The Return of Garland Jeffreys -- Richard Cuccaro
There is a place inside of each of us where we must go, where no one can follow, where hard decisions
are made and where difficult challenges are met. It's a lonely place. What happens when we get there
pretty much defines who we are and what we will be. There may be furies and terrors there that force
the weaker among us to turn back in defeat.
That place inside of Garland Jeffreys has a well-worn path leading to it. He has met the furies and vanquished
them over and over. His life has been what all lives should be -- full of triumph and adventure.
My life was in transition when I first heard his distinctive powerhouse of a voice in the late 70's.
A soundtrack for this time of passage came pouring out of the installed heavyweight speakers in my old used
Southern Bell Telephone Company van as I plummeted down a mountain road in upstate New York: "I may
not be-ee your kind, ba-by, ba-by… I may not be-ee your kind…no, no no, no… I may not be-ee your kind,
mama, mama, mama… I may not be-ee your kind…" The album being pumped into the airwaves by a Poughkeepsie
radio station was the now-classic Ghost Writer. I bought it immediately and soon reveled in the joys of "New York Skyline:"
"Fe-male, fe-line, femin-i -ine, she's been making my world… so bright." I learned to be "Rough and Ready," to get
"Wild in the Streets" to give vent to my " "35 Millimeter Dreams" and to "Cool Down Boy." (Well… not really.)
The sweet sax of Michael Brecker and the explosive drumming of Steve Gadd, helped put wings on that old olive-green
monster on wheels. The rest of the supporting cast was an imposing wrecking crew that in places included Randy Brecker,
James Taylor, Dr. John, David Sanborn, David Spinozza, and even David Peel (with "friends" -- I guess the entire "Lower
East Side " was not available for this gig). Garland's friend, dazzling guitarist, Alan Freedman was there then and is still with
him now.
I drifted through the years, sucking at the teat of fusion (Return to Forever, Miles and Stanley Clarke), electric blues (Robert Cray),
some classic rock (the Eagles -- with Steely Dan never very far away) and back into contemporary singer/songwriter folk,
discovering WFUV and Jack Hardy and his fiery band of literate musicmakers. I lost track of Garland Jeffreys.
Suddenly, there he was, again, this past February at the Village Underground. We went to see him and bumped into a neighbor,
coming out of the club who said she knew him personally. I asked her to see if he'd consent to an interview and if so, please get
contact information. One e-mail address and a flurry of e-mails later, on a sunny Spring morning I met him at a coffee shop
on Irving Place.
He came strolling up the sidewalk and, stepping onto the premises, knew who I was immediately, helped by the copies of
Acoustic Live spread out on the sidewalk table. He was carrying his guitar in a hardshell case. He'd just come from a
kindergarten classroom concert at a nearby school. His 6 year-old daughter, Savannah Rae's Spanish class, to be exact.
Garland had sung songs he'd written in that genre.
Thus, I learned the main reason for his absence from the performing scene in recent years.
He'd made the comittment to Claire, his wife for 21 years now, that if they were to have a child, he'd stay off the road,
at home and be there for the child's formative years. A promise kept.
Formative Years…for Garland
It began early for him. He had a young mom -- 16 years old at his birth -- and an uncle who were into music and the records
played steadily at home. He'd hear Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.
Big bands like those of Chick Webb and Glenn Miller made an impact as well. Garland feels that the jazz singers like Billie Holiday,
Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald were key for him.
He had no fear and learned songs to sing and took them from home into the classroom. In an interview with Diane Wilkes he states,
"I was already a performer. I already had a little style and wasn't shy in that way. And as time went on, in elementary school,
teachers would ask me to get up and sing in class or a school play, things like that." One of the songs he used to sing was a raunchy
swing-era novelty, "Hucklebuck," which also extolled a dance of the same name. He must've been quite a sight at that age singing:
"Push ya baby out, then you hunch her back / Start a little movement in your sacroiliac / Wiggle like a stick, wobble like a duck /
That's what you do when you do the Hucklebuck!"
"I already had a little style
and wasn't shy in that way."
While in school, he also began hearing street corner music. He's never liked the term "doo-wop." preferring instead "acapella."
He says, "It was street corner music. I would hear older guys who had these four-part, five-part harmony groups." Eventually he
belonged to groups himself. He was the second tenor for backgrounds and harmony parts, and the lead singer on other songs.
