Musta Got Lost, Somewhere Down the Line...
April 12, 2017 4:19 AM Subscribe
John Warren "J." Geils Jr. founder of the band that bears his name, famous for such boogie smokers as "Musta Got Lost" "Houseparty", "Southside Shuffle" and "Give It To Me" and pop hits "Love Stinks" and "Centerfold" has passed on at 71.
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posted by Halloween Jack at 4:31 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:31 AM on April 12, 2017
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posted by octothorpe at 4:49 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by octothorpe at 4:49 AM on April 12, 2017
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posted by Faint of Butt at 4:49 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:49 AM on April 12, 2017
> Welcome to jgeilsband.com Updated 12 Dec 99
oof.
posted by ardgedee at 4:58 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
oof.
posted by ardgedee at 4:58 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by El Brendano at 5:10 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by El Brendano at 5:10 AM on April 12, 2017
I remember my best friend, having lost virginity somewhere in teen years, solemnly announcing that Geils was wrong about love.
posted by thelonius at 5:13 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by thelonius at 5:13 AM on April 12, 2017
For those who don't know, Peter Wolf (who's a friend and whose knowledge of American roots music I consider the equal of any scholar of popular music I know, and that's my trade) is going strong, full of creative juice, and putting out amazing records on the regular. His newest, *A Cure for Loneliness,* is the best work he's done since *Sleepless,* which made every critic pick list in 2003. Here's the single: "Wastin' Time."
The guitarist on both albums, by the way, is the utterly remarkable and virtuosic Duke Levine. If you appreciate Telecaster genius, he's about the most exciting player out there these days. Wolf is touring behind the album now and appearing nationally with Tom Petty over the summer (I'll be at the June Boston show, because of course I will).
posted by spitbull at 5:36 AM on April 12, 2017 [5 favorites]
The guitarist on both albums, by the way, is the utterly remarkable and virtuosic Duke Levine. If you appreciate Telecaster genius, he's about the most exciting player out there these days. Wolf is touring behind the album now and appearing nationally with Tom Petty over the summer (I'll be at the June Boston show, because of course I will).
posted by spitbull at 5:36 AM on April 12, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's worth mentioning that J. Geils and the J. Geils Band also form an interesting footnote in the history of intellectual property and trademark conflicts, as the J. Geils Band continued to tour and record as the J. Geils Band after J. Geils quit the band (mentioned briefly in the last link), with J. Geils legally unable to record as "J. Geils". I wish I had more familiarity with the details.
posted by Shepherd at 5:39 AM on April 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Shepherd at 5:39 AM on April 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
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I remember Freeze Frame being one of the very few albums that both my Father and my Step-father liked. Mr. Geils will always be that to me. A little reminder that showed we're not so different after all.
posted by DigDoug at 5:57 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I remember Freeze Frame being one of the very few albums that both my Father and my Step-father liked. Mr. Geils will always be that to me. A little reminder that showed we're not so different after all.
posted by DigDoug at 5:57 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
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Dammit, I grew up listening to them. In fact I still do.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:58 AM on April 12, 2017
Dammit, I grew up listening to them. In fact I still do.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:58 AM on April 12, 2017
A great jazz and blues player, guitar collector and historian.
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posted by tommasz at 6:07 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by tommasz at 6:07 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Don't get me wrong, the pop/rock stuff is wonderful, but whenever I play the earlier stuff for those who only know "Centerfold," they are invariably blown away.
posted by jonmc at 6:09 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 6:09 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
From the small tributes department: the male lead on the TV show Angie Tribeca is named Jay Geils. This is no accident, as the show is packed with music jokes, but it will be a little sad now.
Also important to remember that they were a big part of the MTV revolution.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:09 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also important to remember that they were a big part of the MTV revolution.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:09 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Aww, man. The J. Geils Band, touring in support of "Freeze Frame", was the first concert I went to, at the age of 12. There was an older kid who I knew from the block who was working the concession stands, and at one point I left my seat to go find the specific stand he was at and say "hello". As I was jogging through the hallway that surrounded the arena, the band kicked in to the song "River Blindness".
I can testify that running along a circular corridor with that song blaring in your ears is an intensely eerie experience. I keep waiting to see that moment replicated in some police procedural or another.
