I must admit to approaching this assignment with some trepidation, it feeling just a touch disloyal to be dissing even one album by a favourite artist, especially having decided I’d pick my all-time favourite, Nick Lowe. To be fair, Lowe’s solo output has spanned some 16 releases, from “Jesus of Cool” (1978) to his most recent release, “Indoor Safari” (2024), and inevitably, some have more tracks which I’m quicker to return to.
Can’t Live With It: “Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For All the Family” (2013)
The one Lowe album which has sat unloved and unplayed is his 2013 release “Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For All the Family”, not least because I’ve never been a fan of Christmas songs, let alone Christmas albums. However, I find to my surprise that on re-listening there is much more to appreciate than I remembered—not least because the song selection, a few originals plus well chosen covers from the more obscure back catalogues of mostly less well known artists reflects Lowe’s encyclopaedic musical knowledge, which has informed his considerable personal output, as well as his successful work as a producer for many artists over the years.
In interviews recorded back when the album was released in 2013, Lowe explained that the idea came from his record label, Yeproc, and that his initial reaction was not favourable—even hurt—that they could think that he was the sort of artist who would record a Christmas album.
However, after some thought, Lowe agreed, having settled on the concept of making his own mark on some of the more obscure corners of the Christmas song oeuvre, together with a few originals. Lowe wrote “two and a half” songs himself, the half being his co-write with Ry Cooder, long-time collaborator notably on the ‘Little Village’ project, with John Hiatt and Jim Keltner.
Cooder was also reportedly surprised to hear of the Christmas project, but a few days later he sent Lowe the lyric which became ‘A Dollar Short of Happy’, with an arrangement by Lowe, which sounds as if it could have been a long lost classic from the 1930’s, referencing lyrically and melodically ‘Merry Christmas to You’, “it’s been said many times many ways”, it’s also a song for our times, with “no more private schools, no more exercise machines”.
‘Children Go Where I Send Thee’, a traditional spiritual known by Lowe in the version by the Kingston Trio, is given a skiffle feel, while ‘Rise Up, Shepherd’ is a traditional folk song discovered by Lowe as a home recording by Pete Seeger’s grandchildren. Solo write ‘Christmas at the Airport’ is classic Lowe, with an arrangement that anticipates his later—and continuing—partnership with Yeproc bandmates Los Straitjackets; ‘Hooves on the Roof’ is a Ron Sexsmith original—a long-standing friend, Sexsmith was in London, and caught up with Lowe in the studio. Sexsmith enjoyed what he heard and, unbidden, wrote a song for Lowe, which turned out to be perfect for the album.
So, the inspiration for this piece turns out to be a case of “not his best work, but plenty to enjoy”.
Can’t Live Without It: “The Impossible Bird” (1994)
And so to the ‘Can’t live without..’ half of the equation, and it’s hard to resist the first of what became known as the ‘Brentford Trilogy’, “The Impossible Bird”, released in 1994, which was the start of Lowe’s “third age” as a writer and performer, now stretching into its fourth decade. Full of gems, it features many of his ‘A’ list musical collaborators, notably Bill Kirchen, whose Telecaster twang rings loud on opening track ‘Soulful Wind’, and Geraint Watkins, who provides always tasteful keys throughout, including Lowe’s delightful reworking of ‘True Love Travels on a Gravel Road’, best known in versions by Elvis Presley and Percy Sledge, one of three well chosen covers.
‘The Beast in Me’ must feature on most “best songs written by Nick Lowe” lists, written by him with then father-in-law Johnny Cash in mind, and indeed subsequently recorded by Cash on his “American Recordings IV” album, its release preceding Lowe’s own version by some eight months in April 1994. A simple guitar-and-vocal track, its stripped-back feel is perfect for the dark yet embracing nature of his lyrics, and it’s easy to see how his version made its way to the closing credits of the pilot episode of The Sopranos.
‘Shelley My Love’ is another original which feels like it could have come from an earlier era, with a subtle arrangement which lets its tender message shine through; the song was subsequently covered by Rod Stewart. The other eight originals on the album include ‘I Live on the Battlefield’, a co-write with Paul Carrack, subsequently recorded by Diana Ross, and and the beautifully sensitive ballad ‘Lover Don’t Go’, while’ 12-Step Program (To Quit You Babe)’ is a classic Lowe rocker, with a nod to rockabilly.
An album which will always get its deserved play through in full, no cherry-picking required.
