Nick Lowe- Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg, MB. June 15, 2024

Better late than never!

Nick Lowe is a performer I had on my "must-see live" before I die list for a long while and had almost gave up hope thinking my only opportunity to see him might include a long car ride or flight to another city. Imagine my surprise when it was announced he would partake on a short tour of Canada with fellow song-smith, Ron Sexsmith. It's funny because I over-heard a guy seated a row behind me telling someone he drove in for the concert from Minneapolis and he had see Lowe many time previously, ha imagine that, Winnipeg has something worth visiting for! 

 

Anyways, both sets were solo acoustic, which meant it wasn't going to be a rowdy earplugs show or standing throughout. Ron Sexsmith played a solid set with songs from his long (though not nearly as long as Nick!) and respectable career and it's interesting how many songs he's had covered by other artists, Emmylou Harris, Feist, and Nick Lowe to just name a few he played. I've seen Sexsmith before and though he isn't the most exciting performer, he is sincere and he writes some pretty nice songs. Nick was his usual charming self, an interesting and funny storyteller and a pure joy to listen to. I have joined the ranks of the "easy listening" crowd with their polite applause, cushy seats and opportunity for a night out, I felt right at home with an audience where I'm not the oldest in the room. Lowe's set was fairly quiet (you can hear a pin drop during songs), but things started to get more upbeat when Nick brought Ron onto the stage to join him for the latter section of the show for the last five songs. The highlights for me, were the older "hits", Cruel To Be Kind, I Knew The Bride and the show closer, What's So Funny 'Bout (Peace, Love and Understanding) with Ron playing some surprisingly tasty leads on guitar. A thoroughly low-key concert, I'm glad I bought a ticket for. Since I'm been trying to live on a low budget (except my stupidly expensive Jets tickets!), I'm more selective on concerts I can afford or want to pay for. I feel kind bad I missed the Violent Femmes last month, but my rationale for buying Nick Lowe over VFs is because I haven't seen him (I saw the VFs once) and tickets were reasonably priced. Interesting to note, I actually bought a first row in the middle (balcony) seat the day after tickets went on sale. There were lots of empty seats in the first balcony, only the first three rows were filled and some scattered in the lower-priced upper section. Clearly, this wasn't a top draw as there was a 25% off sale in the weeks leading up to the show.

 

The opportunity to tape (record) the show was too good to pass up. Getting through security was a breeze, as there was no airport style-metal detectors, bag checks, wanding or pat-downs, as it was anticipated to be tame crowd. My seats were perfect, unobstructed view and no one in front of me to block the sound. Extra bonus was that the couple to the left of me didn't return after the intermission, so I was able to get some extra armrest action and no worries about them talking. Talking was to the minimum, so it was ideal. I always worry that security would get excited with audio recorders, but seriously, so many people pull out their phones constantly taking photos and recording videos. In fact three seats over from me someone recorded almost the whole show on their phone. There was a ledge in front of us, but they still had to lean it and hold it sturdy for over an hour. That's more work than I'd be committed to. Good for them, hope the video turned out good. The sound quality is pretty decent, my only regret was I should have set the volume levels higher, as it was a quiet show, so of course the audience applause is so much louder than the music. I considered boosting the volume with Audacity, but I didn't want the crowd to clip too loudly or use compression which might have altered the sound. The first song is too quiet, but I increased the levels for the rest of the recording and sounds nice. I didn't record Ron's opening set because of a post from one of his earlier shows that got removed by the request of someone from his camp (if you want to hear that show, PM me), so I don't need the potential hassle. Anyways, enough technical jargon...listen to the concert!

Enjoy!

 

 

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use.

Please share!

 

NICK LOWE
Burton Cummings Theatre
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
June 15, 2024
AUD Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> SD card > 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC

01. Stoplight Roses
02. 12 Step Program
03. Long Limbed Girl
04. Lately I've Let Things Slide
05. I Live On A Battlefield
06. Rome Wasn't Built In A Day
07. Lay It On Me Baby
08. Heartbreaker (Bee Gees cover)
09. Somebody Cares For Me
10. Love Starvation
11. The Beast In Me
12. Trombone
13. Indian Queens
14. Without Love
15. Where's My Everything? *
16. Cruel To Be Kind *
17. I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'n' Roll) *

Encore
18. My Baby's Gone (Louvin Brothers cover) *
19. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding *

