The J. Geils Band

The J. Geils Band expertly blended genres including rock, blues, R&B and soul to create its own energetic and infectious sound, finally crossing over from critical acclaim to commercial success with 1981's Freeze Frame.

Guitarist John "J." Geils Jr. formed the group in Worcester, Mass. in 1967 with bassist Danny Klein and harmonica/saxophone player Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz. Originally billed as the J. Geils Blues Band, the trio abandoned traditional roots music in favor of sweaty, frenetic R&B with the additions of charismatic frontman Peter Wolf, vocalist/keyboardist Seth Justman and drummer Stephen Jo Bladd. The J. Geils Band signed to Atlantic Records in 1970 but sometimes struggled to capture on tape the livewire energy of its stage show, resulting in no fewer than three live LPs over a 12-year period.

FM radio hits like "Give It to Me," "Must of Got Lost" and "Love Stinks" set the stage for Freeze Frame, which generated the J. Geils Band's first and only number one single, "Centerfold," a staple on then-fledgling cable network MTV. Wolf split for a solo career prior to what proved to be the final J. Geils Band LP, 1984's You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd, although the classic lineup reunited for many live performances and brief tours in the years prior to Geils' death in 2017.