{"id":26055,"date":"2023-09-14T05:30:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T09:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=26055"},"modified":"2023-09-14T09:41:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T13:41:38","slug":"album-review-graham-parker-and-the-goldtops-last-chance-to-learn-the-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/14\/album-review-graham-parker-and-the-goldtops-last-chance-to-learn-the-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Graham Parker and the Goldtops — Last Chance to Learn the Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Across his nearly 50 years as a recording history, Graham Parker<\/a> has had it both ways: he\u2019s made fiery, passionate, rocking music, and he\u2019s delivered subtle, stripped-down solo\/acoustic work. But he\u2019s always done things his way, and that independent creative streak is the thread that runs through his vast and superb body of work.<\/p>\n

Parker\u2019s commercial peak came decades ago with albums like Squeezing Out Sparks<\/em>, but he\u2019s remained an articulate and highly compelling artist in the years since. Underscoring that fact is the release of a new collection of original songs, Last Chance to Learn the Twist<\/i>. The first fruits of a new deal with Big Stir Records, the album is as thrilling, vital and \u2013 most of all \u2013 real<\/em> as anything in Parker\u2019s catalog. The hypnotic opener \u201cThe Music of the Devil\u201d takes a simple musical and lyrical phrases and runs with it, drawing the listener in to Parker\u2019s world. He shifts gears completely for \u201cGrand Scheme of Things,\u201d a tune that has its roots in early rock styles, with a bit of classic country to boot. But it\u2019s a testament to Parker\u2019s artistry that he\u2019s every bit at home with whatever musical style he chooses to wrap his always-thoughtful lyrics.<\/p>\n

The yearning \u201cSun Valley\u201d is soulful in the extreme, and features some tasty guitar soloing from longtime associate Martin Belmont. The song is equal parts contemporary and classic; not at all dated-sounding, it could have fit seamlessly on any of his \u201870s or \u201880s records. It\u2019s back to timeless c&w for \u201cIt Mattered to Me,\u201d a weeper in the grand tradition. The wonderful horn charts on \u201cWicked Wit\u201d recall his use of brass on his albums of many years ago, too. And Parker\u2019s in fine voice; at age 72 he sounds as vital as he did when singing \u201cWhite Honey\u201d all those years ago. And that voice \u2013 distinctive as it is, perfect for the music.<\/p>\n

Parker explores a variety of musical textures on Last Chance to Learn the Twist<\/i>. Album title aside, country informs a great deal of the record. Songs like the cinematic southwestern sweep of \u201cPablo\u2019s Hippos,\u201d the high lonesome \u201cCannabis,\u201d and the doot-doot singalong of \u201cShorthand\u201d all have a Nashville feel; the last-named cut features some delightfully subtle Floyd Cramer-style piano work from Geraint Watkins.<\/p>\n

But the spare rock-soul of \u201cLost Track of Time\u201d underscores the fact that Parker\u2019s muse is never confined to one genre; his musical palette has countless colors. The strangest tune on the set is \u201cThem Bugs,\u201d a tune wholly unlike anything in Parker\u2019s catalog (unless you include \u201cHey Lord, Don\u2019t Ask Me Questions\u201d). The record ends with a swinging slice of retro, \u201cSince You Left Me Baby.\u201d Everything about the song \u2013 from its title on down \u2013 suggests it\u2019s a cover of a tune from the \u201850s<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not: it\u2019s an original. Just like Graham Parker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Across his nearly 50 years as a recording history, Graham Parker has had it both ways: he\u2019s made fiery, passionate, rocking music, and he\u2019s delivered subtle, stripped-down solo\/acoustic work. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,20,49,58,60,62,63,65,69],"tags":[931],"class_list":["post-26055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alt-country","category-country","category-new-release","category-pub-rock","category-rb","category-rawk","category-reggae","category-review","category-soul","tag-graham-parker","cat-4-id","cat-20-id","cat-49-id","cat-58-id","cat-60-id","cat-62-id","cat-63-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26055"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26062,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26055\/revisions\/26062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}