ahh, to harken back to yesteryear, when the world was a very different place......even BEFORE "FreezeFrame"! My little vacation from today's constant static.
---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Sep 21, 2017 3:27 PM
Classic J Geils is a wonderful escape... back to the 70s (my teenage years).
But after escaping, please be sure that you also speak up, if you don't agree with what your government is doing. Write to your representatives, and participate in peaceful protests. Make your voice heard. Otherwise democracy will die.
REALLY don't want to derail because I'm also of the very old school J Geils days but I had to appreciate this from AppalachiaBlues: "your government". Yes it is. As opposed to "the" government.
Nice. J Geils one of my favorite bands. Grew up in the BOS area and went to the show at the old Boston Garden in 1975, that formed half of the Blow Your Face Out live album, the other locale being Cobo Hall in DET. Tremedous show. It was "festival seating" for the show back then, meaning no seats on the floor, so me and a few buddies managed to work our way up to about 15-20 feet from the stage. We did indeed get our faces blown out. The place was ROCKIN' !!
I wasn't really a big fan of the Freeze Frame and Centerfold years which would have been the early eighties, as I felt they kinda lost their edge. But i think those two songs were their biggest commercial hits (though I could be wrong about that) LOL.
Last Edited by Honkin On Bobo on Sep 22, 2017 11:24 AM
Sure, Whammer Jammer is the well known song, but the harmonica playing on the other songs in the recording is stellar - excellent tone, chops, ideas and delivery.
Here's another one - (once you go on youtube and find one of these, it suggests other ones as well)
Steve Marriot also plays very good harmonica. A very young Peter Frampton adds his voice/guitar as well. Saw these guys in Rock Fest in Germany in 1972 -LOUDEST BAND EVER (however, never got to see Blue Cheer live, so..). Wall of Marshall Amps behind Steve - ow, my ears!
The feedback on song no 2, I guess that´s coming from Magic Dick? Even att Fillmore East ... But MD has a better sound here than what I´ve heard on other records. Wonder what he was using ...?
Far from an expert in these matters, it looks like that on the picture from "Full house". There he had a drier, somewhat thinner, sound. But there´s an amp involved as well, I take it. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sKsd2Nc14UU/hqdefault.jpg
It´s fun and interesting w/ J Geils, that they had a harmonica player as an integral part of the band. Not common. In fact, outside of straight blues, extremely rare. And this was a spirited show!
I heard an interview with Magic Dick where he said that the entire band were big harp fans. They certainly understood the blues, and it showed in the music during the 70s.
It's really a shame about the direction they went in the 80s (Freeze Frame, etc.), but I guess they were following the money, or forced in that direction by their record company.
It’s not just classic J. Geils & Magic Dick that are great. Peter Wolf is still making terrific records & hitting the highways & byways to put on stellar shows. Check him out if you get a chance - even in his seventies he’s as good a frontman/showman as there is IMO.
