'Born Fighters' 1979 Documentary Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds & Rockpile

Rockpile: Born Fighters
Documentary
This Granada TV documentary follows the recording process, circa 1978-1979, of Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds & Rockpile. Two albums are being recorded simultaneously here: Nick Lowe's 'Labour of Lust' and Dave Edmunds' 'Repeat When Necessary'. It gives great insight into the process of recording and "getting" the right sound for radio. If you've never had any studio experience before, this video will give you that fly on the wall experience. Cameos by Graham Parker, Albert Lee and Huey Lewis.
Starring Nick Lowe Terry Williams
Dave Edmunds Billy Bremner

[@ericmalone3213]

This is a priceless artefact, Rockpile at the peak of their powers. Show me a swinging rock & roll band today that peaks the talent of Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Terry Williams & Billy Bremner. CHEERS

[@edouglaspratt]

"Hear! Hear!" -Doug Pratt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

[@dominicseanmccann6300]

Nearest I've come across for rock n roll these days are the Jim Jones revue. Saw them a couple of years back; get ready! Tore place apart...enjoy the sun.

[@tomgebarowski8156]

These dudes were seriously talented, and seriously underrated in rock history. This You Tube treatment is terrific, this band deserves much more attention from here on out!

[@ericmalone3213]

@@tomgebarowski8156 Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds & Rockpile got plenty of attention in their day. And the groups that Lowe & Edmunds produced were very successful. Today's demographic that cheers for Taylor Swift Demi Lovato & Dua Lipa likely won't register the quality of Lowe/Edmunds/Rockpile, so it's not so much that they're underrated or deserving of more attention, but rather, their aesthetic is from a bygone world. It's somewhat like playing Ernest Tubb for today's country audience, that goes in for the super slick, super commercial Nashville productions--"Walkin' The Floor Over You" would pretty much be lost on them. Nick's solo albums/CDs from the late 1970s are still in print. I just bought a couple. If you think Lowe/Edmunds & Rockpile are seriously underrated and deserving of much more attention, what about Henry Cow! (I just bought their big box set, too). CHEERS

[@UncleCaptainMidnight]

Never again, that time is well past.

[@yyzyyz706]

Can’t take the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seriously if these guys aren’t in it. Not just Dave and Nick but Terry and Billy too!

[@riseofthethorax]

rock and roll hall of fame wont have the literal longevity of the bible..

[@riseofthethorax]

rock n roll hall of fame is like a school notebook compared to all of literature

[@barryfandango863]

Nick Lowe turns to Albert Lee after he’s just pulled off a face melting solo ‘listen, you’ve obviously read my pamphlet on guitar. . .’ Had me in stitches..

[@douglasanderson8636]

Yep..classic guitarist comment

[@gerrycoogan6544]

I've never forgotten that line since I first saw this documentary at the time of its release. Brilliant!

[@TitusAndronicusTheBand]

Just when you thought these guys couldn’t get any cooler, Phil Lynott, Huey Lewis, and Graham Parker show up just to catch some vibes - this is pretty much as good as it gets

[@GreenManalishiUSA]

In the opening scene. when Dave and Nick are talking about their heroes such as Eddie Cochran, it had been only 20 years or so since those first rock and roll records were made. At the time that this documentary was filmed, rock and roll was still very young. Now it is over 40 years later, and we are still listening to Rockpile, and all of their influences. I wonder whether Dave and Nick knew in 1979 that their music would have such staying power. Rock and roll is forever.

[@toddblanks]

I would think so. They worked very hard and played on so many great albums. These guys obviously had so many influences and styles and were so professional at what they were doing. They loved music, real music to the core!

[@BicycleJoeTomasello]

I don't know if Dave's really playing the game anymore nick sure is and he as popular as ever with us war babies I guess

[@flashtheoriginal]

Nick Lowe was 29 here. He looks 49, has the wisdom you would acquire at 59. The nicotine overload here is truly frightening. A different time. Stress and alcohol overload. Born Fighter is a class track. And really respect all of the music here. Dave Edmunds comes across as strong and measured; whilst Nick Lowe is ambitious and pre-occupied. The four of them are brilliant together Thanks so much for posting

[@danocable]

I don’t think so? He looks his age.

