Dave Edmunds

Clearly, Dave Edmunds had more use for Nick Lowe than he let on. If Edmunds'
craftsmanship and prestige lent Lowe an anchor that prevented the latter's flakiest
productions from sounding ephemeral, Lowe repaid the favor by providing Edmunds with a
much-needed dose of hip cachet. Besides pointing the archivist toward material that
pushed him dramatically into the present (Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk" being the m... More >

With Nick Lowe butting out, Edmunds wheels into his leather-boy fantasy with all the delicacy of a Harley 1000 on diesel fuel. He digs a thirteen-year-old version of "Baby Let's Play House" out of the basement, ignores Guy Mitchell's whistled hook on "Singing the Blues," and acts as if George Jones left something out of "The Race Is On." Topper: Lowe-Carter-Edmunds's "Living Again If It Kills Me," which happens to be a slow one. (Grade: B)