Posted on 04/11/2017 4:46:17 PM PDT by Drew68
GROTON, Massachusetts —
5 Investigates has learned John Warren Geils Jr., the artist known professionally as J. Geils and part of the rock group The J. Geils Band, was found dead in his Groton, Massachusetts home.
He was 71.
Geils and the band are best known for their album, "Freeze Frame" and the song "Centerfold," which hit No. 1 for six weeks.
Geils formed the band during his time at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he studied mechanical engineering.
At Worcester, he formed J. Geils Blues Band with Danny Klein, Magic Dick Salwitz, Stephen Jo Bladd, and Peter Wolf, with Seth Justman becoming the last member before the band released its debut album in 1970.
The J. Geils Band was influenced by soul music and rhythm and blues, but it moved toward pop and rock by the time the album "Love Stinks" came out in 1980.
After 11 albums, the band's 12th album, "Freeze Frame," hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts for four weeks in 1981 and remained on the chart for 70 weeks. The title track "Freeze Frame" made it to No. 4.
While on tour, opening acts for the band included the Eagles, Billy Joel, ZZ Top and U2.
The band broke up a few years later.
Geils has called Groton his home for 35 years.
I wouldn’t call “Love Stinks” a pop song. It flirted with punk, similar to Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. Wasn’t a huge fan of the band, but loved that tune, so anthemic.
I saw one of the last concerts Waylon Jennings did before he died. It was at the Topsfield Fair (MA) and you could tell he was hurting. Many years earlier, when I was in the Marine Corps, I saw him perform at the Del Mar Fair (CA) and he was on fire. Definitely one of the greats.
I saw J.Geils perform in London in probably 1972 at a Midnite performance. What a great show. RIP. Peter Wolf could really wail on the harp, made it sound like a saxaphone.
EE, I thought - guitarist Tom Scholtz (sp?).
Got to help interview him on Salem State
U radio last yr.He sounded like he’d had a
few. DUI incident a couple wks later.
Which month if you don’t mind?
My blood runs cold. My memories have just been sold. My angel is a centerfold.
“Leonard Cohen is dead along with some members of The B-52s”
Only one member of the B-52s is dead . He died of AIDS in 1985 . All 3 of the male members of that band were/are gay BTW , and one of the female singers is a lesbian and married ...to a woman of course .
“I would argue that Jonathan Richman belongs to the ‘Real Massachusetts’ club too. “
Yea , but he left many , many years ago ...for California .
Saw Bad Company at the Spectrum in 75, ticketron tickets. You just took me waaay back to high school.
I like that one a lot too. I also like “Come Back” (from the same album).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Ji_FL2xSU
Well written...lots of memories. Thanks.
Bummer. RIP
Saw them in the early 70 ‘s in KC , Memorial stadium, I think .
Musically, I grew up digesting ‘50’s and 60’s jazz, blues and rock and never really thought much about the J. Geils band. Some of their songs were pretty dynamic, though, and the only one I would punch out on the radio was “Love Stinks.” A couple of years ago I was on one of my infrequent used CD searches and I came across one entitled “New Guitar Summit” featuring the six string trio of Duke Robillard, Jay Geils and Gerry Beaudoin, all good New England boys. I’d followed Duke a bit but never saw any of them in person to my detriment. This CD is a mix of ‘40’s and ‘50’s style jazz and blues with a touch of swing. All three play vintage archtops—Gibsons and Epiphones. It opened my ears to Jay Geils’ guitar talent expanding way beyond the simple rock-pop of yore. The liner notes refer to Jay and Duke as being basically self-taught and Jay said that he learned by listening to old records. Sort of like I’ve been doing all these years. Well someone is going to either inherit or get a chance to buy some nifty old archtops. See you some day, Jay. Peace
Keith Emerson too - shortly after Greg.
We are gonna blow your face out!
One of the great live albums.
Some good news - Juice Newton is still with us. So many of the ones we grew up with including the ones you listed are not and that is sad. Sometimes it seems like a totally different world now and not a better one.
Great great great song!
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