Hux Records
2004
Cruel To Be Kind
About This Album
Cruel to Be Kind is the second installment of Brinsley Schwarz's BBC recordings released by Hux, following What IS So Funny About Peace Love & Understanding? by three years. This gathers most, but not all, of the BBC performances that didn't make the first volume, following the same mix-and-match sequencing as that collection, so sessions from 1971 alternate with those from 1973 and songs from a particular session are split up. Some collectors may complain about such non-chronological sequencing, yet it's ultimately nitpicking, since the chosen track sequence gives the collection momentum as an album, not as a concert. Plus, it's simply a joy to have this material officially released, since it captures the Brinsleys at a peak, whether it's on the laid-back roots rock that comprises the first two-thirds of the record, which is primarily material from Nervous on the Road and earlier, or the poppier songs from Please Don't Ever Change to their disbandment in 1975. While the first part of the album is excellent, it's fairly familiar, similar in tone and feel to the BBC sessions on the first Hux collection (sometimes they're even culled from the same date), with the only surprise being a nice, relaxed 1973 cover of Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" and the previously unreleased, wonderfully titled "Do the Cod (The Thirty Pounder)," an enjoyable instrumental.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and 14)

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