* With Ron Sexsmith

 

NICK LOWE- 2024-06-15 Burton Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master. rar

 

Rockpile- The Park West, Chicago 1978

 

Tonight, for the first time I'm seeing Nick Lowe live! It's hard to believe he hasn't played Winnipeg, though he came close several years ago at the Winnipeg Folk Festival (which technically is outside of Winnipeg), but I prefer the confines of an indoor concert venue to properly see and hear a performer. I've spent the past week "concert cramming", meaning I've listened to everything Lowe has recorded in his long illustrious career that spanned from the late 60's when he joined, Kippington Lodge (which later became Brinsley Schwarz), through his Rockpile days, right up to his current solo albums, which include his collaboration with Los Straitjackets. I have pretty much all his releases up to 1988's. Pinker And Prouder Than Previous, so I was somewhat surprised how many more albums he released since 1990. Admittingly, they're all good and worth a listen, with a mature, older Lowe switching gears slightly, but still has the energy and spark to keep touring and making new music. The show I'm seeing will be Nick and his guitar solo, i would have preferred to see his with Los Straitjackets, but I should just be happy he's playing. He's joined by Canadian singer-songwriter, Ron Sexsmith, who I've seen a couple of times, so it should be a good solid concert, though I'm expecting a mellow, seated show, which I'm fine with. I have a prime seat, first row balcony which will not only be perfect sight-lines, but also it should produce a excellent sounding recording (fingers crossed security looks the other way!). If it all works out, I'll be posting a review/live recording of the show soon!

 

To get in the mood, I'm posting a vintage Rockpile live show from 1978. It's a great sounding broadcast and the lads are smoking hot! This would be circa, Jesus Of Cool (Pure Pop For Now People)/Tracks On Wax 4).

Enjoy!

 

 

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use.

Please share!

 

 

ROCKPILE

(billed as: Dave Edmunds Rockpile featuring Nick Lowe)
The Park West
Chicago IL.
November 12th, 1978
 

Late Show
WXRT Unconcert FM Broadcast
R.J.P. Reel to Reel Master
Transferred and Presented By Krw_co

LINEAGE WXRT CHICAGO FM BROADCAST>REEL TO REEL @ 3 & 3/4 IPS TEAC A-7300 REEL TO REEL>
W/MANUAL AZIMUTH ADJUSTMENT>CREATIVE SOUNDBLASTER X-FI HD MODEL #SB1240 WAV (24/96KHZ)
MAGIX AUDIO CLEANING LAB FOR KRW TRACK MARKS VOLUME ADJUSTMENT AND EDITS>WAV 24/96>
TRADERS LITTLE HELPER FLAC LEVEL 8

SETLIST
1 Bobby Skafish WXRT intro
2 Down Down Down
3 So It Goes
4 I Knew The Bride
5 Deborah
6 Trouble Boys
7 I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass
8 You'll Never Get Me Up In One Of Those
9 Bye Bye Johnny
10 Love So Fine
11 Here Comes The Weekend
12 The Promised Land
13 I Hear You Knocking
14 They Call It Rock
15 JuJu Man
16 Heart Of The City
17 Let's Talk
18 WXRT outro

 

 THE BAND
Dave Edmunds guitar vocals piano organ
Nick Lowe bass vocals
Billy Bremner guitar vocals
Terry Williams drums

 

ROCKPILE- 1978-11-12 Park West, Chicago, IL FLAC. rar

Nick Lowe- Live At El Mocambo, 1978

 

 Yeah, it's been awhile since I posted last and since that time it feels like we've passed through two seasons. There's snow on the ground where I am and we're into November already, so I thought I better get back to posting and catch up! I listened to a whole bunch of shows that seem interesting, some that peaked my interest for whatever reason, including a couple of bands celebrating significant anniversaries of landmark albums that are worth exploring, but more on that in upcoming posts. 