You can still hear it in his voice today. When he appeared last February at the Village Underground, he arranged to have an
acapella group open for him and joined them for a stirring rendition of "So Young (Can't Marry No One)."
He would emulate Frankie Lymon of The Teenagers and also felt the influence of The Harptones, The Cleftones, The Drifters and
many others. He listened to Alan Freed on radio and watched American Bandstand and Jocko's Rocket Ship on TV (Jocko had
started with a radio show -- "Loog-a-boo, all through, later 'gator, gotta cut," was his closing refrain).
The finishing touches on his formative years came through Motown artists like Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Martha and the
Vandellas, Mary Wells, and Smokey Robinson. and… this came as a surprise to me… Bob Dylan. He states, "I was transfixed by
Dylan, his music and the sound of his voice and the incredible words. He's my number one artist; he's just the master. Those first
ten albums he did had a tremendous impact on me; I listened to them constantly--they were the work of a magician."
To College, then the Crossroads
Garland went to college at Syracuse University, where he received a B.A. in Art History. Here he met Lou Reed and they became
friends. He did not actively pursue music during this time, but a critical turning point would show that it was never far from his mind.
He lived in Florence for part of 1963 as a exchange student and says that "Italy opened me up in a different way. It freed me from
America." He also says it helped to get him past the wildness of his youth. "It calmed me down," he told me.
Then he went to Italy as a graduate student to study iconography and art and have a career as an academic, but realized that he
really wanted to be a musician. He quit after a week so he'd be able to recoup his tuition. He then had to return home and break
the news to his disappointed but resigned parents.
"Italy opened me up in a different way.
It freed me from America."
Career Time
He first put together a band with some friends who went to Pratt Institute, and then some other bands -- Train, and Mandor Beekman.
One special night defines the heady company Garland was keeping. His band was playing at the Balloon Farm (which later became the
Electric Circus). Eric Burdon was onstage, Lou Reed (pre-Velvet Underground) was playing, Gerard Malanga and John Cale, who would
eventually be a part of the Velvets, were onstage, too. John Cale and Garland became friendly and John later asked Garland to write a
song for an album.
Garland went on to put together the band Grinder's Switch. In 1970, Garland Jeffreys and Grinder's Switch was released with Vanguard
Records. Heavily influenced by The Band and the Big Pink period, he says that he was gratified to have worked with such talented people
but realized that he did not want to work as part of a band
Around this time he started working with guitarist Alan Freedman. they played church basements,
lunch crowds, three or four gigs in a day sometimes. Thinking about music, morning 'til night, they rehearsed all the time, working on the
arrangements for the songs and preparing for their two-man shows. They played Gerdes Folk City and the Gaslight. Garland developed
a style and got his songs ready for the next Garland Jeffreys album. He met Dr. John around this time and sought his help with the album.
They've remained friends over the years.
Some particular elements have infused themselves into Garland's work throughout all of his career. Early on, he developed a strong affinity
for Reggae. For him, its meter and vocal style epitomized rhythm and blues and he found it easy to use it to "tell stories." Small wonder,
Ghost Writer was heavily laced with it, long before it became popular on a widespread level. Another element is Garland's mixed parentage
(his mother was Puerto Rican and black; his father was mulatto, black and white). He's been an exponent of outspoken racial pride and has
railed against the injustices facing persons of color (thus, "I May Not Be Your Kind.")
Ghost Writer was recorded in just five days. Garland, standing his ground, had switched producers from someone Atlantic Records had
wanted, to his own choice, guitarist David Spinozza. David knew drummer Steve Gadd and James Taylor. James did the arrangements
for the background vocals for "I May Not Be Your Kind," and participated in "Cool Down Boy." Garland had his Reggae connections.
Winston Grennan, the great Reggae drummer (who died recently) played on "Why-o," "I May Not Be Your Kind," and "Ghost Writer."
The album also got a lift from the participation of revered keyboardist Paul Griffin, also recently deceased. Paul was someone who had
worked with Steely Dan and helped write "The Fez." Winston and Paul are missed by many.
Discography
1970 Garland Jeffreys with Grinder's Switch
1973 Garland Jeffreys
1977 Ghost Writer
1978 One-Eyed Jack - Highlights include "Reelin'," a duet with Phoebe Snow and a Bob Marley cover, "No Woman, No Cry"
1979 American Boy and Girl - One of Jeffreys' biggest hits, "Matador," is featured. The latter song became a huge #1 hit in Europe,
covered by many artists.
