From a Graham Parker series designated as Official Bootleg material, this show from Denmark’s Limfjords Festival in August 1986 captures an artist losing direction in a studio context, but burning very brightly indeed on the road. Despite the collection of critically acclaimed records he’d already issued backed by pub-rock supergroup The Rumour, at this point Parker was signed to a confidence-deflating and ultimately fruitless deal with Atlantic, and would go on to shuffle around various labels on an album-by-album basis.
Fortunately, while his early LPs have clearly stood the test of time, it’s as a live performer that Parker has excelled – as underlined here. Backed by former Rumour colleagues Brinsley Schwarz and Andrew Bodnar, this is noted as being the only extant recording of Graham Parker And The Fact: a tight and dynamic run through notable and lesser-known songs from Parker’s canon, including some originally destined for the ill-fated Atlantic deal, judiciously mixed with some R&B covers.
It’s a testament to Parker’s songwriting skills that, despite missing some of the key songs from his Rumour-backed era, this set, possibly sourced from an intended radio recording, is brimming with great songs delivered with passion and style… and that is a fact.