. to a hell of a guitarist.
posted by Ipsifendus at 6:19 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
I can testify that running along a circular corridor with that song blaring in your ears is an intensely eerie experience. I keep waiting to see that moment replicated in some police procedural or another.
. to a hell of a guitarist.
posted by Ipsifendus at 6:19 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Flame Thrower is the bestest!
posted by freecellwizard at 6:28 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by freecellwizard at 6:28 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by lordrunningclam at 6:30 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by lordrunningclam at 6:30 AM on April 12, 2017
His name was John W. Geils, Jr., not Jerome.
posted by briank at 6:34 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 6:34 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Good news everyone! There's an instrumental track for Centerfold.
It's ok, I understand, this ain't no never-never land.
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posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:38 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's ok, I understand, this ain't no never-never land.
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posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:38 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I could've sworn that on one song, right before the guitar solo, Peter Wolf yells "Kick it to 'em, Jerome!" But I could be misremembering.
posted by jonmc at 7:09 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 7:09 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
At summer camp circa 1987, during plays and talent shows and other evening activities that had us schlep over to the girls’ side, where the theater was: minutes before showtime the lights would flash on and the beginning of Freeze Frame would blare over the sound system and two counsels in aprons and sunglasses would barge in and grab someone and hit them in the face with a whipped cream pie. Pieman: an inexplicable tradition from my childhood that’s forever linked with the J. Geils Band.
posted by thursdaystoo at 7:13 AM on April 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by thursdaystoo at 7:13 AM on April 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
I wish I had more familiarity with the details.
I do and trust me, you're better off not knowing because it was ugly stuff. Business and friendship, ambition for future solo careers and the need to monetize the back catalog, and a complicated attribution of creative labor in a band named after one member but substantially drawing on the contributions of other members for its sound make for a bad mix.
But it was water under the bridge, mostly, in recent years. Peter Wolf's Facebook post yesterday: “Thinking of all the times we kicked it high and rocked down the house! RIP Jay Geils.”
posted by spitbull at 7:19 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
I do and trust me, you're better off not knowing because it was ugly stuff. Business and friendship, ambition for future solo careers and the need to monetize the back catalog, and a complicated attribution of creative labor in a band named after one member but substantially drawing on the contributions of other members for its sound make for a bad mix.
But it was water under the bridge, mostly, in recent years. Peter Wolf's Facebook post yesterday: “Thinking of all the times we kicked it high and rocked down the house! RIP Jay Geils.”
posted by spitbull at 7:19 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
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Every once in a while, something reminds me of my freshman year in college and this bit of the Musta Got Lost intro gets stuck in my mind all day:
Hey Reputa the Beautah! Flip me down your hair
And let me climb up the ladder of your love!!
It makes me feel like I need more green mascara in my life.
posted by pangolin party at 7:25 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Every once in a while, something reminds me of my freshman year in college and this bit of the Musta Got Lost intro gets stuck in my mind all day:
Hey Reputa the Beautah! Flip me down your hair
And let me climb up the ladder of your love!!
It makes me feel like I need more green mascara in my life.
posted by pangolin party at 7:25 AM on April 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
I passed an apartment complex last weekend and as I did, I could see that the swimming pool was already filled with people and I could hear "Centerfold" blasting from somewhere. And I thought of how I could find that scene on any summer's day at any time over the last thirty-some years.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:32 AM on April 12, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 7:32 AM on April 12, 2017 [5 favorites]
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posted by SonInLawOfSam at 7:36 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 7:36 AM on April 12, 2017
And now, a Lego version of the Dr. Demento staple "No Anchovies, Please."
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posted by stannate at 8:05 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by stannate at 8:05 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Don't get me wrong, the pop/rock stuff is wonderful, but whenever I play the earlier stuff for those who only know "Centerfold," they are invariably blown away.
Indeed. Saw them at Cobo Hall in Detroit in the 70s. Blown away.
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posted by Splunge at 8:29 AM on April 12, 2017
Indeed. Saw them at Cobo Hall in Detroit in the 70s. Blown away.
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posted by Splunge at 8:29 AM on April 12, 2017
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posted by languagehat at 8:47 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by languagehat at 8:47 AM on April 12, 2017
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posted by Joey Michaels at 9:32 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:32 AM on April 12, 2017
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I've always been partial to Whammer Jammer.
posted by rekrap at 9:50 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've always been partial to Whammer Jammer.
posted by rekrap at 9:50 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
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the pop/rock stuff is wonderful, but whenever I play the earlier stuff for those who only know "Centerfold," they are invariably blown away.
