Albums of My Life - 1976 - Graham Parker - "Howlin ' Wind"

by Steve Pick

I started listening to FM radio in 1976, and in St. Louis, that usually meant KSHE, the rock station which dominated the local market to a degree unimaginable to those who didn't live through it. At that time, if you were under 25 years old, and you didn't wear a KSHE pig shirt, you were looked on with the same suspicion John Birch Society members viewed Hollywood actors and union leaders. You were not "one of us."

Well, I listened to KSHE, though the contrarian in me listened to rival KADI even more. My point here is I know I heard "Don't Ask Me Questions" fairly often on the radio in 1976, and I really want it to have been on the biggest station at the time, but I can't swear to it. I wasn't yet reading rock journalism, wasn't at all aware of what was bubbling up in England and New York. I do remember loving "Breakdown" by Tom Petty and "Don't Ask Me Questions" more than anything by Journey or Styx, though not so much more that I was ready to renounce the latter.

Now, I can't imagine not realizing "Don't Ask Me Questions" is a Bob Marley homage, but then, I wasn't hearing reggae as anything unusual. This was the way this song sounded (as I mentioned a few posts back when writing about Jimmy Cliff's The Harder They Come). And, as much as I enjoyed the song on the radio, I don't think I even considered looking for the album in stores - I certainly had no idea this Graham Parker guy had such short hair.

Eventually, of course, I shifted gears and formally aligned myself with the New Wave and Punk Rock movements. Graham Parker wasn't actually part of these, but he was on the periphery, and I grabbed all of his albums as fast as I could (easy in those days, as most of them seemed to be sitting in the cut-out bins ripe for the picking). Here was a guy with short hair, short songs, short guitar solos, and more hooks than you could hang Heidi Klum's clothes on. I played his first four studio albums to death back in the day.

Howlin' Wind is album number one (and actually, the second record, Heat Treatment, also appeared in 1976, and comes close enough to this one that I briefly considered covering the both of them as if they were a double LP). Now, I can hear the heavy Van Morrison influence which colors this record - Parker doesn't have the deep sonority of Morrison's voice, but he nicks some arrangement ideas, especially on "Gypsy Blood" and "You've Got to Be Kidding." And, having heard enough live renditions of many of these songs over the years, either in concert or on live records, the album seems a little more sedate than I remember it.

But, my goodness, it's still a great one - song for song, Howlin' Wind remains one of the most impressive debuts of any songwriter I've ever heard. Parker's skills are not necessarily in crafting complex melodies, but my goodness, he knows how to pack a punch in the chorus. Short verses, clever guitar or keyboard or horn hooks, and the catchiest, most singable choruses to come from one mind - that's the formula established here, which Parker has mixed together again and again for 33 years. I'm not saying he's ever matched his first four records, but he's never fallen so far away from those standards that you don't want to keep hearing him.

The backing by the Rumour deserves to be mentioned, as well. I saw these guys with Parker in 1979, and again with Garland Jeffreys a few years later (though keyboardist Bob Andrews had left by then), and there has rarely been a more talented and intense ensemble. You can hear the beginnings of their sound develop here - Brinsley Schwarz would step more clearly to the forefront on guitar later, and Martin Belmont would develop a rounder, deeper rhythmic approach. But already, they were in synch with Parker's songs, working the dynamics which such a repetitious style required.

Graham Parker wasn't revolutionary, a la the Ramones, whose debut album deserved consideration for representing 1976, but which was ultimately a little too cartoony, and a little less than perfect even in regards to their own role in music - the next two albums would do that. He was obviously a record collector who wanted to mix the soul, blues, rock, reggae, and country he had heard into a new and vibrant creation of his own. Still, for a conservative take on rock'n'roll, Howlin' Wind remains one of the most exciting and inventive records I know.