"Founded in 1967 in Boston, the J. Geils Band made
a reputation of itself as an over-the-top bar band, specialists in esoteric
Soul and R&B songs. Raunchy by way of Wolf, Bluesy by way of Magic
Dick, Jazzy by way of keyboardist Seth Justman, and all Rock & Roll
by way of J. Geils, the J. Geils Band forged a white bridge between Detroit
Soul, Memphis R&B, and American pop culture. The band made albums
in the early 1970s that fed the appetite of AOR FM stations and Late Night
AM stations. It was not until the late 70s and early 80s that the band
finally reached a wider audience and produced a string of Top Ten hits
and
in the bargain lost their original grit. "I Must of Got Lost",
"Give it to Me", and "Centerfold" were all solid pop
confections, but they were no match for what the Band produced ten years
earlier on "Live" Full House.
Minute for Minute, "Live" Full House is one of
the densest rock live albums ever produced. Clocking in at just under
40 minutes, it packs a relentless punch that leaves the listener drunk
with pleasure and wanting more. The disc opens with the relatively obscure
Smokey Robinson tune, "First I Look at the Purse", which is
totally transformed into a slab-o-rock lava flow and proceeds through
Otis Rush's "Homework" (easy blues) and the originals "Wammer
Jammer", "Hard Drivin' Man" (Rock and Roll), and "Crusin'
for Love". Most songs are of 45 rpm length with the notable exception
of John Lee Hooker's staggering nine plus minutes of "It Serves You
Right to Suffer", a funeral dirge turned nasty"
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