The author knows his subject well and it shows in a good way. This is a warm well written account of the life and works of Mr. Lowe.

CRUEL TO BE KIND: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF NICK LOWE is a biography by author Will Birch of the singer, songwriter, bassist and guitarist Nick Lowe.

Lowe is an important but often underrated and under appreciated figure in rock and pop history that begins with his time spent in Brinsley Shwarz, a band that never really found the success it deserved but helped form the pub rock scene in Britain in the 60’s, and like other bands and musicians were greatly influenced by The Band and the “Music from Big Pink” album as well as CSN&Y among others that played a style of music that today is known as Americana.

Brinsley Shwarz (the band) is unfortunately most often associated with the legendary event known as “The Hype” that refers to a failed attempt to introduce the British band to the U.S. via a planned concert at The Fillmore in NYC after convincing Bill Graham to add them to a bill that was heavily promoted using a very costly approach including paying all expenses for several press members to attend, only to have the band fall flat and receive poor reviews in spite of their efforts to find fame.

Lowe eventually left the band in the mid 70’s after finding his songwriting would work better with other musicians due to stylistic differences with the current lineup.

Dave Edmunds, the well respected and somewhat reclusive guitarist from Wales was an acquaintance that Lowe made with Brinsley Swarz as a result of his production of a later album by the band, and eventually and unofficially the two formed the band known as Rockpile, also the name of a respected album by Edmunds recorded at the studio he was resident engineer at and where he perfected his unique recording techniques that created a lo-fi sound befitting his rockabilly and country influenced music.

Several solo albums by both Lowe and Edmunds included the band, and the band was well received for their high energy live performances, although due to the inflexible management of Edmunds the band were unable to record a studio album under the bands name.

Eventually the band was able to record an album as a group, but alas the timing was wrong and the group was heading for a split due to Lowe citing musical differences as a reason for his exit, which came as a complete surprise to Edmunds who had felt the band was doing well at the time.

Lowe himself found greater success as a producer, and was highly in demand as someone gifted at knowing how to use different approaches to extract the best performances out of a wide range of musicians from different genres, and his ear for what would be successful was well respected over a long span of time.

Several periods thereafter are covered in this book that are described using Lowe’s own thoughts of the bands, music, and his personal life at the times covered that included a lot of difficult times for the musician as an artist, even when his popularity grew with his well publicized marriage to Carlene Carter, who was well known as the daughter of June Carter and stepdaughter of the “Man in Black” himself, Johnny Cash.

Something that was interesting about the information shared in this account of Nick Lowe is that he at times could be extremely confident (sometimes overly confident), yet other times failed to push forward in terms of putting his foot forward to achieve greater success; such as described in his reluctance to provide songs for Johnny Cash who made it clear he wanted Nick to do so.

Great history of the musician’s life and career are captured by the author, and admittedly I set this aside early on as his family history while important didn’t hold my attention until the story picked up with Nick’s early musical career going forward.

Highly recommended to fans of those familiar with the musical career, personal life, and interesting personality of Nick Lowe, and I only wish the Rockpile years could have been covered more in-depth, yet in such a long career it’s understandably abbreviated here in a book that covers so many phases in the life and career of Nick Lowe.

5 stars.

Nick Lowe is an unsung hero of rock and he finally gets the tribute he deserves, warts and all. It reminds me of the Alex Chilton book, A Man Called Destruction by Holly George-Warren that came out a few years back. I learned so much and it made me pull out Labour of Lust for the first time in ages. Great read!

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Everything you wanted to know about Nick Lowe and then some. Colorful stories from one of the greatest musicians of the Brit Pub Rock scene. In depth without dragging on, a must read for any music fan.

5 out of 5 stars.

As a life-long Lowe fan -- allllll the way back to the Brinsley Schwarz days -- I was all in on 'Cruel To Be Kind.' Mayhaps the book is *too* much of a deep dive at 416 pages, but it's loaded with rich anecdotes and making-the-musical-sausage insight and lotsa perspective and ruminations from the artist [it's an unauthorized bio but Nick was also all in]. Highly recommended for fellow lifelong Lowe fans. Fun fact: Will Birch was a member of the Records, and co-writer of the power pop classic "Starry Eyes." He's a card-carrying Now Person!

