Let us now praise The J. Geils Band..

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by samthesham, Jun 13, 2018.

  1. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    Like the title says this thread is for showing the J.Geils Band the love they so richly deserve

    I'm not going into the whole pre-Geils history of the band as you can do your own research for that...

    I will begin by saying that by mid 1970 guitarist J. (Jerome) Geils had put together one of the 1970s best loved longest lasting band of R&B misfits this side of Englands Rolling Stones...

    Hold on.I did not say the Geilers were as good or better than the Stones in the early 70s (that would occur in 1973-1977),that would be foolish to even entertain the thought of such rubbish....

    Let's face facts the Stones during their prime 1965-1972 were masters at balancing sex & politics in the art of rocknroll & truest to its pure form ala Chuck Berry & Bo Diddley...

    But in 1970 this scruffy band of greasy East Coast rockers had aspirirations (or so it seemed to some of us) to be the American Stones...

    Front man extradonaire Peter Wolf was born in the Bronx the same neighborhood that gave us Dion and the Belmonts & Phil Spector...

    Wolf also grew up listening to the wrap of pioneering rocknroll DJs Alan Freed & Jocko Henderson (of which Wolf would eventually become noted for due to the Van Morrison connection in Boston) other words Wolf was an original rocknroll outlaw not to mention the premier frontman of 1970s rock (Sorry Iggy you're #2)

    I worked in underground radio from 1971-1977 and never missed a opportunity to interveiw the band or attend their shows...

    Something I can't say about a lot of more well known groups back then...

    Just like the Stones the Geilers held on to & cherished the true spirit of rocknroll & the roots of R&B and 50s & 60s rocknroll with fine examples of all of it....

    And JGB were the only band to show praise for the soul & funk master Dyke and the Blazers (see So Sharp from The Morning After LP)

    For me JGB filled a void left by the 1973-1977 era & post 1978 Stones...

    With Keith busy being a junkie & Magic Mick focusing on his status with millionaire jet setters,Monte Carlo & other such high society indulgences the music couldn't help but suffer....

    Jagger was trying to hold it all together but alas it just couldn't be done...

    One or two men does not the Stones make...

    So here was the greatest party/frat band of the early-mid 70s now taking over the Stones #1 slot...

    There was only 2 bands from the 1970s who walked with the same swagger & bravado as the Stones & those 2 are/were The J.Geils Band & Ronnie Van Zant led Lynyrd Skynyrd...

    The New York Dolls would occupy the #3 slot they were to androgynous in their look for the times...Great band regardless...

    Anyway between 1973-1977 the Geilers were rivaling the Stones not only in the studio but on stage as well...yes JGB were that good at once upon a time...

    Not to mention the band was in no way selfish with encores...

    Once in 1974 we got 5 stellar encores from the band which is simply amazing by anybodys standards.With Peter Wolf pole vaulting across the stage on his mike stand & the band blowing like a out of control train until the very end.I never witnessed less than 3 encores from the guys...

    JGB in their prime could cut almost anybody in the business excluding the Who of course...

    My God! They were so fn good in their day...

    They did slip somewhat into the hammer handed/headed realm of 1970s hard rock with the 1975 LP Hot Line....

    Thankfully the were astute enough to realize that hard rock ala Foghat and other bands of such ilk at the time was not their forte....

    So 1975 saw the release of the very fine LP Nightmares...And Other Tales From The Vinyl Jungle which was spearheaded by their best single of the 1970s the marvelous Musta Got Lost...

    JGB went on tour behind Nightmares & Musta Got Lost but some of the old magic was gone...

    The band released a double live LP from the tour titled Blow Your Face Out but the music just didn't hold up to the excellent title...

    When compared to 1972s Full House-Live (which by the way is one of the finest examples of live early 70s rocknroll) BYFO can only be seen as inferior.Bill Graham knew what he was doing in 1971 when he chose JGB to help close The Fillmore....

    1977 was the year of punk & new wave of which I also admire greatly especially Elvis Costello & Clash but...

    1977 was/is the year that JGB proved they not only had the supreme chops but the smarts to go with it on their LP Monkey Island.A album that is a true lost classic of 70s rocknroll....

    Monkey Island not only included the dirt & dance along with 60s soul & 70s funk but now they begin to add Brill Building & Spector influences to the mix and sounded superb thanks to the production of keyboardist Seth Justman...

    Also there was now social consciousness added in the stew within the title track (the weak link on a otherwise excellent Geils output).Within the grooves of Monkey Island the band also included a fine cover of Louis Armstrongs I'm Not Rough we also have the hit I Do & to top it all off J.Geils pulled off a solo on his guitar that had Jimmys (Page) attention....