Something that caught my attention was a post on Dime with a live recording of Nick Lowe from the same concert as Elvis Costello's, Live At The El Mocambo promo/bootleg (that was later officially released) from March 6, 1978. The Elvis portion of the concert was a radio broadcast live on CHUM-FM, so the recording was good and in theory the Lowe portion was probably from the same recording, but not broadcast. During the concert when Costello returned for the encore, he introduced Nick Lowe as the "special guest" and Lowe and the Attractions launched into the mini 4 (3) song set. This was followed by Costello performing the encore (that was included on Costello's LP). What I have below is from a rare 7" EP promo released by CBS (not my copy!), that was only available in Canada and wasn't sold in stores. If you can find a copy of this collectible, it's a keeper, as it's supposedly worth a few bucks. If you're a fan of Lowe (or Costello), this is worth a listen and a neat companion piece to Elvis Costello's, Live at the El Mocambo.

Enjoy!

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use.

Please share!

 

NICK LOWE
Live at the El Mocambo
March 6, 1978

Promo 7">cdr>eac

1.  Nutted By Reality (first verse)/ I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass
2.  Shake and Pop
3.  Heart of the City

 

NICK LOWE- Live From The El Mocambo, March 6, 1978 (CBS Promo EP) FLAC. rar

 

Brinsley Schwarz- Live Archive Vol. 3

 

 

Speaking of Nick Lowe, I came upon a great sounding Brinsley Schwarz live recording from the (unofficial) Live Archives series from Vogon in the UK. The two previous Live Archive volumes were from Tilburg, Netherlands and Sheffield from 1974, while Volume 3 is from Groningen in 1975. I haven't heard the first two volumes, so I can't comment about the sound quality, but Volume 3 sounds amazing! If the date of this recording is correct (March 1975), the band would dis-band later in the month, so this is amongst their last shows together. The performance is top notch and features an early working of, Cruel to Be Kind which would become a monster hit for Nick in 1979 from his Labour Of Lust album. I'll keep a look out for the first two volumes! A must-hear for Brinsley Schwarz and Nick Lowe fans!

Enjoy!!

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use

Please share!

#16yearsoftrouble

 

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ
Live Archive Vol. 3 (2020)
The Vera Club
Groningen, Holland
March, 1975

1. You've Been Cheating    2:46
2. Small Town Big City    4:31
3. Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)    4:01
4. Down In Mexico    3:41
5. You Ain't Living Until You're Loving    3:10
6. We Can Mess Around    2:43
7. Happy Doing What We're Doing    4:11
8. Surrender To The Rhythm    3:39
9. Country Girl    2:49
10. Hooked On Love    2:24
11. Trying To Live My Life Without You    3:01
12. Cruel To Be Kind    3:15
13. Private Number    3:33
14. I've Cried My Last Tear    2:19
15. Walking The Dog    2:27
16. I Can't Help Myself    2:39

 

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ- Live Archive Vol. 3 FLAC. rar

 

**If the above link doesn't work, try downloading this link which I uploaded to DropBox. For a limited time only!

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ- Live Archive Vol. 3 FLAC. rar (DB link) 

 

Costello Sings Lowe/Nick Sings Elvis- San Francisco, October 1, 2010: 16 Years Of Trouble!

 

I have Elvis on my mind! No, not that ancient rocker who had a recent bio-pic about his life in theaters, the Elvis who's married to Canada's, Diana Krall! I saw (via social media), a friend of mine, Hugh, saw Elvis Costello at Massey Hall in Toronto last night. On my daily dose of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Generator , my featured album today is Elvis Costello's 1994 album, Brutal Youth, with Nick Lowe playing bass on the record. By coincidence, Nick Lowe was the support act (opener) for Costello last night. To add to the coincidences, yesterday (before I realized Costello was performing last night) I listened to a live recording from 2010 that featured Elvis and Nick sharing a co-billing show performing each other's songs. It was a benefit in San Francisco that was recorded, but never officially released and it was available from Dime about a month ago. It's an outstanding show with both Elvis and Nick trading off songs and singing together on a handful of songs. It's a joy to hear them each perform unique versions of the songs that might be arranged different and sound almost like a different song, but they add their own style to each song. A truly unique concert and at the time it was a one-off concept for that night (for both the early & late shows). The sound quality is excellent and the setlist is amazing! Get this while you can!

So sorry for the recent lack of posts. After coming back from vacation, I feel refreshed and energized and looking forward to more postings. Hey, believe it or not, Teenage Dogs In Trouble just celebrated (Aug. 3rd) it's 16th anniversary and I hope to run this into the ground a bit longer. Seriously, I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to read the blog and feel free to continue to download as much content as possible. I realize a lot of older links haven't been working, so keep sending me your requests to re-post. Some items and files I might not have access to anymore, but I will try to dig and get as I can back up.