[@danocable]

You got to remember Lowe went thru his drinking and driving days in the 1970 s

[@sianwarwick633]

And 80s ​@@danocable

[@tomindenver1331]

I took my girlfriend of a few months to see Dave Edmunds at a bar in St. Louis in 1981. When they ran out of beer, the patrons were not happy. One threw his (thankfully) plastic beer pitcher at the stage. Dave caught it and whipped it back it him, bouncing it off his head and right toward my girl. We ducked and headed for the door as a massive brawl ensued. We rounded the corner by their tour bus to see the band flying out the stage entrance, laughing like lunatics.

[@crapple009]

Like the Beatles, each member of Rockpile had a very distinctive personality, talent and role to play in the band. The whole was definitely greater than the sum of its parts. This is a fascinating study to watch, thank-you!

[@francomartini4328]

Back in 1976, my wife (who I hadn't met yet) got into a lift in an Oxford St office building only to find herself staring straight into the face of Dave Edmunds. When we got married in 1978, my special request to the DJ was "I Knew the Bride". _Repeat When Necessary_ is one of my favourite albums of all time and Albert Lee's solo work on "Sweet Little Lisa" is some of my favourite guitar playing ever. And btw, my wife's name is Lisa.

[@randolfo1265]

'Repeat When Necessary'. One of the Best (and underrated) Records of the Seventies.

[@christophervaldez8746]

Edmunds & Lowe were like fire & ice. It was Billy Bremner's job to be like lukewarm water......

[@ranatlas]

Nice reference there! Derek Smalls! ☺️

[@chuckschillingvideos]

I noticed more than one Spinal Tap moment in this viddy....a lot more than one actually. In fact I'd say that Christopher Guest lifted Nick's manner of speech entirely and grafted it into Nigel Tufnel. Great fun.

[@patdonnelly9392]

Rockpile is a SERIOUSLY underrated great band! Still listen to them to this day....

[@artlover1477]

So much talent, legitimately Rock Hall of Fame material.

[@diddywahdaddy]

@@artlover1477 So very much so!!

[@beds139]

As these guys are all still around in their later 70s I am presuming that they all cut down on the chain smoking.😅

[@LaserGuidedWhitehaus]

These guys are still relatively young at this point, but you can see and hear that they're at least 15 years into the professional game already, and not many people knew about them in North America yet. At the time I was finding it as it came out, I was delighted how much they were really inside the music yet always chose to f*** with the fomulae in order to find something new and fresh, even while paying tribute to this music's origins in ways that are almost religious. This new/old rock n roll, with hilarious lyrics, and mental LP covers, was being brewed up by the very guy behind STIFF Records, a guy producing Elvis Costello, and other lifers from the UK 'pub-rock' scene. Invisible stars, from beer-soaked bars. Their approach was like lighting a whole packet of firecrackers and tossing it into an empty phonebooth. A glorious racket that was so much fun and such a laugh! I almost jumped out of my skin the day I put Labour of Lust on the turntable. I'd heard a bit of Dave's 'Get It' years earlier, and a little of the Love Sculpture stuff, and I was into Graham Parker, but I didn't really clue in totally until that very bright moment. This is the kind of stuff that is SO true and SO good that it's always going to be a little under the radar, but it will live on forever. New Wave couldn't just be about haircuts and synth keyboards. This was part of post-punk too. It was taking all the kids like me to school; and I am so thankful for that. Cheers, gents!!

[@geomck]

That is just a piece of buried gold. Brilliant film. Rockpile were absolute masters of their craft.

[@PK-ss3gt]

Glad that Phil Lynott got to hear how the guitar is meant to be played - without distortion, without double leads in harmony and by Albert Lee!

[@HarborLockRoad]

Exactly what rock lacks today, that raw 50s-esque rockabilly flavour... And these guitar gods were masters of it.... 👍👍👍👍👍

[@markfahey3921]

I'm 63 next month and just getting into trying to play rockabilly! LOL!

[@MISCchout]

From the Nick Lowe book about this documentary: ‘Nearly four decades later, when asked if he had watched the film recently, Nick replied, ‘I’d rather nail my feet to the ground and stare at the sun.’

[@MaxDevereauxArchive]

anybody else spot Phil there? This was amazing! Thanks for uploading!

