A bridge of sorts between the faded pub rock scene and the about-to-emerge punk explosion, Graham Parker’s debut album “Howlin’ Wind” was an extraordinary debut, which saw the singer/songwriter lauded at the time. Sounding like an angry young Van Morrison and bolstered by the remnants of pub rockers Brinsley Schwarz and Ducks Deluxe, now named The Rumour, Parker had been preparing for his debut for ten years, working various jobs and honing his guitar playing and songwriting skills.
That back story is extensively recounted in Jay Nachman’s book which recounts Parker’s life up until the recording of the album – his “factory fodder” schooling, the dead end jobs, and a hippie trip to Morocco – alongside his enduring love of the popular music of the day from the early Stones and Beatles through the British blues boom, psychedelia and soul music. Parker picked up a guitar aged 12 and was composing songs and occasionally performing from his mid-teens, both solo and as part of various band line-ups, and he sent tapes of his songs to various publishers (and John Peel) to no avail until he was introduced to Dave Robinson. Robinson had extensive experience of the music scene, having been road manager for Hendrix, manager of Brinsley Schwarz and others, and was to become a co-founder of Stiff Records. Ever astute, Robinson saw Parker’s potential and took him under his wing, introducing him to the scene and the musicians who would become The Rumour.
Alongside Parker’s story, Nachman delves into the background of the musicians who eventually formed The Rumour. There is a lengthy chapter on the history of Brinsley Schwarz (the band and the man), who provided two of The Rumours’ members – Schwarz and Bob Andrews, while Ducks Deluxe (Martin Belmont) and Bontemps Roulez (Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding) are given brief accounts. The history ends with chapters on the recording of “Howlin’ Wind”, its reception and legacy. Finally, there is a song-by-song description and discussion which benefits greatly from Parker’s participation and which definitely invites the reader to listen to the album with fresh ears.
With extensive input from Parker and members of The Rumour, Nachman makes a good case for considering “Howlin’ Wind” a great album, as he notes in the legacy chapter, “both timeless and of its time.” He is enthusiastic, writing primarily as a fan; the one complaint really is that, at times, he is overenthusiastic and way too fond of lists. In his introduction, he mentions his favourite music in 1977, fair enough, but he takes a page to list over 50 songs or albums (alongside the artists) which he loved back then. Similarly, when he mentions that Brinsley Schwarz played in various festivals (the second Glastonbury in 1971, Bickershaw in 1972), he goes on to list all the other bands who played. A minor quibble, really, as the book paints quite a vivid portrait of Parker as the up-and-coming struggling young artist he was.
