There is a new Graham Parker record out.
Billed as Graham Parker & The Goldtops, "Last Chance To Learn The Twist" features Martin Belmont on guitar and Geraint Watkins on keyboards and it is the first GP record in a very long time that really stuck to my bones.
It's an understated affair, and yet just about all the songs harken back to
the salad days with The Rumour. Parker and The Goldtops try their hand at some Louisiana swamp pop on "Grand Scheme of Things," a bit of Memphis soul on "Sun Valley" and of course some good ol' pub rock on "Wicked Wit." With the exception of the reggae novelty of "Them Bugs," there really isn't a clam on "Last Chance To Learn The Twist." This is an excellent addition to a long, respected career.
15 comments:
I never got much into Graham, but I really liked all 3 of these songs, so I'll check this one out!
nice sound. The Rumour, indeed.
Didn't weigh in on the Stones comments back a day or two (I've struggled with their stuff aside from the Jimmy Miller years), but GP's 'Lost Track of Time' brings home to me how the Stones need to sound to be where I'd like them to be. 'Angry' has a fine enough riff, but 'Lost Track of Time' has the grit that I haven't heard out of Stones in a loooooooong time.
C in California
Shriner get 2 work. Squeezing out Sparks on any respected real music record store geek fanboy's desert island disk top 25
A little like listening to a prime J Geils record in my yute. Feels good in the bones.
Not on the turntable yet but only a matter of time; GP or GP & The Rumour are a treasure to be cherished with many gems to be savoured from a very impressive long catalogue. Those original pressings of Howlin‘ Wind & Heat Treatment plus The Marble Arch still blast from The RTR Turntable today. In between are classics by any standard like ‚Squeezing Out Sparks‘ and ‚The Mona Lisa‘s Sister‘. There are also a couple of damn fine CD Boxes with hours of quality music. In case you missed it the last Goldtops ‚Five Old Souls‘ is worthy of attention. Have a nice weekend
Dave - RTR
These songs sound really good - kinda like Howlin' Wind. I've always been a big Graham fan but have lost track of him in recent years, much in the same way as Matthew Sweet and Richard Thompson. Looking forward to hearing the rest.
Agree mostly with C In Cal. about the Stones - I dig the new track, it would sound even better nudged next to an acoustic blues number... but we'll see.
Randy
Saw GP and the Rumour on their reunion tour in 2012 (I think), it was a great show. The two reunion records they did were hit and miss. Which they’d done a live album from that tour.
Randy,
Matthew Sweet was on some roll--Girlfriend, Altered Beast, 100% Fun, Blue Sky On Mars--then his next six records all sound like one long song.
For what it’s worth, I’m obliged to support GP because he’s one of only two pop stars I ever looked like.(The other — yipes — was Gary Lewis.)
@sclinchy I also saw them on that tour. Excellent. The night I saw them I had to choose between GP and Grant Hart. Then I realised the venues were on the same street and the times were staggered so that I caught the whole GP show and missed half the Grant Hart show, which sadly was the last time I got to see GH. But a night of seeing two artists who, for me, are criminally undervalued. I really liked the first reunion album, but the second one just didn't take at all.
A few years back, I saw a clip on Youtube. Parker playing solo at what looked like a BBQ for a bunch of preppy students. He was playing his heart out but it felt like the audience was looking on as if someone gave grandpa a guitar. Heartbreaking.
@Sal...
That was a great run from MS but I'd also include In Reverse (even if it could have used a trim) and Kimi Ga Suki as a couple of his terrific albums.
What Spinster said. I still believe that one of the greatest cover songs is Parker's version of the Jackson 5 nugget, ABC.
That J5 cover was I Want You Back. During that early career 4 to 5 year run Graham could do no wrong. Also the Pink Parker ep with Hold Back The Night. Even the single Mercury Poisoning slamming his label was fantastic. Check out the official live bootleg Marble Arch. Just wonderful stuff.
Spinster
Finally got around to listening to the full album. I like it quite a bit. Good songs, great playing. And Graham is in fine voice.
Bill
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