J. Geils Band - "Live" Full House

Year: 1972/1995
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:46
Size: 82,6 MB
Styles: Rocking blues, harmonica blues, rock & roll
Scans: Full

1. First I Look At The Purse (4:08)
2. Homework (2:43)
3. Pack Fair And Square (2:34)
4. Whammer Jammer (2:37)
5. Hard Drivin' Man (4:39)
6. Serves You Right To Suffer (9:57)
7. Cruisin' For A Love (3:37)
8. Looking For A Love (5:27)

The J. Geils Band made many fine, sometimes great, studio albums but where they really captured their full, thrilling potential was on the concert stage. Most live albums tend to be a poor excuse for actually being at the show in question, but the Geils Band's live albums jump out of the speakers with so much joy, fun, and unquenchable rock & roll spirit that you might as well be there. "Live" Full House was their first live record, and it is a blast from start to finish.

Recorded in 1972 at Detroit's Cinderella Ballroom, the group runs through songs from their first two albums, The J. Geils Band and The Morning After, kicking out the jams on rockers like the Motown chestnut "First I Look at the Purse", Otis Rush's "Homework", and one of the group's first self-penned classics, "Hard Drivin' Man", as well as positively scorching through an incredible version of John Lee Hooker's dark and evil blues "Serves You Right to Suffer".

It's easy to overlook J. Geils himself on guitar when you have a magnetic frontman like Peter Wolf or the unstoppable force that is harp player Magic Dick (check "Whammer Jammer" for proof of his greatness), but his soloing on this track serves notice that he could tear off a ferocious solo with the best of them. "Live" Full House is a short, punchy shot of rock & roll genius by one of the great bands of the '70s and one of the best live albums ever recorded. /Tim Sendra, AllMusic

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Magic Dick & Jay Geils - 2 albums: Bluestime/Little Car Blues

Album: Bluestime
Year: 1994
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:58
Size: 116,9 MB
Styles: Modern electric blues
Scans: Full

1. I Got To Find My Baby (3:39)
2. Pontiac Blues (5:19)
3. Can't Hold Out Much Longer (4:51)
4. She's The No Sleepinest Woman (3:15)
5. The Stuff You Gotta Watch (5:11)
6. Nine Below Zero (2:56)
7. I Stay In The Mood (3:00)
8. Too Young To Die (3:19)
9. Little Girl (4:24)
10. Full Court Press (3:15)
11. (I'm The) Coolest Cat In This Car (3:16)
12. Iodine In My Coffee (4:15)
13. Roller Coaster/Crazy Legs/I Got To Go (4:15)

Jay Geils was often the forgotten man in the band that bore his name. Though Geils was a fine blues rock guitarist, it was Peter Wolf's vocals and Magic Dick's harmonica solos that made the J. Geils Band a legendary live act in the '70s, and it was the songs written by Wolf and keyboardist Seth Justman that gave the band its pop breakthrough in the early '80s. Geils's grasp of the rhythmic requirements of the Chicago blues provided the foundation for everything the band did, however, and it provides the solid basis for this likable album with Magic Dick.

The J. Geils Band began in 1966 as a trio (Geils, Dick, and bassist Danny Klein) exploring the music of the Chicago blues giants. Now Geils and Dick are doing it again - nine of the 13 tracks on the new album are credited to Muddy Waters, Little Walter or Sonny Boy Williamson--only this time they have the maturity to let the material breathe. Instead of cramming every possible note into each song, these older, wiser musicians have pared down their arrangements to the essential notes. This allows Geils's swinging, jazz-inflected guitar solos to unfurl with natural ease and for Dick to more fully harmonize his solos.

