Friends of Bob live music co-op March 2009 Newsletter
A Don't-miss Concert With
Graham Parker
If you are not familiar with Graham Parker, dear reader, please trust us that this will be an extraordinary concert. Brilliant songwriting, superb singing, and a powerful evening are assured. Though Parker has not enjoyed the giddy heights of celebrity status, he has an astounding body of songs and recordings that make him a certifiable legend. Parker has a place in the pantheon of rock's most accomplished and original creators.
Reminiscent of a range of arch rock and rollers—Van Morrison, Sam Cook, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones—Parker was a blueprint for artists like Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson.
As well as catchy hooks and indelible melodies, Parker's literate, razor-sharp lyrics are astonishing for their catchiness and intelligence. His songcraft shows a reverence for American rhythm and blues, country, and soul, though his career was launched during the early days of British new wave and punk and his energy level and occasional sneer reflect that. Like some other artists that FoB has presented (Louden Wainwright, let's say, or Steve Forbert) lyric writers as good as Parker, sometimes get doomed with "the new Dylan" label that is meant as praise but somehow backfires.
His song catalog is amazing. Parker's Squeezing Out Sparks album is oft included in people's lists of the best albums ever made. Parker has produced at least a dozen albums that rate 4- or 5-star reviews and his most recent release Don't Tell Columbus has Parker at the top of his game.
This is an opportunity to see a great artist in a swelligant little venue. And what a bargain! If you go to see Parker in Chicago the night before he plays Lafayette, you'll be paying $30.
Opening the concert will be the highly entertaining Scott Ligon, who appeared with Kelly Hogan at a FoB show a few years back, and Scott is bringing his pal Casey McDonough with him. These days Scott is also playing guitar in Terry Adams’ (NRBQ) band.
Friends of Bob live music co-op presents
Friday, April 3
Bloodshot Records recording artist
Graham Parker
+ Scott Ligon & Casey McDonough
Duncan Hall, 619 Ferry St., Lafayette
8:00 p.m. (doors 7:30)
Tickets: $12 (advance); $14 (day of show) from Von’s Records, JL Records, and McGuire Music.
Advance tickets by mail are $14. Send your check to:
Friends of Bob, PO Box 59, Battle Ground, IN 47920
Please provide your name, address, phone #, and e-mail address.
Please help us publicize this concert by downloading a poster from our website:
Please Do the Dues!!! Membership dues are by the calendar year—2009 dues are due! Your donations are crucial!!! Dues pay for this newsletter and provide a safety net for when admission charges don’t cover expenses. Please help us keep the music coming. Become a Friend of Bob! Dues are $10 per person. If you can make a donation above the $10 we would greatly appreciate it, and since we are a 501[c][3] not-for-profit organization, donations above the dues are tax-deductible and really assist us HUGELY in what we're trying to do.
A big thanks to the South Street Smokehouse for donating the food for our Rebirth Brass Band show in February. And thank you, Cindy Eberts, for your donation that covered the cost of the party favors we gave out that night.
Graham Parker
Arriving on the mid-'70s London scene as a rough'n'ready product of the pub-rock era — an R&B- loving Nick Lowe with a sharper, more ambitious pen, as it were — Parker predated Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, both of whom would second his illustration that the singer/songwriter idiom could be recharged, giving intelligent rock fans an excitable and energetic alternative to (slightly) older guardsmen like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Randy Newman and Van Morrison. Produced by Nick Lowe, Howlin Wind is a classic debut album, full of fine ideas fleshed out with ragged enthusiasm. Parker acknowledges his roots throughout, singing original R&B boppers ("White Honey" and "Lady Doctor") with sly wit and masterfully reconstructing rockabilly on the angry "Back to Schooldays," complete with guest twangin' by Dave Edmunds (who later recorded the song himself on Get It). Evidencing an equally powerful sensitive side, Parker checks in with the reflective "Between You and Me" and "Don't Ask Me Questions," the latter a chilling wail of anguish. trouserpress.com
Graham Parker's softer side:
The once angry young man has mellowed, but his passion for songwriting blazes on
British singer Graham Parker is fond of saying, ''I don't complain, I merely describe reality." He's described a lot of it in his music through the years -- taking shots at corporate drones, political hypocrisy, MTV, bogus celebrities, and even a former record label that he didn't feel sufficiently promoted his albums.
Today, though, Parker is less the angry young man than he is a wise sage who lives with his family in the country near Woodstock, N.Y. He professes to seek balance, not confrontation.
''Well, other people can be [angry] for me now," says Parker, 54, who plays a First Night show at the Orpheum Theatre tonight. ''There are still a few things that might pop out in songs, but they have a more fun edge to them rather than being deadly serious. I always think I've had a fun, mocking kind of tone--a lot of the time anyway. "
Parker may not be a household name in rock 'n' roll, but he should be. He burst out of the English pub-rock scene in the mid-'70s with two well-regarded albums, ''Howlin' Wind" and ''Heat Treatment," which led to ''Squeezing Out Sparks," a 1979 disc that won Parker (and his band the Rumour) the Village Voice's poll for album of the year.
Parker has gone through ups and downs ever since, but he's been on a prolific writing roll in the new millennium -- particularly on the literary side, having released two books since 2000, one a short story collection called ''Carp Fishing on Valium," the other a novel entitled ''The Other Life of Brian," about a one-hit wonder in the pop business.
He prefers music, though. ''Music is more immediate," he says. ''It's not something I'm willing to stop doing at the moment in order to concentrate on [book] writing. The music is more successful for me. And I don't have the patience to just be [an author]."Boston Globe
From reviews of Parker’s Don’t Tell Columbus (2007) CD
"Columbus" offers the best of Parker, and considering his body of work includes "Squeezing Out Sparks," "Howlin' Wind" and "The Up Escalator," that is saying something. -- Dave Ruden, The Advocate
Parker is in full smartass mode on these songs, the band is having a rambunctious good time, and Don't Tell Columbus is a very early contender for Album of the Year -- Andy Whitman, Paste Magazine
The best thing Graham Parker's done since his 1970s heyday. -- Roger Holland, PopMatters
"Don't Tell Columbus," is his best release in a dozen years. -- Geoffrey Himes, Washington Post
Sunday, April 26, 7:00
Richie Havens + Harry Manx,
University Church
Possessed with a signature, awe-inspiring, craggy, soulful voice and a similarly distinct open-tuned guitar strum, Richie Havens is an iconic figure in modern music, his 3-hour opening set at Woodstock setting the tone for that festival. Canadian Harry Manx plays guitar, harmonica, and banjo fusing traditional blues with Indian rajas.
Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society, 3/29, Mariah Wind Quartet
Duncan Hall 3:00
Lafayette Brewing Company: 3/19 Wayne Hancock; 3/4 JB Beverley; 4/20 The Slackers
Membership info at How Can I Help?--
Come to our shows and great music will keep on coming!!!
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