Friday, April 01, 2016

It's Brinsley Schwarz Week: Special The Post Without a Sub-Title Edition

From 1970, and their eponymous debut album, please enjoy the original four-man lineup of Brinsley Schwarz and Nick Lowe's uncharacteristically non-ironic "Mayfly."




This, of courses, verges on the dreaded prog-rock territory (specifically early Yes) but what saves it is the fact that the song itself is quite pretty (in a folkish sort of way) and, more important, the characteristically lyrical organ playing of Bob Andrews; if you ever saw the band I toiled in on keyboards after the demise of the Floor Models, you may notice that I pretty much stole everything I ever played from Andrews' work on this one song. Just gorgeous.

In any case, enjoy -- and have a great weekend, everybody.

6 comments:

steve simels said...

Testing! Testing!

Is this thing on?
:-)

Anonymous said...

It is indeed on. Nice track - I'm assuming it's Nick Lowe who is doing the lead vocal. Who is the guitar player on this song ? I like the lines he's playing.

J. Lag

P.S. Now that we've had a Brinsley Schwarz week, how about posting some Starry Eyed & Laughing ?

Anonymous said...

Really liked side one of this LP at the time. But it was a different era. Scored a promo copy in the bargain bins at Aron's. It got quite a bit of airplay on KMET on BMR's show back then. It must have been released in the USA in the Fall of 1970 because I scored the third Soft Machine LP and Atom Heart Mother on the same trip. And they were both pretty new.

Made that "record run" with a guy named Dave who had a chicken ranch. He was in his mid-twenties and had a bitchen '57 Chevy. It was all souped up and totally puss. We'd hang out at my parents' place and probe each other's minds with our bodies. Lord knows, I seldom went to his place. It reeked of chicken shit. Not too sexy.

But Dave was a good guy. We did a lot of concerts together and turned each other on to things encompassing all aspects of life. We'd run eggs to Long Beach in his camper-shelled Chevy pick-up and go to the boat drags afterward. His mom hated me - but she was a fuckin' bitch. My mom loved him. She always checked out my boyfriends. She gave them that southern glance.

My mom had me when she was eighteen. Dave was ten years older than me, which put him, like most of my other boyfriends, closer to my mom's age than mine. And she was hot. She liked tempting them. I was cool with it. It was just a game to see if she could get a rise out of them. We'd laugh about it later at tennis lessons. But enough of this memory lane shit.

Anyway, "The Mayfly" is OK and exhibits good musicianship. But side two of this album just doesn't measure up to the first. The ten-minute "opus" at the end sucks chuck.

VR - Saw Elvis Costello earlier in Santa Hanna-Barbera with those long-legged Larkin Poe girls. I love the Arlington Theatre! And the disco version of Nights In White Satin with Jimmy Vivino was one of the more surprising numbers during the many, many encores. XLNT, Winslow! Just got home and am gonna take a baptismal swim before the Divine Rites.

Anonymous said...

I can see your spreading the love for Bob Andrews on this track but Nick Lowe was still not writing killer melodies that hooked you on a consistent basis this early in his writing career.

Also this recording is sort of lifeless.

More BS next week?

Capt. Al

buzzbabyjesus said...

"I was born by the river, left my home by the age of ten"

I like that one, whatever it's called.

Anonymous said...

BBJ: Hymn To Me - the lead-off track on Side One of the debut. Probably got the most local airplay. Gotta go bail my daughter out. She got in trouble after the GNR show at the Troub last night. Nothin' serious, just more gov't over-reach.

VR