Crawling to the U.S.A." – 2:52
"Wednesday Week" – 2:02
"My Funny Valentine" – 1:25
"Ghost Train" – 3:05
Personnel
Elvis Costello – vocals, guitar, keyboards; all instruments on "Black and White World", "Hoover Factory", "My Funny Valentine" and "Ghost Train"
;The Attractions
Steve Nieve – keyboards on all tracks except "Radio Sweetheart", "Black and White World", "Hoover Factory", "Dr. Luther's Assistant", "My Funny Valentine", "Ghost Train" and "Stranger in the House"
Bruce Thomas – bass on all tracks except "Radio Sweetheart", "Black and White World", "Just A Memory", "Hoover Factory", "Dr. Luther's Assistant", "My Funny Valentine", "Ghost Train" and "Stranger in the House"
Pete Thomas – drums on all tracks except "Radio Sweetheart", "Black and White World", "Just A Memory", "Hoover Factory", "My Funny Valentine", "Ghost Train" and "Stranger in the House"
