Howlin' Wind

iTunes Review

An old story has it that Otis Redding considered doing a version of "Just Like a Woman," but ultimately decided that its composer had written "too many words." Ex-petrol station attendant Graham Parker could have taken the thought of a Redding/Dylan match-up as his concept for 1976's Howlin Wind. Revving up the R&B and good-old-rock-and-roll styles of pub rock until they melded tightly with his existential stance ("The preacher walks within us and/Spares the rod"), Parker, his band the Rumour, and producer Nick Lowe committed a masterpiece that was about three minutes early for punk. The musicians were at home with everything from the tough Kingston groove of "Don't Ask Me Questions" to the fleet rockabilly of "Back to Schooldays," and fresh enough to make something of their own with them. Parker probably got sick of the comparison fast, but this really was the greatest record Van Morrison never made.