J. Geils C/D

Include me. Uninteresting stuff after deciding to pack away the iron-fisted R&B and hard charging boogie post 1976.

Gave Monkey Island ('77) another listen; still stumped why '70s critics considered it their high point, when really it was just their most pretentious record. Only actual "reggae" I noticed (with stabs at dub and instrumental ska, never really pulled off), was in the intro of the nine-minute title track, which from there turns into an even less realized answer to Springsteen's "Jungleland" or something. (Guessing the "island" is more likely Manhattan than, say, Martha's Vineyard, but it's not like Wolf says anything about it either way, except you get stuck there; also, too bad the title chorus begs the racism question.) "Wreckage," another long dark mood track with an almost-metal guitar climax ending the album, is better but still pretty vague; to me, these seem more like unfinished versions of Geils' just as dark but way meatier and less half-baked stuff on Sanctuary a year later. Same goes for "Somebody," a sort of paranoid one about being chased or followed. Opening cut "Surrender" starts out as the kind of post-Santana percussion-rock experiment that got Barrabas and Babe Ruth tracks into discos; backup vocal (either Luther Vandross or one of three women named in the liner notes) could even pass for Babe Ruth's Jenny Haan, but it's still not a real great song. "I Do" is the radio hit (#24 pop) and really, the most memorable thing on the album. "I'm Not Rough" is a pretty decent Louis Armstrong cover. And there's a couple ballads.

My favorite is 'The Morning After,' which seems to be the most roundly ignored on this thread. Besides being enormously enjoyable throughout, it has a great album cover.

Freeze-Frame was the first album I purchased with my own money.

― J (Jay), Tuesday, August 8, 2006 9:54 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Hadn't realized how much of the rest of Love Stinks (outside the obvious instant classic title cut, which I only ever owned as a 45 until I picked up the LP for $1 a couple weeks ago) got rock radio airplay, but listening to it, I'm almost positive I remember hearing four other tracks (so, in total, 5 out of 9) on the radio in Detroit at the time: "Just Can't Wait" (#78 pop single, sorta Carsy new wave move); "Come Back" (#32 pop hit -- technically higher than the title track's #38 oddly enough -- with a great stretched-out rhythm break at least in the 5:09 LP version, not sure if the 45 was shorter or not); "Night Time" (bluesy bar band cover of 1966 hit by quasi garage band the Strangeloves of "I Want Candy" fame); "Till The Walls Come Down" (which I would've guessed had come off one of Geils' late '70s albums -- sounds less slick than most of the rest of what's here.) (Actually, I could be wrong about "Night Time"'s airplay -- never hit me before that George Thorogood covered it in 1980 too; maybe his version got played instead? Or maybe even both did, the same year??) Anyway, these are all catchy enough, and add up a pretty good LP -- sort of a transition between Sanctuary and Freeze-Frame, though not as good as either of those. Plus "Takin' You Down" and "Tryin' Not To Think About It" have moderately heavy guitar bits -- riff in the latter reminds me a little of "Buick MacKane" by T. Rex, though the song wanders otherwise. Which leaves "Desire" (a mess of a ballad which Christgau pretty accurately called "endless at 3:35"), and the spoken-word sorta old-time radio serial parody "No Anchovies Please," which I'd remembered as being really short, but actually lasts a pointless and punchline-free 2:39. Album made Dave Marsh's Top 10 that year (above Second Edition and London Calling) regardless.

Had actually forgotten that The Morning After from '71 was on my shelf until Fruitless and Pansy Free mentioned above. Will say this -- it sounds really consistent. But maybe the reason nobody's mentioned it here much is because nothing much really seems great on it. Pretty sure "I Don't Need You No More", "Looking For A Love" (Bobby Womack/Valentinos soul cover and Geils' first top 40 single, though just barely), and "Wammer Jammer" (which must be the most popular harmonica instrumental in rock'n'roll history, unless there's something obvious I'm not thinking of) used to get played on the radio in Detroit; possibly one or both of the interchangeable ballads (one a Don Covay cover apparently), too. Am proud of myself for thinking "So Sharp" on Side One sounded a lot like "Funky Broadway" before noticing the cover says it's "in memory of 'Dyke' Arlester Christian," who wrote it. "Floyd's Hotel" is an okay Wolf jive rap, and the band stretches out somewhat in the side closers "Gotta Have Your Love" and "It Aint' What You Do (It's How You Do It)" -- okay, maybe that last one is great, I dunno, but you have to sit through the whole album to get there. And albumwide the guitars never seem to get beefed up like they did on the debut. Do agree that the LP cover totally kicks butt, though.

