Luthier

There's a fascinating interview with Brinsley Schwarz in the latest edition of Shindig magazine. In it he not only talks about the heady days of Kippington Lodge, the Brinsleys, Nick Lowe and, of course, Graham Parker and The Rumour (who were essentially Brinsley Schwarz without Lowe) but also what he's done since. The wilderness years? Hardly. Schwarz kept himself gainfully occupied as a go to luthier. I'll save you looking it up - a maker and repairer of stringed instruments; a guitar man, if you will. He no doubt takes a few of them out on the road when he tours with Parker and the rest of the band - still squeezing out sparks nearly fifty years on. 

Did the Brinsleys ever cover Bread's Guitar Man? Don't be silly. But they did record this classic by Jim Ford*. 

Brinsley Schwarz - Ju Ju Man (1973)

* Ford also wrote '36 Inches High' which Nick Lowe covered on Jesus of Cool, and the brilliantly titled 'I'm Ahead If I Can Quit While I'm Behind'.

Jesus of Cool

Nick Lowe - Failed Christian?

So much of what I write here is dedicated to the art of songwriting, I've lost count of how many great songs - written by incredibly talented songwriters - have featured on this blog in the last decade or so. 

Imagine if Nick Lowe, one of the best in the business, wrote a made to measure song for the legendary Mavis Staples; not off the peg, but tailored to fit her very soul. Lowe may or may not be a God fearing man, I don't know, but man alive he has written a song so spiritual it's practically a hymn. And even if, like me, you can be moved to tears in an empty church but become an atheist when it's full, don't worry, this is still for you. 

 Mavis Staples - Far Celestial Shore [2013] (Live and choirless)

 

Far Celestial Shore (with the full treatment)

Russia Report

This morning at 10.30am will see the long overdue publication of the Russia Report. The fact that Johnson and Cummings are in it up to their scrawny little necks is a given; we don't need a 50,000 word dossier to tell us we have one of the most corrupt governments in modern history. Or maybe we do. My faith in due political process is being pushed to new limits every day. Each day brings with it a cavalcade of fresh horrors that are quickly relegated to tomorrow's chip wrappers when yet more dead cats are thrown into proceedings. But this isn't the time or place* to throw shit around; like a lot of people I may have become more politically attuned since 2016 (everything was broken by the Brexit referendum), but save for the odd outburst I try to park my political views; which is not always easy.

...

Moving on, here's a link to a rather tasty Soviet mix from the Number One Son: three shin-kicking tunes that, remarkably, all carry the line  'Discussions with Russians'. Very timely, James! The song that opens proceedings is the first single ever released on the Stiff record label from the self proclaimed Jesus of Cool. 

Nick Lowe - So it Goes (1976)

I'm afraid tracks 2 and 3 that make up the playlist - great though they are - are both acts I know precious little about. Maybe James can shed some light on them...  

Beat Happening - I Love You (1985)

Young Presidents - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (2013)

* Twitter's the place for that sort of thing.

Who Would Live in a House Like This?

Lockdown has brought out the voyeur in us all: don't tell me you haven't muted your microphone, turned off the camera and had a good old gawp at your Zoom roommates' (Zoommates?) taste in decor; it's not just me. Is it?
OK, moving swiftly on. Rolling Stone magazine has been a fly on the wall in some of our most beloved rock star gaffs during these strange times. Watching the venerable Nick Lowe in his natural habitat* is a pure joy - all 14 minutes of it. The music aside**, I particularly like the cushions. And the stylish magazine rack. Oh, and the dog's called Larry btw. I, too, read a lot.

Nick Lowe: Lockdown 2020

* Brentford, west London

** How good is young Roy on the brushes?

Hitchcockian

RH

Robyn Hitchcock's tweets have been most amusing this week; you see, he has a doppelgänger - another grey haired English singer songwriter of a certain vintage, no less. I'll let the polka dotted former Soft Boy explain.

So another nice gent in a bank here in East Nashville told me my music was the soundtrack in his restaurant. This time, I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’m not Nick Lowe...

— Robyn Hitchcock (@RobynHitchcock) May 30, 2019

NL

And, for the avoidance of doubt and any conspiracy theorists out there who say that you never see Robyn Hitchcock and Nick Lowe together in the same room...

