Teaming up again with his Cowboy Outfit, Nick Lowe’s The Rose of England remains a highly engaging and often overlooked album. The title track tells a World War I-era tale that was sturdy enough to be covered by Brit-folkies The Oyster Band, and features a trademark Lowe hook. Nick took a huge swing at the charts, recording his version (previously recorded by Dave Edmunds, and played live by Rockpile) of his classic “I Knew the Bride” with pal Huey Lewis producing and his band the News providing the track. Fame and fortune may not have followed, but a solid batch of songs including covers of pals John Hiatt (“She Don’t Love Nobody”) and Elvis Costello (“Indoor Fireworks”) rubbed shoulders with Nick’s originals as well as Nick’s most-covered cover (Moon Mullican’s “7 Nights to Rock”).