Enjoy!!

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use

Please share!!

#16yearsoftrouble

 

Elvis Costello & Nick Lowe
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco, CA
October 1, 2010 (Early Show)

A Benefit for the Richard de Lone Special Housing Project
Costello Sings Lowe / Nick Sings Elvis 

01. intro
02. Here Comes The Weekend - Elvis Costello & Nick Lowe
03. When I Write The Book - Elvis Costello
04. Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head - Nick Lowe
05. Don't Lose Your Grip On Love - Elvis Costello
06. Mystery Dance - Nick Lowe
07. I Trained Her To Love Me - Elvis Costello
08. Poisoned Rose - Nick Lowe
09. I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass - Bob Andrews
10. Oliver's Army - Nick Lowe
11. I'm A Mess - Elvis Costello
12. Nick talks
13. Alison - Nick Lowe
14. Cruel To Be Kind - including Harry Hippie - Elvis Costello
Interlude
15. Accidents Will Happen - saxophone instrumental by Derek Huston
16. Lover Don't Go - Austin de Lone
17. Indoor Fireworks - Nick Lowe
18. What's Shakin' On The Hill - Elvis Costello
19. Gonna Love My Baby - Nick Lowe
20. Monkey To Man - Bill Kirchen - with Elvis lead vocal on one verse
21. Heart Of The City - Elvis Costello & Nick Lowe
Encore
21. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding? - Elvis Costello & Nick Lowe
Total 88:37

THE BAND:
Elvis Costello - vocals, guitar
Nick Lowe - vocals, guitar
Austin de Lone - keyboards, vocals
Bill Kirchen - guitar, vocals
Bob Andrews - keyboards, vocals
Derek Huston - saxophone
Ruth Davies - bass
Paul Revelli - drums

NICK LOWE & ELVIS COSTELLO- 2010-10-01 GAMH, San Francisco, CA FLAC. rar

So It Goes- Nick Lowe- 1975 Stiff Demos

 

Photo by Dick Wingate

 

A New York Daily News article from 2007 quoted Nick Lowe as saying his greatest fear in recent years was "sticking with what you did when you were famous." "I didn't want to become one of those thinning-haired, jowly old geezers who still does the same shtick they did when they were young, slim and beautiful," he said. "That's revolting and rather tragic." 

 

For many musicians and bands this is the formula they stick with to keep the old fans happy and let the new fans enjoy what they are famous for. Nick Lowe has had a long and interesting career. His first stab at success was with Brinsley Schwarz (the band) from the 1969 to the mid-70's. They produced a whopping six full length albums (not counting compilations) and when the band split Bob Andrews and Brinsley Schwarz (the guitar player) joined Graham Parker and the Rumour, while Ian Gomm and Lowe began solo careers. Around this time, Lowe joined up with Dave Edmonds, who produced New Favorites Of...Brinsley Schwarz, to form Rockpile with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams. This unit produced albums under Edmonds name (Tracks On Wax 4 and Repeat When Necessary) and Nick Lowe's second solo record, Labour Of Lust, along with Seconds Of Pleasure from 1980. For me, I first became aware of Nick Lowe through his biggest hit, Cruel To Be Kind which got radio play at the time and though I didn't realize it at the time, this song would later rank high in my favourite song list. I would go as far to say it's the perfect pop song (or power-pop?) and Labour Of Lust still gets lots of love on my turntable and iPod. Lowe remained steadily active through the 80's and I own all his albums up until 1988's, Pinker and Prouder. He also served double duty at times as a highly respected producer and was involved with some ground breaking releases from Graham Parker, The Damned and Elvis Costello. I honestly haven't followed Lowe through his releases in the 90's and 2000's when he moved away from power pop to a more balladeer, singer-songwriter mode.

In this decade, Nick Lowe has experienced a bit of revival of sorts. In 2011, Yep Roc re-released, Labour Of Lust and Wilco covered the song, I Love My Label which led to a joint tour, that exposed Lowe to a younger, hip audience. More recently, the mexican wrestling mask wearing surf-guitar band, Los Straitjackets became Lowe's backing band and toured together providing a very interesting dynamic both visually and musically. I've listened to some of those shows and they are fantastic, sparking with genuine energy that comes across in the music and performances. I've always been a reader of good music biographies and one that I am considering next is Cruel To Be Kind: The Life And Times Of Nick Lowe that came out about a year ago. I am curious about some the behind the scenes stories and his interaction within the bands he was in and the musicians he produced. Sounds like an interesting read. So, why hasn't Rockpile reunited? How about Brinsley Schwarz? Don't know if he touches on those subjects or if he wants to revisit that "same shtick when he was young..."

