Graham Parker C/D

I must say: the title of and album cover for The Real Macaw is so dorky.

damn, is this guy kinda underrated. howlin' wind is a FANTASTIC debut. i've had copies of it since ~1982, and i love it more now than ever; to me it's more enjoyable than (Elvis') my aim is true, which, i think, came out around the same time; and is ~sort of~ in a similar post-pubrock vein. he lost me w/ his fifth record and i've never gone back to any but the first four, but 3 of those are quite classic, IMO.
who cares

You know, I gotta confess, Howlin Wind has never totally killed me. Never felt half as consistent hookwise or songwise as Squeezing Out Sparks. I just played it again -- "White Honey" (what drug is that about anyway?) and "Back To Schooldays" always jump out of the start and end of side one for their energy if nothing else, and on side two, the title track has an emotional intensity to it, and then "Don't Ask Me Questions" at the end blows the rest of the album out of the water. But that's not even half of an album approaching greatness. And while being a white mid-American guy in my late 40s I like the boogie, I'll be damned if the songs about gypsy women and doctor women and soul shoes aren't just great big blueshammer bar-band cliches on a plate -- they'd be decent-but-generic on a J. Geils or Southside Johnny album, and same thing here. Unless I'm missing something, in which case maybe somebody can finally explain what it is. As is, I'm pretty sure, challopsily enough, I'd prefer Stick To Me if I still owned a copy. (Don't have Heat Treatment anymore either; if I ever did.)

One weird thing, though, is that everybody always talks about Parker winning Pazz & Jop in 1979, and nobody ever seems to mention his more remarkable earlier P&J accomplishment, which was putting two albums in the top four in 1976 -- HT at 2nd. HW at 4th. 449 points total, which would've beat the pants off of Songs In The Key Of Life's 292 if things were counted that way. I feel like that's a rock critic story that's never been fully explained to younger generations (which would include me in this case) -- critics must have really loved the guy. (Stick To Me went 19th in 1977, fwiw; a major letdown!)

Xgau only briefly mentioned the '76 twofer in his essay (though I just noticed that he beat me to the math above by, uh, 33 years.) He does say, though, that Dylan had finished 1st and 4th in 1975. (Husker Du go 6th and 8th in 1985; not sure who's done anything comparable since.)

he put out an album the year after squeezing out sparks, the up escalator, and i never ever see it used and i never ever hear anyone mention it. and i've never heard it. seems weird cuz its the follow-up to a pretty popular album.

This is the second time i was hoping to read something about Graham Day.

Like lots of other people, apparently, I've always considered The Up Escalator his shark-jump album, which possibly means I heard it once upon a time. Finished #36 P&J, a pretty huge plummet after his poll-winner. But they both charted at #40 in Billboard, the highest he ever got. (Mona Lisa's Sister, from '88, had a genuine Top 40 single but never got higher than #77 on the album chart.) Maybe the reason Escalator copies don't show up used (I'd never noticed) is that Springsteen is one cut. His fans can be real pack rats, right?

Christgau never graded it! Weird, because he'd given four previous LPs A's or A-s, and graded a bunch of later ones. Probably had to do with him taking a vacation in 1980. This is from his '80 Pazz & Jop essay:

36. Graham Parker's The Up Escalator: By most accounts, the latest from last year's victor-by-consensus is the downer of the year, following up on everything pinched in his singing and mean-spirited in his vision. But it's hooky--"the hummable Graham Parker," Tom Carson called it--and for some that's apparently enough.

Oops, I goofed -- actually the Top 40 single "Wake Up" was from Steady Nerves in 1985. (Which still only peaked at #57, chartwise.)

rick springfield is apparently a big fan of the up escalator:

Rick Springfield:C or D?

Chuck I think part of the thing with Howlin Wind is there's a cumulative build effect, maybe best heard the first time through. cos I've gone back to this and had the same reaction of trying to break it into component parts and thinking how does this add up to that much?

so maybe a case of sum greater than the parts? also, not only does Graham's facility & confidence (the latter like Van Morrison only at his peak) seem to grow as the album goes, but the band's power shines through over the course until BLAM, everyone's giving the middle finger to GOD! (also kinda like: some of these songs are 'A's, but none is less than a 'B', and the balance improves across the album)

Heat Treatment seems like Part 2 of the same album, but riding that full-blown confidence and musical strength (all at or close to peak). that's probably my fave Parker album, even though I think of it more in terms of fave songs (most of 'em!), unlike Howlin and <Squeezing[/i], which I like for their overall feel as albums.

