On Record

by Asia Locke

Jeffreys' message overcomes his limitations

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Garland Jeffreys, "American Boy and Girl" (A & M)

Last summer Garland Jeffreys had a hit single with a raunchy, abandoned song called "Wild In the Streets." It was typical in that most of Jeffreys' material is a result of his street experiences. But his current album, "American Boy and Girl," shows him to be a more thoughtful sportwriter and performer than that song would lead a listener to believe.

Jeffreys is more than a child of the streets. His songs come from a broader experience-movies and books, politics and personalities, singers, songwriters and friends. On the album he lists his inspirations for "American Boy and Girl" -among them are Ernest Hemingway, Peter Lorre, Bertrand Russell, Georgia O'Keefe, Jim Thorpe and the City Kids. And it is to those kids. that he dedicates the album.

If Jeffreys has a social or political goal for his art, it is to reach those kids. Music is his form of communication and, considering the ubiquitousness of radio, his songs can have a far-reaching effect. Not everyone has the access to, or the willingness to benefit from, projects designed to improve social welfare or enrich and improve his or her life. But everyone, especially kids, listens to the music and the messages on the radio.

So Jeffreys uses it-to tell them where they are and where they can end up (too often on "the Boulevard of Crime"), and begs them to take a different route.

The album is biographical, though not necessarily autobiographical. Side one tells of the dreams of making it ("Bad Dream" and the plea to "soon come some day"), and the reality of life on the streets-looking for answers, looking for trouble.

Side two, especially the cuts "Ship of Fools" and "Night of the Living Dead," are stories of finding

a way out and taking it.

The last cut on the album, "If Mao Could See Me Now." is the

Garland Jeffreys culmination of the experiences on the album ("I have become a man. I am no longer a slave... Hometown boy, he's making good now, he's taking a bow").

Jeffreys uses the songs' instrumentation and arrangements to tell the story. Some of the songs, like "Livin' For Me," are big-city ballsy; others are tender and romantic in tone, like the Latin-influenced "Matador." Whichever the case, the music suits the mood. Jeffreys uses simple arrangements, working with percussion, guitars, keyboards and using a sax for emphasis. The music is rock-based; its greatest weakness. is Jeffreys' voice-nasal and not very expressive. But on this intensely personal album, the message overcomes the limitations of the music. Robert Palmer, "Secrets" (Island)

Robert Palmer has been playing around with sounds for a long time.. His first album, "Pressure Drop," was one of the earliest experiments in reggae rock. By his fourth album, "Double Fun," Palmer had taken his music the dance floor and the result was his biggest success to date, the song "Every Kind of People." With his fifth album for Island Records, "Secrets," Palmer is still trying a little bit of whatever is going around. The reggae influences are still audible, and so is the recognition of the debt he owes to disco. But Palmer has a new sound on "Secrets"-new for him, that is.

The album is sparser, cleaner and less self-indulgent than his past albums. It is his rock-and-roll album and, as such, will expose him to a new set of listeners and could result in the widest exposure possible-every type of musical audience will have heard of and from Palmer.

Instead of using a vast array of musicians as he has on past albums, Palmer worked on "Secrets" with one set of sidemen-Pierre Brock (one of the many bass players on earlier Palmer albums), Dony Wynn on drums, Kenny Ma-

zur on guitar and key boardists Jack Walden and Steve Robbins. Palmer does not play on "Secrets." His voice is his instrument, one. that he exercises more control over than in the past. It's a clearer instrument now, with Palmer using tone and tenor where on earlier albums he would have resorted to breathy gasps and grunts to aIchieve an effect.

"Secrets" has less of Palmer's own material on it than his other albums. He seems to have let his songwriting take second place to his vocalizing. There are still some Palmer tunes-pushers with fast and heavy-handed beats. The words are lost in the arrangements. Songs such as "Too Good To Be True" and "What's It Take" sound more concerned with moving than music. It might be due to Palmer's experimentation with yet another musical movement-New Wave with its buried lyrics and driving beat.

Those songs sound like mistakes. Palmer's power and individuality as a performer lies with his voice. He is a crooner. The best songs on the album are rock-androll classics with simple arrangements. The opening cut, "Bad Case of Loving You" (Moon Martin's "Doctor Doctor" tune), uses a simple, light production with just a shot of synthesizer. The arrangement gives Palmer's voice the space it deserves..

"Love Stop," that saga of life in the fast lane, and Todd Rundgren's "Can We Still Be Friends" make the first side of the album a listening pleasure. (Palmer's treatment of "Friends" is arresting; it's a pity it's been released so recently after the original version or it could well have become the feature cut of the album. Instead, the song. that is getting the most airplay is a Jo Allen number, "Jealous," where, once again, you hear more arrangement than Palmer.)

If Palmer is revealing secrets on this album, they must be the ob(Continued on page 23) GAY NEWS-Sept. 21, 1979