I am a huge Nick Lowe fan, following his career since his Kippington Lodge days. Will Birch (I'm also a fan of his band The Records) does a remarkable job of presenting both the personal and professional aspects of Nick Lowe's life. As a musician and songwriter himself, Will Birch does a fantastic job of analyzing Nick Lowe's songwriting, singing, bass playing as well as measuring his overall contribution to popular music through his production skills. This is a must read for fans of Nick Lowe, Rockpile or the 1970's pub rock scene in England.

Cruel To Be Kind: The Life and Music of Nick Lowe
by Will Birch
due 8-20-2019
DeCapo Books/Hachette
#netgalley. #CruelToBeKind

BIG KICK, PLAIN SCRAP.
From his childhood, spent with his his dad Drain, in the RAF, living in Surrey to the group Los Straitjackets, Will Birch shares the like of Nick Lowe. The man who wrote "( What's So Funny About) Peace Love and Understanding", "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass", "Half A Boy and Half A Man" and, of course, "Cruel To Be Kind". I've admired his songwriting and think some of his work is truly brilliant. He is one of the best pop songwriters today.
Will writes of Nick's beginnings in Kipperton Lodge, and especially focuses on his days with Brinsley Schwarz. Its influence on Nick's future is evident.
Collaborating with Dave Edmund's and Elvis Costello, both extensively. The Bay City Rollers Tribute Album. Stiff Records. Rockpile and Los Straitjackets ( his most recent group with all members but Nick wearing Mexican Wrestling Outfits, with masks). He shares Nick's past addiction problems with LSD, alcohol and cocaine until he began dating Tracey MacLeod who helped him regain his self respect and responsibility. His marriage to Carlene Carter, and later to Peta Waddington. It's all here. I loved the rich detail without it becoming tedious. It thought it fresh and fun to read and you will come away with a good idea of who this brilliant artist is.
It includes an Appendix of his Real family history, and an extensive Bibliography and Discography. Recommended for Nick fans and fans of music, for sure.
Thanks to DeCapo and netgalley for sending e-book ARC for review.

This was an interesting read. I would have liked more details into his life once he got "famous" with his song. There were too many details, at times, that did not really advance the story very much and served to bog it down more than anything.

Okay read.

I have been a fan of Nick Lowe's for pretty much forever. I remember haunting my record store, waiting for the release of PURE POP FOR NOW PEOPLE after hearing the local radio station playing some of the singles that had come from England. The pure excitement and brilliant sensibilities were a breath of fresh air and Lowe continued to produce his small masterpieces through the next five or six albums.
Will Birch seems to have had extraordinary access to Lowe and, to Lowe's credit, he does not hold back on confessing his flaws and rock and roll excesses. Rarely are subjects of biographies this honest about themselves. To his credit, his accounts of his various stumbles does not lapse into self pity or star-time arrogance.
The book begins with a history of Lowe's family and a good chunk of Middle Eastern politics to explain Lowe growing up in Jordan. While there is some interesting information here, most of it is a bit trivial -- the meat of the book begins at the third chapter.
Once we start hitting the beginnings of Lowe's musical career the book starts to pick up steam. Lowe's early years with various bands ultimately leads up to his time in Brinsley Schwartz, one of the more interesting sections of the book. Birch digs deep into a fascinating episode that has become almost legendary -- the first failed appearance in America by the band and the backfire from having overly hyping themselves. The band and their manager performed an almost perfect series of maneuvers that guaranteed they would return to England humiliated and broken.
The next part of the book brings us to his most productive and creative years as a recording artist. Most of the key figures in the upcoming British rock and pop scene make appearances as Lowe bounces like a pinball between assignments producing and recording. This is one part of the book where I would have wished for more interviews with the people Lowe was working with. Elvis Costello does make several appearances but with the story relies too much on Lowe's accounts of the work and Birch skimming past areas that deserved a deeper dive.
Roughly half the book covers the post-"Bodyguard" era, when Lowe was lucky enough to score a track on the biggest selling soundtrack of all time. Lowe went into a relaxed decline in part due to his being suddenly very financially secure. Unfortunately, the work created in this time is less interesting and less well known to anyone other than devoted Nick Lowe fans. Birch does is best to make this time interesting, but there is not enough going on to justify the amount of pages devoted to this career decline.
I do recommend this book if you are a big fan of Lowe's or are interested in the British Pub Rock scene. There are great anecdotes scattered throughout, especially when Lowe starts spending time with Johnny Cash after his marriage to Carlene Carter, Cash's stepdaughter. Lowe's life and career follows the standard rock and roll arc, which ultimately means we should be happy he is still alive to share these memories with us.