During the period between the breakup of Brinsley Schwarz and the formation of Rockpile, Nick Lowe recorded some demos for Stiff Records in 1975. Some of these songs were recorded later and appeared on later albums (Tonight on Jesus of Cool/PPFNP, Here She Comes- sounds like an early version of Deborah from Tracks On Wax 4) and Little Darlin' was recorded by Dave Edmonds. I'm sort of surprised, the demo for So It Goes isn't here. The song was Stiff Records' first single and Lowe was their first artist and he became the label's in-house producer. Though he was already a seasoned musician, recording artist and performer, these demos are a very important document from Lowe's early solo career.

Enjoy!

#14yearsoftrouble

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats (except for personal use)

Please share!

 

NICK LOWE

Stiff Demos (1975)

(Some solo, some band)

soundboard

01. Here She Comes Again
02. Tonight
03. Living In The 70's
04. Time And Time Again
05. She's My Baby
06. I Respect You for That
07. Little Darlin'
08. So Heavy (original version)

Bonus tracks
09. Halfway To Paradise (alternate version)
10. Is It You (live)
11. Lonely Just Like Me (live w/Imp. Birds)
12. Juju Man

 ***NEW link!!***

NICK LOWE- 1975 Stiff Demos FLAC. rar 

Rockpile- Best Of Soundboards

I had a request for more Rockpile shows and had a difficult time deciding what I should post next. Years ago, I downloaded a sweet compilation of soundboard recordings from different sources, mainly radio broadcasts, which are always great sources for live shows. This is a nice overview and sampling of the material they played live. Songs from Dave and Nick's solo albums, as well as covers and songs written by others (Graham Parker, Elvis Costello) all played with a fury and passion that hasn't been surpassed by Dave and Nick's later solo projects (in my opinion). Rockpile is an amazing live band and their playing is flawless, tight and furiously energetic. The only official studio Rockpile release, Seconds Of Pleasure seems to pale a little in comparison.

There are a couple repeat songs from the last Rockpile show I posted (My Father's Place '78), and the sound is excellent throughout. I have a couple more shows from 1978-1980, so stay tuned and I'll post another soon.
Enjoy!!

ROCKPILE
Best Of Soundboards
Various 1977-1980

1. Crawling From The Wreckage (Concert For Kampuchea 12-79)
2. Little Sister (Concert For Kampuchea 12-79)
3. Back To Schooldays (BBC 4-77)
4. I knew The Bride (BBC 4-77)
5. Mess Of Blues (BBC 4-77)
6. Here Comes The Weekend/So Fine (BBC 4-77)
7. Girls Talk (Palladium, NYC 1980)
8. Born Fighter (Palladium, NYC 1980)
9. Cruel To Be Kind (Palladium, NYC 1980)
10. Jailhouse Rock (Palladium, NYC 1980)
11. Let It Rock (Washington, DC 1977)
12. Fool Too Long (San Francisco 1978)
13. No More Mr. Nice Guy (Bottom Line, NYC 10-78)
14. It's My Own Business (Bottom Line, NYC 10-78)
15. Never Been In Love/So Fine (Bottom Line, NYC 10-78)
16. Deborah (My Father's Place 11-78)
17. Trouble Boys (My Father's Place 11-78)
18. You'll Never Get Me Up In One Of Those (My Father's Place 11-78)
19. Loud Music In Cars (Billy Bremner solo)
20. Three Time Loser (Concert For Kampuchea video only)

ROCKPILE- Best Of Soundboards FLAC. rar

Note: I had a bit of trouble ripping the CD to FLAC files and I had to use my secondary ripping software, but I tested it and listened to the whole disc and it seems fine. Let me know if there are any problems. Thanks!

Rockpile- My Fathers Place 1978

I noticed this boot is offered for sale at iOffer (for money)...DON'T BUY IT, download it here!

