I don't venture too much into the past, but during the Christmas break, there a few archive albums that are gonna appear here, just whilst people have hidden their wallets away from the new. Included will be the long awaited Ness feature which is a big 'un and another Sparks reissue.
Before that, I was pleasantly surprised to find this, released this year. It is very much a part of Parker's formative years, with the previously released That's When You Know Acoustic Demos. Graham Parker writes about these demos here, much better than I could.
As the noted "Angry Young Man", there is much less of that here, although you can hear the early stirrings of that on the likes of I've Got My Soul and Time Bomb Blues. I also remember Parker saying he was surprised that The Rumour were from a Pub Rock background. I'm sure that they might be surprised at hearing something like this album.
Largely well recorded, in a singer songwriter with his Guitar setting, the songs are really rather good. There's a very early 70s vibe to the material, at times a little bit Folk, at other times a nod to the American examples of the genre that were very much in vogue over here.
The Howling Wind debut was obviously very different, certainly Rumoured Up, but there is plenty here to like and the song writing is really good if very different to what was to come. Parker is an obvious talent in the making.
As a side issue, I'm always intrigued at how Graham Parker divides opinion. The Vertigo Years in particular reveal a top notch artist with a wonderful live reputation. Elvis Costello fans in particular seem to have him down as a copy when Parker's material leant far more on Soul.
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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