Chuck, love the reviews -- if I had time, I'd love to do a counterpoint, tho I think we're in agreement for the most part, esp. insofar as believing Sanctuary and Freeze Frame are the high points (tho I enjoy Monkey Island more, I think).

Re. Freeze Frame, recently, I was trying to figure out how they had changed direction so drastically, but upon further review it's pretty clear Seth Justman was behind it -- he became increasingly influential in the band around the time of Monkey Island and starts taking control with Love Stinks. And if you read interviews with them, the band always thought of him as some kind of whiz kid. By the time you get to Freeze Frame, Justman's writing almost everything by himself -- I never realized but Wolf isn't even credited on "Centerfold"!

But that record holds up mightily -- and yes, it's really strange and experimental. I said upthread that Magic Dick is a secret weapon for the band -- you'd imagine that most bands that evolve away from blues to new wave would have pretty much stuck the harmonica player in the back, but on Freeze Frame, he's the guy honking out virtually all of the riffs: Centerfold, Flamethrower, Rage in the Cage, River Blindness. Again, this has to be a credit to Justman, who somehow makes it all work.

The thing I can't figure out is how all the other guys went along with it -- Wolf definitely made the record work for his persona, though I imagine it wasn't easy reconciling the Woofa Goofa with lyrics like "Correlations Disintegrations/Cessation - of life expectancy." But the rest of the guys are, like, blues dudes -- if the influences are The Contortions and the like, I can't imagine anyone but Justman listening to them.

I now own every single one of their releases on LP (even the Wolfless one), and I still swear by 'Monkey Island' (if not 'Full House', where the early band just smokes so hard, but I hate voting for live albums...)

I don't think Magic Dick's on "Centerfold" ?? "Flamethrower" for sure, tho..

The opening riff is Magic Dick and something else -- guitar? Organ? I can't remember w/o hearing. But harmonica is definitely a big part of it...

hmm .. ok, that might be MD echoing the riff on the intro (my tinnitus is sadly too bad to tell these days), but I don't hear him throughout the track ... BTW apparently, J. Geils is doing once-a-year reunion shows in Detroit and Boston (the two cities where they were most popular.) I totally slept on the announcement of the Detroit show this summmer -- at Pine Knob -- or I totally would driven back for it. Apparently in Boston, they were as openers for Aerosmith at Fenway Park (a Boston legends showcase), online reviews indicate that Aerosmith totally sucked, as to be expected

Rob Sheffield wrote a somewhat amusing review of the Boston show from RS. He noted that he had to wait in the beer line behind four or five Magic Dick impersonators.

I'm listening to a radio rip of their set from the closing of Fillmore East in 1971 (chosen to be there by headliners The Allman Brothers), and it makes me long for a complete "Live" Full House release; it was about 6 months before the album was recorded, and all the songs from Full House except for "Looking For A Love" make an appearance. Lacking a bit of the power of the record but still an amazing show.

I remember rumors of a Rhino Handmade edition of "Live" Full House making the rounds last year. Supposedly it was going to be the complete shows from both dates that make up the album. I hope that it does happen because damn it, I want more live J. Geils Band from their peak.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this band is far more awesome than they're given credit for. True/false?

Very true.

Had this stuck in my head this weekend, not having heard it in decades.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=289lzL6Eit8

that's a pretty cool song... but wow, it seems even less like the blues stuff they apparently were famous for before their breakout singles.

