POP MUSIC REVIEW : Greenwood Oozes Smarm in Santa Ana

Lee Greenwood has a wonderfully expressive voice that made many of his early hits exceptionally wrenching three-minute testimonials. Unfortunately, Greenwood hasn’t yet learned to rely on that gift.

Watching Greenwood shift among soap-opera-style emotional overkill, pandering sentimentality and disinterested medleys--as he did during his 65-minute first show at the Crazy Horse in Santa Ana on Monday--one had to wonder why he has received so many awards.

Maybe the voting members of the Country Music Assn., National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Country Music have never been treated to one of Greenwood’s hyper-speed sets, where most songs are performed at 1 1/2 times their recorded speed.

Greenwood also shows no compunction against wrapping himself in the flag for cheap applause. He took the up-tempo banner waving of “That’s Freedom” and injected it with Neil Diamond’s “America” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”--completely missing the latter song’s message about the failure of the American dream, as he lifted his clenched fist in salute. Greenwood followed that bit of dime-store patriotism by self-righteously milking every note of his maudlin “God Bless the U.S.A.”

Perhaps Greenwood’s set, slicker than an Elvis impersonator’s pompadour on Saturday night, wouldn’t be nearly so offensive if he would avoid singing songs he is not cut out for. Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” a brooding song about the downside of love, was given a Holiday Inn arrangement and a vocal reading that made the instrumental look sophisticated.

As if that wasn’t enough, Greenwood felt compelled to share some of his commercial jingles with the audience. He also told retreaded jokes and shook hands as if he were running for office. Even his stage wear smacked of smarm: a satin jacket with sparkle trim, a shirt open to his navel and a pair of fairly tight yet faded jeans. It was a costume designed to make Greenwood appeal to all.

The only danger of mass appeal is that it relies on oversimplified generalizations that are totally devoid of character. Certainly, Lee Greenwood’s set bore this premise out in fine fashion. Now if only he had seen fit to honor the audience he said he loves so much by actually giving them the encore they pounded the floor for.