If you bailed out on the Nick Lowe catalog after his first flush of success as an irreverent mixer of punkish attitude and pub rock textures, you’ve been missing out. We’re not sure if we should call it Lowe’s second or third act. But all we know is that he’s found a late-career calling as a reviver of antiquated styles. Those include everything from rockabilly to classic country, from rhythm and blues to torch songs. All those disparate elements came together on Nick Lowe’s brilliant 1994 album The Impossible Bird.
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Pound for pound, it might just be his greatest artistic achievement. It might even top some of the headier albums from his younger days.
Mission Impossible
Nick Lowe realized sooner than many of his peers that he wasn’t going to keep churning out rock albums. He was heading past the age when that kind of aggression made sense to him. The guy who once told us, “I love the sound of breaking glass” insisted on maturing, even if the mischief inside him never quite abated.
Lowe largely sat out the second half of the 80s as a solo artist. His marriage to Carlene Carter ended at the end of the decade. Another attempt at forming a supergroup after Rockpile fizzled when Little Village, featuring Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner, released just a single album in 1992.
When Lowe did get back to his solo career in 1990 on Party Of One, he began to leave behind the more raucous music of his earlier years. But he still proved that he had a knack for shaking things up. That is evidenced by his savage takedown of Rick Astley on the song “All Men Are Liars”.
Perhaps Lowe was emboldened to continue on this foray into older roots music by the mailbox money that came pouring around that time. A cover of his classic “What’s So Funny (‘Bout Peace, Love And Understanding)” by Curtis Stigers was included on the 1992 soundtrack to The Bodyguard. That album sold ridiculously well and brought a big chunk of change into Lowe’s pocket.
The Impossible Bird features Nick Lowe playing with a small core of instrumentalists on a record that he co-produced with Neil Brockbank. No special guests, no frills. Just ten Lowe originals and three covers from the dusty past. And it’s pure magic.
Behind the Music of ‘The Impossible Bird‘
The most well-known song on the album is “The Beast In Me”. Lowe released this tune a few months after his ex-father-in-law Johnny Cash did his own take. Lowe manages to convey the darkness enveloping his character in aw-shucks fashion like only he can. “God help the beast in me,” he moans, to mesmerizing effect.
That’s as close as the album comes to stark autobiography. Though, bits of Lowe’s personality shine forward in the songs of tortured romance that pepper the album. “Shelley My Love” is tender and delicate, “Lover Don’t Go” and “Withered On The Vine” are hushed and vulnerable. “14 Days” is tart and biting: “In two weeks time / You will notice I’ve been gone / For fourteen days.”
Lowe does an amazing job finding cover songs that blend seamlessly into the fabric of the originals. He saves his most emotive singing on the record for a take on the Percy Sledge soul chestnut “True Love Travels On A Gravel Road”. He gives us a sturdy rockabilly edge to the Ray Price country hit “I’ll Be There”, too.
Through it all, Lowe’s vocals project ease and geniality, which makes some of the bluer moments on the album sneak up on you. The Impossible Bird would form the template for Nick Lowe’s subsequent pre-rock era expeditions. And it would also set the bar exceedingly high for former rabble-rousing rocker trying to go a little gentler into their autumn years.
Photo by Bobby Fisher
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