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7046 - GARLAND JEFFREYS - Rock & Roll Adult (1981) (By Request)

GARLAND JEFFREYS
''ROCK & ROLL ADULT''
1981
42:33

1 - Wild In The Streets 3:21
2 - 96 Tears
Rudy Martinez 3:29
3 - I May Not Be Your Kind 6:13
4 - Matador 4:32
5 - R.O.C.K 4:10
6 - 35 Millimeter 4:05
7 - Bound To Get Ahead Someday 3:58
8 - Cool Down Boy 12:39
Tracks By Jeffreys

Martin Belmont /Guitar
Andrew Bodnar /Bass
Arty Funero /Guitar, Organ
Steve Goulding /Drums
Garland Jeffreys /Guitar, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
Brinsley Schwarz /Guitar
Brian Stanley /Bass

Review
by Mark Deming (AllMusic)
In 1981, Escape Artist gave Garland Jeffreys his first taste of genuine commercial success in the United States, and he hit the road in support of the album with Graham Parker's band the Rumour as his backing combo. Critics raved about the shows, and it's not hard to see why after giving a listen to Rock & Roll Adult, a live album recorded during shows taped in Paris and New York in the spring of 1981. While Rock & Roll Adult lacks the production wizardry that helped make Escape Artist a success, it captures Jeffreys and the Rumour in tight and emphatic form; the band sounds razor-sharp, especially guitarists Brinsley Schwarz and Martin Belmont and drummer Stephen Goulding, and Jeffreys is masterful, putting everything he has into songs like "I May Not Be Your Kind," "35 Millimeter Dreams," and "R.O.C.K." Rock & Roll Adult also gave Jeffreys a chance to catch his new audience up on songs that had been hits in Europe or favorites with critics without getting much of a hearing stateside, and these versions of "Matador" and "Wild in the Streets" are arguably more powerful and effective than their previous studio versions, while "Cool Down Boy" is turned into a brave and harrowing 12-minute epic. Jeffreys was 37 when Rock & Roll Adult was recorded, proving the title was a genuine statement of fact, but while these performances have a grownup's smarts and maturity, this is still music full of sweat, blood, and fury, and the switchblade impact of this record is truly impressive. Rock & Roll Adult was not a major commercial success and soon fell out of print, but anyone with a taste for Garland Jeffreys' music will find a lot to enjoy on this album. [In 2014, it was reissued by Australia's Raven Records as part of the two-disc set True Confessions: The Epic Sessions.]

Biography
by Mark Deming (AllMusic)
A critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Garland Jeffreys has earned a loyal international audience for his intelligent and passionate songs, informed by a variety of musical styles from rock and R&B to reggae and dance music, and dealing with topics both personal and political, often at the same time. While not especially prolific -- he released a mere five studio albums between 1981 and 2011 -- Jeffreys' work reveals a rock & roller's soul and a poetic sensibility that have earned him the respect of musical peers such as Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, David Johansen, and John Cale.

Jeffreys was born in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, New York in 1944. Of African-American, Puerto Rican, and European heritage, he was raised in a multi-cultural household and a neighborhood that was not always accepting of his family's racial diversity. Jeffreys' parents enjoyed jazz vocalists such as Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, and Dinah Washington, and as a teenager, he developed a taste for doo wop and rhythm & blues; as the '50s gave way to the '60s, he became a passionate fan of soul music and Bob Dylan's early work. After graduating from high school, Jeffreys studied art history at Syracuse University, where he struck up friendships with fellow students and music fans Lou Reed and Felix Cavaliere; Jeffreys also expanded his cultural boundaries by studying for several months in Italy. After completing his studies in 1966, he began appearing at folk and rock clubs in Manhattan, often performing material that dealt with racial issues and using props and make-up to emphasize his messages. In 1969, Jeffreys formed a band called Grinder's Switch with three musicians from Woodstock, New York -- Ernie Corallo on guitar, Stan Szelest on keyboards, and Sandy Konikoff on drums. John Cale recruited Grinder's Switch to form the core of the backing band (credited as Penguin) on his first solo album, 1969's Vintage Violence, and the album included one of Jeffreys' songs, "Fairweather Friend." (Jeffreys also wrote a poem about Cale for the liner notes.) Grinder's Switch were signed to Vanguard Records and cut an album that was released not long before the band split up in 1970.

Jeffreys began working as a solo act again, and was signed by Atlantic Records. His 1973 solo debut was a commercial disappointment, but that same year, he released a standalone single, "Wild in the Streets" b/w "35 Millimeter Dreams." The A-side, arranged by New Orleans keyboard legend Dr. John, became an underground hit, and when Jeffreys moved to A&M Records, the track was included on his first album for the label, 1977's Ghost Writer, which led to Jeffreys being named Best New Artist of the Year by Rolling Stone. Jeffreys' tenure with A&M would be the most prolific of his career; he released One Eyed Jack in 1978, and American Boy and Girl in 1979. The latter, though largely devoted to hard-edged narratives of street life, also featured a romantic number called "Matador," which became a major hit in the U.K. and several European markets, where he gained a large and lasting following.

In 1981, Jeffreys moved to Epic Records and finally enjoyed a commercial breakthrough in the United States with Escape Artist, an album that featured backing from members of Graham Parker's Rumour and Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band, as well as guest appearances by Lou Reed, David Johansen, and Linton Kwesi Johnson; it included a cover of "96 Tears" that became a minor hit single and an MTV favorite. Later the same year, a live album was released from the tour supporting Escape Artist, Rock ‘N' Roll Adult, and in 1983, Jeffreys reappeared with Guts for Love, a polished set of songs about love and relationships. While a cover of "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" fared well on the charts, the album was a commercial and critical disappointment, and it was nine years before Jeffreys returned to the recording studio. 1992's Don't Call Me Buckwheat, his first album for RCA, was a collection of songs about the issues of race in America and a strong return to form, but it sold far better in Europe than the United States, and his next album, 1997's Wildlife Dictionary, wasn't released at all in America.

In the same year Wildlife Dictionary was released, Jeffreys and his wife welcomed the birth of their daughter Savannah, and he took time off from his recording career to be a full-time father. He staged occasional European tours and in 2006 released I'm Alive, a compilation spanning his solo career that also included three new songs, but it wasn't until 2011 that he returned with a full album of new material, The King of In Between.


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