Michael Parks – Blue (1970)

This is again one of those albums that I have no idea how it ended up in my record collection. I probably got it from my grandmother's house where there was a bunch of vinyl records previously owned by my grandmother or one of my uncles. The album cover looked sort of promising, so I decided to take this album along with many others when they were offered to me as a fairly fresh vinyl collector. Michael Parks' music is quite traditional sounding country music. It's all very calm and relaxing but not particularly exciting. What was interesting though, was that when I started preparing for this blog post, I learned that Michael Parks was foremostly an actor and he has appeared in a few Quentin Tarantino films, including both Kill Bills. I had no idea of this when I originally got this album, even though, back then, I was already a fan of those films.



Whenever I look at US album charts, I'm surprised how many country artists are on those charts that I've never heard about. Country music just has a very strong foothold in America. I don't know how popular Michael Parks has been as a musician there, but the music sounds like it might have been quite popular back in the 1970's. It's well made country music, yet a bit cheesy.

The album starts with a soft country ballad Beautiful Means You, which almost has Hawaiian style guitars. This is definitely music to relax under the palm trees. There's Been a Change in Me goes one notch more country. The music makes me nod my head along. No One to Cry to has some strong blues elements, but the sound is still very simplistic and relaxed. I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) sounds more like traditional Americana folk. It even has some great harmonica sequences that sound like they've been played on a porch somewhere in the prairie. I Come to the Garden is the first song on the album where the piano takes the main lead. The beginning of the song kind of reminds me of early Ryan Adams albums. Even if the song itself is quite bland, I can see that this kind of stuff must've influenced many great alt-country artists in the later years. Sally (Was a Gentle Woman) is a clear hit single. The melody is much catchier than in the other songs and there are similarities to pop music of the 60's. Save a Little, Spend a Little (Give a Little Away) is a proper groovy country song that you could imagine people in cowboy outfits dancing to. Cold, Cold Heart is another blues song where the piano takes the lead. I'm Lonely and Blue has some excellent slide guitars and the vocals are soft and smooth like a soft ice cone. The last song Born to Lose is a beautiful piano ballad that leaves the listener wanting for more.

The compositions on this album may not be that exciting, but the songs are well played and I guess there are situations when this kind of music would be nice to listen to. I'm also glad to own at least one proper country album like this. More recently, I have liked modern country music more and more and it's always good to broaden my horizons a bit further to more traditional stuff and to find more old music that has influenced those new musicians.

Listen to the album on Youtube.