Howlin' Wind
Encyclopedia
Howlin' Wind was the debut album by Graham Parker
and The Rumour, released in 1976 to critical acclaim. The Rumour were mainly former pub rock
scene musicians, including guitarist Brinsley Schwarz
and keyboardist Bob Andrews
of the band Brinsley Schwarz
; Parker's recent jobs included pumping gas at a filling station
. The music is blend of rock and roll
, R&B, reggae
, and folk music
, behind Parker's searingly intelligent lyrics and passionate vocals. Critics likened Parker's spirit to British punk rock
, then in its early stage, and retrospectively to that of singer-songwriters Elvis Costello
and Joe Jackson
, who would release their debut records within a few years of Howlin' Wind
Many of the album's songs became live staples for the group, especially the reggae-tinged "Don't Ask Me Questions," which dismisses a malevolent God. "Back To Schooldays" demonstrates why Parker was categorized as "angry young man" by journalists throughout his career: Parker plans retribution against an education system that promised him that "it was like a film out here" when "it's a real horror show, boys". The title track "Howlin' Wind" bracingly announces Graham Parker's career aim: "I'm gonna howl". "Between You and Me" dates from 1975, when Parker, before meeting the Rumour, recorded demo
versions of a few of his songs for Dave Robinson, future founder of Stiff Records
. These tracks were shopped to labels and played on radio
. The album's liner notes explain that "A subsequent recording of the song did not match the feel of the original ... here it is!"
Howlin' Wind was reissued in the UK
in 2001 on Vertigo/Mercury, with one bonus track.
The album finished fourth in the 1976 Village Voice critics poll of the year's best albums.
.
Graham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
and The Rumour, released in 1976 to critical acclaim. The Rumour were mainly former pub rock
Pub rock (UK)
Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...
scene musicians, including guitarist Brinsley Schwarz
Brinsley Schwarz (musician)
Brinsley Ernst Pieter Schwarz is an English guitarist and rock musician. He formed a band named Kippington Lodge in 1965, which evolved into the eponymous band Brinsley Schwarz...
and keyboardist Bob Andrews
Bob Andrews (keyboardist)
Robert Charles "Bob" Andrews is an English keyboardist and saxophonist. He played with Brinsley Schwarz and Graham Parker's backing band, The Rumour, which he left in 1980.-References:...
of the band Brinsley Schwarz
Brinsley Schwarz
Brinsley Schwarz were a 1970s English pub rock band, named after their guitarist Brinsley Schwarz. With Nick Lowe on bass and vocals, keyboardist Bob Andrews and drummer Billy Rankin, the band evolved from the 1960s pop band Kippington Lodge.-Formation:...
; Parker's recent jobs included pumping gas at a filling station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
. The music is blend of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, R&B, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, behind Parker's searingly intelligent lyrics and passionate vocals. Critics likened Parker's spirit to British punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, then in its early stage, and retrospectively to that of singer-songwriters Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
and Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
, who would release their debut records within a few years of Howlin' Wind
Many of the album's songs became live staples for the group, especially the reggae-tinged "Don't Ask Me Questions," which dismisses a malevolent God. "Back To Schooldays" demonstrates why Parker was categorized as "angry young man" by journalists throughout his career: Parker plans retribution against an education system that promised him that "it was like a film out here" when "it's a real horror show, boys". The title track "Howlin' Wind" bracingly announces Graham Parker's career aim: "I'm gonna howl". "Between You and Me" dates from 1975, when Parker, before meeting the Rumour, recorded demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
versions of a few of his songs for Dave Robinson, future founder of Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
. These tracks were shopped to labels and played on radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. The album's liner notes explain that "A subsequent recording of the song did not match the feel of the original ... here it is!"
Howlin' Wind was reissued in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 2001 on Vertigo/Mercury, with one bonus track.
The album finished fourth in the 1976 Village Voice critics poll of the year's best albums.
Track listing
All songs written by Graham ParkerGraham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
.
- "White Honey" – 3:33
- "Nothin's Gonna Pull Us Apart" – 3:21
- "Silly Thing" – 2:51
- "Gypsy Blood" – 4:37
- "Between You and Me" – 2:25
- "Back to Schooldays" – 2:54
- "Soul Shoes" – 3:13
- "Lady Doctor" – 2:50
- "You've Got to Be Kidding" – 3:30
- "Howlin' Wind" – 3:58
- "Not If It Pleases Me" – 3:12
- "Don't Ask Me Questions" – 5:38
Personnel
- Graham ParkerGraham ParkerGraham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
– vocals, acoustic guitar, Fender rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Brinsley SchwarzBrinsley Schwarz (musician)Brinsley Ernst Pieter Schwarz is an English guitarist and rock musician. He formed a band named Kippington Lodge in 1965, which evolved into the eponymous band Brinsley Schwarz...
– guitar, Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, backing vocals - Bob AndrewsBob Andrews (keyboardist)Robert Charles "Bob" Andrews is an English keyboardist and saxophonist. He played with Brinsley Schwarz and Graham Parker's backing band, The Rumour, which he left in 1980.-References:...
– Lowrey organLowrey organThe Lowrey organ is an electronic organ named after Chicago industrialist Frederick Lowrey.During the 1960s and 1970s, Lowrey was the largest manufacturer of electronic organs in the world. In 1989, the Lowrey Organ Company produced its 1,000,000th organ....
, Hammond organ, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, backing vocals - Martin BelmontMartin BelmontMartin Belmont is a rock 'n' roll and country-blues guitarist.After working as a roadie for Brinsley Schwarz, in 1972 he formed Ducks Deluxe, issuing two albums on RCA...
– guitar, backing vocals - Steve GouldingSteve GouldingSteve Goulding is an English drummer, best known for his memberships with Graham Parker and The Rumour, The Associates, Poi Dog Pondering and The Mekons. With the Associates he had a UK #9 hit single with "Party Fears Two"...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals - Andrew Bodnar – Fender bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Brass
- Stewart Lynas – brass arrangementBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
- Herschel Holder – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Dave Conners – first tenor saxTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Brinsley Schwarz – second tenor sax
- Danny EllisDanny EllisDanny Ellis is an Irish singer-songwriter.-Early life and education:Danny Ellis was born 18 July 1947 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland...
– tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - John (Viscount) Earle – saxophone
Additional personnel
- Paul Bailey – guitar on 5
- Dave Otway – drums on 5
- Paul Riley – bass guitar on 5
- Noel Brown – slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
on 6, dobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
on 11 - Dave EdmundsDave EdmundsDavid 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
– guitar on 6 - Ed Dean – slide guitar on 7
- Stewart Lynas – alto saxAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
on 7