Okay, I guess I understand that logic, just don't buy it -- I've never been one to cut albums slack for "pacing," and giving Howling Wind bonus points just because its one song that would've been good enough for Squeezing Out Sparks is saved for the very end seems kinda fishy to me....Okay, maybe "Back To Schooldays" would be good enough too, but as far as I can tell, that's it. (Don't get the building-and-building-to-transcendence claim; the second and third best songs are on the first side, not the second side.) Then again, I always thought of Sparks as a super consistent batch of individual songs that've stuck to my gills over the years; had no idea that people heard it as an overall-feel album. Still, thanks for explaining, Paul!

Btw, just noticed from his '70s book that Christgau originally gave HW a B+ and HT an A-, then upped both grades to A's later. (And then he gave Sparks an A+, but bumped that to an A, too!)

Huh...just checked The New Trouser Press Record Guide; hadn't realized that Dave Edmunds plays guitar on "Back To Schooldays" (which partly explains why I like it so much) and also recorded the song himself on Get It in 1977. (And just remembered that Parker also wrote "Crawling From Wreckage," a small AOR hit and one of the hardest rocking tracks on Edmunds's excellent '79 Repeat When Necessary.)

are those eighties Parker albums even remotely interesting?

parker wrote crawling from the wreckage? well now i have one more good thing to say about him. i'll be honest, i'm not a big fan. even of the 70's stuff. the best of the 70's stuff is okay, but the costello + springsteen formula just never did much for me. squeezing out sparks wouldn't even make a best of 1979 list of mine, let alone a 70's list. i always feel like i would like his songs better if other people did them. local girls, which i like, would have been even better if elvis or nick lowe or rockpile or dave edmunds had done it. or maybe nrbq! i do like the individual members of the rumour, but i like them in brinsley schwarz and ducks deluxe.

(and i don't think there is a graham parker song that i like as much as hit me with your rhythm stick, reasons to be cheerful, or sex, drugs, & rock & roll. except for maybe crawling from the wreckage! which IS one of my favorite songs of the 70's.)

Btw (side issue) the Rumour (sans Parker) album I bought a used CD of a couple years ago, Max from 1977, was really disappointing, in case anybody's considering looking around for it. (I do remember liking "Emotional Traffic," from 1979's Frogs Sprouts Clogs and Krauts, when I used to hear it on my college radio station in the '80s, though.)

i like the frogs sprouts album! that's a good one.

Bands nobody ever talks about anymore in the "England" chapter of the 1980 new wave guide I just bought for http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?showall=true&bookmarkedmessageid=1&boardid=41&threadid=46330 off a seemingly homeless guy set up on the sidewalk of St Marks

Excellent goofball German version of "Crawling Through The Wreckage" on Benny's best-of CD (which placed #1 on my Pazz & Jop ballot this year):

http://www.amazon.com/Amigo-Charly-Brown-Hits-gestern/dp/B001PDIRO2

Been a while since I've heard them, but I really like the playing on those first two GP albums. Really confident, swinging, airy pub rock stuff. It sounds like a road-tested band at their peak. The playing on Squeezing Out Sparks is a little more claustrophobic, jittery. Which is OK, just different. So basically those first two work as great groove albums, even if the good-to-great song ratio might be better on Sparks.

i think HW has more of a singer/songwriter vibe going as it does a pubrock feel. also, "you've got to be kidding" may be my fave song on it and it didn't get a nod above so i guess we just don't see eye to eye on this guy.

relistened to the up escalator this week for the first time since ~1981, and it really does fall flat. his next one (grey area) was even more sub-par; but the real macaw, crappy album cover and all, has a bunch of good songs.

Yeah, The Real Macaw seems to be Xgau's favorite of the '80s, too. (Originally gave it an A-, docked to a B+ in his '80s book -- wow, he was even more indecisive about Parker grades than Madonna grades!)

Jon Young in that Trouser Press guide says "Parker somehow lost his sense of purpose on The Up Escalator." But he doesn't like the production or playing on Macaw; in fact, of the early to mid '80s albums, he seems to like Another Grey Area from '83 (partially produced by Jack Douglas apparently) and Steady Nerves from '85 best (apparently because they rock a little bit harder?)

Live Alone in America is the one I like the most. One of the few solo-electric singer-songwriter albums I can think of.

In 2001 I saw Dave Edmunds perform solo a few weeks after 9/11 in some little bar way downtown near Chambers Street I've never been to before or since. He had been teaching himself to play fingerstyle since he had recently recovered from some kind of heart attack and/or heart surgery so he was playing a bunch of material that was enjoyable to listen to but unfamiliar and kind of low key. At some point he was having some sound problems with his acoustic guitar so he switched to electric and kicked it into high gear with "Crawling From The Wreckage." Don't know if there was any intended significance or he was just playing one of his "hits" but it was an awesome moment nonetheless.

