The J. Geils Band

Performer: J. Geils Band
Engineer: Jay Messina
Producer: Dave Crawford; Brad Shapiro
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: The J. Geils Band: Peter Wolf (vocals); J. Geils (guitar); Magic Dick (harp); Seth Justman (keyboards); Danny Klein (bass); Stephen Jo Bladd (drums). All tracks have been digitally remastered. If you were to compare the J. Geils Band's 1970 self-titled debut to their final album with singer Peter Wolf, 1981's FREEZE FRAME, you could easily be fooled into thinking they were two completely different bands. Although they'd later become best known for chart-storming pop-rock, the J. Geils Band started out as a straight-ahead blues-rock band, much like their mentors the Rolling Stones and their peers ZZ Top and Aerosmith. J. Geils's debut has a fun, loose, and very rootsy feel, not far from how the band sounded on the concert stage early on. The choice of covers speaks volumes about the group's influences, as treatments of John Lee Hooker's "It Serves You Right to Suffer" and Albert Collins's "Sno-Cone" are served up with downhome, bluesy fervor. But there are some fine original compositions too, like the Stax/Booker T. sounds of "Ice Breaker (For the Big 'M')," and the FM radio-ready "Hard Drivin' Man." This is a thoroughly entertaining snapshot of the J. Geils Band's beginnings.

Rolling Stone (1/7/71, p.47) - "..a goodtime, modern piece of rock and roll...The material is perfect, the execution flawless, and the spirit never fails them..."

Boston's J. Geils Band appeared at the dawn of the '70s as a high-energy blues/R&B band offering an alternative to the singer/songwriters, soft pop, and prog-rock then in ascendance. Powered by Peter Wolf's Mick Jagger-like showmanship and Magic Dick's blues harmonica wail, they chugged along powerfully for years, but didn't acheive star status till they incorporated synthesizers and pop at the turn of the decade, only to break up soon after.

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