Graham parker
1988-06-27
The Ritz
New York, NY
WNEW FM Broadcast
CD 1:
01. Intro
02. Don’t Let It Break You Down
03. Glass Jaw
04. Thunder And Rain
05. Passion Is No Ordinary Word
06. Break Them Down
07. Durban Poison
08. Howlin’ Wind
09. DJ > Sinkin’ Low
10. Blue Highways
11. The Girl Isn’t Ready
12. I Don’t Know
CD 2:
01. White Honey
02. Under The Mask Of Happiness
03. OK Hieronymous
04. Get Started, Start a Fire
Encores
05. DJ > Between You and Me
06. She’s A Runaway
07. Love Without Greed
08. DJ > Cupid > Chain Gang
09. Mercury Poisoning
10. Band Intro > Local Girls
Lineup:
Graham Parker - vcals, guitar
Brinsley Schwarz - guitar
Andrew Bodnar - bass
James Hallawell - keyboards
Andy Maxwell - drums
Graham Parker already had hit albums such as Squeezing Out Sparks (1979); The Up Escalator (1980), and The Real Macaw (1983) before he got another shot at the charts with The Mona Lisa’s Sister in 1988.
The second half of the ’80s also saw stripped down, credible releases from John Hiatt (Bring The Family, Slow Turning); John Mellencamp (The Lonesome Jubilee) and even Bruce Springsteen had a “minimalist” Tunnel Of Love. Perhaps leaning on the roots rock sound that was prevalent during the time - R.E.M. had Document and Green; The Replacements had Pleased To Meet Me; there were the self-titled Lone Justice album and follow-up Shelter; and Green On Red with No Free Lunch. That Graham Parker even covered The BoDeans’ She’s A Runaway showed what he was listening to.
This is what Philip Cheah wrote of The Mona Lisa’s Sister in BigO #34 (August 1988):
It’s an album that Graham Parker the songwriter and not the rocker is being pushed forward. You can tell by Parker’s raspy croon, as gentle and earnest as his cigarette-wrecked throat can oblige. It’s also his best set of lyrics since Squeezing Out Sparks.
Most of it is a reflection on the vicissitudes of fame. Back In Time is his version of Springsteen’s Glory Days, more pessimistic than the Boss could possibly be. In Parker’s view, his glory days will be remembering that “all old news is like print stains across the mind”, a direct reference to what it feels like to look at all his old news clippings…
But it’s in Success that offers Parker’s most chilling perspective of what it’s like being made to feel mediocre, the BIG theme of Mona Lisa’s Sister, the painting that was never used because the model didn’t smle. Parker’s struggle to get recorded provided him the insight that ‘You can’t be happy while/Someone else has a fistful/They glow from TV screens/Healthy strong and fiscal/And everybody slaps their/Back while you’re alone’.
Sound-wise, Parker has stepped back from his bar-room rockers. Instead his old pal, Brinsley Schwarz, and himself play tasteful guitar licks, understating rather than grandstanding. And when Parker covers Sam Cooke’s Cupid at the end of the record, he acknowledges what has kept him going all these years, since he left the pub-rock movement to join Elvis Costello in the New Wave back in ‘75, his love for great soulful music. There’s no lack of it here.
Guess old habits die hard and this gig at The Ritz (Parker was promoting the Mona Lisa album) - with its mix of bar-room rockers and crunchy roots rock tunes - is highly entertaining with Parker in jubilant form. And it’s no surprise many fans include this as one of the best Graham Parker shows being shared.
http://fp.io/de215mb3/