So, turns out two of the toughest-sounding songs -- maybe even the two toughest-sounding songs -- on Graham Parker's 1982 Spanish best-of LP Historia De La Musica Rock are from Stick To Me (the title track and "New York Shuffle.") Guess it's possible that album was actually uneven, but I'm starting to develop the theory that rock critics gave it iffy reviews when it came out because they were a bunch of wimps. (I remember really liking "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" and "Problem Child," too -- why'd I get rid of my copy, again?) (Actually, looking back at a couple record guides on my shelf, apparently what critics disliked about it is that it was slapdash due to being cut in a week, Nick Lowe's production is supposedly muffled to the point of inaubibility, "Watch The Moon Come Down" is "maudlin," and "Heat In Harlem" is overblown and seven minutes long.)

I dunno, I think it was because by then, Punk had broken and Elvis Costello did a lot of the same things as GP, but better.

"Stick To Me," "New York Shuffle" and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" is a pretty formidable trio, all of which I heard many times on WPIX back in the day. Don't remember hearing "Problem Child." Don't know if in the end it was even Nick Lowe's production, maybe somebody else fiddles with it after the fact or something like that.

by then, Punk had broken and Elvis Costello did a lot of the same things as GP, but better.

Maybe, except that Stick To Me actually charted, in the U.S. anyway, a month before My Aim Is True (11-5-77 to 12-3-77, according to Joel Whitburn; don't know about release dates; Wiki lists Aim as coming out in July in the UK but not til March '78 in the U.S., which can't be right, can it?) Also, when GP later made his most blatant EC move on Squeezing Out Sparks, critics lapped it up. (Was surprised how much "Local Girls" seemed like a "This Year's Girl" rip when I was listening to that Spanish best-of yesterday. Also gotta admit that that song and "You Can't Be Too Strong" sounded a little thin to me in the company of the earlier stuff; guess I need to pull out Sparks again sometime soon to figure out whether I've been overrating it all along -- it was the first Parker album I heard.)

Well, obviously that Wiki release date "can't be right"; if it wasn't out until three months later, no way it could have charted in December.

And Mark may have a point, either way, in Costello's votes cutting into Parker's when it came to, say, year-end critic polls in 1977, obviously.

how does The Up Escalator stack up against Trust? xhuxk?

I'm not the one to ask! (Assuming I ever actually heard The Up Escalator when it came out -- which I must've, right? -- not a single detail has stuck with me about it, almost three decades later. Except that somewhere along the line, I decided it was pretty lame.)

I wonder if The Rumour even plays on The Up Escalator?

Or maybe he had already fired them by then. I guess the point is that even if Trust is problematic, the Attractions hadn't been fully reined in yet. Trust was part of a a downward slope whereas The Up Escalator was complete shark jump.

Trust is his best album after TYM, to my ears.

Then what's the point in comparing it with The Up Escalator?

I got it backwards with Stick To Me, Nick Lowe was called in at the last minute to record after the original tapes were unusable and probably didn't have time to add his usual gloss.

I've actually always kind of liked Trust, fwiw -- more than Get Happy!! or Imperial Boredom, at least. (And I say that as a onetime Costello obsessive who actually played Taking Liberties and Almost Blue a ton when they came out, but who never cared about anything after Punch The Clock.) So maybe, bringing this post back in line with the thread, The Up Escalator was more Parker's Goodbye Cruel World. Or something like that.

Then what's the point in comparing it with The Up Escalator?

Released within months of each other?

Yes, that was it.

there's probably an essay to write reclaiming Parker's post-SOS "lost" period: all those Up Escalators, Steady Nerves, and real macaws.

There are some good songs on those records for sure. "Stupefaction" off of The Up Escalator is in the current set list. Thinking about listening to some of his long list of "official bootlegs" as a way into the later material.

Right now listening to one called 80s Reverb Rules OK recorded live in Denmark with Brinsley and Andrew B between Steady Nerves and Mona Lisa's Sister. Read what the man himself says about it here: http://chairmanparker.blogspot.com/2011/03/80s-reverb-rules-ok-graham-parker-and.html

More concise description here: http://grahamparker.net/80sReverb.html

Guess that Chicago show is underway now. Randomly listening to these self-released live albums on Spotify is really working. Material that might have been ill-served by anonymous production gets a much better showing plus it is interspersed with some old favorites and trademark comedy banter.

'Twas a good show!

Happy Birthday Martin Belmont!

Interviews with the birthday boy:
http://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/the-rock-town-hall-interview-martin-belmont
http://jeffcramer.blogspot.com/2011/04/very-candid-conversation-with-martin.html?m=1

It was impossible to read that without stopping to watch or listen to 30 things I didn't know about or hadn't thought about in eons.

So you listened to some Carlene Carter too?

