My 50 Favorite Albums (continued)

I like it when artists get riled up and shout and scream. 

John Lennon did that a lot.  So did Mick Jagger.

The scream in London Calling is one of the all time great sounds in rock n roll.

But I also like when artists howl.  And the greatest howl of all time comes from Graham Parker on his song Howlin' Wind.  Graham Parker howls, screams, and gives everything on his songs.  He is a punk rocker who has an R&B swing to his music.  Graham Parker and the Rumor may have been the best bar band ever.

Graham was one of the "angry london new wave" artists of the late 70s, along with Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson.  Elvis and Joe are great, but I love Graham Parker.  Graham Parker never got his due.  His record company, Mercury Records, screwed him over and all he got out of it was a really great song called Mecury Poisoning.

Graham Parker has some really strong studio albums, like Howlin' Wind and Heat Treatment, but the best Graham Parker record is Squeezing Out Sparks + Live Sparks. 

Squuezing Out Sparks has the back to back songs You Can't Be Too Strong and Passion Is No Ordinary Word.  It's his best studio album.

But his second record label, Arista, combined Squeezing Out Sparks with 12 live songs from the Squeezing Out Sparks tour to create Sparks + Live Sparks. 

Hearing Graham live is something special.  The only thing that I wish was they put Howlin' Wind live on this record.  But you can't have everything I guess.

The last two songs, Parker's cover of The Jackson Five's I Want You Back, and Mercury Poisoning live are worth the price of the record alone.

Graham Parker never got his due from the music business, but I am giving him some on my blog.  Graham Parker gets into my Top 50 today.

Comments

[Ric]

Oh yes - finally someone else who even knows who Graham Parker is!! Saw him live here in Adelaide a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time ago - what an awesome night. Saw Elvis Costello three times too - these guys are still some of my favourite music. Even Parker's music with the Shot was great ...

BTW - have JUST got around to listening to your podcasts - right now listening to May 26 (so I'm a little behind ...)

[Charlie Crystle]

I was in the audience for Live and Alone in Philadelphia--great show. Fred, you should book him for a private party. I'm serious--I'm pretty sure he'll play for 1-2k (lives in Woodstock).

One of my favorite records is a later one (he's still writing, btw) Mona Lisa's Sister...

[Charlie Crystle]

BTW--

"One artist who had no gigs to cancel but apparently needed to be associated with the incident was Omarion.

Inexplicably, the former B2K singer's publicist released a brief statement just hours after the bombings. "T.U.G./Sony Recording Artist Omarion was in London during the tragic bombings that struck this morning," the statement read. "He would like his fans to pray that he has a safe trip and a safe return home. He appreciates your support."

The R&B singer, in London for Live 8, was uninjured in the bombings, leaving many to question the appropriateness of the statement.

Asked by a Reuters reporter why anyone should pray for him, the musician's rep responded: "He wasn't hurt or anything, but just the fact that he was there and all that."

Unbelievable.

[Jeff Copetas]

Graham Parker is an absolute force on record and a freight train as a live performer. Squeezing Out Sparks is a masterpiece. If you dig that English bar-band sound, I highly, highly recommend that you find some Brinsley Schwartz records.

As the AllMusic Guide puts it: "Pub rock, the English roots rock movement of the early '70s, would never have earned a cult following if it wasn't for Brinsley Schwarz."

Led by the great Nick Lowe (you want to talk about underrated??!), they were the bar band's bar band.....check them out.

jc

[JayR]

Saw Graham Parker about 15 years ago at the Ritz as part of the Dave Edmunds Rock and Roll Revue (the ultimate bar-band tour - Dave Edmunds, Graham Parker, Ken Wilson from the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Steve Cropper and Dion - I can't explain Dion). He was promoting an album called "Human Soul", and he was great. He did a bunch of his old stuff and some of the Human Soul tunes as well, as well as a great duet of "Crawling from the Wreckage" (which he wrote) with Dave Edmunds. "Human Soul" itself is a pretty good album - not as good as "Squeezing Out Sparks" or worthy of a Top 50, but better than anything Elvis Costello has put out since "Get Happy".

[Eric Wesoff]

Dear Fred,

It is difficult for me to be curmudgeonly to VCs when your music choices overlap my tastes. I second the Graham Parker nomination. In additon to Squeezing out Sparks - try some more recent work like "Struck by Lightning.

If you want to try something new and perhaps out of your normal music style - have a listen to "The Mermen" - an instrumental trio with an amazing sound.

[Steve]

It seems as if you stole the playlist from my house at SUNY Albany. Steely Dan, Talking Heads, The Clash, Graham Parker... My buddies have a common sigh: "Poor Graham..." He should have been a much bigger commercial success. He was on Cliff's label for a while.
Another Grey Area and The Real McCaw are also terrific.

[Ric]

I remember when Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner toured as Rockpile - they couldn't record because they were at different record companies, and one wouldn't release somebody to record. But live they made you really regret the lack of a recording - that was "Power Pop for Now People". SOmething of an oddity, but good listening anyway, was the Carlene Carter outing with Nick Lowe and the Rumour (not billed as such, but most of the players).

[JayR]

There were actually a few albums that were essentially "Rockpile" albums (in addition to the Rockpile album itself) - "Labour of Lust" by Nick Lowe (a top 50 in my book), and "Repeat when Necessary" and "Tracks on Wax" by Dave Edmunds. These guys always sounded like they were having a great time playing together - too bad they only really toured once, and that was as a warmup act for Blondie!!