[@derekduerden3672]

..and Graham Parker :)

[@matthewwilson3202]

Huey Lewis

[@johnholkham2420]

Wise words from Edmunds to Nick at end.

[@lsrieck]

Nick Lowe produced Elvis Costello, The Pretenders etc. The Rockpile album was played at every party I had... Juice Newton and her cover of Queen of Hearts from Edmunds was terrific. The Endless Grey Ribbon is very George Jones...

[@patrickwhite1826]

I wish we'd have gotten a Dave version of that tune. I prefer his voice to Nick's on it.

[@jonstern7511]

They were masters of their craft, weren't they. They knew exactly what they were doing and how to do it!

[@richalderson6069]

So many great musos and songwriters came out of the whole British pub rock scene and this documentary captures that time brilliantly.

[@AFaceintheCrowd01]

Yes, it did. I really enjoyed Bees Make Honey and Ducks Deluxe back then.

[@mickcuttriss7120]

Nick...'sounds like a wasp in a jam jar'. The master of the one liner.

[@deejaye2647]

The harmony of these voices gives me chills.

[@JimJJGates]

Am i the only one who sees a great similarity to Nick Lowe and Gram Parsons?

[@Joanne217]

Saw him in Edinburgh twice, most recent, 24 April 2022...Eloquent as ever, pure class. He just gets better. 'Jesus of Cool' Love Dave Edmunds, I was about 16 when I first heard him...Girls Talk..👌 then heard him more! Beautiful musicians.

[@jonstern7511]

Visually maybe. Less so musically

[@kennybrown6801]

Yeah man, he’s obviously been heavily into the Flying Burritos. Great sense of humour through Nick Lowe’s stuff too.

[@douglasanderson8636]

Dave,s a bit like Nigel Tufnel with talent.

[@PaulMarkey-q3h]

Rock and roll at it's best and when Albert Lee lays down his solo well it's out of this world Graham Parker,Phil Lynott huey Lewis Well how respected were the Rockpile guys Saw them when i was 17 One of ny faciurite gigs 🤘🎵🎸

[@bluesriot2]

this is completely mindblowing, there's just no other way to describe it. thanks for posting this priceless gem

[@KeithRowe100]

Every aspiring musician (and sound engineer) should take a look at this. There are some invaluable production insights in here … a few real-world gems!

[@randolfo1265]

20:30 - CityTV. I saw this on the telly in Canada back in the eighties. Been looking for it ever since. Thank you internet!

[@gerrycoogan6544]

Even Nick's coughing is world class ( 1:42) and that is also a tribute to *Senior Service* untipped, high tar cigarettes, a proper smoke for top-flight rock and rollers!

[@willbick7889]

Funny to go back to a time when almost everyone in the arts smoked! Surprising how many of them are still with us. NIck Lowe was 29 here but looks at least 10 years older!

[@geezerbliz]

Tracking vocals while smoking! Lol the 70's ruled!

[@dashyahoo4821]

These were the guys who wrote the soundtrack to my youth. The best show I've ever seen is STILL the 1979 club date in Chicago. Took me three days to get my hearing back, but totally worth it. Reading Will Birch's "Cruel to be Kind," a biography of sorts about Nick, led me to this film. It fills in all the gaps that link everyone from Elvis Costello to the Pretenders and more, all the music that made the 80s so fabulous.

[@davidsparks6146]

This is priceless example of 2 guys being brothers in a band... rare,.... the recording sessions are awesome. For someone who has been there, the memories are fresh, the wounds deep and the music is in the can.... having a few on the radio, this is the struggle we all have had.... ideas bursting to get on tape,... meanwhile,... the drummer is still setting up and tuning those damn drums... words are still being thrown around to make sense... or not.

[@bobhenderson8245]

I saw Rockpile open for Van Morrison in Toronto about 1978. They were incredibly loud and brilliant.

[@MISCchout]

It’s worth noting that cameo-man Huey Lewis does play Harmonica on the track Born Fighter.

[@crystalbishop6971]

I noticed Huey Lewis there in the room. Interesting who all was interested in the music.

[@neilh6510]

Brilliant. Thank you. What a tragedy these two fell out.