    Yes it is that good & can be found on the closing track The Wreckage...

    Things would only get better for the band in 1978 with the album Sanctuary ,1980 release of Love Stinks & finally reaching a commercial peak in 1981 with the release of Freeze Frame which garnered 2 hit singles and turned them on to the MTV generation...

    Peter Wolf split from the band in 1982 taking with him the heart & soul of the band....

    JGB released one more studio LP in the mid 80s but sadly without Wolf it fell flat on its 80s reverbed face....

    Not even a shadow of the true JGB...

    Although not in Jann Wenners house IMO the JGB deserves their own personal Hall of Fame...

    In my world they already have it...

    If you want to kick off the party & keep it full throttle play these 3 JGB albums in order...

    #1.The J.Geils Band (1970 debut)
    #2.Live - Full House
    #3.Love Stinks

    Garaunteed to blow the roof off the joint!!

    In a nutshell JGB released 11 studio albums & 3 live albums between 1970 - 1983 with only Hot Line,BYFO & the post Wolf album You're Gettin Even While I'm Gettin Odd not up to the quality of the others...

    In all those years JGB never lost sight of the music called rocknroll....

    I'm glad to have known them also that they left me with so many great memories live & on record...

    The J. Geils Band earned my respect in 1970 & hold it 48 yrs later


    Anyone like to add anything?

    Thanks for reading & posting
     
  2. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I wish they would resissue their early albums with the missing non-lp singles and any outtakes added. It is a shame that the band would not allow Rhino to reissue the 2 cd deluxe edition of Live: Full House with both complete shows. I guess a few of the missing songs are repeated on Blow Your Face Out but it wouldn't bother me.

    Personally, I thought the earliest albums were their best.

    I was always hoping they would record and release one of their reunion shows on cd/dvd.

    Proposed Live: Full House Deluxe Edition track listing.


    Disc 1: Friday, April 21, 1972

    1. “Sno-Cone”*

    2. “Wait”*

    3. “Gonna Find Me A New Love”*

    4. “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party”*

    5. “Homework”*

    6. “Pack Fair And Square”

    7. “Looking For A Love”*

    8. “Cry One More Time”*

    9. “Whammer Jammer”*

    10. “Cruisin’ For A Love”*

    11. “Serves You Right To Suffer”*

    12. “First I Look At The Purse”*

    13. “Floyd’s Hotel”*

    14. “Hard Drivin’ Man”*

    15. “I Don’t Need You No More”*






    Disc 2: Saturday, April 22, 1972


    1. “Sno-Cone”*

    2. “Wait”*

    3. “Gonna Find Me A New Love”*

    4. “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party”*

    5. “Homework”

    6. “Pack Fair And Square”*

    7. “Looking For A Love”

    8. “Cry One More Time”*

    9. “Whammer Jammer”

    10. “Cruisin’ For A Love”

    11. “Serves You Right To Suffer”

    12. “First I Look At The Purse”

    13. “Floyd’s Hotel”*

    14. “Hard Drivin’ Man”

    15. “I Don’t Need You No More”*

    16. “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party” – Encore*

    *Previously Unissued

    I believe Blow Your Face Out is a complete set culled from 2 different shows although they played some other songs on that tour, I am not sure if any of those shows were recorded.

    I wish they would release some more live shows from some other tours but I'm not sure what is left in the vaults.

     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2018
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  3. Dingo

    Dingo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Social consciousness on the title track of " Monkey Island "?????? No, just a spooky little horror story, but brilliant all the same, and definitely a classic. Certainly not the low point of the album which was all killer, no filler.
     
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  4. Trelayne

    Trelayne Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Gothos, Alabama
    great band. here's one of my faves

     
  5. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    "Hotline" (1975) - my favorite J. Geils album! :righton:
     
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  6. Great post, but I always likedBlow Your Face Out and thought it was a worthy follow-up to Full House. I also don’t hear Hotline as a Foghat knock-off.
     
  7. Galactus2

    Galactus2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    Great band in its day. Never saw a bad show from them.

    When their Bloodshot album came out in the early/mid 70’s, I had a red vinyl copy of it. Down in the dead wax was etched ‘Nice to see your face in the place.’

    JGB worked hard, and around Boston, you could get lucky and see them out and about. I was fortunate to meet Magic Dick at an Aerosmith show in town, and he was very pleasant to the fans that approached him.
     
