Graham Parker

从某种程度上说，70年代早期出现于英国的酒吧摇滚与传统旧式摇滚并没有多大的区别，因为它也是由许多演奏摇滚乐，乡村摇滚乐和蓝掉摇滚乐的乐队组成的。但是，酒吧摇滚乐与传统摇滚乐间仍存不同之处，突出体现在音乐表达上。酒吧摇滚是一种轻松随意不拘一格的音乐风格----这也是众多演奏者着重想要表现的特性。具有代表性的酒吧摇滚乐队----Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe, Bees Make Honey, Ace, Dr. Feelgood----都有各自不同的音乐背景，包括民谣摇滚，蓝调，乡村摇滚和传统摇滚。与在英国有广泛影响的迷幻摇滚，重摇滚，和前卫摇滚相比，具有多元化特点的酒吧摇滚是一种完全不同的音乐风格。因此，该风格的乐队很难找到演出的机会，他们只好在英国的隐秘的地下酒吧演出，以次创造自己公演的空间。不久，反传统主义浪潮及其处于巅峰时期的回归式摇滚成为酒吧摇滚乐爱好重整旗鼓的极佳推动力。尽管没有哪一只该风格乐队取得过很大的成功，可是他们我行我素的态度和不带矫饰的音乐----包括酒吧音乐独具创造性的演奏场所----为日后朋克摇滚的产生和发展铺平了道路。后来，许多酒吧摇滚乐队----如Brinsley Schwarzs Nick Lowe, the 101ers Joe Strummer, Flip Citys Elvis Costello, Kilburn & the High Roads Ian Dury and Graham Parker----在70年代中期第一次朋克摇滚浪潮退去后成为新生朋克摇滚的代表。
Graham Parker，这个已经摇滚了将近30年的英国男人，如今已经彻底把他的朋克精神献给了他所忠爱的美式R&B和乡村民谣，你可以说他是个守旧的Pub歌手，没有更多的惊喜，但又抵抗不住沉迷于他手下柔韧清亮的旋律，从痛烈的摇滚到寂寞哀伤的民谣呈现着Graham人到中年的异想天开和沉思。
 
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stereotyped early in his career as the quintessential angry young man, Graham Parker was one of the most successful singer/songwriters to emerge from Englands pub rock scene of the early 70s. Drawing heavily from Van Morrison and the Rolling Stones, Parker developed a sinewy fusion of driving rock & roll and confessional folk-rock, highlighted by his indignant passion, biting sarcasm, and bristling anger. At the outset of his career, his albums crackled with pub rock energy, snide witticisms, and gentle insights, earning him a devoted following of fans and critics, who lavished praise on his debut, Howlin Wind. Despite all of the positive word of mouth, Parker never managed to become a star, and he was soon overshadowed by the emergence of Elvis Costello, a singer/songwriter who shared similar roots. After delivering Squeezing Out Sparks in 1979, Parker attempted to make a few crossover albums before settling into a cult following in the late 80s, continuing to garner critical acclaim.
After spending much of his early adulthood working odd jobs, ranging from breeding mice and guinea pigs to working at a gas station, Parker began seriously pursuing a musical career in 1975. Until that time, he had played in a number of obscure pub rock groups, including a cover band that had spent time playing in Morocco and Gibraltar. But it wasnt until 1975 that he began shopping his demos. That year, Dave Robinson, one of the co-founders of the new independent label Stiff, heard one of Parkers demo tapes and encouraged the songwriter, helping him assemble a backing band called the Rumour. Robinson rounded up several stars of the pub rock scene — guitarist Brinsley Schwarz and keyboardist Bob Andrews, both formerly of the leading pub rockers Brinsley Schwarz, former Ducks Deluxe guitarist Martin Belmont, former Bontemps Roulez drummer Steve Goulding, and bassist Andrew Bodnar — to form the Rumour, and the band was soon supporting Parker on the dying pub rock scene. With the assistance of DJ Charlie Gillett, the group landed a record contract with Mercury by the end of 1975.