[@KeithRowe100]

Every aspiring musician (and sound engineer) should take a look at this. There are some invaluable production insights in here … and, a few real-world gems - musical, technical, and philosophical!

[@-Ricky_Spanish-]

Thank you so much for this. I absolutely love every moment of this documentation of the studio process from back then. The high point is Albert Lee's guitar solo, but I also love seeing them listen to the demo for "Sweet Little Lisa" (a demo I have never been able to find) and figuring it out from there. It's so organic and real, and both of the records are FANTASTIC. For age reference, if it matters at all, I was born a week after Repeat When Necessary was released. I'd like to see this kind of music return in my lifetime, but as that is highly unlikely I'm glad we have this document.

[@MISCchout]

I have a home studio so I know where you are coming from. Any footage from a classic studio is priceless.

[@danielaloi8062]

probably Hank DeVito's demo w/the Cowart Brothers.

[@jeffsimon2347]

Now I know where a lot of the dialogue from This is Spinal Tap came from.

[@ericbrooks8573]

Yes!!! Knew of Rockpile but this was eye opening...

[@codybluetarp]

This is great! I'm sitting here with an old K-Electric circa '60, single pickup, volume control, and input; playing along with these fellow afternoon players having a few tokes, and I say to myself, "Yeah, here we are." I have had, on another level, the experience of doing overdubs with different instruments in a studio. It's really cool seeing Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Rockpile, and Friends. Doing their behind-the-scenes-stuff. This is where it comes from! Different melodies on a common, human musical theme. Thank you for this worthy video. It's impressive how un-affected these guys are, and speaks well for the positive benefits of Art and Cultural Expression through time. Life through a posse of Artists lives.

[@jaimebenavides5789]

Rockpile, what a crew! How se danced in Madrid those years with their beat!

[@1rwjwith]

I loved Rockpile…! Saw them live twice.

[@wolfgangmarkusgstrein8522]

Studio Day Four ... Albert Lee owns the scene.

[@mikebrison1838]

Love Sculpture.

[@derekduerden3672]

Great stuff - proper musicians! thanks

[@MrConorLumsden]

Couldn't love it any more than I do!

[@rhodsullivan7773]

I saw them at the Decorum in Hemel Hempstead. Unforgettable. This is the programme I learned of Albert Lee who can play ANYTHING except Apache. 😊

[@-Ricky_Spanish-]

@37:50 Albert Lee is AMAZING.

[@GreenManalishiUSA]

The film shows how even Dave Edmunds, who is no slouch guitarist himself, is absolutely floored by Albert Lee's playing. Ace musicians all around...this documentary is amazing.

[@atreb56]

Thanks so much for this. Rockpile album is one of my favorites.❤🎵

[@brianbard3410]

Nick and Dave were the finest young junkies ever. The most wholesome and responsible also. Thank you very much.

[@alvaroaltamirano2545]

Have several récords from this artists❤

[@bosundborg5895]

Thank You from Sweden!

[@b.runettepet4904]

Thanks for sharing this entertaining peek behind the curtain of their creative process.

[@crystalc1ear]

Great documentary, thanks for uploading this

[@crystalc1ear]

All that smoking and drinking really took its toll on NIck, he was only 29 in this lol

[@chrismineo1788]

Great Hair

[@jonstern7511]

Dave always had great hair but Nick's has often been a bit dodgy, I reckon! Good here though!

[@patrickcollins8926]

Roger Bechirian on the board. He engineered many many great records in the late 70s - early 80s.

[@davesalmon2492]

Thank you. This is priceless and beautiful.

[@UncleCaptainMidnight]

Hughie Lewis sighting @ 40.21, Phil Lynott @ 40.38

[@selwyn77]

That last conversation between Nick and Dave clearly shows who had been "imbibing" more !

[@secreteast]

Thank you so much! This is one of my all time favourites. I've been absolutely lost since the last version disappeared off the tube.

[@kenmeyerjr57]

hot damn...what a group...at about 41, there is Lee, Huey Lewis with Clover, Phil Lynott, chriminy!

[@mustlovepretzels]

MISCchout: thanks for posting. Roger Bechirian producing? Lots of artists worked at Eden Studios(London). Cheers!

