Garland Jeffreys

Garland Jeffreys (born January 1, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York) is an African-American and Puerto Rican singer-songwriter. His music is a unique blend of rock and roll, reggae, blues, and soul.

Jeffreys is from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Jeffreys majored in arts at Syracuse University where he met Lou Reed before The Velvet Underground became active. In 1966, Jeffreys played in Manhattan nightclubs. Grinder's Switch, a group founded by him in 1969, released one album before breaking up in 1970. In 1973, he released his first solo album, Garland Jeffreys, on Atlantic Records.

Around the same time Atlantic also released a 45 RPM single of a song called "Wild in the Streets" that was not included on the LP. The track received airplay on progressive FM album-oriented rock stations and has become one of his best-known songs. Later, in 1977 when Garland recorded his Ghost Writer album for A&M Records, the Atlantic version of "Wild In The Streets" was included on side 2.

"Wild In The Streets" has been coverd by several artists, including:

• The Circle Jerks, from the album Wild In The Streets
• Chris Spedding, from the album Hurt
• British Lions, from the album British Lions

Jeffreys is featured in the 2003 documentary Soul of a Man.

Jeffreys is currently touring again and has been very active on MySpace, communicating personally with his extensive fanbase.

Garland Jeffreys Discography

• 1997: Wildlife Dictionary (only released in Europe)
• 1992: Matador & More...
• 1992: Don't Call Me Buckwheat
• 1983: Guts for Love
• 1982: Rock 'n' Roll Adult
• 1980: Escape Artist
• 1979: American Boy & Girl
• 1978: One Eyed Jack
• 1977: Ghost Writer
• 1973: Garland Jeffreys
• 1969: Grinder's Switch Featuring Garland Jeffreys

External links

• Garland Jeffreys Official Site Homepage
• Garland Jeffreys' MySpace MySpace