Guys. Guys! In what has been the best four-day stretch since someone asked what bands Martin Belmont was in, I have had not one but TWO conversations about Brinsley Schwarz. Earlier this afternoon, I got an email that ASKED QUESTIONS about 1) Pub Rock and 2) Mister Schwarz & Company so before I responded, I briefly made out with my computer screen.
Anyway, in case any of you are curious (Ed: No one is curious. NO. ONE.) here’s something I wrote a few months ago about 1) and 2).
Yes, I do enjoy living alone, thank you for asking.
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Nestled neatly between the overindulgences of prog rock and the three chords of punk is an often overlooked genre known dismissively as Pub Rock. It’s not just a clever name…the handful of bands who were stamped with this label spent the early seventies doing endless one-nighters at bars in and around London, playing stripped down sincere songs that were equally indebted to The Band as they were to Bass Ale.
The movement first took the stage with the unfortunately named Eggs Over Easy, an American band who were in London to record an album but instead ended up on the nightly menu at the Tally Ho pub. The genre may have started with the Eggs but it was perfected and popularized by Brinsley Schwarz, a group of long-haired, earnest Englishmen led by namesake guitarist, um, Brinsley Schwarz and future Jesus of Cool Nick Lowe.
The chance to play a small stage was just the under-the-radar opportunity Brinsley Schwarz was looking for following one of the most well-publicized flameouts in rock history. Before they’d even released an album, Dave Robinson—their opportunistic manager—scored them a spot at the Fillmore East opening for Van Morrison and Quicksilver Messenger Service. In the hopes of scoring stellar reviews with the British press, he stacked a set of charter flights with reporters from every publication imaginable, all whom were—he thought—about to have their minds blown by the Brinsleys but in reality were more psyched about a comped ticket to New York City.
Unfortunately (or predictably, depending on your personal threshold for cynicism) the transatlantic trip had more mishaps and drug consumption than the Harold & Kumar franchise. When the band took the stage less than three hours after touching American soil, the assembled critics were less than impressed and the boys tucked their tails between their denim-clad legs and returned to England, determined to outlive what became known as The Brinsley Schwarz Hype.
When they got back to old Blighty, the Brinsleys spun in the opposite direction, turning down their amps and giving acoustic, country-tinged performances inspired by Crosby Stills and Nash. They took to the pubs—and the pubs took to them—as they stacked the Tally Ho and the Hope & Anchor with enthusiastic audiences who’d buy them pints after sets stacked equally with original Nick Lowe compositions and covers of songs by Clover and the Grateful Dead.
They released six albums before splitting up in ‘75 and while the tracks change genres more often than the band changed their flares, the most notable element is Nick Lowe’s songwriting. Even in his earliest twenties, he was already sharpening his wit into the spikes that would punctuate his solo debut three years later.
The deft style-swapping (especially from album to album) both defined and doomed Brinsley Schwarz during their short lifespan yet—ironically—Nick Lowe has done the same thing as a solo artist, earning stacks of praise for his versatility.
Pub rock is one of the shortest chapters in music history but the music that came out of those London bars is worth seeking out and, in the case of Brinsley Schwarz, it’s often worth every last bit of the Hype.