I was the music editor of a newspaper in the 70s, and had a radio show in the 90s, but somehow I skipped over the 80s. I know the Freeze Frame hits, but had no idea that album was such a huge seller. The first J. Geils gold record, Full House, almost 10 years before ‘Centerfold,’ is for me the best, one of my favorite half-dozen live albums. The few times I saw them back then they were sensational on stage.
p.s. I could’ve sworn that on one song, right before the guitar solo, Peter Wolf yells "Kick it to 'em, Jerome!"
He did say that in concert, but it was an affectionate nickname, not Geils’s real name. Occasionally he called the guitarist ‘Tyrone.’ (Wolf – which isn’t his real name, either – at one point started referring to himself as ‘Woofa Goofa Mama Toofa.’)
[On Preview]: Whammer Jammer is fine; for me it was Hard Drivin’ Man.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:23 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
the pop/rock stuff is wonderful, but whenever I play the earlier stuff for those who only know "Centerfold," they are invariably blown away.
I was the music editor of a newspaper in the 70s, and had a radio show in the 90s, but somehow I skipped over the 80s. I know the Freeze Frame hits, but had no idea that album was such a huge seller. The first J. Geils gold record, Full House, almost 10 years before ‘Centerfold,’ is for me the best, one of my favorite half-dozen live albums. The few times I saw them back then they were sensational on stage.
p.s. I could’ve sworn that on one song, right before the guitar solo, Peter Wolf yells "Kick it to 'em, Jerome!"
He did say that in concert, but it was an affectionate nickname, not Geils’s real name. Occasionally he called the guitarist ‘Tyrone.’ (Wolf – which isn’t his real name, either – at one point started referring to himself as ‘Woofa Goofa Mama Toofa.’)
[On Preview]: Whammer Jammer is fine; for me it was Hard Drivin’ Man.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:23 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by the sobsister at 10:47 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by the sobsister at 10:47 AM on April 12, 2017
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Yeah, jonmc, absolutely: the band's first album, The J. Geils Band remains a corker. Favourite track? Their version of The Contours' First I Look At The Purse.
posted by On the Corner at 10:54 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, jonmc, absolutely: the band's first album, The J. Geils Band remains a corker. Favourite track? Their version of The Contours' First I Look At The Purse.
posted by On the Corner at 10:54 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Don't get me wrong, the pop/rock stuff is wonderful, but whenever I play the earlier stuff for those who only know "Centerfold," they are invariably blown away.
The 80's, when all the old 70's bands suddenly starting putting out pop hits and getting paid, no matter what they sounded like before. A lot of them were surprisingly good at it.
posted by bongo_x at 11:38 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
The 80's, when all the old 70's bands suddenly starting putting out pop hits and getting paid, no matter what they sounded like before. A lot of them were surprisingly good at it.
posted by bongo_x at 11:38 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
RIP "J".
When I was in college they played our university field house. Campus concerts were run by a student group and now and then we'd hear the details of negotiations. This show had Elvin Bishop who had one of the biggest songs on the charts (Fooled Around and Fell in Love) with a crackerjack roadhouse band. Another act they had was a former member of Humble Pie named Peter Frampton who had just released a live album and it was becoming seismic. And the J. Geils Band which didn't have anything on the single or album charts. And according to one source, managers from the first two acts set an edict "we will not appear after J. Geils".
We were clueless Midwestern kids who'd never seen them before. So Elvin plays first and he slays, ends with a marathon Sam Cooke medley. Frampton comes on and every woman in the place is screaming and the guys are righteously appreciating the guitar heroics. And now we're gonna get a headliner without a hit single?
A spotlight hits Peter Wolf on a dead run from backstage, he grabs his mike stand and does this pole vault onto the monitors just as the lights go up and the band kicks in louder than hell. And they did not let up for a second. Relentless take no prisoners ass kickers. Biggest damn upset I've ever seen in a concert in my life and I've seen a few.
