There was an article in the local paper yesterday about J. Geils. Not the band, but the guitar player. He's just a 'regular guy' now, living out in Groton, Massachusetts. And though he's been long-retired from the rock scene (that last bit of real Geils Band activity was 1999's reunion tour), he's been active in music, having just released a solo jazz record (gotta track that one down).
Strangely enough (or not, if you're familiar with my penchant for musical reminiscing), the J. Geils band reminds me of a lunch counter at a drug store.
During my first year of high school I was lucky enough to have the school day begin around 11:30. Carrabec High (North Anson, Maine...not quite the 'middle of nowhere', but close enough) was overcrowded and had to run split sessions. This meant that I could indulge my teen self by sleeping to 9:30 or so, showering, and then walking down the hill to take the bus. The walk (about 3/4 of a mile, not uphill both ways) took me to Taylor's Drug Store, your typical small-town drug/variety store with lunch counter. There we would sit eating microwaved hamburgers, washing 'em down with cherry cokes (coffee cokes too, weird but good).
At the end of one of the isles near the lunch counter there was a stand-up wire display rack containing rock record albums. For months and months I looked at the cover of the spooky Geils record Nightmares. Never bought it though. At the time, "Give It To Me" (from Bloodshot) was getting a lot of airplay (back when radio didn't suck via stations WTOS (The Top of Sugarloaf) and WBLM). The version of that song was probably coming from the live record Blow Your Face Out. Once they started playing "Musta Got Lost", I was hooked. For years (until the Sanctuary and Love Stinks era) I listened to nothing but the live records (this one and Full House). They're just too much fun: blues, funk, soul, heck..even a little comedy.
If you think the J. Geils band was all about "Centerfold" you owe it to yourself to check 'em out when they were truly at the top of their hip-shakin' game.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
Article comments
1 - Justene
This review was chosen for Advance.net. You will be able to find it on newspaper sites including Cleveland.com.
2 - Sam
I was (am) a J. Geils Band fan. I first heard "Musta Got Lot" at a friends house, and went right out and bought the album (yes, album). Then Full House (which I wore a groove in playing "First I Look at the Purse") and Sanctuary. My biggest thrill came while I was visiting my soon-to-be in-laws house in Groton, Mass. My fiance and I were out walking when I asked about their neighbors house. She told me that "some musician lives there. No one really sees him much, but he has had some parties with lots of guests over." I asked her father who lived next door to them and the told me Mr. Geils. I asked, Jay Geils the blues/jazz musician? His response was that he knew "that he's in a very poplar Boston band" but didn't know the bands name (not there kind of music). So I asked another neighbor, and sure enough I was right next door to my favorite group. (Just as a reference: in 1986 it was a yellow colonial/farm house. The in-laws were Trenholme-Pihl.)
3 - Mark Saleski
Jay Geils still lives in groton. there was an article about him in a local paper recently.
4 - Eric Olsen
very nice job Mark, I like the personal history aspect particularly. Unless you listen to a lot of classic rock radio, it's easy to forget how really fine the band was through most of the '70s and into the early-80s: a great vcover band that comae up with originals that weren't shamed by the classic covers. I still think "Full House" is their peak. Peter Wolf made a huge mistake in giving up the hipster Blues Brothers-type persona and trying to be a contemporary soul man - dude musta got lost.
5 - JR
Huh. How'd I miss this post the first time around?
Jay Geils came through my area last year in his new incarnation as a jazz guitarist (I think it's closer to swing, but I haven't heard his new work.)
Unfortunately, in my new incarnation as a bump-on-a-log, I was too lazy to go see him.
6 - Mark Saleski
i saw them up in porland, maine on the reunion tour and they were just fantastic.
the opener: Toos & the Maytals. incredible.