Dylan, Costello, Others Appear On Upcoming Coen Bros. Soundtrack

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The Mercury Records soundtrack to Ethan and Joel Coen's new movie The Big Lebowski is a genre-jarring compilation of tracks featuring artists ranging from Bob Dylan to Kenny Rogers with the First Edition to Gipsy Kings to Elvis Costello, who penned a new song for the release, due Feb. 10.

Costello's involvement with the project happened by chance; he was in New York in mid-October and had breakfast with pal T Bone Burnett, who is serving as musical supervisor on "Lebowski." Burnett invited Costello to join him at a meeting with the filmmakers that afternoon, and "I went from meeting with them to working with them in 20 minutes," Costello says.

The song, "My Mood Swings," which will accompany a critical bowling scene in the film, is described by Costello as "just a rock 'n' roll song, not any more or less than that." "Lebowski" hits theaters in February.

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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