Brinsley Schwarz

Pub rock, England's early '70s roots rock scene, owed its cult status in large part to Brinsley Schwarz. At the start the group produced rambling, neo-psychedelic folk-rock modeled closely on Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Grateful Dead. After a failed publicity stunt meant to launch their first album, the musicians withdrew to a house outside London and fashioned a relaxed, roots-oriented style modeled on Eggs Over Easy, the American band that mixed originals with covers inside British pubs. Once they embraced pub rock, the Brinsleys shed every trace of star ambitions and settled into the role of an unassuming, self-deprecating rock & roll unit. Between 1971 and 1974 they crisscrossed England countless times, appearing in pubs from one end of the country to the other. In the process they opened a regular circuit that later acts such as Dr. Feelgood and Ducks Deluxe would use. Although the band took its name from guitarist Brinsley Schwarz, bassist and lead vocalist Nick Lowe supplied the majority of the songs. He shaped a distinctive songwriting style that was conversational, melodic, quirky, and humorous, and that same off-kilter wit colored the entire group. Despite favorable notices and a devoted following, the Brinsleys remained a cult act, yet they shaped a generation of musicians and helped create the underground, back-to-basics movement that prepared the ground for punk rock.

Brinsley Schwarz had no intention of launching a grassroots movement; the members simply wanted to become stars. Lowe and Schwarz had already logged several years in Kippington Lodge, a Tunbridge Wells guitar-pop band that issued five Parlophone singles in the mid-'60s without success. By 1968 the musicians felt ready to move beyond straightforward pop and began exploring psychedelia. Keyboardist Bob Andrews joined late that year, and drummer Billy Rankin arrived in the fall of 1969. At that point Kippington Lodge had fully altered its approach, turning into a folk-rock outfit with psychedelic leanings, and the group renamed itself Brinsley Schwarz after its lead guitarist. Around the same time Lowe assumed the role of lead singer and chief songwriter.

Within months Brinsley Schwarz attracted the notice of fledgling manager Dave Robinson, founder of the Famepushers Agency. Robinson devised an elaborate plan to thrust the band into the spotlight: the Brinsleys would open for Van Morrison at the Fillmore East in New York in spring 1970, and Robinson would fly leading rock journalists across the Atlantic to cover the performance. Late in 1969 the group signed with United Artists and used its advance to underwrite the scheme. The musicians intended to arrive several days early for rehearsal, yet visa complications prevented departure until the morning of the show itself. They reached New York only hours before the concert. The journalists' flight, meanwhile, suffered a mechanical delay of four hours; by the time they reached the Fillmore eighteen hours later, most were drunk or suffering from hangovers. Brinsley Schwarz delivered a competent but uninspiring set that drew a barrage of negative reviews, which also greeted the self-titled debut album issued weeks afterward.

Stung by the Fillmore debacle, the band rented a house outside London and spent days and nights rehearsing. By the close of 1970 they issued a second album, Despite It All, already pointing toward country-rock; guitarist and vocalist Ian Gomm joined during the final sessions. Throughout most of 1971 the group continued to rehearse, shaping a hybrid of country, folk, R&B, and rock & roll influenced by the Byrds, Van Morrison, the Band, and Eggs Over Easy, whom they encountered at the Tally Ho pub in Kentish Town. Silver Pistol, released early in 1972, revealed greater range, but the band truly came into its own onstage, especially during repeated appearances at the Tally Ho. Before long a small, loyal audience had formed, and other like-minded groups began playing the same venues. The U.K. press eventually took note, labeling the emerging style "pub rock" and naming Brinsley Schwarz its leading exponent.

Nervous on the Road, issued in fall 1972, earned the strongest reviews the band had yet received; although it failed to chart, the album helped secure an opening slot on a Paul McCartney tour. Throughout 1973 the Brinsleys maintained a relentless schedule of pub and college dates. The constant touring limited studio time and further weakened their commercial prospects. Hoping for a breakthrough single, the group released several non-album tracks, none of which charted; those sides later appeared on the 1973 compilation Please Don't Ever Change. Early the next year the band recorded its fifth album with producer Dave Edmunds. New Favourites of Brinsley Schwarz arrived in summer 1974, more polished than its predecessors, yet it sold poorly. The musicians lingered for another year, issuing a few singles under alternate names, before disbanding in spring 1975. Afterward Schwarz and Andrews joined Graham Parker's backing group the Rumour. Gomm launched a solo career. Rankin played with Terraplane and Big Jim Sullivan's Tiger before leaving music. Lowe went on to success as a solo artist and producer, scoring his biggest hit in 1980 with "Cruel to Be Kind," a Brinsley leftover the band itself never released.

The first substantial overview of the catalog appeared in 1991 when EMI issued the compilation Surrender to the Rhythm. Edsel followed in 1998 with Hen's Teeth, a set that combined early Kippington Lodge recordings with non-album singles. The unreleased final album It's All Over Now surfaced in 2017 and later appeared in the seven-disc box Thinking Back: The Anthology 1970-1975, released by Cherry Red in 2023.