I had a request for more live Rockpile and I found this gem I downloaded years ago. I earlier posted the Live At Montreux recording from 1980 from a tour promoting the band's first album, Seconds Of Pleasure which was the only release officially under the Rockpile name. This live recording was from 1978 supporting the Tracks On Wax 4 record which was released as a Dave Edmunds solo record with the members of Rockpile playing on it (with Dave on lead vocals). Because this recording was a live FM broadcast, the sound quality is excellent and for maximum fidelity I have left it in FLAC format for your enjoyment. I know I have more Rockpile shows, so if there's interest I'll post more and I'll see if I can find a show from 1979 which features more tracks from Nick Lowe's, Labour Of Lust and Dave Edmunds, Repeat When Necessary which were recorded simultaneously by Rockpile.

Enjoy!

ROCKPILE
My Fathers Place,
Roslyn, N.Y., USA
November 4, 1978 (early show)
WLIR-FM Live Broadcast

1-Intro
2-Down Down Down
3-And So It Goes
4-I Knew The Bride
5-Deborah
6-Trouble Boys
7-Breaking Glass
8-Never Get Me Up In One Of Those
9-Let It Rock
10-So Fine
11-I Hear You Knocking'
12-They Call It Rock
13-Ju Ju Man
14-Heart Of The City
15-(crowd)
16-Let's Talk About Us

ROCKPILE- MFP, 78FM. rar FLAC

It's Lowe Beats Time!

If you're a big fan of Nick Lowe or one of his past bands, Brinsley Schwarz or Rockpile, you must have a listen to The Lowe Beats. The Lowe Beats are the ultimate Nick Lowe cover band consisting of some veterans of the Seattle music scene, Scott McCaughey (Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows), Jim Sangster (Young Fresh Fellows), John Ramberg (Model Rockets, Minus 5), Graham Black (Model Rockets) and Hugh Jones. What began as a "one-off" project in the late 90's has included gigs in 2002 and in 2008 to reunite for the Jesus Of Cool 30th Anniversary. Video of that show is available for your viewing pleasure on YouTube. Here's the first of six from that show. Recently, Scott opened for Nick Lowe in Seattle.

The show I'm posting I received in a trade years ago is from 2002 and although it was billed as Minus 5, it was really a Lowe Beats warm-up gig for a New Year's Eve show 3 days later at the Sunset Tavern. I have a recording of the NYE show as well, which has a much expanded setlist, but the sound quality is much better (less crowd noise) from the Crocodile show. Great songs and a fun, loose and inspired performance!
Enjoy!

The Lowe Beats (aka Minus 5)
Crocodile Cafe
Seattle, WA
December 28, 2002
Audience recording

01. Let's Eat
02. Born Fighter
03. Look I Like
04. Marie Provost
05. Crackin' Up
06. Lately I've Let Things Slide
07. Cruel To Be Kind
08. Switchboard Susan
09. She's So Fine
10. I Don't Want The Night To End

Scott McCaughey- vocals
Jim Sangster- guitar, vocals
John Ramberg- guitar, vocals
Hughie Jones- bass
Graham Black- drums

THE LOWE BEATS- 2002-12-28. rar

Rockpile- Live At Montreux 1980

Sorry for the lack of posts for the past week. I was out of town (in Edmonton) and before I left I actually stockpiled and uploaded some music that I had meant to post if I was bored in my hotel, but I was just too occupied (lots of hockey to watch on TV) and busy, you know how it is...

I noticed there has been a bit of a Nick Lowe renaissance recently with the release of a new album, The Old Magic, the re-release of the classic, Labour of Lust and a new release of an old recording from his band, Rockpile. Live At Montreux is latest product from Rockpile who previously released their only "official" studio album, Seconds Of Pleasure back in 1980. Actually, that was the only album released under the Rockpile name as the members of the band, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams have recorded as a band on solo albums from Lowe (Labour Of Lust) and Edmunds (Trax On Wax 4 and Repeat When Necessary) due to contractual obligations with Lowe and Edmunds on different record labels. In fact, R.W.N. and L.O.L. were recorded simultaneously in 1979 during the same recording session, and they were probably the best known albums from both artists. Live At Montreux is an opportunity to hear Rockpile at their peak drawing from both their solo albums, though Edmunds songs dominate the setlist with only 3 Lowe tracks, but the band sounds excellent and showcases their amazing musicianship. There are better sounding live recordings available from Rockpile around, but it's great a "semi-official" release is available to exposure more of their music to the masses.

