For nearly 30 years, England's Graham Parker has been admired across continents by a die-hard
fanbase of music lovers and critics alike. With consistently successful albums, GP has held
onto his reputation as one of England's greatest singer-songwriters.
Gifted with a soulman's swagger and a raspy throat, GP specializes in all that music has to
offer -from blistering rock to passionate pop to straight-forward R&B and more. GP's
acclaimed career has produced albums that have traversed all musical terrain, but none could
be called "country" like his latest offering. Your Country, GP's first album since 2001's
Deepcut to Nowhere - his first in 3 three years and first release for Bloodshot Records (home
to Neko Case, Ryan Adams, Waco Brothers and more) - is a warm and melodic masterpiece, fit to
be called his best album yet.
Even after countless television appearances (including "The Tonight Show," "The Late Show
with David Letterman," "Regis and Kathy Lee," and more!), immeasurable critical recognition
(featured in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time), and a heap of major labels recordings,
GP isn't showing signs of slowing down.
And now, more from the man himself...
"I'm Gonna Use It Now," the b-side of my first single, could easily have worked on Your Country.
Both "Cheap Chipped Black Nails" and "Last Stop Is Nowhere" from my 2001 release, Deepcut To
Nowhere would not have been out of place, either. The country influence has always been there - I
merely decided to lean on it heavily for this latest recording. It started in 1972 when I first
heard Neil Young's Harvest.
The clunky slide guitar and piano work, courtesy of Jack Nitzsche (a man I would later employ to
produce Squeezing Out Sparks), the disarming simplicity of the title tracks' bass line (which I
have borrowed wholesale for "Things I've Never Said"), and the keening lonesomeness of Neil's
voice had the effect of pulling me right out of the psychedelic trance I was in and putting my
feet back firmly on the ground, ready to write songs that could go from Motown to Nashville
without missing a beat.
And over the years, from "Sweet Virginia" to "Dead Flowers" the Stones have showed me that
country music is just the blues anyway. Throw in Tammy Wynette's hit single "Stand By Your Man"
and Charlie Rich's Behind Closed Doors, and country became totally assimilated into my early
writing style. (If you listen closely to "Anything For A Laugh," you'll find the recurring
ascending bass/piano riff from Tammy's epic tune snuck into the guitar part on the chorus.)
I can't claim to be able to identify the music of classic artists with surnames Tubb, Williams,
Haggard or Jones, and I'm still fairly sure that I have never even heard Gram Parsons, but I
know what country music is, or at least ought to be, and I've just made an album full of it.
For extensive archived info, including reviews, interviews and lyrics, be sure to
visit
www.grahamparker.net!
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