We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago……
After the Beatles there were a lot of rock bands trying to make it in every large city in America. And Boston was one of the great music cities in the country. One of the bands that made it came from Worcester Mass. The J.Geils Band released their 2nd LP “The Morning After” in 1971 and it was a gem. A great collection of rockin R & B delivered by a talented bunch. John Geils played guitar, Seth Justman played keys and the rhythm section was Danny Klein on bass and Stephen Bladd on drums. But the two driving forces of the band were singer Peter Wolf and harmonica ace Magic Dick. Wolf had that R & B sound down pat. And the harp sound made the band stand out. (Check out Whammer Jammer) Magic Dick was that good. Geils would drop in a killer solo every now and then (check out Find Me A New Love), Justman co-wrote the originals and delivered some soulful piano work, and the Klein/Bladd duo anchored the bottom.
The LP included a couple of excellent covers…Lookin For A Love that had been recorded by Bobby Womack with the Valentinos in 1962 and as a solo record in 1974
And a great version of Don Covay’s “The Usual Place”
These guys had a mission to deliver straight ahead rock & roll with that soul edge. They were a huge “live” draw and you can understand why. It worked!
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