OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 109
CRUELTOBEKIND:
THELIFE& MUSIC
OFNICKLOWE
WillBirch
C O N S TA B LE , £ 2 0
8/10
THEWICHITA
LINEMAN
DylanJones
FABER,£10
7/10
T
RIPPINGrelentlesslyto
nullifythegrindofseemingly
endlesstourswithpub-
rockjourneymenBrinsley
Schwarz,bassistNickLowe
crumbledinthemid-1970sbeforefinally
seekingpsychologicalhelp.“Ididn’t
speakandI wascoveredinliceandI
hadgonorrhoea,”herememberswith
a shudder.“Iwasa horriblehippiecase
andmymindhadreallygone.I certainly
thoughtI wasnevergoingtobementally
wellagain,andasa matteroffact,I don’t
thinkI’lleverrecoverfromit.”
Havingsufferedforhisartinhisearly
twenties,it is perhapsnosurprisethat
Loweneverseemedtotakehiscareer
thatseriouslythereafter.Hisex-manager
JakeRivierareckonedhisclientwasthe
anti-JamesBrown– “theleasthard-
workingmaninshowbusiness”– butWill
Birch’sCruelToBeKindunderlinesthe
phenomenalamountofworkLowegot
throughatthebackendofthe1970s.He
producedTheDamned,ThePretenders,
DaveEdmunds,GrahamParkerandElvis
Costello;playedsoloandwithRockpile;
andhadtwoproperhitsingles:“ILove
TheSoundOfBreakingGlass”and“Cruel
ToBeKind”.
ThesonofanRAFofficer,Lowewas
quietlyexpelledfromboardingschool,
andbarelygotgoinginjournalismbefore
joiningpsychedelicalso-ransKippington
Lodge.Hisnextband,BrinsleySchwarz,
werebrieflyBritain’sover-hypedanswerto
Crosby,Stills,Nash& Youngbeforehitting
onthegood-naturedformulathatmade
themDrFeelgood’sonlyseriousrivalsfor
theattentionofZigZagreaderscirca1975.
Untaintedbyprogandusedtoroughing
it,Lowequietlyregeneratedfora post-
punkworld,wherehis“bashit downand
tartit uplater”productionstyleandirony-
heavysongsgavehima newcurrency.
“Iwanttoberich,ofcourse,andI want
togetthegirls,”hetoldNMEathispeak,
witha knowingwink.“I’mstillinit forall
the‘boilers’I canget.”
Fora while,hegotwhathewishedfor,
butinbetweenthetourhighjinksand
themessymarriagetoJohnnyCash’s
daughter,CarleneCarter,CruelToBeKind
showsthatLoweneverratedhiswork
untilmuchlater,whenhecutoutalcohol,
cocaineandpuns.BirchreckonsLowe’s
third-agealbumsarehisbest,andwhile
“Basher”mighthavestarvedhadCurtis
Stigers’versionof“(What’sSoFunny
’Bout)Peace,LoveAndUnderstanding”
notbeenincludedonthesoundtrackto
TheBodyguard,CruelToBeKindtakes
delightinLowe’spersonalredemption.A
littlefried,maybe,butnotentirelyburned.
UNDERpressuretodelivera follow-up
toGlenCampbell’s 1967 tearybehemoth
“ByTheTimeI GetToPhoenix”,
songwriterJimmyWebbspenttwohours
hammering together something about
theinnerthoughtsofa cablerepairman
hehadonceseenupa telegraphpole
inthefeaturelessflatnessofhisnative
Oklahoma.Withtimerunningout,he
sentthelarvalsongtoGlenCampbelland
hisproducerAlDeLory,promisinga third
andfinalverseif theylikedthefirsttwo.
A fewdayslater,asherecallsinThe
WichitaLineman, thecosmiccountry
boymetCampbellonthesetofa General
Motorscommercial,andreiteratedthat
thesongwasnotfinished.Campbell
fisheda studioacetateoutofhisholdall
andpresentedWebbwiththelavishly
recordedfinaleditwiththewords:“Well,
it is now.”
Thereis barelya rhinestoneoutofplace
onthatdefinitiveversionof“Wichita
Lineman”,butinhisfreewheeling
biographyofthesongthatwashis
karaoketurnofchoiceinhisGrouchoClub
years, style-mag guru Jones maintains
thatitsunderlyingincompletenessmay
bepartofwhatmakesit special.As
ex-WordeditorMarkEllenputsit:“It’s
unfinishedandit doesn’texplainitself.
Youhavenorealideawhatit’sabout.”
Webbhelpfullyelucidates,explaining
that“WichitaLineman”wasanother
strangulatedlovelettertohison-off
girlfriendSusanHorton,andalsoa
recognitionthatgrandpassionscanswell
inthemosthumdrumsurroundings.
HetellsJones:“Youcanseesomeone
workinginconstructionorworkingina
field,a migrantworkerora truckdriver,
andyoumaythinkyouknowwhat’sgoing
oninsidehim,butyoudon’t.Youcan’t
assumethatmanisn’ta poet.”
IfWebbhadpretensionstohighart,the
samewasnevertrueofCampbell.Raised
dirtpoorinArkansas(“Wewerejustone
stepabovetheanimals,”hejoked),he
toughedit outasa sessionguitaristand
stand-inBeachBoybeforebecoming
a daytimeradiocolossus.LAhippies
mighthavesneeredattheinauthenticity
ofhisless-is-MORdelivery,butJones
showshowit subtlyhighlightsthedrama
singingthroughthewires.
However,forallofJones’closereading,
hisbookdoesnotquitepindown
“WichitaLineman”.PaulWelleroffersa
shrugoftheshoulderwhenheconsiders
itsmajesty:“Ijustthinkit’sa greatsong.”
Foralltheextradetailhere,perhapsthat’s
ultimately all there is to know. JIM WIRTH
Lowequietly
regenerated
fora post-
punk world
REVIEWED
THIS MONTH
IAN DICKSON/REDFERNS
Binthere:Nick
LoweoutsideStiff’s
office, London, W2
