Entertainment For Lively Minds
A Pile Of Rock
Posted by stimpy on 13 April 2010 - 4:34pm.
Just been talking to a mutual friend about Dave Edmunds and it got me remembering what a cracking live act Rockpile were.
One of the great British guitar players (and a damn fine chap to boot)
- More from stimpy.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Top of my list
Rockpile are always top of my list of bands I'd like to see reform. I only saw them four or five times but they were blistering each time.
Sadly, I doubt that's on the
Sadly, I doubt that's on the cards. I'd love to see that band: great songs; great playing; great singing.
Tuuuune....
Hammersmith Palais
I remember seeing Rockpile at the Palais circa 1979 / 80 on a Sunday lunchtime. I believe Elvis Costello was also on the bill and I remember Steve Nieve playing piano in the Foyer as we were queuing to get in.
Great memories.
Sunshine
I don't think there was any support at all for that gig, it was a quick in and out with SN in the foyer among the potted plants. My main memory of the gig was at the end. Coming out of the Palais into bright sunshine was very odd indeed.
Superb band
a cracking set of songs to choose from, three singers, recorded two albums at a time. Only fell apart when they actually recorded as Rockpile - a pity really. Remember being seriously hacked off when they didn't show at the Loch Lomond festival in 79 (?) due to Edmunds injuring his hand. Stood next to him once in our SU bar, too shy to speak to him (I was a complete obsessive fan back then) . Would love to see the documentary - Born Fighters - again, is it out on the net anywhere?
Sure is...
Torrent at http://thebox.bz/details.php?id=37494
"Without beating about the bush,this is the tale of how Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe spent a wet week at Rockpile [Edmunds recording studio} in 1979 helping each other record there respective albums ''crawling from the wreckage'' and ''Labour Of Lust''."
Thanks -
I am too inept to do torrents,but I know a man who does!
Or indeed, after a bit of light googling the answer as usual is Youtube..
Let me know if you have no luck
and I'll see if I can get you a DVD of it :-)
A most generous offer!
However I've now watched most of it on the 'tube and feel somewhat sated for a while! Thanks again though!
Best Of CD
Is there one for Rockpile ?
Better still is there one for Rockpile, Dave Edmunds, and Nick Lowe on one disc ?
Only One I'm Aware Of
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seconds-Pleasure-Rockpile/dp/B0001Z3U56/ref=sr_1...
Seconds Of Pleasure LP (plus)
Not that I know of....
... someone else may know better. There are some live boots out on the net that are pretty representative of their live magnificence.
Actual albums that feature the four piece are the aforementioned Repeat When Necessary (Edmunds) and Labour of Lust (Lowe) both of which are cracking, but various members of the band also appear on Get It & Tracks on Wax 4 (Edmunds) and Jesus of Cool (Lowe). Then there was their Band album, Seconds Of Pleasure, which never quite cut the mustard for me - worth a listen though.
Oh, and they did a really good album backing (Godess) Carlene Carter, the then Mrs Lowe
Again, a pity they split, I still don't really know why - anybody have the lowdown?
As I heard it...
It stopped being fun. They started to get popular, especially in the US and record company/agents expectations started to weight heavily on them.
Blame the management.
At the risk of incurring rath at mentioning the opposition, there's a vintage Dave Edmunds interview in this month's Uncut that goes a long way to explaining the split. I understood that they had "kissed and made up" though - NLs Party Of One was produced by Edmunds.
There have been Dave Edmunds best ofs, and several Nick Lowe ones. The Nick Lowe albums were always on a label with very close ties to Jake Riviera, the Dave Edmunds albums weren't which would cause problems in putting together a compilation. I believe it was the opposing contractual obligations that meant it took so long before they could put out a release as Rockpile.
Billy Bremner doesn't appear on Get It at all so although it's close, it's not really a Rockpile recording.