[@jeffkaufman9875]

“Endless Grey Ribbon” is basically “Long Black Veil”…

[@kennybrown6801]

Yeah it is, but fair enough. Long Black Veil is basically a standard, hymn like, these things always evolve.

[@danielaloi8062]

and I heard the genesis of 'Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up' in Sweet Little Lisa...

[@BOOMNERD51]

Love them then and now together or separately!❤

[@carlrudd1858]

Oh, damn..they guys are a riot. Listen to them talk. So, fun.

[@GriefTourist]

Granada TV was so ahead of the curve when it came to rock music. Did documentaries on the Doors visiting Britain and of course had the Pistols on before they had a record deal.

[@beds139]

At a time when punk ruled in England it was quite brave for an Englishman,Welshman & Scotsman to be singing in American accents.😅

[@charminramirez3675]

Thanks for the upload I've been searching this for ages

[@fiction8909]

Chain smoking with no ventilation, non stop drinking, never taking your coat off, heavy shoes on in the house, looking 50 when you were only 30... yeah, i remember those days.

[@radiomindchatter7994]

Did I see Huey Lewis in there? Think I did!

[@geraldhugley3618]

Yes. He played harmonica during these sessions.

[@donwershba2319]

WOW! Thanbks for this - I had only seen excerpts and this was a true treat! Amazing band.

[@jimschleich8753]

Great video!! Thanks so much for sharing this!! And amazing peek behind the curtain with some incredible talent!!

[@seanmcardle4007]

Brilliant stuff. Thanks for uploading.

[@garydiggins1836]

Excellent!

[@chambersofhourrors9393]

Wow! Thanks for uploading!

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

i was hoping they were going to play some more familiar stuff like from "seconds of pleasure." one of my favorite parts was an ep that was included with album "nick lowe and dave edmunds play the everly brothers. "when will i be loved" and "poor jenny" are just great. and the album is real good too. the cover of berry's "oh what a thrill," the single "teacher teacher," the weirdly blues of "a knife and fork," the quick rocker "you ain't nothing but fine" and everyone loves "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)." they're all great songs. thanks for the upload.

[@MISCchout]

This documentary covers the recording of Nick Lowe's Labor of Lust and Dave Edmund's Repeat When Necessary, which, while not released under the Rockpile name, are considered by many their finest solo albums recorded by Rockpile. Highly recommended to check these out.

[@justinwood6201]

At 13:22 "See, the thing is, you can't do this sort of thing unless your are on drugs." - Nick Lowe.

[@gregmclellan6455]

Is that Chris Spedding standing beside Huey? What a huge amount of talent in one room.

[@patrickcollins8926]

No

[@Imw101]

Jake Riviera - one of the Stiff founders

[@gregmclellan6455]

Thank you.

[@UltimaThule1968]

Wow. What a monument to rock n roll. Does anyone here remember a guy called Gareth Davies from Ruthin I think. He was my daughter's headmaster, used to teach in Switzerland before he took that job on. He once told me he was a sound engineer with Rockpile back in the day. Bloody good drummer. Also, Martin Gruffudd-Jones, a dear friend of mine who told me that the bass player in his band, Sentinel, would jam in front of Dave Edmunds' mum c1980. Alec Ansons. He became consultant opthalmologist in the NW. Small world.

[@ronj9448]

Loved them back in the 70s. Doesn't look very glamorous though. Sitting around and slogging through it.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

They weren't "artistes". They were, at heart, incredibly skilled journeymen musicians who knew how to get great sounding tracks down without spending endless weeks in the studio fussing over things that would never make it to the record.

[@BaddaBigBoom]

Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds smoking, getting pissed on Special Brew and Black Tower and jamming ..like a scene out of the history of Spinal Tap, what's not to like. First time I've seen DE playing a Telecaster, I always thought he was strictly Gibson.

[@ndotl]

39:46: Huey Lewis.

[@sianwarwick633]

I'm going to figure out how Edmunds sings Endless Grey Ribbon

[@joem.8077]

This is fantastic! A memoir of what it's like to record songs with a group of top musicians, and for sure toppermost, who all seem to be good friends having a great time. Is that Graham Parker in the control room audience for a bit? Also, guitars/bass straight into the desk? SSL?

[@ranatlas]

Yeah, I thought that was Graham Parker, too.

