We played shows, traveled and eventually had a big hit record. We made a lot of records and became more and more popular. Geils Band as having run a pretty normal, natural course. “To this day we really don’t have anything to say to each other-shall we put it that way? I think of the J. “The left, and nobody was really interested in us after that,” Geils said. Geils still bears Wolf a grudge, refusing even to speak his name. But lead singer-songwriter Wolf left in 1983, and after one more, halfhearted album, the group disbanded. Over the years, it grew into more of a rockin’ R&B unit, culminating with “Freeze-Frame,” an album that went to No. It played blues with a youthful edge, a rocker’s energy. The Geils Band was formed in Boston in 1967 and soon developed a rep as the wildest party group in New England. What’s particularly commendable about Bluestime-which plays Saturday at the Dos Equis Blues Festival in Newport Beach-is its insistence on being taken on its own terms. From the soulful strut of Marvin Gaye’s “Stubborn Kind of Fellow” to the burnin’ blues of Little Walter’s “Tonight With a Fool” to the red-hot swing of Jay McShann’s “The Jumpin’ Blues,” this album (Bluestime’s second) is a superlative showcase for Geils’ admirable arsenal of chops, taste and versatility. Seventeen years with a band that bore his name did little to enhance Geils’ reputation his more charismatic bandmates-Magic Dick and Peter Wolf-got most the ink and attention.Įven now, paired off with harp monster Dick in a group alternately billed as Magic Dick & Jay Geils, Magic Dick & Jay Geils Bluestime, or simply Bluestime (yes, this gets confusing), Geils still seems to be playing second fiddle to his super-skilled (but cartoony) longtime pal.īut Bluestime’s latest album, “Little Car Blues” (on Rounder), belongs to Mr. No, you don’t often hear his name mentioned in discussions of the world’s great guitarists, but that’s an oversight with a long history. Let us give thanks for every slicked-back hair on his half-century-old head for his long and meritorious service to the blues, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll. Let us praise his deft, callused fingertips let us exalt in nearly three decades’ worth of his quietly heroic guitarsmanship. The time has come to pay homage to Jay Geils.