1981 Escape Artist - This is the only non-import CD available of Jeffreys' solo work.
1981 Rock'n'Roll Adult
1983 Guts for Love
1992 Matador and More - This collection, released by A&M, gathers songs from Ghost Writer,
One Eyed Jack, and American Boy and Girl.
1992 Don't Call Me Buckwheat - A strong statement against racial injustice, songs include "Don't Call Me Buckwheat,"
"I Was Afraid of Malcolm," "The Answer," "Racial Repertoire," and "Spanish Blood"
1997 Wildlife Dictionary - A Marvin Gaye-like paean to "getting it on." The song "Sexuality" was adopted by Armani for
some commercials. Garland met Georgio Armani at the launching of the commercial and spoke to him in Italian. They hit it off
and Garland went on to put together music for one of Armani's Paris fashion shows. Wildlife Dictionary was released only in Europe.
How to get the music
Some albums listed are available on line at CD Now, but the place to start is the Old Grey Cat web site. The unofficial Garland Jeffreys
web pages are at www.ogctheatre.com/oldgreycat/garland.htm
Diane Wilkes' lengthy, passionate descriptions of the albums can be found there, with links for purchases where available. Her
marvelous, exhaustive interview with Garland is there as well.
Taking a breather
In 1993, Garland decided that, given the lukewarm-to-cold support of the recording business, it was a good time to shut it down for
a while, have the child he and his wife wanted, and become a stay-at-home dad. There have been enough royalties coming in,
especially from coverage of "Matador" to allow this. Garland told me that, the only thing he'd change about that decision, would
be to have played a show once in a while, just to keep his hand in, rather than totally stop outright, as he did.
He has stated: "If you're on a record label right now, God help you, because everything is in such disarray that you don't even know
who's around to even talk to. My idea is to play, perform and just keep working to recreate a grass-roots fan base--and have a
good time out there. I would not be doing this just to be a success -- I'd like that to happen, but I'm really into recapturing what
it is that I do, and doing it."
"I'm really into recapturing what
it is that I do, and doing it."
The Return
Last summer, Alan Freedman coaxed Garland back into performing. They practiced for a couple of weeks, then did an after-hours set
at Kenny's Castaways at 1-2am.
Garland then went on to perform at a "Neighborhood House" Concert in East Hampton, Long Island. Ten days later he held a benefit
concert, again in Long Island, for a friend, Denis Craine, a former triathlete stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease. Dr John and Paul Simon
also appeared.
This past winter he appeared with Bruce Springsteen for four nights at the Asbury Benefit (for 13 different charities), and then performed
at the Village Underground, one of which shows I attended. In addition, in May, he held a benefit concert for Teresa Woodward, a breast
cancer sufferer, at Rubi Red's in Long Island.
Future Gigs
July 4 11 p.m. Club Perisope Quebec City Festival d'été International de Québec (90-min set) $10 (Cdn)
July 5 8-9 p.m.Montreal Montreal International Jazz Festival Vocal Series - Banque Nationale stage (outdoors) (60-min set)
10-11 p.m. (60-minute set) Free Admission
July 6 Ottawa Blues Festival, Ottawa, Acoustic Stage Time: tba - one 90-minute set Admission: Festival Passport
July 7 Ottawa Blues Festival, Ottawa, Church series Time: tba - one 90-minute set Admission: Festival Passport
www.ottawa-bluesfest.ca
On July 13th: In East Hampton, NY, the "2nd Annual Neighborhood House Concert" will be held at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road at 8pm
Admission: $25 in advance; $30 at the door An acapella group will also perform.
On Aug 21st: A second Denis Craine Benefit will be held for 3,000 people at East Hampton High School. Paul Simon will also perform.
Suzanne Vega and Phoebe Snow are tentatively slated to appear as well.
Updates on new gigs can be found at www.garlandjeffreys.com The site is being upgraded and will be ready sometime
in July for purchases of Garland's work and will have many other features including a link where racial issues will be explored.
Garland is eager to perform at more local acoustic venues. He can be reached at wilddict@aol.com
If you see a gig near you, don't miss him!