[J. Geils Band Hotline
Message Board]
[JGB News]
[Jay Geils Hisself]
[1999 Reunion Tour]
[JGB Links]
[A HREF="jgbtrivia.html">JGB Trivia]
[Danny Klein n' Stone Crazy]
[JGB Discography]
[JGB Collection]
[JGB Articles]
[JGB Video And TV]
[JGB Rarities]
[JGB Fan Emails]
[Fan JGB Anectdotes]
[Seth Quotes]
[J. Geils Band Day]
[Seth Photos]
[Film Credits]
Source: Infotrac
Copyright 1999 The Hearst Corporation
The Times Union (Albany, NY)
July 8, 1999, Thursday, THREE STAR EDITION
SECTION: PREVIEW, Pg. P9
LENGTH: 730 words
HEADLINE: After 16 years, J. Geils Band reunites for a 13-city tour By Nick
Cristiano Knight Ridder Newspapers
Rock groups break up every day. But few can match the bad timing of the J.
Geils Band.
After 16 years in the trenches, slowly building an audience for its
freewheeling ''house party'' blend of blues, rhythm and blues, rock and soul,
the Boston sextet split up in 1983, soon after finally reaching the top of the
Billboard charts with ''Freeze-Frame.''
Now, after another 16 years, the band known for its powerhouse live show is
back together for a 13-city tour. And in separate interviews, singer Peter Wolf
and keyboardist Seth Justman who co-wrote much of the band's material and were
at the heart of the conflicts that split the group were again singing the same
tune.
''It's a real simple plan,'' said Justman, explaining why the proposal by
promoter John Barack worked where more ambitious plans were rejected. ''Just go
out for a month, or a little more, and play the songs that people dug 16 years
ago. The idea of getting together and having a good time really appealed to
everybody.''
''Just do the body of work (we) created,'' agreed Wolf. ''There was a
blue-collar honesty about the Geils Band that people seem to want.''
Shortly after New Year's, Wolf entered a Boston rehearsal studio with
Justman, guitarist J. Geils, harmonica player ''Magic Dick'' Salwitz, and
bassist Danny Klein for the first time since he left the group in the middle of
a recording session for a ''Freeze-Frame'' follow-up. (The Wolf-less J. Geils
did put out one more album, 1984's ''You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd.'
')
''We started jamming,'' Justman recalled, ''and the chemistry of the Geils
Band began to re-emerge. It was like getting back in a comfortable pair of
pants. ... A lot of us look at it as an opportunity to let ourselves feel the
feelings of why we first became musicians.''
''One thing about the band is, the music always brought us through,'' says
Wolf. ''We have a real good feel, because everyone has a common love for a lot
of the blues stuff, the R&B kind of stuff, the rock-'n'-roll roots.''
That rapport was evident in the band's scorching performance of ''Lookin' for
a Love'' on David Letterman's ''Late Show'' in May and its June 18 appearance on
''Today.''
The tour is being billed as ''The Great American House Party,'' so fans can
expect a generous sampling of the best-known music by the band, which is being
augmented on the road by drummer Sim Cain, who replaces Stephen Jo Bladd; the
Uptown Horns, and two female back-up singers. That means blues-based material
(Otis Rush's ''Homework''), R&B (Bobby Womack's ''Lookin' for a Love''),
blow-your-face-out instrumental jams (''Whammer Jammer''), Motown covers ('
'First I Look at the Purse''), barnstorming rockers (''Detroit Breakdown''),
radio favorites such as ''Give It to Me'' and ''Love Stinks,'' and more
pop-oriented MTV hits such as ''Centerfold'' and ''Freeze-Frame.''
Although Justman says the band is in ''a healthy place'' right now, no one is
looking beyond the tour's end on July 17. Justman works as a producer, and is
writing songs and readying an album with a new band. Geils and Magic Dick have a
group known as Bluestime. And Wolf, whose performances over the last few years
have reaffirmed his status as a dynamic showman, has a solo career that most
recently produced ''Fool's Parade'' (Mercury), a sublime soul album that was one
of last year's best releases.
By not complicating things with the pressure of writing new songs or making
an album, the Geils guys figure they can avoid any flare-ups of old disputes.
''There were creative differences. I'm not going to pretend everything is
rosy,'' said Wolf. ''But differences don't exist for this project.''
In a style that recalled his jive-talking hipster stage shtick, the onetime
DJ launched into a culinary analogy: ''It's sort of like, hey, man, let's make
chicken. Well, there's a lot of ways of making it. You can fry it. You can broil
it. You can roast it. You can put curry in it. You can make chicken cacciatore.
That's what I mean by creative differences. But this is real easy: Everybody's
making the same dish.''
Neither Wolf nor Justman rules out the possibility that the J. Geils Band
will eventually make new music together. But first, everybody has to get through
this tour.
As Wolf summed it up: ''It's sort of like going on a date before getting
engaged or married.''
End of Article
Back to Sethsite Page