By which I mean to say I did exactly the same

Mor US East Coast touring with the Rumour in April

Saw that. Debating whether to go again

Yeah, it was great, but don't know how different it will be, given all the songs he must play. But the fact that he is Rumour-izing non Rumour stuff is intriguing.

DC area show sold out so quick last time, I hadn't gotten a ticket. Got tickets right when they went on sale this time. Had seen him with the Rumour back on the Squeezing Out Sparks tour, and once years later with his own band.

Finally saw him with the Rumour again (since 1979). Good show -- I didn't know the new album stuff, but enjoyed the selections from the first few albums.

"Don't Ask Me Questions" was very passionately delivered. I could have done without "Lady Doctor"-- kinda generic musically and lyrically.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/graham-parker-and-the-rumour/2013/rams-head-on-stage-annapolis-md-33d8d485.html

1.White Honey
2.Fool's Gold
3.Howlin' Wind
4.Coathangers
5.I'll Never Play Jacksonville Again
6.Long Emotional Ride
7.Lady Doctor
8.Get Started, Start A Fire
9.Black Honey
10.Snake Oil Capital of the World
11.Soul on Ice
12.A Lie Gets Halfway 'round the World
13.Watch the Moon Come Down Play Video
14.Discovering Japan
15.Don't Get Excited
16.Protection
17.Stupefaction
18.Local Girls
Encore:
19.Last Bookstore in Town
20.Don't Ask Me Questions
Encore 2:
21.Soul Shoes

Cool. When was this, Steve? Last night? I guess that website would tell me.

Actually a little while back-- April 6th, but I suddenly realized I never mentioned it here. He just played even closer to me more recently (but that might have been when I was in New Orleans).

Has anybody seen Graham Parker's current duo tour with guitarist Brinsley Schwarz (of his own band and The Rumour)? They're in DC tonight.

http://www.grahamparker.net/Tour.html

East and Midwest US plus Canada

Iow, he is still alive..

I wasn't able to make it to their local gig. Wonder if they did any interesting pub rock covers together?

Don't think I'll ever get this guy.

You kinda do

Ha, was thinking that too

After 1979’s inexplicable Pazz & Jop winner Squeezing Out Sparks he had no reason to sustain a cult, but there he was and here he is.

https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres76.php

And even the much-maligned Stick to Me made it to #19 in 1977.
https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres77.php

The stuff right after Squeezing Out Sparks was pretty terrible apart from “Temporary Beauty” but eventually he kind of righted the ship.

That Rhino anthology is a solid collection, but yeah, a lot of his later work wasn't so hot. Howlin' Wind, Squeezing Out Sparks and to a lesser extent Heat Treatment are great albums.

Now that it's all online somewhere, if ye be starting the maiden voyage, try Howlin Wind, and proceed chronologically 'til sick of it, but know that after the first 2-4 albums at least, it's cherrypickin' time all the time.
However, that's studio---live can be a different matter: if you can stand the original ten-track Squeezing Out Sparks at all, or maybe even if you can't, look for Live Sparks, which was originally promo-only, but very eventually (mid-90s) released on CD w the studio original. Worth hearing that whole disc for comparison, although Amazon for one lists even used copies for $19.99. Anyway, the live also has his kiss-off to label, "Mercury Poisoning" and a cover of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back"(would not have guessed he'd pick that one).
And YouTube may well have his late 70s set w the Rumour on Soundstage, the old Chicago PBS show--no interviews, no patter, nothing but the music under hot lights for like 50 minutes, as I dimly recall (if I can remember it at all, and supposedly I can, must have been pretty damn good, though he made it look like all in a day's work, pretty cool).
GP *live* with the Rumour, can't go too wrong with that.

That Rhino anthology is a solid collection, but yeah, a lot of his later work wasn't so hot. Howlin' Wind, Squeezing Out Sparks and to a lesser extent Heat Treatment are great albums.

I took a listen to the Rhino collection again. The first disc is impeccable - nearly all of the highlights from Howlin' Wind, Heat Treatment and Squeezing Out Sparks are on that first disc, as are the original single recordings of "Mercury Poisoning" and "I Want You Back (Alive)." Pretty much everything is awesome.

The second disc is a good listen for the first 20 or 30 minutes, but it gets a LOT worse, so much that it was tough finishing the disc. I didn't look at the booklet until I was close to the end, but it's pretty stunning how mediocre those last few albums were when you look at his collaborators - not just key members from the Rumour but Rockpile, Elvis Costello's Attractions (Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas) and even Garth Hudson of the Band. To be fair, they're not awful but the songs are. They still sound like Graham Parker songs, but it's like everything that made him so great and enjoyable had evaporated. It really sounds like a hollow shell of what Parker used to be like.