The O-town Scene

New Music Notes by Mark Boshnack Garland Jeffreys needs to be heard Listening to the new album by Garland Jef- freys, "King of In Between," and reading the story behind it reminds me that there are no sure things. The album is one of the standouts of the year, but anyone who can play music like this, I have to wonder, "Where has he been?" Area residents will be able to find out, when Jeffreys appears at the Oneonta Theatre on Aug. 28. I hope my schedule allows me to be there. His life is an interesting story, and one that made me appre- ciate where the 12 songs on the album are coming from. Jeffreys was named the best new artist of the year by Rolling Stone in 1977, but commercial success has largely eluded him. He has not released an album in 13 years, but listening to this wide-ranging collection I can only wonder why. Jeffreys grew up near Coney Island, and uses the place in several of his songs. One of these is the opening "Coney Island Winter," with the band getting in a rootsy groove. Jeffreys sings about his "22 (subway) stops to the city," where he would go to Greenwich Village in an effort to escape from the desolation. "Don't want to die on stage with a sad microphone in my hand," he sings. But his music has taken him from early songs like "Wild in the Streets," to his new tunes, and hopefully a new audi- ence. Listeners can hear what the insight of more than 40 years in music has brought him in the album's second song. "I'm Alive," is more than a celebration, it sounds like someone who is taunting a fate that he thought waited him. In the chorus' repetitiveness of "I'm alive" he relishes his achieve- ment. The band sounds like it's in a Rolling Stones groove circa "Some Girls" in several songs. This includes "Streetwise," which adds a tasteful string arrangement washing around the guitar, bass and drums. Another favorite is the "The Contor- tionist," in which he even sounds like Mick Jagger, slinking though his tale of when "life was bent and I was twisted." When he talks about breaking out of that scene, he sings, "everybody needs somebody to love," with a pain in his voice that lets you know he knows what he is talking about. "All Around the World" has an infectious reggae beat and a tight horn section that talks about some universal truths, while the band grooves for more than four minutes. "'Til John Lee Hooker Calls Me" talks about the power of music, using some classic riffs of the legendary blues man. Other highlights are the soulful blues of "Love Is Not a Cli- che," rockabilly "Rock and Roll Music"and the haunting sound of "The Beautiful Truth." There is no apparent reason why one talented musician becomes a household name, while another travels underneath the radar. On the strength of "The King of In Between," Jeffreys is one of those that needs to be heard. Mark Boshnack is a reporter for The Daily Star and a music fiend. He can be reached at mboshnack@thedailystar.com. Vinyl Vault Parliament 'Mothership Connection' Casablanca, 1975 There has never been anything else quite like George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic. Since the group's first albums were released as Parliament and Funkadelic, respectively, in 1970, group members had worked to expand and define the relatively young funk genre. While Funkadelic worked as the psy- chedelic, dense cerebral incarnation of the group, Parliament's free, fantastical albums and live shows continued to reach a growing audience through the first half of the decade. Led by Clinton's outlandish persona as an intergalactic space traveler, the band exuded and irreverent fun that was impossible to rep- licate. Their fourth album, 1975's "Mother- ship Connection," was a major breakthrough in both funk and dance music, and left a lasting imprint on pop music. Working as a producer and songwriter in Detroit in the 1960s, Clinton borrowed from the Motown produc- tion-line style to form Parliament/Funkadelic in 1970. Recruiting ex-James Brown bass- ist Bootsy Collins and keyboard pioneer Bernie Worrell, Clinton and a revolving cast of nearly 50 musicians released an incredible 21 albums between the two groups throughout the '70s. By 1973, Clinton decided to focus on the more accessible Parliament, crafting an unparal- leled live show with costumes, pyrotechnics and elaborate set pieces that was truly in a class by itself. As the group gained popular- ity with each release, the addition of Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley from James Brown's band in 1975 added even more depth to the group's musical dynamic, and "Mothership Connection," released in December of that year, is a document of a band at its tightest and most creative. Led by Clinton's outlandish persona as an in- tergalactic space traveler, the band exuded and irreverent fun that was impossible to replicate. As interest- ing a listen as "Mother- ship Con- nection" is, it is first and foremost an absolute and irresist- ible plea- sure. There are very few other records that come to mind that are as much fun as this. A loosely-structured concept record about an alien invasion, it is science fiction at its most absurd and campy. Clinton's vocals pop in and out along with other singers loosely over lock-tight horns and Maceo Parker's inimitable bass lines that give the feel of a non-stop party that you can't help but want to be a part of. The record was an instant suc- cess on the R&B charts, then quickly crossed over onto the pop charts, going platinum and establishing a formula that Parliament would follow for the rest of their existence. Despite newfound stardom, Clinton and his musicians did not slow the breakneck pace of Parliament/Funkadelic releases. By the early 1980s, the group's brand of flamboyant funk had fallen out of favor, and Clinton dissolved the group. The 1990s saw a resurgence in Parliament's popularity, as hip-hop produc- er/MC Dr. Dre's work both alone and with West Coast rappers like Snoop Doggy Dogg and Warren G. (their self-described G-Funk is an obvious take on Clinton's P-Funk moni- ker) exposed the group's sounds to a new generation. Since then, Clinton has toured regularly with former members of the group, ensuring that the "Mothership Connection" will continue to reach new audiences. _ James Derek Sapienza James Derek Sapienza is a 25-year-old musician and artist. His record collection contains more than 1,000 LPs and singles, which he has been collecting since he was 8 years old. Aug. 18, 2011 O-Town Scene 7

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