|
I remember when I first started telling all my country music
loving buddies about Graham Parker and they all thought
I was talking about Graham Parsons and how could he have
a new record out since he'd been deceased for more than a decade?
Well, I wasn't talking about the Fallen Angel at all, but about
a great songwriter in his own right, a man that sings as straight
and true as any man ever has and writes some of the finest songs
this side of the Atlantic Ocean. I'm talking about Graham Parker,
and here's why…
Graham Parker started his career as a rocker, bridging the gap
between the wild literacy of Warren Zevon and the pure
rock'n'roll greatness of the likes of Elvis Costello. His
music has spanned more than three decades and he has been a tremendous
influence in the music of many others, while he has continued
to evolve his own sound. Parker's last few records have slowly
been building into a more alt. country/folkish sound, and on Don't
Tell Columbus Parker has built his sound into the same kind
of rootsy Americana more closely associated with the likes of
John Hiatt. The title track is all tweedish clean guitars
and lightly bouncing rhythms accompanying a righteously sophisticated
veiled tale about America. Much of Don't Tell Columbus
is focused on telling about the baseline of America and Parker's
dislike of the current state of political affairs in this country.
Some of the anti-regime rhetoric is somewhat thinly veiled, as
in "England's Latest Clown", while other sentiments
ring deep and true.
That being said, and myself not being one to get too political
about music, Don't Tell Columbus is a fantastic record
for those that dig the rootsy work of the aforementioned Hiatt,
or the tongue-in-cheek meanness of folkies like John Prine.
"Ambiguous" is a catchy acoustic number with a nice
swing that almost hides the biting lyrical content, while "The
Other Side Of The Reservoir" is a slow dirgey ballad as rich
and beautiful as any music ever made, recalling the slower moments
of Springsteen. "Total Eclipse Of The Moon" throws
back a bit to Parker's earlier jangle-pop days with some fine
melodies and the kind of amazingly literate wordplay that has
made the man a favorite among his peers. By the time the record
hits "Stick To The Plan" the realization hits that Parker
draws much of his own influence from Bob Dylan, and then
the further realization that almost all of the great songwriters
of modern roots music draw more heavily from Dylan than anything
else. Hmm….
With his current leanings towards Americana, Graham Parker
is appealing more and more to the aging rockers, as well as
to the current crowd of alt. country folk. His music runs the
gamut from slow and beautiful to poppy and a bit rockish while
maintaining his brilliant lyricism and ability to tell stories
or make commentary on current affairs. Parker may be best known
for his older material when he was a smaller fish in a much
smaller pond, but his newer songs outshine his previous works
and put him on par with some of today's master storytellers.
-Embo Blake
Track Listing:
1. I Discovered America
2. England's Latest Clown
3. Ambiguous
4. The Other Side Of The Reservoir
5. Suspension Bridge
6. Love Or Delusion
7. Total Eclipse Of The Moon
8. Stick To The Plan
9. Somebody Saved Me
10. Hard Side Of The Rain
11. Bullet Of Redemption
12. All Being Well
Check out
more reviews
 Talk
Back
e-mail the chief
Like this article?
e-mail
it to a friend!
|
Graham
Parker 
