Art & Creativity Quote by Elvis Costello

Costello’s compliment lands with the force of a small corrective to rock mythology. He isn’t just name-checking Hubert Sumlin; he’s re-routing attention from the star system to the source code. In a culture that rewards self-mythologizing, “Mention Hubert Sumlin” reads like an insistence that the lineage be spoken out loud, that blues guitar history not get smoothed over into a vague “influence” category while the royalties and prestige flow elsewhere.

The self-deprecation is doing real work. “I don’t play the guitar very good” isn’t faux-humility so much as a strategic lowering of the spotlight: it clears room for Sumlin’s authority. Costello, a celebrated songwriter with plenty of earned ego-credit, chooses the language of apprenticeship. That choice signals respect, but also a kind of ethical positioning: if you’re going to borrow from Black American music traditions, you’d better be specific about who taught you, even at a distance.

“I always have him in my mind” frames musicianship as memory and conscience, not just technique. Sumlin becomes a north star for feel, restraint, and phrasing - the things you can’t download from tablature. The final line, “I wish I could play like Hubert,” is admiration with a sting: it admits that greatness in this style is measured against masters who were too often under-celebrated while their innovations were widely imitated. Costello’s intent is praise, but the subtext is accountability.