Jay Nachman with Graham Parker and the Rumour - Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind (2025)

In over twenty years of publishing this blog Jay Nachman, author of Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind is the only person I have worked with that I've ever had the privilege of meeting in person. Working with Jay the last few years has been a pleasure. He's helped me discover some fine music - and we've become friends - but I can honestly say that I've never given a good writeup about any music, book, or live performance simply because I learned about them from him or anyone else who has ever asked me to provide them with some positive publicity for their work. So, believe me when I tell you that Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind is a book worthy of your time.

Even with all the knowledge I've acquired about pop and rock music over many decades of listening to it, and I do mean many - I still remember watching The Beatles' American debut live on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 - there are still genres and artists that I never had much exposure to. Both British pub rock and Parker are among them. I only enrolled in my Graham Parker 101 course recently, and I hope to pass the final exam.

On the other hand, Jay has been a huge Parker fan since his college days living in the dormitories at Philadelphia's Temple University in the 1970s, and his fandom of the British star has never wavered. His love inspired him to write this uncommon biography. It's unique because it doesn't tell Parker's complete story. Instead, the book begins with his childhood, education and family. It moves through his adolescence and teen years, his journeys to Guernsey and Morocco for self-discovery, and how he achieved his goal of becoming a professional musician. The book also discusses the musicians who greatly influenced him - most notably Van Morrison (as if you can't tell after listening to the record) - all with the goal of telling us how the future star arrived at writing and recording his debut album that gives this book its name.

The high-quality paperback also discusses the early careers of the musicians who became full-time members of Parker's longtime, loyal band, The Rumour, and how they came together. The easy-to-read book ends with a discussion about all twelve tracks on Howlin' Wind including Parker's writing process, his inspiration behind every song, and a full set of lyrics for each one. The book ends there.

There are interviews with each member of The Rumour. Parker's producer, Dave Robinson - who later started Stiff Records - gave his time to the author, as did members of 70s pub-rockers, Brinsley Schwarz. That wonderful but mostly forgotten quintet became very important to Parker. Two of the Brinsleys, Schwarz and the late Bob Andrews, joined The Rumour and a third former Brinsley, the great Nick Lowe, produced the album.

Jay has agreed to answer a few questions for those readers who may want to learn more. His responses and a couple of remarks from Parker himself are included below the video.

CR: There are other biographies/histories of famous musicians and bands. I'm sure Graham Parker isn't the only musician you love. Why did you choose to write about him?

JN: Graham has been a favorite musician of mine, and one of my most meaningful, since I went to college in 1977. But I never knew anything about his childhood—did he have siblings? (No). Did have music lessons? (No) How did he get into music? (Long answer)—but that is some of the information I was seeking. I was admittedly curious.

But primarily, I saw an opportunity to tell a great story about a great album that has fallen off the radar. A story that also included his background and inspirations and the stories surrounding the musicians who became his backup band, The Rumour, against a backdrop of the music scenes of the 1960s and 1970s.

CR: Parker is not a household name. There's good chance that the average classic rock fan on the street doesn't know who he is. What are you hoping to accomplish with your book?

JN: I was hoping to tell a great story, and secondarily, if I could bring some recognition to Graham and to Howlin’ Wind, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in April, I thought that would be more than a happy byproduct.

CR: Parker has often been labeled as an angry young man. Obviously, there is some venom in his songs but I believe he's much more than that. To me, he appears less angry than advertised. Is that something you agree with?

JN: I think that Graham has been unfairly tagged as an angry young man. Dylan wrote angry songs. The Rolling Stones wrote angry songs. Springsteen. Elvis Costello. The Clash. The Replacements. Isn’t that part of the spirit of rock and roll, anger and rebellion?

Maybe because he was first out of a gate during the punk era, even though he wasn’t a punk, with “angry” songs and a record deal, before Costello, The Clash, the Sex Pistols, and it was during a time of soft rock and prog rock, he became the face/voice of angry songs in the mid-70s.

In conversation, Graham is warm and friendly and has a great sense of humor. We had more than a few laughs while working on the book. And there is a lot of humor in his songs across his career, including on Howlin’ Wind.

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CR: As a follow-up to the author's answer regarding the angry young man stereotype I was able to ask the following question directly to Parker.

You were labeled by many as an angry young man. Looking back, do you feel that was an accurate assessment of your personality and music? I saw your solo acoustic show in Sellersville, PA a few months back and you didn't come across as one.

GP: I didn’t mind the labelling at all, narrow as it was. There were no new acts that I heard coming out at the time of Howlin’ Wind that had my aggressive vocal approach, which was largely due to my lack of experience in a professional setting, so I basically just yelled loudly. It seemed to stand out and get attention. As stated, it was a narrow summation: I’m a variety act, always have been.

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CR: Both Parker and The Rumour are quoted extensively in Howlin' Wind. How easy or hard was it to get his/their cooperation while writing the book?

JN: All of them were extremely cooperative and happy to answer any questions I had over multiple interviews. Their challenge was remembering events that occurred more than fifty years ago. But we/they pieced it together.

CR: Tell readers a little about how you wrote the book. What parts were easy and what aspects of writing it were more difficult?

JN: In general, I’d say it was a lot of work. I had to do research before interviewing Graham, band members and other parties, then after the interviews, while writing, I had to fact check. Did a record come out in the year one of the musicians said it did? Do you uppercase the “the” before various band names? The fact checking was endless.

Then, of course, writing is rewriting, so there were multiple rewrites and revisions - and that was before I gave the manuscript to my editor, which resulted in more fact checking and rewriting.

“I hate writing but loved having written” is attributed to Dorothy Parker. But there was more than just hard work involved in writing the book. The creative act of writing is rewarding and having conversations and hearing great stories from Graham and the other musicians was an experience I’ll always treasure.

CR: Where can Howlin' Wind be purchased?

JN: It can be found on Amazon. In addition, the website, grahamparkershowlinwind.net, has more information about the book and a link to Amazon.

CR: Is there anything you'd like to add?

JN: Give a listen to Howlin’ Wind and other albums by Graham. As I write in the book, “in the Village Voice’s year-end 1976 Pazz & Jop Critics’ Poll, Graham Parker’s Howlin’ Wind placed fourth. In second place was his sophomore album, Heat Treatment. Number one was Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, and in third place was Jackson Browne’s The Pretender. Among that titanic company, it’s fair to say Parker more than held his own.”

Squeezing out Sparks came in first in the poll in 1979. There are a lot of great albums and songs across Graham’s entire catalogue. Give them a listen and you’ll be aurally, provocatively and joyfully rewarded.

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CR: There is one more question I asked the star directly.

How do you prepare a setlist? Do you play different songs when working with a full band? Do you have a preference?

GP: The set lists of both my solo performances and band shows cross over with ease. I find playing solo to be my most creative method because I can change arrangements on a dime, taking in audience reaction and whatever I feel when doing any particular song. Either way, I don’t just play songs, I design the lists as a dynamic experience and can take tunes from any particular song from my now quite long career.