My first boyfriend was super into Graham Parker, and basically introduced me to his music. He was a constant in our (super unhappy and stressful) “household”. It was my brother, though, as always, who contextualized Parker for me, who got into Parker in an intellectual way, a let’s-break-it-down way, because when you are obsessed with something, you want to know why, you want to find the words.
In 2019-2020, I posted my brother Brendan’s music essays from his old blogs. It started with his 50 Best Albums list. I’d post one entry every Monday. #4 on his very interesting list was Graham Parker’s 1979 album Squeezing Out Sparks. (Those words always make me wince, considering what they mean in the context of the song of the same name.)
And so I’d love to share my brother’s words on the subject of Graham Parker, the man and this album in particular.
Parker is one of the main singers on one of my favorite albums, From a Window: The Lost Songs of Lennon and McCartney. It’s a compilation of the songs that John and Paul wrote for other artists in the early days of the Beatles’ success. These versions allow us to hear the more complex and mature emotions that were always there underneath the seemingly naive surface of these songs. Parker’s interpretations of “Bad to Me” and “From a Window” are two of the album’s highlights of the album.
Bill – wow, this sounds absolutely fantastic – why dont I know about this album??
You can download the album here:
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Songs-Lennon-Mccartney-Window/dp/B0000DD993/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=From+a+Window%3A+The+Lost+Songs+of+Lennon+and+McCartney&qid=1637982161&qsid=135-8737204-7197318&s=music&sr=1-2&sres=B0028OXL2A%2CB0000DD993&srpt=ABIS_BOOK
Thanks!