Not If It Pleases Me: Live on the BBC

Graham Parker | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 28, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hux Records
• ASIN: B00003TL0I
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,151 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. White Honey

2. Back Door Love

3. Don't Ask Me Questions

4. Soul Shoes

5. Hotel Chambermaid

6. Pouring It All Out

7. Help Me Shake It

8. Heat Treatment

9. Lady Doctor

10. Silly Thing

11. Fool's Gold

12. Gypsy Blood

13. Not If It Pleases Me

14. New York Shuffle

15. Kansas City

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It pleases me., March 16, 2002

By 

Penguin Egg (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NOT IF IT PLEASES ME (Audio CD)

These songs were recorded in 1976 and 77 when Graham Parker & the Rumour were at their peak. The British Broadcasting Corporation recorded all these tracks. Half in the studio for a radio broadcast and the other half for a concert also broadcast. This CD is a timely reminded of just how good Graham Parker & the Rumour were. Parker may not have been the most powerful singer in the world (and very often his voice is drowned out by the band), but he sang his heart out with a soul inflected style that oozed passion. His main strengths lay in his song writing. Apart from Lieber and Stoller's Kansas City, all the songs are his. Like other songwriters from that period - Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric, Steve van Zandt, - he was swinging rock music away from extended jams and focusing on actual songs, and what excellent songs he wrote: White Honey, Soul Shoes, Silly Thing, Gypsy Blood, New York Shuffle, and many others which all appear on this CD. The Rumour were the perfect foil for Parker. They match his passion with a real ability to play their instruments, especially the lead guitarist, Brinsley Schwarz, who has never played better than on this album. Listen to his blistering guitar on Soul Shoes or his Cooderesque accompaniment on Back Door Love to see what I mean. Graham Parker & the Rumour were always under-rated. Maybe this CD will rekindle interest in him. I hope so.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to top, December 13, 2004

By 

Phoebus Franca "thebuffer" (San Francisco Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not If It Pleases Me: BBC Live 76-77 (Audio CD)

This is one of the best rock albums I own. I hope these recordings don't go out of print. This is the great Rumour lineup and Parker is at his peak during the Howlin Wind, Heat Treatment, Stick to Me era (of course he did great stuff after, too). I'd get it before it disappears.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should've Been Bigger Than Elvis Costello, November 24, 2009

By 

Russell D. Melling "World's Greatest Anglophile" (Coatesville, Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Not If It Pleases Me: Live on the BBC (Audio CD)

Rock and Rock is full of stories of artists who should've made it big and Graham Parker is one of them. A fiery Brit from South London with a raspy, soul-tinged voice, and a first rate back up band.
These BBC records made during the White Honey/Heat Treatment period, proved that Parker had all of the power and passion of the greats of rock and roll royalty.