The J. Geils Band had a great chain of records released in the 1970s, including their self-titled debut, my personal favorite - The Morning After from 1971, Bloodshot and five more until 1980 when the band broke out with Love Stinks - the album and single of the same name. The band had even better luck with 1981's Freeze Frame which included their only Billboard #1 hit, Centerfold, a silly song written by the band's keyboardist, Seth Justman, about an even sillier subject, a guy who discovers that the girl he liked appeared in a centerfold spread for a men's magazine. Yet, The J. Geils Band was not a great band because of the hits or the radio airplay they earned with those two songs, but due to the leadership of their proficient guitarist, John Warren Geils Jr., and their well-crafted and executed blues rock, infused with plenty of soul and R&B feel.
After The J. Geils Band broke up in the mid-eighties, J. Geils went on to release two blues records as Bluestime. During the mid-2000s he played in the New Guitar Summit and around that time he also released a few jazz records as solo albums and worked as a producer.
J. Geils was found dead in his home in Groton, Massachusetts on April 11th, aged 71.
ZR