Search - Greg Parker :: On The Break

As someone who despises modern country, but adores the '40s and '50s stuff, I have some time for Knoxville, TN?s Mr. Parker. He?s got no Stetson, and he doesn?t dress the part either?in fact, with his upturned quaff, he looks a lot like a young Morrissey in the Smiths days ? but there?s no mistaking his homespun, old-style country heart. "You think you broke my will/You broke my heart/That?s just a start/So get in line Caroline/I?m going to show you how it feels/Wasting time on a love that isn?t real" is the kind of sweet, saddened, knowing lyric sung with a breaking croon that is full and slightly twangy, but never corny and always quite persuasive ? in fact, he blows away Tritt, McGraw, Keith, Hill, Brooks, Twain, Tucker, Black, and all their miserable ilk, with just his vibrant voice alone. His delectable songs are simple, like my favorite George Jones tunes, but the guitars ring and pick perfectly like a Buck Owens ditty ("Disaster Waiting to Happen") and "A! Heart Is A Terrible Thing To Break" could be a Patsy Cline, early Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, or Hank Williams song. And just to show he can, the closing "Kathleen" is more of a honky tonk C&W blues-country stomp. I didn?t expect to like this, and you might not either. We?ll both be surprised then. -Jack Rabid, Big Takeover, Issue 54, Spring 2004