Although the J.Geils Band was named after guitarist J. (Jerome) Geils, much of
the band's focus was on lyricist and singer Peter Wolf. The Boston-based band
was formed in 1967 and the hard-rocking, British blues band were one of the
most popular touring bands in the U.S. during the 1970's.
Churning out covers of obscure R&B, doo wop and soul, this pure bar band could
not recapture their legendary live sound in the studio, but did manage to
secure ten Billboard Top 40 hits over the span of ten years.
Their debut album in 1970 (Atlantic), paid homage to Otis Rush, John Lee Hooker
and Motown soul and was filled with a rock and roll swagger reminiscent of the
Stones and included their trademark blues-boogie style. Earning rave reviews
from Rolling Stone Magazine, the group first built up a local following and hit
the national charts with the cut "Looking For A Love," from their sophomore
effort in 1971 entitled, "The Morning After."
After a well-received live LP (1972) called "Full House Live," the J.Geils Band
again hit the Billboard Top 40 with the cut "Give It To Me," from the 1973
album entitled "Bloodshot." (the album peaked at number ten on the Billboard
Top 40 album chart).
After the relative failure of the album "Ladies Invited" (1973), the
heavy-boogie band came back strong with 1974's release "Nightmares...and Other
Tales from the Vinyl Jungle," a release that included the Billboard Top 40 hit,
the infectious single called "Must Have Got Lost" (number twelve on the singles
chart).
But the J. Geils Band was best experienced live, and although they had great
fan support on their tours, the next two albums, 1975's "Hotline" and the mid
70's party album "Blow Your Face Out," (1976 live LP) were commercial
disappointments. In 1977, the band shortened their name to "Geils" and
released the album "Monkey Island," which was filled with their trademark
blues-boogie sound, but again, although critically acclaimed (some say this was
the band's best work), the album did not sell very well.
But after nine albums with Atlantic Records, the band switched to EMI America
and released the album "Sanctuary" in 1978. It was the group's first album to
go gold since "Bloodshot" and was filled with top-notch production and gritty
bluesman ship, although it failed to secure a charted single.
After the 1979 release called "The Best of the J. Geils Band," 1980's "Love
Stinks" brought the band into a more mainstream arena and the group toured
extensively with stops all over the U.S., Europe and Japan. The title cut
reached the Billboard Top 40 (peaking at number thirty-eight) and paved the way
for the group's breakthrough release in 1981 entitled "Freeze Frame."
With this release the band adeptly blended their R&B roots with band member
Seth Justman's shining synthesizer work and created a touch of new wave pop
that produced hits such as the stop and start chorus of the title cut (number
four on the Billboard Top 40), the neo-doo wop sounds of the song "Angel in
Blue" and the band's biggest charted single; the infectious cut called
"Centerfield" (number one on the Billboard Top 40 charts for an impressive six
weeks).
But just as the group hit their commercial apex, tensions within the band ran
high, especially between writing partners Justman and Wolf. When the band
refused to record material that Wolf had co-written with Don Covay and Michael
Lunzon, Wolf left the band for a solo career (1983). The group had released
another live album at the end of 1982 and after Wolf's departure, Justman
assumed the lead vocals for the 1984 release called "You're Getting' Even While
I'm Getting Old." The album failed miserably and that, in essence, was the end
of the J. Geils Band.
The J. Geils Band released the album entitled "Flashback" in 1988, which is a
brief but entertaining overview of the band's early 80's hits and in 1992, the
group's anthology album, was released. A two-LP set, it concentrates on the
band's full-throttle, boogie style rock and includes live blues rock numbers as
well as their greatest hits.
Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and
operates www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can secure your
copy of his
ebook called "The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting."
Robert can be contacted at robert@collectingvinylrecords.com.
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