Trombone

I've spent much of today in hospital wards and waiting rooms; where staff are kind and caring and dispense care and sympathy to all-comers 24/7. They are places where an hour can last a day and vice versa; you're as well taking your watch off when you enter through their cavernous sliding doors - you leave when you leave. I have no right to judge, I wasn't there in a patient capacity. Not today.

So the time passes - reading, listening to podcasts, looking up to see if there's a familiar trolley being wheeled in your direction. And then, when you need a shot in the arm (vending machine coffee ain't all that), a few tunes to tap your toe to on the cleanest floors this side of anywhere.

This isn't remotely medically linked or themed, but it appeared in my ears twice today. It's Nick Lowe's brand new single which has its official release next week. I hope you like it.

Nick Lowe - Trombone (2019)

Lately I've Let Things Slide

I go to the bin 

I throw the laundry in 

And dig out the cleanest shirt

Nick Lowe - Lately I've Let Things Slide (2001)

Sticking with Nick Lowe, I recently found this photograph taken in March 1978:

 (What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love and Andy Williams?

Heartbreaker

Unmasked

This time last year I was telling you all about Los Straitjackets. Unnerving and unmissable in equal measure, Nick Lowe must feel permanently underdressed these days.

Seems he and the Straits would often soundcheck with Dionne Warwick's Heartbreaker, before finally embracing it full on and dropping it into their set. Although, some would argue, not one of the Gibb brothers best songs (even though it went Number One all over the world in 1982), Nick and the band have breathed new life into it and have, I think, made it into an uber cool record*. See what you think.

* It's from a tasty little EP - Tokyo Bay - released in June of this year.

Girlfriends

Anna and Marie. Marie and Anna. Best friends. For Life. They met when they were both nine. That's gotta be 25 years in anyone's language.

They looked out for each other then, and they look out for each other now. I love them both.





They told me on Friday they're going to Ibiza. Fueled by gin, and both in charge of heels higher than your average skyscraper, it could get messy. I think they may need a chaperone - my rates are very competitive.

Dave Edmunds - Girls Talk

What's Shakin' on the Hill

I went out for dinner last night with a friend of mine. At about half past eight a group of middle aged men (all sporting plaid shirts) walked in carrying flight cases: the house band, seemingly.
Man alive, they were good; how many bands do you see where the fiddle player doubles up as the trombonist? Not even Bellowhead, can I just tell you.

And I've not seen many people tackle Nick Lowe's 'What's Shakin' on the Hill and live to tell the tale.

This is for James. It's his birthday today - he'd have enjoyed it last night.

Nick Lowe - What's Shakin' on the Hill

What's So Funny?

Backed by a band comprising a bunch of Kendo Nagaski lookalikes, Nick Lowe has found his second wind; it may even be his third. Los Straitjackets, the surf instrumentalists who all wear designer Mexican wrestling masks on stage, have given Lowe a springboard to getting his tunes in front of a whole new audience. The Straitjackets are, seemingly, still riding the Pulp Fiction wave that saw the likes of Dick Dale & The Deltones appearing on uber cool Tarantino soundtracks back in the late nineties. And it's a two way carretera - they've now recorded a bunch of Lowe's songs, bastardised his Jesus of Cool artwork and are discovering Lowe's fans dig them too.

Here they all are in the Current 89.3 studio recording a track Lowe gave to Elvis Costello in the late seventies. It's now been given a Mexican twist, loads of reverb and even a bit of tremolo. What's not to like? Apart from the fact that Lowe is sharing a room with a group of masked men, that is.

Nick Lowe with Los Straitjackets - (What's so Funny 'bout) Peace, Love & Understanding

A little easier on the eye, maybe, is this live clip of Los Straitjackets live on stage with 'The World Famous Pontani Sisters' - burlesque for the surf generation?

Los Straitjackets - Brooklyn Slide

Old Toy Trains

Quality Street. Not just a tin of chocolates that comes into the house but once a year, but also the title of Nick Lowe's festive album from 2013.

