BONDS BUSY WITH NEW COMEBACK

To hear Gary U.S. Bonds tell it, the severe snowstorms now blanketing the Eastern Seaboard may end up being a boon to the veteran singer’s latest comeback attempt.

Speaking by phone this week from his snow-covered house in New York--where he has a home recording studio--Bonds explained, “There’s really only two things I can do right now: Shovel snow or work on songs. And I don’t want to shovel snow, so I work on songs.”

While he has been dodging his snow-shoveling chores, Bonds--the gritty voice behind classics of the ‘60s such as “Quarter to Three” and “New Orleans”--says he has been quite productive with his songwriting chores.

“When I go in to record (a new LP), I’m going to take a long time, ‘cause I’ve got enough stuff for at least three albums,” said Bonds, who currently has no recording contract.

Local audiences will be able to hear a sampling of that new “stuff” when Bonds plays Disneyland on Saturday and the Lakewood Hop on Monday.

As for hearing a full collection of this material, the 47-year-old singer speculates that within a few months he will complete an album deal and start working on a new record.

He didn’t sound particularly worried about concluding the negotiations, or anything else for that matter. For a guy whose career spans three decades--at the peak of his popularity he toured England with Roy Orbison and others, backed by the pre-Ringo Beatles--and who has had more downs than ups, Bonds remains a remarkably relaxed, upbeat, unjaded rocker. Rather than any hints of bitterness or frustration over a rocky career marked by disappointments and long periods of obscurity, his comments were liberally sprinkled with humorous asides and throaty chuckles.

“Between what the lawyers think, and what I think, I’d say we should have (a new record) out by the end of summer. We’re really close to making a deal. I think it’s just a matter of nickels and dimes now. Let the lawyers go through that--they’re going to wind up with all the money anyway,” he said, laughing.

If the picture sounds a little fuzzy at the moment, one thing that’s clear is this comeback won’t involve the kind of prominent figures who guided his early-’80s return to the rock limelight.

In 1981, a mutual admiration society between the singer and Bruce Springsteen (who had performed “Quarter to Three” in his shows for years) came to fruition with the Bonds album “Dedication,” which cracked the Top 30. That return to the charts was helped along by the Top 20 hit “This Little Girl,” his first chart hit in 19 years.

For that LP--and its follow-up, “On the Line”--Springsteen wrote most of the material, sang, played, produced and loaned him the services of the E Street Band, particularly former member Steve Van Zandt, who contributed some key tunes and co-produced both records.

Although Bonds (born Gary Anderson) hasn’t seen much of either Springsteen or Van Zandt recently, they both remain dear to him. But the people participating in, or encouraging, his latest project are even closer to his heart: his wife and 22-year-old daughter, both named Laurie Anderson. (“Since they have the same name, one of them has got to come when I call,” he joked.)

Daughter Laurie, who sings in her dad’s band, has collaborated on the bulk of Bond’s new songs (and co-wrote some tunes on the “Dedication” and “On the Line” LPs). She is also an aspiring solo artist. The other Laurie provides moral support to her husband and daughter, but she also hopes to showcase her own singing ability. Though specializing in different genres, all three plan to record albums.

“Yeah, mine’s rock ‘n’ roll; my daughter’s is like dance-oriented stuff, and my wife’s doing country-western,” Bonds said, adding that while each is pursuing separate album contracts, his wife’s and daughter’s budding careers may be complicating the completion of his deal.

Bonds confessed that he “kind of semiaccidentally played” the record company representatives some of his wife’s and daughter’s tapes, which apparently generated a lot of interest.

“So I think that’s the hang-up on my deal now,” he said. “They’re trying to restructure it so it may be a joint deal, which isn’t too bad.

So this comeback may truly be a family affair?

“Right. I think my wife is upstairs right now, trying to teach the dog how to tap dance,” Bonds cracked, breaking into that throaty chuckle one last time. “We’re going to get everybody involved.”

LIVE ACTION: Southern Pacific will play the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana on Feb. 9. . . . Ziggy Marley will be at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Feb. 11, followed by Albert King on Feb. 12. . . . The James Harman Band, which is playing each Monday in February at Dazzles in Newport Beach, returns to the White House in Laguna Beach on Feb. 14.