Brinsley Schwarz were a 1970s English pub rock band, named after their guitarist Brinsley Schwarz. With Nick Lowe on bass and vocals, keyboardist Bob Andrews and drummer Billy Rankin, the band evolved from the 1960s pop band Kippington Lodge. They were later augmented by Ian Gomm on guitar and vocals.
Formation
Brinsley Schwarz (guitar, piano, vocals) originally met Nick Lowe at Woodbridge School where they played in school bands with Barry Landeman (keyboards, vocals) and Phil Hall (guitar). In 1964, whilst still at school, they toured RAF bases in Germany as "Sounds 4+1". On leaving school, Schwarz formed "Three's A Crowd" with Pete Whale (drums) and Dave Cottam (bass). Landeman joined in 1967 and they renamed themselves "Kippington Lodge". Their first two singles, produced by Mark Wirtz, in a close-harmony pop style, both flopped. Landeman then left to join Vanity Fare, Bob Andrews joined on keyboards, and finally, Whale was replaced by Billy Rankin on drums. The band's style was changing from pop into "a folk-rock band with psychedelic pretentions". In 1969 they renamed the band after their guitarist, and performed their new music under this name, whilst continuing to play pop as Kippington Lodge.
Publicity campaign
Brinsley Schwarz signed a contract with manager Dave Robinson, of Famepushers, who devised a plan to earn the band extensive publicity. They were to open for Van Morrison and Quicksilver Messenger Service at the Fillmore East in New York City, on 3 and 4 April 1970. Robinson would fly a plane full of British journalists to the show, so they could review it, Also on the plane's passenger list were a number of invited "scenemakers", most notably Johnny Byrne and Jenny Fabian (co-authors of Groupie), Sam Hutt (aka Hank Wangford), the millionairess Olga Deterding (who was suspected at the time of funding the whole enterprise) and Jonathan Routh of Candid Camera fame.
Though the band had planned on leaving a few days early so they could rehearse, visa problems prevented this, so they went to Canada and entered the US in a light aircraft. They arrived in New York shortly before they were due on stage, and had to use hired equipment with which they were unfamiliar. The journalists were due the following day, but their plane was delayed for four hours, so they had free use of the bar, and eventually arrived at the show either drunk or hung over (Jonathan Routh got so intoxicated during the journey that, in the words of Dave Robinson, he "threw up, projectile vomiting all over the plane"). The show did not go over well, and the band received a flood of negative reviews over the following weeks, including bad reviews of their first album, Brinsley Schwarz, which was released shortly after their return to the United Kingdom. They sounded rather like The Band, Another rendition was featured on the multi-million-selling film soundtrack The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album, performed by Curtis Stigers. Bill Murray's character sang the song at a party in Sofia Coppola's film Lost in Translation.
Discography
Studio albums
- Brinsley Schwarz (April 1970)
- Despite It All (December 1970)
- Silver Pistol (February 1972)
- Nervous on the Road (September 1972)
- Please Don't Ever Change (October 1973)
- The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz (July 1974)