Graham Parker & the Rumour headed into the studio to cut their debut album with producer Nick Lowe, who gave the resulting record, Howlin Wind, an appealingly ragged edge. Howlin Wind was greeted with enthusiastic reviews upon its summer release, as did the similar Heat Treatment, which followed in the fall. Despite the positive press, Parker was growing frustrated with Mercury, believing that the company was not properly promoting and distributing his records. His third album, Stick to Me, had to be re-recorded quickly after the original tapes were discovered to be defective prior to its scheduled release. As a result, Stick to Me received mixed reviews upon its fall 1977 release, which derailed Parkers momentum slightly. Furthermore, Elvis Costello, a fellow pub rock survivor who not only possessed a more pop-oriented style of songwriting, but also a more dangerous persona, soon eclipsed Parker in popularity. Frustrated by his career hitting a standstill, Parker released the live double album The Parkerilla in the summer of 1978 in order to get out of his contract. Following a short but intense bidding war, he quickly signed to Arista Records, where he released Mercury Poisoning — a blistering attack on his former record label — as the B-side of a promotional single as his first record for the label.
Squeezing Out Sparks, Parkers first album for Arista, put a halt to that decline. Sporting a slicker, new wave-oriented production — it was the first of his records not to have any involvement from Nick Lowe — the album was greeted with terrific reviews and, on the strengths of radio hits like Local Girls, it became his most successful album, reaching number 40 on the American charts and selling over 200,000 copies. Parker was poised for a major breakthrough, but that didnt happen. He followed Squeezing Out Sparks in 1980 with the Jimmy Iovine-produced The Up Escalator, which was considerably slicker than its predecessor. The Up Escalator didnt sell, and Parker decided to ditch the Rumour, who had already begun a solo career. For 1982s Another Grey Area, he hired producer Jack Douglas and a team of session musicians, resulting in a radio-ready production that received mixed reviews, yet managed to peak at number 51. The Real Macaw, which followed in 1983, suffered a similar fate. For 1985s Steady Nerves, Parker moved to Elektra Records and formed a backing band called the Shot with guitarist Brinsley Schwarz, who helped him deliver his most radio-ready collection. This time, the pop move paid off. Wake Up (Next to You) became his only Top 40 hit, and the album stayed on the charts for nearly as long as Squeezing Out Sparks.
Despite his moderate commercial success with Steady Nerves, the album wasnt widely praised, and he also ran into trouble with Elektra, leaving the label after just one record. He briefly moved to Atlantic, which dropped him without releasing a single record. Consequently, Parker wasnt able to deliver another album until 1988, when he signed with RCA and released The Mona Lisas Sister in the spring. Hailed as a comeback by several critics upon its release, the album generated a college radio hit with Get Started (Start a Fire) and spent 19 weeks on the charts. Instead of being the beginning of a comeback, the album turned out to be a last gasp — it was the last time Parker was able to crack the Top 100. Live! Alone in America (1989) received positive reviews but was ignored, and 1990s mild worldbeat experiment Human Soul received mixed reviews and peaked at number 165 on the charts. Parkers final album for RCA — and his last album to chart — was the stripped-down Struck By Lightning (1991), and while it was critically praised, it didnt find an audience outside of his cult. The following year, he switched to Capitol and released Burning Questions, which was ignored.
Following the release of 1993s double-disc anthology Passion Is No Ordinary Word, Parker made the leap to independent labels — he had spent time at all but one of the major labels (Columbia/Sony) with little success. In 1994, he released the Christmas Cracker EP on Dakota Arts, and then he signed with Razor & Tie, where he released 12 Haunted Episodes in the spring. Like The Mona Lisas Sister and Struck By Lightning before it, 12 Haunted Episodes was hailed as a comeback, and it sold in respectable numbers for an indie release. Parker followed it with two albums in 1996, Live from New York, NY and Acid Bubblegum, which appeared within two months of each other late in the summer. Early in 1997, he released yet another live album, the double-disc The Last Rock N Roll Tour, which was recorded with the power pop quartet the Figgs. Parker continued to issue a steady stream of archive and live releases into the mid-2000s, and moved into singer/songwriter mode for the albums Deepcut to Nowhere and Your Country, the latter a roots rock-influenced affair released by the Chicago-based Bloodshot Records. The Figgs were back for 2005s Songs of No Consequence, an album that Parker declared rocks like safari park chimp in pre-release publicity. Unreleased material, rare edits, and remixes were featured on Official Art Vandelay Tapes, Vol. 2, which appeared two weeks after Songs of No Consequence. Dont Tell Columbus arrived in March 2007.