TEDDY: BARELY

“WORKIN’ IT BACK.” Teddy Pendergrass. Elektra. This album is a slight improvement over last year’s tepid “Love Language,” the first album Pendergrass recorded after a near-fatal 1982 automobile accident left him partially paralyzed. Pendergrass, once known for his soul-shouter style in the tradition of Otis Redding, has lost most of that vocal power. That might not matter if his current material said something profound and revealing about the artist he is today. Except for two tracks written and produced by Linda and Cecil Womack (“Lonely Color Blue” and “Love Emergency”) none of these songs has the Pendergrass stamp. They could have been sung by anyone, probably with similarly drab results.