Stick to me (Graham Parker) (LP 3441 - 3443)

Graham Parker  Howlin' Wind (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1976) ****  

Graham Parker & The Rumour  Stick To Me (Vinyl, Vertigo Records, 1977) *****

Graham Parker & The Rumour  Squeezing Out Sparks (Vinyl, Vertigo Records, 1979) *****

Genre: Pop, rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: White Honey (Howlin' Wind)

Gear costume: Soul Shoes (Howlin' Wind)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: I have previously written about his Pink Parker EP and mentioned how I won Stick To Me in a radio competition. We go way back!

Howlin' Wind was his debut album, and he certainly hit the ground running. White Honey is a great opening shot - that organ sound hooks me every time, and Graham's distinctive vocals are right on the money. 

The AllMusic review sums the album up well:  Howlin' Wind remains a thoroughly invigorating fusion of rock tradition, singer/songwriter skill, and punk spirit, making it one of the classic debuts of all time.

Although he's his own man, I kind of link him in my brain to Southside Johnny. Both have that great passionate blue-eyed soul sound and sympathetic backing from The Rumour and The Ashbury Dukes respectively. They differ in that Graham writes the majority of his material and his lyrics are often brilliant.

Stick To Me is my favourite GP album. Yes, partly because I won it (young Greg also won a copy), but it's instantly loveable as a set of songs. I wrote about it on my brother weblog - Destination Records.

Squeezing Out Sparks is another superb album. Somehow GP is able to channel his angry young man delivery into a consistently passionate, engaging set of songs.

Where do they all belong? That should do it, although if I happen across their second album, Heat Treatment, in a Real Groovy sale bin, I shall scoop it up.