FT5: Pub Rock

While it’s true that most early Pub rock was just a bunch of British dudes ripping off The Band, at it’s core it was a roots rock movement reacting to the wankering of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer and other over-the-top progressive rock acts of the early 70’s. You can just imagine a working class kid in England seeing this on the telly. More of a circuit of pubs and music halls than an exact musical genre, Pub rock created an outlet for stripped down roots rock that would eventually pave the way for punk rock in England. Ranging from bluesy country to basic rhythm and blues, if there was one aesthetic that was common to all of the Pub rock scene it was a no frills return to basics. So grab a pint, start calling your friends your mates and your pants your trousers, and check out the Pub rock top five.

5. Eggs Over Easy

Leave it to a bunch of Yankee’s to kick off a distinctively British musical movement. While producing their debut album in England, American band Eggs Over Easy began to see their record deal disintegrate during the recording process. As the making of the album stalled and the money dwindled, the band began to gig around. They eventually secured a weekly Monday night spot at the Tally Ho pub in London’s Kentish Town neighborhood and quickly began playing gigs in pubs all around London in 1972. Though they only recorded one album, their popularity launched the entire movement.

Key album: Good N’ Cheap

[audio:http://cdn2.libsyn.com/radiofreeokc/01_Party_Party.mp3?nvb=20090206153703&nva=20090207154703&t=06aa3b97b9f7cd74e079e]

4. Eddie & the Hot Rods

By ’76 pub rock had grown out of it’s country/blues beginnings and taken on a faster and harder sound, paving the way for punk in England. You can hear the Detroit influences; the same bands these guys dug fueled the American punk rock scene. With songs about being pissed off at your parents, doing drugs and being hassled by the man, Eddie & the Hot Rods were the missing link between Pub rock and punk.

Key album: Teenage Depression

[audio:http://cdn4.libsyn.com/radiofreeokc/07_Teenage_Depression.mp3?nvb=20090206153854&nva=20090207154854&t=0eb1818382035a46466b5]

3. Dr. Feelgood

In the same vien as Eddie and the Hot Rods, Dr. Feelgood played straight up fast and furious bluesy rock. Not exactly re-inventing the wheel, Dr. Feelgood just kicked out the jams faster and better that most others in the waning days of the pub rock circuit of the late 70’s. Looking like a bunch of dudes that would beat you down with a lead pipe and tearing up the stage with their live shows, Dr. Feelgood were setting the stage for punk just as much as Eddie & the Hot Rods.

Key album: Down by the Jetty

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2. Graham Parker

Why everybody knows of Elvis Costello’s bespectacled ass instead of Graham Parker’s is a shame. Equal parts Jagger and Van Morrison, Graham Parker and his backing band The Rumor had the soul, the anger and the drive to make it big. Despite some success, the music industry seemed to choose Elvis over Graham as their outcast with glasses. His debut is a Pub rock masterpiece.

Key album: Howlin’ Wind

[audio:http://cdn3.libsyn.com/radiofreeokc/07_Soul_Shoes.mp3?nvb=20090206154003&nva=20090207155003&t=0bb6dc92d80e45dabe3e6]

1. Brinsley Schwarz

If any band is synonymous with Pub rock, it’s Brinsley Schwarz. They were there at the Tally Ho Pub from the beginning in ’72 and even shared the stage with Eggs Over Easy on occasion. They were the first band to take the Pub rock template and make it their own. If it wasn’t for a an infamous botched publicity stunt that led to a stream of negative reviews, they were the most likely candidate to break out of the Pub rock circuit and reach the U.S. market. Commonly known by their song “What’s so Funny About Peace Love and Understanding”, made famous by Elvis Costello, bass player and lead singer Nick Lowe would eventually go solo and sign to Stiff records where he had a successful career. Evolving Pub rock beyond just trying to sound like The Band, Brinsley Schwarz was the band that gave Pub rock it’s chops, paving the way for future acts after calling it quits in ’75.

Key album: Nervous on the Road

[audio:http://cdn4.libsyn.com/radiofreeokc/03_Surrender_To_The_Rhythm.mp3?nvb=20090206154030&nva=20090207155030&t=0489655fc296d8d723408]

By the time the Sex Pistols started playing gigs and Joe Strummer quit his Pub rock band the 101’ers to join the Clash, Pub rock fell by the wayside. In reality this was just a shift in the music critic vernacular. While Pub rock became punk and new wave, a lot of these bands (including most of the Stiff Records set) took the punk mantle in name only. I mean Wreckless Eric was just a pub rocker with a sweet punk rock jacket.