Enjoy!!

ROCKPILE
Live At Montreux 1980 (2011)

1. Sweet Little Lisa
2. So It Goes
3. I Knew the Bride
4. Queen of Hearts
5. Switchboard Susan
6. Trouble Boys
7. Teacher Teacher
8. Girls Talk
9. 3 Time Loser
10. You Ain’t Nothin’ But Fine
11. Crawling from the Wreckage
12. Let It Rock
13. I Hear You Knocking
14. They Called It Rock
15. Ju Ju Man
16. Let’s Talk About Us

ROCKPILE- Live at Montreux 1980. rar

Nick Lowe- The Wilderness Years

The Wilderness Years is a collection of songs Nick Lowe recorded between his time with Brinsley Schwarz and his first solo album, Jesus Of Cool (titled, Pure Pop For Now People, in the U.S.). He recorded a lot of songs during this period, doubling as a house producer for Stiff Records as well as later forming Rockpile with Dave Edmunds. There are a number of rarities with outtakes, covers, a few previously unreleased demos, and singles released only outside of the States. The songs on this compilation range from gems to throwaways, but does exhibit the sense of humour in Lowe's writing that gave him a certain charm that is irresistible.

NICK LOWE
The Wilderness Years (1991)

Fool Too Long
Let's Go to the Disco
Everybody Dance (Nick Lowe, Daniel Adler)
Bay City Rollers We Love You
Allorolla Part 1
Rollers Show
Heart of the City
Halfway to Paradise (Gerry Goffin, Carole King)
Truth Drug
Born a Woman (Martha Sharpe)
Endless Sleep
Shake That Rat
I Love My Label (Lowe, Profile)
I Don't Want the Night to End
So Heavy
Keep it Out of Sight
Heart
I Got a Job

NICK LOWE- The Wilderness Years. rar

The New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz

An over-looked band in the early 70's was the influential band, Brinsley Schwarz whose first exposure to America came at the expense of the infamous incident that became known as, "the Brinsley Schwarz hype". The band's manager flew a plane full of British journalists to New York for a show as the band was opening for Van Morrison on April 3rd and 4th, 1970. The band was to arrive in NY a few days before the gig to rehearse, but instead were delayed because of visa problems and only arrived shortly before the gig with rented equipment. The journalists were due the next day, but the flight was delayed for four hours and with a free bar the journalists eventually arrived drunk or hung-over. The band received negative reviews from the critics for the show and panned their debut album. So much for the hype and this drove the band into seclusion before coming back with a different sound and a follow-up album. The band played a more loose, pub rock sound and went on to release six records in total (not counting compilations etc.) before disbanding in 1975. The members of the band went onto other projects, guitarist Brinsley Schwarz and Bob Andrews to the Rumour with Graham Parker and Ian Gomm and Nick Lowe both pursued solo careers. Brinsley Schwarz's final album, The New Favourites Of, was produced by Dave Edmunds and this was as close to a hit as the band came. It received positive reviews and the slicker, more polished pop sound provided a glimpse of the brilliance of Nick Lowe as a songwriter and performer. This album contained the original version of the Nick Lowe-penned, (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding, which became more identified with Elvis Costello (he recorded it for the Nick Lowe produced, Armed Forces album), than Brinsley Schwarz. Lowe and Costello recently played a pair of shows where they both performed each others songs, of course they closed with Peace, Love and Understanding. This album is one of my favourites from the 70's that shouldn't be overlooked when you talk about the whole pub rock, new wave, punk movement of the 70's because without the Brinsley Schwarz band, the careers of Graham Parker and Elvis Costello may not have existed. Enjoy! BRINSLEY SCHWARZ The New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz (1974) 1. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? 2. Ever Since You're Gone 3. Ugly Things 4. I Got the Real Thing 5. Look That's in Your Eye Tonight 6. Now's the Time 7. Small Town, Big City 8. Trying to Live My Life Without You 9. I Like You, I Don't Love You 10. Down in the Dive 11. I've cried my last tear (bonus track) 12. (It's gonna be a) Bringdown (bonus track) 13. Everybody (bonus track) 14. There's a cloud in my heart (bonus track) BRINSLEY SCHWARZ- The New Favourites Of. rar