  8. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Too much talk ... Whammer Jammer, baby

     
  9. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    Like so many bands they achieved wide acceptance too late. They had a great run and held it together for a long time without letting the quality slip. They deserve a major rediscovery by the general public.

    Peter was so electric and the band was so tight, that one of the decade’s major movies stars fell in love with him and married him after watching him perform. That’s extraordinary.
     
  10. joepepitone

    joepepitone Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Really? This is where you lost me.

    JGB were a great band. I had a third row seat for them in 1973. Also, saw them in 1975 at a small venue.
     
  11. Peter Wolf may be the greatest band front man I have ever seen and heard. And that includes the great Mick Jagger (my #2 choice). James Brown could probably give him a good run for top spot. And my choice for favorite Geils album is the magnificent Monkey Island.
     
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  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I'm a big fan of the band. I have bloodshot, sanctuary, love stinks, freeze frame, full house and blow your face out, and also the rockpalast dvd. I remember seeing the rockpalast dvd a long time ago on an Aussie tv show called rock arena. That was my first exposure to the band and i was really please to see the dvd available. oh also showtime ...
    Obviously centerfold came out not long after and i had a short dig into the bands discography.

    Blow your face out is my favourite album and chimes my favourite song off that album.

    Really good band. Any fan of rock needs a couple of their albums.
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2018
  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    i have been putting it off, but just ordered the two 5 album collection sets. thanks for the prompt
     
  14. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    It almost ruins the album for me. For me, it's the reason Ladies Invited is not on a par with Bloodshot
     
  15. npc145

    npc145 music junkie

    I was lucky enough to see them 3 times. Loved the early albums.
    2/20/71 Fillmore East. They opened for Black Sabbath
    2/18/72 Academy of Music. Billy Joel and Captain Beefheart opened
    9/17/72 Academy of Music. Frampton's Camel and Slade were the opening acts.
     
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  16. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Year ago, a guy had a soundboard of a reunion show that he claimed he had permission to distribute. Heh. It seems he was quickly corrected, but that cat was out of the bag by then.
     
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  17. As with several other bands, I got into JGB in the 80's when the Freeze-Frame album came out. I was in 5th grade, and someone (usually me) would have a portable cassette blaster... that album got played a lot on my elementary school playground. Then I realized they had been around for awhile, and I got into their early stuff right around the same time I started discovering The Blues and John Lee Hooker... so I really loved everything I heard from JGB. They always said the Detroit area was a really strong audience for them, and they loved playing (and recording live albums) in Michigan.

    I recently had a "proud dad" moment when my oldest son (age 10) was in the car with me and "Freeze-Frame" came on the radio. Of course we cranked it and jammed together, and then when the song was over my son said "Hey dad, those horns sound just like the horn players from the Blues Brothers Band!" I had to think for a second, but then I remembered: Blue Lou, Bones Malone and Mr. Fabulous are listed in the credits for Freeze-Frame. So my boy has been paying attention. :cool: Those moments are really cool when they happen.
     
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  18. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Wolf's Sleepless cd features both Jagger and Keef guest starring.

    Magic Dick, too!
     
  19. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I have a soundboard boot of one of the shows somewhere. It might be the one you are talking about. I am thinking it was recorded in Boston if I remember correctly.
     
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  20. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    I'm not a huge fan of the band, but the two breakthrough albums-Love Stinks and Freeze Frame, are just so much fun to listen to. And "Centerfold" is one of the great pop singles of all time-it's singalong nirvana.
     
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  21. boe

    boe Forum Resident

    Location:
    western New York
    I saw the band over a dozen times and they brought it every time. Few bands could rock the house like the JGB.

    The first time I saw them was in very early 1971, just before the first lp was released. They played my college gym in upstate NY - $1 admission. They started off with two instrumentals (Sno Cone was one) and we were trying to figure out just who these guys were in ruffled shirts, slicked back hair (they had a greaser vibe to them) and no apparent vocalist. Then the band kicked into Wait and Wolf strutted out from behind the amps. The first line of the song of course is "I went down to the local bar..." Wolf changed it to "I went down to THE OAKS!..." The Oaks was the only bar within walking distance of campus and a major student hangout. When Wolf gave the shout-out, the crowd went nuts, and the band took off from there. Such great moment.
     
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  22. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    My buddy saw them a few times back in the seventies and said more often than not their show was better than the headliner.
     
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  23. tronds

    tronds Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norway
    The early albums are absolutely gold, but I didn't care much for the later stuff.
     
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  24. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    mine is Detroit.
     
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  25. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    Maybe I have a different one. I think I have a couple of reunion shows. I think one of them is without J Geils but with a different guitarist.
     

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