Garland Jeffreys
Garland Jeffreys (born July 3, 1943 in Brooklyn , New York ) is an American pop rock singer who works across genres between ska , reggae , soul , funk and rock . He became known internationally primarily through the single Matador , which was a big hit in many European countries in 1980, for example in Germany it was number two in the sales charts for seven weeks . Another top 20 hit was not achieved until 12 years later, when he reached number 12 in the German charts with the single Hail Hail Rock'n'Roll .
Live and act
Jeffreys, who has ethnic ancestors of African Americans , Puerto Ricans , Whites, and Cherokees , grew up in a working class family. One of his grandfathers was a waiter, his father worked as a porter. He studied art at Syracuse University , where he met Lou Reed before his time at Velvet Underground . After graduating there, he briefly continued his art studies in Italy, then, back in Manhattan , continued at New York's Institute of Arts.
Jeffreys is known as a "musician's musician" - a musician who is widely recognized by other musicians even without major commercial successes. Artists who have recorded or performed with him include Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen , Dr. John and John Cale . He can also be seen in Wim Wenders ' blues documentary The Soul of a Man .
He played in several bands (including Train and Romeo) and recorded an album in 1969 with the formation Grinder's Switch. The band broke up in 1970 and Jeffreys began his career as a solo artist. Its most active phase was in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He has only released records sporadically since the 1990s.
Jeffreys appeared in the opening act of the 1981 US tour of the Rolling Stones , and he was also seen at various concerts by Marius Müller-Westernhagen during his JaJa tour in Germany.
The singer-songwriter has been married since 1971. It is due to their daughter that he largely withdrew from the concert and recording market for around 15 years in favor of family life until his comeback in 2011 with The King of in Between .
In the US Jeffreys was less successful in the charts than internationally. There he could only place one cover version in the charts when the single 96 Tears reached number 66 in 1981. His best-placed album was Escape Artist (1981 # 59). His better-known pieces in the USA include the song Wild in the Streets (1975), which was played by numerous radio stations in the mid-1970s and recorded several times in cover versions. Other popular radio hits were I May Not Be Your Kind , Cool Down Boy and Spanish Town , which convinced, among other things, with their critically sensitive lyrics.
In his lyrics for the 1983 album Guts for Love , he examined the difficulties city dwellers had in finding and maintaining long-term intact relationships. The Observer observed that on his album Don't Call Me Buckwheat, released in 1991, questions of racism were thematized in terms of civil rights. His 2012 comeback album, The King of in Between , contains his own songs about poverty, getting older and normal life in New York City.
Also in 2011 he guest starred with the Black Roots musicians of The Ebony Hillbillies, the Bob Dylan song Buckets of Rain , which was released on Dylan's birthday and got a lot of airplay on the radio. The album The King of in Between , which was also released in Germany in 2011, was named "Pop CD of the Week" by Deutschlandradio Kultur in the 19th calendar week.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1977 | Ghost writer | - | - | - | - |
US140 (10 weeks) US |
|
| 1978 | One-eyed jack | - | - | - | - |
US99 (10 weeks) US |
|
| 1979 | American Boy & Girl |
DE29 (5 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
US151 (5 weeks) US |
Entry into the chart in Germany only in 1980
|
| 1981 | Escape Artist | - | - | - | - |
US59 (18 weeks) US |
|
| Rock & Roll Adult | - | - | - | - |
US163 (4 weeks) US |
Live album
|
|
| 1983 | Guts for love | - | - | - | - |
US176 (4 weeks) US |
|
| 1992 | Don't Call Me Buckwheat |
DE31 (15 weeks) DE |
- |
CH31 (4 weeks) CH |
- | - | |
| 2012 | The King of in Between |
DE96 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First published: 2011
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More albums
- 1970: Grinder's Switch (Grinder's Switch feat.Garland Jeffreys)
- 1973: Garland Jeffreys
- 1997: Wildlife Dictionary
- 2013: Truth Serum
- 2017: 14 Steps to Harlem
Compilations
- 1992: Matador and More ...
- 2002: Wild in the Streets
- 2006: I'm Alive
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1980 | Matador American Boy & Girl |
DE2  (30 weeks)DE |
AT2 (5 months) AT |
CH6 (9 weeks) CH |
- | - |
First published: 1979
|
| 1981 | 96 Tears Rock & Roll Adult |
- | - | - | - |
US66 (7 weeks) US |
|
| 1991 | Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll Don't Call Me Buckwheat |
DE12 (25 weeks) DE |
- |
CH8 (19 weeks) CH |
UK72 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 1992 | The Answer Don't Call Me Buckwheat |
DE58 (12 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - | |
More singles
- 1973: Wild in the Streets
- 1975: The Disco Kid
- 1977: 35 millimeter dreams
- 1978: Reelin ' (with Phoebe Snow )
- 1979: Bring Back the Love
- 1980: Bound to Get Ahead Someday
- 1981: Christine
- 1981: Modern Lovers
- 1981: Escapades
- 1981: Lover's Walk
- 1981: Wild in the Streets (Live)
- 1981: Ways of Escape
- 1982: Surrender
- 1982: What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)
- 1991: Welcome to the World
- 1992: Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll 1992
- 1992: Spanish Blood
- 1997: Sexuality
- 1997: Original Lust
- 2012: The Contortionist
literature
- Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd Revised Edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 331-333 - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
swell
- ↑ a b c d Deutschlandradio Kultur from May 7th 2012: Pop: The King of in Between - Garland Jeffreys with a new album that grooves really well
- ↑ a b c Jay N. Miller's review on Patriotledger from June 3, 2011: Music review: Garland Jeffreys' return with 'The King of In-Between' ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was used automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Garland Jeffreys and His Late Comeback , Rolling Stone , May 9, 2012
- ↑ Neil Spencer: Garland Jeffreys: Don't Call Me Buckwheat . In: The Observer , December 15, 1991, p. 47.
- ↑ a b Chart sources: Singles Albums UK Billboard 200
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ↑ Gold / platinum database DE
Web links
- Web presence of Garland Jeffreys
- Garland Jeffreys at Allmusic (English)
- Garland Jeffreys at laut.de
- Garland Jeffreys at Discogs (English)
- Garland Jeffreys on Myspace
- Review of the album The King of in Between on Metalize.Me
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jeffreys, Garland |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pop rock singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 3, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brooklyn , New York |