It's been playing in the car all week and may well be the soundtrack to this afternoon's decorating of the tree. I'll have to run it by the committee first, of course. The tree is traditionally decked with Dean Martin 'Live at the Sands' playing in the background, but as we're a week early (James is here this weekend, not next), it may be time to ring in the changes. I am, however, expecting stiff opposition.

Maybe they'll let me play both?

Nick Lowe - Old Toy Trains (2013)

 

Bridging the gap

Nick Lowe, not Gordon Medd

Dad's up with us again for a few days. Oil and tyre pressures would have been checked yesterday morning before the wing mirrors were positioned and driving gloves put on. And a new PB of under two hours was set. It really is a good job that there are no fixed speed cameras in this part of the world.

I look forward to him coming up and enjoy his company; since losing mum, I look forward to our conversations which, by turn, are gradually becoming more and more wistful. He's more open than he ever used to be and we seem to have reached that point, on a number of issues, where we each know that nothing more needs to be said - we have an understanding.

Before we went out last night for a couple of beers and a bite to eat, we played cards. Mum and dad were always inveterate card players and they taught me and my brother all sorts of card games from when we were old enough to count. It was while we were playing a few hands late yesterday afternoon that he dropped into conversation something I'd never even thought about before. After mum died he can't play bridge. Or rather, he can (obviously the rules of the game haven't been wiped from his brain), but not without a partner who can second guess how he will bid and lead and all the other complexities and subtleties that make Bridge Bridge. Mum knew what he was thinking. She probably knew him better than he knows himself. How do you replace that? You can't. But dad's readjusting. He's moving away from being someone who always had a life partner on hand to tell him what to do next, to someone who can work it out for himself thank you very much. He's bridging the gap.

Mr. Soul

Sam Cooke, along with Charlie Rich, Solomon Burke and Nick Lowe, has a voice so rich, so layered, he could charm the birds out of any old tree he fancied.

And on 11 December 1964 that's precisely what he was doing; with disastrous consequences. Cooke, a born philanderer, couldn't keep it in his trousers. And that night he paid the ultimate price. But less than a year before, aged just 32, he had recorded and released, probably, the finest soul album of all time - Night Beat. Here's a cut from it.

Sam Cooke - Lost and Lookin' (1963)

So it Goes

'A' Side: Kurt Vonnegut loved The Riddler. Really

Another 'A' Side: Nick Lowe is The Riddler

Slaughterhouse Five: one of the finest anti-war stories ever written and The Sun Readers' latest book under the microscope. Heart of The City: Stiff Records' first single release in 1976 and one half of a cracking Double 'A' side by the man in the green Riddler suit.

So, The Riddler aside ('A' Side?), what else links Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel from 1969 and Nick Lowe's 1976 lo-fi masterpiece?

Kurt Vonnegut said it 116 times in just under 200 pages, whereas Nick Lowe took less than three minutes to blurt it out 24 times. The answer's all around you. So it goes.

Nick Lowe - So it Goes

Playing the percentage game

Nick Lowe once told me that if you've got enough lines in the water then sooner or later you're going to get a bite. Landing Johnny Cash in your keep net (covering Without Love and The Best in Me) and having one of your songs placed in a blockbuster movie (What's so Funny 'bout Peace Love and Understanding in The Bodyguard) is all about playing the percentage game.

Jimmy Greaves was just the same.

'I used to make 500 runs a season in to the 18 yard box. And I connected with about 100 balls coming in. Half of those would be on target and half of those would end up in the back of the net. And 25 goals a season was good enough for me.'

Greaves' stats speak for themselves. A career that started in 1957 and went through 'till 1971, he made 602 appearnaces for Chelsea, AC Milan, Spurs and West Ham. He scored 422 goals. And for England he netted 44 times from his 57 caps.

Going for a song

After my last post, 50 odd gigs, I was asked by The Swede to list 50 odd songs. Nice try TS, but that would be like asking me for my Desert Island Discs. Ask me today and I'll give you one list - ask me tomorrow and you'll get a different list altogether.

And, anyway, a great record is not always a great song. It's one of the reasons Nick Lowe doesn't play I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass live. Listen to it and you'll realise it's what they did in the studio that turned it into a pop record, not what Lowe would have first noodled around with on his acoustic guitar. Likewise some great dance records are just that: great dance records. Or choons as I think the current vernacular would have it. Strip them down and they're hardly songs at all.

