Almost Blue is the sixth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his fifth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was recorded in May 1981 at CBS Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee, and released in October 1981 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. A departure from Costello's previous works, it is a covers album composed entirely of country music songs, including works written by Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Gram Parsons. Having already experimented with country during his career, the project originated with Costello's desire to record a collection of covers after Get Happy!! (1980) and Trust (1981) commercially underperformed following Armed Forces (1979). Produced by Billy Sherrill, the recording sessions were marked by a fraught atmosphere, including resistance from Sherrill himself. The Doobie Brothers member John McFee contributed pedal steel as a way to add an authentic country sound. The album's songs are relatively straightforward renditions of their original counterparts, although Costello based some numbers off of other covers rather than the originals. His poor health during recording and troubled personal life, including his failing marriage and alcoholism, reflected in the song choices. All of the tracks express a "blue" state of mind, which is reflected in the cover artwork, an homage to Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue (1963). The lead single, a cover of Jones's "Good Year for the Roses", received heavy airplay and peaked at number six in the UK, while the second, a cover of Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams", reached number 42. Upon release, Almost Blue reached number seven in the UK and number 50 in the US due to a lack of promotion. It received mixed reviews from music critics, who were divided on the vocal performances and debated on Costello's success as a country singer. It has continued to receive mixed reactions in later decades from critics and Costello's biographers and has placed low on lists ranking the artist's albums. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone argued in 2016 that the album predicted numerous unexpected musical excursions Costello took later in his career. It has been reissued multiple times with bonus tracks and extensive liner notes written by Costello himself. Background Elvis Costello had experimented with country music throughout his entire career to 1981. While he did not grow up listening to country music, his discovery of Gram