BIG STIR RECORDS presents a very special three-sided single spotlighting our biggest release of the year – the new album from rock legend GRAHAM PARKER – pairing one of the album’s most-played tracks with two brand new live cuts recorded during Parker‘s acclaimed UK tour with his superb backing band The Goldtops just months ago. The album version of “Sun Valley” serves as the A-side, and it’s joined by previously unreleased live readings of the rousing new album closer “Since You Left Me Baby” and the tour staple “That’s Life,” best known a Frank Sinatra tune. The triple-play single is out December 15th on all digital platforms. Click here to purchase / stream.
Just days after the September 8th release of the acclaimed album LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST (out now on Vinyl, CD and Streaming from Big Stir Records), Graham Parker hit the road in his native England backed by The Goldtops in exactly the same lineup from the record: Martin Belmont (guitar), Jim Russell (drums), Geraint Watkins (keys) and Simon Edwards (bass). Also on board as on the record were backing vocal duo The Lady Bugs (Paige Stubley with Martha Evans covering Marietta Smith‘s parts from the LP) as the group performed most of the album along with a selection of Parker‘s classic catalog of tunes. By all accounts an all-too-brief triumph of a tour, it saw the tunes from the new record – including “Sun Valley,” featured here in its studio version — getting their first onstage airings to rapturous response.
“As a song, ‘Sun Valley’ has been in the making for at least a decade,” says Parker. “It needed that long to unlock it, taking various arrangement directions until I find a way to not let it get ponderous, which was holding me back all along. I’ve still never been to Sun Valley!” In fact the song’s sweeping economy is what has made it a breakout hit from the album: in just over three minutes, it moves from a tight and tasty soul groove with an instantly memorable chorus to a sweeping coda where Parker brings all of the records’ guests to the party, including The Easy Access Horns and The Lady Bugs. It doesn’t hurt that the lyrics and the vocal performance are among Parker‘s best.
The two live tracks were recorded by Robert Cooper on the tour’s penultimate date at the Brook in Southampton on September 30th. The fiery rendition of “Since You Left Me Baby” from Last Chance To Learn The Twist captured here makes this single a true document of Parker‘s current creative renaissance. Of the song’s origins, the songwriter says: “’No, no!’ I heard myself saying, as the words ‘Since You Left Me Baby’ popped out of my mouth as soon as I hit that opening riff on an acoustic guitar. Too obvious, not me at all! But when something comes as naturally as that, it cannot be replaced. I wish I’d got The Lady Bugs to sing it on the album, but we made up for that live anyway, as the world at large can now hear.” The Goldtops, too, are on fire here, and you’ve got a front row seat.
As for the second track from the live gigs, it’s a surprising chestnut that’s become a Goldtops live favorite, and Parker‘s impassioned delivery makes it clear why. “I remember playing ‘That’s Life’ by Frank Sinatra repeatedly on a jukebox in a pub in Guilford, Surrey, England one night when I was not even of legal drinking age. ‘I’ll play that song one day,’ I thought to myself, rashly, having no idea I’d ever be in a position to do just that. Job done!” Fortunately for fans, Graham Parker is far from done: LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST has been raking in the raves and US solo dates for 2024 are already in the offing. As he recently told Q Magazine, he still makes records because he still writes songs, simple as that. And when they’re as good as “Sun Valley” and “Since You Left Me Baby,” we can only be grateful that’s the case.
Click here to order LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST via Big Stir Records.
FOR MORE INFO ON GRAHAM PARKER:
https://www.grahamparker.net
FOR MORE INFO ON BIG STIR RECORDS:
https://www.bigstirrecords.com