That said, what I will do is give you one song.  A song that would be on any Best Of list you ask me to write today or tomorrow. It will be on the last list I ever write.

I won't spoil it by reviewing it. Or rating it. Or even telling you how perfect I think it is. Everything you need to know about it is wrapped up in its three minutes, 37 seconds.

Just listen.

Pete Morton: Another Train (mp3)

50 odd gigs

I have huge respect for David Hepworth: a fine writer and broadcaster who, to paraphrase Danny Baker, 'always hits the n on the h.' I found this 2009 Blog of his the other day and thought I'd lift the idea wholesale - and come up with my own 50 odd gigs that are memorable for all sorts of reasons. I hope he doesn't mind.

 Their friends included Alex Harvey and Little Feat

1. Lindisfarne - Newark Palace Theatre, January 1975. My first gig. Riggsby's mum took us. I couldn't believe how loud it was.
2. The Who - Charlton Athletic Football Club, 1976. Forget what I said about Lindisfarne. This was loud. The Guinness Book of Records said so.
3. The Stranglers - Leicester De Montfort 1977. Jean Jacques Burnel came on stage during Steel Pulse's set (who were being all but bottled) and said 'If you don't show them some respect, we're not coming on.'
4. Generation X - West Runton Pavilion, December 1978. It was Riggsby's 18th. After 35 years I finally wrote up my gig review.
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers - San Diego, 2000. They were plugging Californication. In California.
6. Rocket From The Crypt - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. This band are so good live we recently flew to Barcelona to catch one of their 'one off' reunion gigs. The Glasgow show was ineffable.

 Brentford's finest

7. Nick Lowe - Jazz Café Camden, 1995. This was where he reinvented himself.
8. Joe Strummer - Princess Charlotte, Leicester. Can't have been long before he died. He organised the crowd so all the short arses came down the front and those of taller persuasion stood at the back.
9. Stephane Grappelli - Mansfield Leisure Centre. Can't remember the year but I remember shaking his hand.
10. The Black Crowes - The Garage, Highbury Corner. More bands should do this - they played an acoustic Saturday afternoon matinee ahead of their evening plugged-in show.

They could have been contenders

11. Paul McCartney - Sheffield. The Number One Son's heart nearly stopped when they lit the Live and Let Die fireworks.
12. The Buzzcocks - Retford Porterhouse, 1977. I'd bought their first album that afternoon: I was ready for them.
13. Joe Jackson - Hammersmith Odeon, 1989. Jenny was pregnant and Joe played his new record, Blaze of Glory, in its entirety.
14. Shack - Nottingham, 2004. They kept it together that night. Greatness always alluded them; probably because they didn't always keep it together.
15. Grover Washington Jr - Concord Jazz Festival, CA., 1998. Smooth. Hot.
16. The Monkees - Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham. No wooly hats but the other three were there.

It was nearer 9.00 by the time he came on

17. ZZ Top - Marquee, 1983. I stood next to Gary Bushell and Pete Way.
18. Chuck Berry - Ice Stadium, Nottingham, 1991. Late on stage due to haggling with promoter for money.
19. World Party - Wolverhampton Civic. Karl Wallanger unveiled She's The One. It was also the night he probably sacked his guitar roadie.
20. Trippin' Over Wah - British Legion, West Bridgford, Nottingham, 2004. Ten years later and it's still one of the liveliest debut gigs by a band I've ever seen: the Police were called three times.
21. The Sweet - Rock City, Nottingham, 1981. The guitarist had a pint of beer thrown at him. Refused to come back on.
22. The Bees - Rock City, Nottingham, 2005. The guitarist had a pint of beer thrown at him. Refused to come back on. Déjà vu.
23. The Wilsons - Saltburn, 2013. Sting likes them now, apparently.
24. Martin Taylor - I've seen him so many times it's hard to pick one out; I'll go for Rolls Royce Social Club, Derby - we sat on a comfy sofa while Martin played just feet away from us.
25. Aimee Mann - Nottingham. Jet lagged and slightly tetchy she forgot the opening line to one of her songs. But when someone in the audience shouted the prompt she transformed herself.