So farewell to John Warren, the man who glued together blues and two-fisted soul every night.
posted by Ber at 2:16 PM on April 12, 2017 [16 favorites]
When I was in college they played our university field house. Campus concerts were run by a student group and now and then we'd hear the details of negotiations. This show had Elvin Bishop who had one of the biggest songs on the charts (Fooled Around and Fell in Love) with a crackerjack roadhouse band. Another act they had was a former member of Humble Pie named Peter Frampton who had just released a live album and it was becoming seismic. And the J. Geils Band which didn't have anything on the single or album charts. And according to one source, managers from the first two acts set an edict "we will not appear after J. Geils".
We were clueless Midwestern kids who'd never seen them before. So Elvin plays first and he slays, ends with a marathon Sam Cooke medley. Frampton comes on and every woman in the place is screaming and the guys are righteously appreciating the guitar heroics. And now we're gonna get a headliner without a hit single?
A spotlight hits Peter Wolf on a dead run from backstage, he grabs his mike stand and does this pole vault onto the monitors just as the lights go up and the band kicks in louder than hell. And they did not let up for a second. Relentless take no prisoners ass kickers. Biggest damn upset I've ever seen in a concert in my life and I've seen a few.
So farewell to John Warren, the man who glued together blues and two-fisted soul every night.
posted by Ber at 2:16 PM on April 12, 2017 [16 favorites]
Yep, Full House was the jam back in the day, an almost inescapable soundtrack to growing up in 70s Detroit.
But I'll always have a fondness for 1977's Monkey Island, an album where their ambitions maybe stretched a bit further than their usual hard-rockin' boogie. Check out the title track, and Wreckage.
posted by Bron at 3:16 PM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
But I'll always have a fondness for 1977's Monkey Island, an album where their ambitions maybe stretched a bit further than their usual hard-rockin' boogie. Check out the title track, and Wreckage.
posted by Bron at 3:16 PM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
And not a little country and western either, lest we forget .... really nice description Ber.
posted by spitbull at 3:17 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by spitbull at 3:17 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
J Geils was a really good guitarist, and J Geils Band were a great live act, one that is, I think, somewhat under-appreciated despite their commercial success in the 1980s.
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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 11:54 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 11:54 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
You love her
But she loves him
And he loves somebody else
You just can't win
And so it goes
Till the day you die
This thing they call love
It's gonna make you cry
I've had the blues
The reds and the pinks
One thing for sure
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
~~~~~
I've like that song since first I heard it spin. It always made me smile.
Thank you for the great music, Mr. Geils.
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posted by dancestoblue at 12:13 AM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
But she loves him
And he loves somebody else
You just can't win
And so it goes
Till the day you die
This thing they call love
It's gonna make you cry
I've had the blues
The reds and the pinks
One thing for sure
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
~~~~~
I've like that song since first I heard it spin. It always made me smile.
Thank you for the great music, Mr. Geils.
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posted by dancestoblue at 12:13 AM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Aww, this sucks. My mom had the wonderful habit of taking me to concerts, even as a wee small lad, to encourage my musicianship, so I saw more than a few bands play that I had no idea were such big deals. I'm guessing that ca. 1982, at the Sports Arena in San Diego, I got to see the J. Geils Band live. What an amazing show, and what a totally engaged and LOUD audience! Especially in contrast to the Dead shows that were such a constant part of my youthful upbringing of live shows. The only song I remember from that show was "Freeze-Frame". Oh, and Peter Wolf introducing "Magic Dick on his lick stick!" Goddamn mortality.
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posted by Purposeful Grimace at 1:05 AM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by Purposeful Grimace at 1:05 AM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
The moment Angie Tribeca had me hooked was the moment they introduced her partner, Jay Geils.
I grew up on Freeze-Frame, and discovered his stuff from there. With a band full of wild personalities, it was awesome that it was his band, and not say The Magic Dicks, or Peter Wolf and the Wooba Goobas. I never wrapped my brain fully around how he did that so well. Very Taoist bandleader.
And I strongly suggest people get their hands on copies of their live albums.
I will Piss on the Wall next time I am in Worcester.
posted by not_on_display at 10:03 PM on April 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I grew up on Freeze-Frame, and discovered his stuff from there. With a band full of wild personalities, it was awesome that it was his band, and not say The Magic Dicks, or Peter Wolf and the Wooba Goobas. I never wrapped my brain fully around how he did that so well. Very Taoist bandleader.
And I strongly suggest people get their hands on copies of their live albums.
I will Piss on the Wall next time I am in Worcester.
posted by not_on_display at 10:03 PM on April 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
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This one hurts.
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posted by Melismata at 4:31 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]