Brinsley Schwarz - Nervous On The Road - 1972

As the undisputed kings of the British pub rock movement, Brinsley Schwarz rank among the most influencial bands to emerge from the UK during the early 1970's.

Named after lead guitarist Brinsley Schwarz, but lead largely under the direction of bassist/songwriter Nick Lowe, the Brinsleys were a back to basics R&B outfit keen on reminding the world of just how thrilling straight forward rock and roll could be. A novel concept at the time, the band acted as Britain's alternative to the prog and glam rock that ruled FM radio during the early 70's.

Opening with "It's Been So Long", a thrilling Buddy Holly-esque power pop gem penned by guitarist Ian Gomm, Nervous On The Road takes all of two minutes and seven seconds to provide it's thesis statement. This is an album of purity, built on a foundation of smart songwriting, stellar musicianship, and the laid back deliverance that would come to define the pub rock movement.

As the author of seven of the album's ten tracks, Nervous On The Road marked a creative breakthrough for Nick Lowe, who's songwriting talents prove to be staggeringly strong throughout. A versatile musician with an uncanny knack for whimsical lyricism, Lowe provides the album with drunken pub sing-a-longs ("Happy Doing What We're Doing"), gorgeous ballads ("Brand New You, Brand New Me"), and a handful of rock n' roll barn burners (namely the title track and the masterful "Surrender To The Rhythm", which may be rock's great lost anthem ).

What's perhaps most remarkable about Brinsley Schwarz, is their purely American musical approach. Whether it be the the Chuck Berry influenced title track, the doo-wop inflections on the heartbreaking album closer "Why, Why, Why", or a joyous romp through Allan Toussaint's "I Like It Like That", the Brinsley's attack both original material and covers with an energy that often matches that of their American influences. A startling achievement for a band that only two years earlier had been written of by the American press as merely an over-hyped CSNY copy act.

The album's centerpiece lies in one of Nick Lowe's all time greatest ballads, "Don't Lose Your Grip On Love". Boasting a soulful and direct vocal delivery, with a piano line lifted from "The Weight" (a tip of the hat to their Canadian heroes in The Band), the performance has an ethereal quality that is at once fragile and warm. Years later, Lowe would record a series of albums written largely in this style during his artistic revival of the mid-nineties. By that time, however, the songs would be sung with the wisdom of an aging troubadour, a far cry from the innocence of a 23 year old pub rocker.

Brinsley Schwarz would become synonymous with the term "pub rock", a genre that is often credited for pioneering the back-to-basics approach that would achieve universal recognition through the punk rock explosion of the late seventies. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything on Nervous On The Road that could fit on an album by the Clash, The Sex Pistols, or even the Nick Lowe-produced Damned, but then again, punk was an attitude long before it became a sound, making the Brinsleys punk rockers in the truest sense of the term.

Note On Availability: Nervous On The Road was released in the UK on United Artists, and on the Liberty imprint in the US. There are likely far more UK copies in circulation than there are American pressings, as The Brinsley's were a much loved cult act in the UK and barely known by US audiences until long after their demise. The album is available on CD through the small Beat Goes On label, as a two-on-one CD with the Brinsley's swan song "New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz" (featuring the original-and-best version of "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding.) Good luck hunting!