 'Disco Dan' did the disco. Disco Dan always did the disco

26. The Next Band and Def Leppard - Grantham Guildhall, 1978. Def Leppard were good. The Next Band were better.
27. Long John Baldry - Astoria, Nottingham. He had Dick Morrissey and Jim Mullen in his band that night - they did a fabulous Morrissey Mullen set.
28. Rod Stewart - Nottingham Arena. Forty years since he and Baldry were tearing it up with Steampacket but Rod still knew how to do it.
29. The Cramps - Rock City, Nottingham. Uncomfortable viewing - Lux Interior climbed speaker cabinets and self harmed all night.
30. Arthur Lee and Love - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham. They played all Forever Changes.
31. Rory Gallagher - Nottingham, 1989.  We left after three and a half hours and he was still playing.
32. The Jam - Derby King's Hall, 1977. I remember Paul Weller being angry. No change there then.
33. Neil Innes - York, Fibbers. I love it when he Rutles.
34. Loudon Wainwright - Newark. A great evening spoilt only by Martha.

 They'd been on Top of the Pops the night before

35. Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Northampton Roadmenders. He was dying. He was helped on stage by Derek The Draw. He was sublime.
36. Bellowhead - Nottingham, seven or eight years ago. When I first began to notice people talking, loudly, during gigs.
37. Field Music - Leeds Cockpit, 2012. Field Music were on form; the audience were not - the talking throughout drowned out the band. We walked out.
38. Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby - The Milton Rooms, Malton, 2012. Still railing.

'Do the rat'

39. The Boomtown Rats - Derby, 1977. We went backstage afterwards and got their autographs. Well I was only 16. Bob and the band signed my ticket.
40. Tony Bennett - Nottingham. Proved during one number he didn't need a microphone.
41. Eddie and The Hot Rods/Squeeze/Radio Stars - Leicester De Montfort, 1977. Jools Holland tried to play the concert organ. 
42. Richard Thompson - a pub, the name of which escapes me, in Nottingham, 1986. Just him and his guitar fighting to be heard over the tills.
43. Girl - Marquee, Wardour Street W1, 1980. I saw them plenty around this time - they'd got a residency at Soho's finest music club.
44. Clive Gregson & Christine Collister - The Narrowboat, Nottingham, 1987. Gregson & Collister split. The Narrowboat was razed.

This gig was considerably cheaper...

...than this one

45. The Bootleg Beatles - numerous. Too young to see the real thing, I've filled my boots (as it were) many times - Hucknall Leisure Centre and The Pigalle Club in Piccadilly spring to mind.
46. Dodgy - Exeter Big Top, 1997. The Number One Son's first gig.
47. James Yorkston - Nottingham Bodega. The most respectful audience I've ever seen. Anywhere.
48. The Slackers - Nottingham. Picking up where The Skatalites left off.
49. Jah Wobble - The Maze, Nottingham. He turned his bass up to 11.
50. Pete Morton - The Sun, Pickering, 2014. When we sing together, that's the best of all.

Pulling rank

Someone else is pulling his strings

                       
                        * Penchant for lead piping: 2%

                        * Fear of Mysterons: 100%

                        * Mistaken for Nick Lowe: 77%

                        * Getting jiggy in the Drawing Room: 4%

                        * Eponymous pub in Leeds: 0%

                        * Scoring Lady Penelope's phone number: 99%

His head sits atop a pawn

 * Penchant for lead piping: 98%

 * Fear of Mysterons: 1%

 * Mistaken for Nick Lowe: 0%

 * Getting jiggy in the Drawing Room: 100%

 * Eponymous pub in Leeds: 99%

 * Scoring Lady Penelope's phone number: 3%

Children Go Where I Send Thee

Shiny 45s hanging from the tree and Nick Lowe entombed in a snow globe; Noddy was right - it's only just begun.

Speaking of Nick Lowe, he was persuaded by his American record company earlier this year to make a 'Holiday' album. In the wrong hands this project would surely have become another of Herod's victims. Instead, it sounds like this: