Don't Call Me Buckwheat is an album by Garland Jeffreys. It was released in 1992 by RCA Records, his first album in nine years. The title of the album is a reference to a derogatory remark directed toward Jeffreys at a Mets game.
The lead single "Hail Hail Rock n Roll" reached number 12 on the German Singles chart and spent 24 weeks in total on the chart.
Dutch director Anton Corbijn was responsible for the album's cover photography. He directed the video for "Hail Hail Rock n Roll", which was played on heavy rotation on MTV Europe.
Production The album was produced by Jeffreys. Bernard Purdie, Vernon Reid, and Sly and Robbie appear on the album.
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote that "most of the cuts on the record are impassioned autobiographical reflections on racial and ethnic identity and the struggle for self-esteem by a veteran New York songwriter who is of mixed ancestry: black, white and Puerto Rican." The Chicago Tribune deemed Don't Call Me Buckwheat "an angry album, but it also is a very vulnerable and moving one as well ... There are no simple solutions or empty slogans here." Rolling Stone wrote that it "suffers from having perhaps received a little too much help from Jeffreys's friends ... One hopes that at some point Jeffreys will hook up with a band that's capable of a little spontaneous combustion, as opposed to the airtight perfection of studio pros." Stereo Review called it "a career high-water mark ... how many other fortysomething rockers can make such a claim?"
No Depression called the album "one of the signature discs" of the 1990s.
Track listing All tracks composed by Garland Jeffreys "Moonshine in the Cornfield" - 1:03 "Welcome to the World" - 4:07 "Don't Call Me Buckwheat" - 4:19 "Color Line" - 4:14 "Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll" - 3:52 "I Was Afraid of Malcolm" - 4:26 "Bottle of Love" 3:55 "The Answer" - 4:42 "Racial Repertoire" - 4:55 "Spanish Blood" - 4:26 "Lonelyville" - 4:43 "Murder Jubilee" - 3:57 "I'm Not a Know It All" - 2:54
Personnel Garland Jeffreys - vocals, arrangements, production Robby Ameen - percussion on "Spanish Blood" Jeff Bova - keyboards, synthesizer, sequencing Michael Brecker - saxophone, keyboards Heidi Iden Carney - strings Porter Carroll - vocals Jill Dell'Abate - vocals, production co-ordination Sly Dunbar - drums, percussion on "Color Line" and "Murder Jubilee" Bob Franceschini - saxophone on "Spanish Blood" Alan "Taff" Freedman - guitars, bass guitar Diva Gray - vocals Paul Griffin - piano, organ, assistant arranger Gordon Grody - vocals Jean Ingraham - strings Steve Jordan - drums, percussion Karen Karsrud - strings Kathryn Kienke - strings Jay Leonhart - bass guitar Jesse Levy - strings J.T. Lewis - drums on "Lonelyville" Steve Love - guitars on "Lonelyville" Hugh McCracken - guitars Ozzie Melendez - trombone, trumpet Joe Mennonna - accordion, bass guitar, drum programming, saxophones, keyboards, trombone, vocals, arrangements Sidney Mills - keyboards Eugene J. Moye - strings Janice Pendarvis - vocals Carol Pool - strings Bernard Purdie - drums Jamie Ramos - trombone Vernon Reid - guitars on "Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll" and "I Was Afraid of Malcolm" Deborah Resto - vocals Elliot Rosoff - strings Robbie Shakespeare - bass guitar Claudette Sierra - vocals Earl "Chinna" Smith - guitars G.E. Smith - guitars Vaneese Thomas - vocals Handel Tucker - keyboards Raymond Vega - saxophone, trumpet on "Spanish Blood"
References