Artist:   Garland Jeffreys
Song:   "Harlem Bound"
Album: Garland Jeffreys
Label:   Collectors’ Choice
Year:    1973

New York City is a constant inspiration to composers and writers, few more so than Garland Jeffreys. Part of Lou Reed’s college circle in the ‘60s, he formed Grinder's Switch shortly after (not to be confused with the Southern rockers of the ‘70s), and played on John Cale’s solo debut set Vintage Violence. But when it came time for Jeffreys to record his first album in 1973, he went straight to the source, working with top-line studio musicians like Bernard Purdie, Chuck Raney, Paul Griffin and Richard Davis. Of course, it came out on Atlantic Records, the most Manhattan of all the labels, produced by Michael Cuscuna. Listening to the songs now, it’s like taking an invigorating tour of the city’s neighborhoods, from the Staten Island ferry all the way up to the Bronx, with curves through the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, Hell’s Kitchen, Harlem and the Jamaican neighborhoods. No one else has ever touched the album for being as evocative of that unbeatable city. “Harlem Bound” puts listeners right in the middle of the action, circa “Superfly” and a lot of other craziness.  Starting with a Renaissance-sounding intro, Jeffreys enters like a hipster who’s seen everything. Joined on the chorus by the Persuasions and, soon enough, an irresistible conga break, it’s like we’re standing right in front of the Apollo Theatre on 125th St., waiting for the show to start: “Ray Charles in town!” 35 years later and so many things are different, but the timelessness of Garland Jeffreys’ album stands as real and revealing as the day it first came out. A trip not to miss.