I've never heard that one, kinda Devo-esque. Seth Justman was really J. Geils Band's new-wave guy, wasn't he?

Is Magic Dick featured on any of their most famous songs?

(and by that, I mean "Centerfold", "Freeze Frame", "Love Stinks", etc)

"River Blindness" remains one of the strangest songs ever recorded by a top 40 band.

"River Blindness" remains one of the strangest songs ever recorded by a top 40 band.

What about "No Anchovies Please"? That's among the weirdest songs I've ever heard, and yet it was the B-side to "Love Stinks."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-SgGHlZXQc&noredirect=1

Is Magic Dick featured on any of their most famous songs?

The riff on Centerfold is harmonica and guitar. I actually think Justman folded him into their pop material in a really clever way usually.

"River Blindness" remains one of the strangest songs ever recorded by a top 40 band.

Totally agree. As an 8 y/o, the lyrics to that song totally weirded me out.

Yeah I bought that LP when I was 12 and that song did my head in.

Wow! "Freeze Frame" is a fantastic album. Why isn't this a classic?

the only dud is "Rage in a Cage"

I was with you until you called "Rage in a Cage" a dud. It's the best song on the record.

yeah wtf? harmonica riff is all-time

I've wanted to hear a metal cover for nearly 30 years. That riff would translate beautifully.

is it me, or is this album very Oingo Boingo (except good)?

Seth Justman bravely paving the way for "Put 'Em On The Glass."

Rage is so awesome. That was my favorite track on the lp when I was a kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrV80UzFcXA&sn

Peter Wolf demonstrates how to win friends and influence people

https://twitter.com/Lowenaffchen/status/742189620423720962

Didn't he get one of those Jann penned 5-star reviews in the 90s?

Notwithstanding the crazy list of demands, I find that whole story kind of endearing.

RIP.

http://www.wcvb.com/article/guitarist-known-as-j-geils-found-dead-in-massachusetts-home/9263211

RIP. It was always weird to me how he was like the fourth best known member of the band named after him. But a fine R&B guitarist.

RIP. It was always weird to me how he was like the fourth best known member of the band named after him. But a fine R&B guitarist.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, April 11, 2017 7:46 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/j-geils-band-tour-2014/

got a real soft spot in my heart for the dragged-into-the-style "new wave" LP Love Stinks, gonna miss the dude

What Tipsy said. Wolf fronted the band, Justman co-wrote most of their songs, Magic Dick blew harp.... which left their namesake to play guitar, which he did really, really well.

In my youth I saw a double bill with Peter Frampton (basically doing the same show that would become Frampton Comes Alive) and then J. Geils. Frampton was a tough act to follow in those days, but Geils came out and kicked the party into overdrive. It occurs to me this was about the time Blow Your Face Out was recorded, so that was probably more or less the setlist that night. I'm listening to it tonight, for the first time in forever. RIP.

The Creem movie page on FB shared this color pic of Lester Bangs sitting w/Geils on typewriter (chronicled in his famous story for the magazine)

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53892589_2306825056273450_987309571422814208_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.xx&oh=d8965bdc072a593d9eae3c79bbf39e20&oe=5D1510DD

Isn't that Tony Clifton?

Picked up a dollar bin copy of Bloodshot today, haven’t heard it since high school. Man, this is hitting every monkey nerve, such a fun record.

Was it a RED copy?

No, but it was a buck, and it’s pretty clean for the price.

Also picked up Foghat’s Energized and Richard Betts’ Highway Call, all high school faves, about seven bucks all told. Rockin’ out tonight!

That's a good haul. Energized bangs.

I've been curious about the red Bloodshot. I lucked into what looks like a clean black German audiophile press copy awhile back from somebody that didn't realize what it was for like $5.

I had the red one when it was new, but sold it when I went new wave. When I brought mine to the counter today the clerk said “is it red?” and I’m like “for a dollar?” I don’t think they’re particularly rare/valuable these days though.

Was listening to the extended Blow Your Face Out a couple days ago - man I wish I could have seen them live in the 70s.