[@archieleechjb]

@Joe M. and @ranatlas - Parker wrote "Crawling From the Wreckage."

[@Mr07079Barboy]

And Huey Lewis and maybe Phil Lynott at 40:37.

[@Songeez]

I keep looking for amps -- there must be amps, right? Straight into the board seems hard to fathom. What do you do to recreate the sound live?

[@bobcrain5285]

@@Songeez My guess is the amps are in the recording room (behind the glass) and they’re just monitoring from the control room.

[@BaddaBigBoom]

Is that Black Tower Liebfraumilch they're quaffing?!! Wow that takes me back :-)

[@graemeselkirk]

Before Blue Label Schmirnoff became the drink of choice. Tour rider used to stipulate four bottles!

[@richardchorley1593]

I ran into Nick Lowe on Euston Station around '79/'80 . I asked him to sign the only record I had with me - a new 7" single in a picture sleeve by Delta 5 . Nick was gracious and friendly and willingly obliged . Dave Edmunds was with some other band members a little way off , and seeing Nick signing a record he rushed over , excitedly asking "Is it one of ours?" . Upon seeing that it wasn't one of theirs , he scowled and wandered off muttering . It was OK - I didn't want his autograph anyway

[@jefflewis5546]

Love Rock;pile !!

[@dominicseanmccann6300]

These guys had the lot. Bet they were good live.

[@Revolution1117]

Then you must see: "Rockpile - Live at Markthalle, Hamburg 12 Jan 1980", here on YT. Great concert with the audio straight through the soundboard. Video quality is exceptional, also. Cheers!

[@dominicseanmccann6300]

@@Revolution1117 nice one mate. Appreciate heads up. That's tonights 'gig' taken care of😀 thanks. Have a good un.

[@therazband3007]

They were amazing live

[@artlover1477]

Also the American TV show Fridays had them on in 1980??? That's a great video that's on the Tuber.

[@patrickwhite1826]

Billy's guitar part is so fucking great.

[@genoconte8638]

Nick's hair!!!!

[@tahirakathleen5065]

Nick's always had great hair and even did justice to a shaggy mullet back in the day. Thanks for this doc. Have loved Lowe & Edmunds forever and was revisiting their old stuff here tonight and stumbled upon this gem.

[@loutcb]

in the room, phil lynott, huey lewis etc

[@FenceThis]

Graham Parker, Albert Lee..

[@TiedoGroeneveld]

English guys sounding like American guys. Kind of rationalising rock and roll. But still a nice bit of footage this. Very enjoyable. Great players all. And funny! ;)

[@glenfordburrell1076]

Black Tower wine from a Spar supermarket will not make you feel any better.

[@jeffkaufman9875]

Listening to “Born Fighter”, I am reminded of a fiercer, less-polished “Girls School” by WINGS!..

[@lazypokerblues]

Sadly still missing the first 3 minutes.

[@stevieG.]

I'm playing these guy's tunes at Open Mic's in 2023 - They would never have believed it when they were making this - wonderful normal, unassuming and humble blokes. Also, I wonder why they actually sing 2 vocal tracks exactly the same when they could simply ping the 1st vocal onto another empty track. Maybe the tiny nuances of the 2nd take make it worth doing?

[@chuckschillingvideos]

That's not what you're looking for in double tracked vocals. Try as a singer might, there is no way to make two vocal tracks identical. But neither can you stitch together two tracks that are obviously different. So the vocalist records two tracks that are as good as he/she can make them, trying to make them as close as possible, but there are ALWAYS slight differences in pitch and timing, breathing, etc. etc. Put one on top of the other, and there is a richness and thickness of timbre that you can't get from just the single doubled track, even if you try to trick it with studio effects like reverb and delay.

[@stevieG.]

@@chuckschillingvideos thanks for that, yes I thought that was probably why they do it to get the nuances of the separate takes combined.. I tried this once but I couldn't sing well enough at that point .the result was like when 2 people get up and sing a song in unison at karaoke. Pretty awful.

[@simontaylor2319]

3 chords....that reminds me of ........

[@alfching2499]

Those were the days Smoking,Coughing and spluttering with perfect freedom to do it,no sign of a Millenial

[@br5380]

2:45 Special Brew & Senior Service 🤣