Dick proves a competent lead singer, but he lacks the special edge of a Wolf, much less a Waters. As a result, the instrumental performances are the best part of Bluestime. /Geoffrey Himes

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Album: Little Car Blues
Year: 1996
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:11
Size: 115,2 MB
Styles: Modern electric blues
Scans: Full

1. Bluestime Theme (2:55)
2. Tonight With A Fool (2:46)
3. The Jumpin' Blues (5:14)
4. Hot Leftover No. 1 (0:31)
5. Feel So Bad (4:24)
6. Fool That I Am (4:50)
7. Stubborn Kind Of Fellow (3:32)
8. Hot Leftover No. 2: Black And Tan Fantasy (0:59)
9. I Don't Play (3:39)
10. Last Time (3:23)
11. Some Sweet Day (4:11)
12. Hot Leftover No. 3 (0:44)
13. Little Car Blues (4:01)
14. Temperature (3:07)
15. Look How Baby (5:49)

J. Geils and Magic Dick's debut duo recording, 1994's Bluestime, was a straightforward tribute to hard-core Chicago blues, but the follow-up, Little Car Blues, embraces such far-flung blues offshoots as Kansas City jump, Duke Ellington swing, Louis Armstrong hot jazz, Etta James R&B, and Marvin Gaye soul. If the truth be told, Geils and Magic Dick are much more enjoyable as generalists than as specialists, for they can't compete with the top artists in any one genre but they cover many styles better than most. Magic Dick is a gifted harp blower, especially when he's imitating old jazz solos by Armstrong or Charlie Parker, with a quicksilver phrasing and big, reedy tone. Geils isn't particularly fast or flashy a guitarist, but he has a rare rhythmic instinct that makes the swing and jump of his tunes lively indeed. /Geoffrey Himes

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Various - Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowouts (2-Disc Set)

Blues Harmonica Blowouts are live events that Mark Hummel has been staging in various California venues for the last fifteen years, inviting the cream of America's blues harp blasters to come out and play with his band, The Blues Survivors. For this great double CD though, one or two special guitar players joined in too...Rusty Zinn appears with William Clarke and Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Watson clangs along on the James Harman and Paul DeLay tracks, Steve Fruend plays with Lazy Lester and, of course, Anson Funderburgh is the axe-man on Sam Myers contributions. Plus drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith also lends a hand on the Lazy Lester and Carey Bell songs.

In this double live selection of spectacular sucking and blowing, several performances stand out. James Harman pulls out every trick in the book on "Extra Napkins", easily demonstrating why Hummel's description of him as "showman extraordinaire" is spot-on. He has to be on top form to stop guitarist Junior Watson stealing the spotlight with his peppering fills and power chords. The late great William Clarke just scorches across the stage with his electrifying harp work on "Stretch My Money" and he just pours out the misery on the late-nite slow burner "Lonesome Bedroom Blues".

Rick Estrin sets the endurance record for breath control on his six and a half minute solo "Getting' Out Of Town". He gives this old Sonny Boy piece humour, flair and funkiness and probably needed to lie down in a dark room when he'd finished this marathon. The late Paul DeLay cools things down with his masterful playing on the long slow blues "Can't Stand Your Evil Ways", Lazy Lester re-creates his vintage Louisiana style on "Sugar Coated Love" and Sam Myers just howls on "Sweet Home Chicago" with some of the dirtiest harmonica on the CD. This track rocks likes crazy thanks to Anson Funderburgh's guitar work and the boppin' piano of piano player Bob Welsh.

Hummel had a damn good idea when created these Harmonica Blowout concerts. This 2 CD set will positively thrill any blues harmonica fan and, as the notes say, "here's your chance to get up close and personal with twelve of the greatest blues artists ever to draw breath through a harmonica".

Album: Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowouts (Disc 1)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 57:38
Size: 131.9 MB
Styles: Harmonica blues
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:06] 1. Lee Oskar - Harpo-Ventillation
[6:43] 2. Lee Oskar - In A Sentimental Mood
[6:20] 3. Magic Dick - Pontiac Blues
[3:34] 4. Johnny Dyer - You're Sweet
[8:50] 5. William Clarke - Lonesome Bedroom Blues
[5:15] 6. Paul Delay - Blues And Trouble
[5:32] 7. Carey Bell - I Got To Go
[5:20] 8. James Harman - Extra Napkins
[4:33] 9. Sam Myers - I Done Quit Getting Sloppy Drunk
[6:20] 10. William Clarke - Stretch My Money

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Album: Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowouts (Disc 2)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 63:34
Size: 145.5 MB
Styles: Harmonica blues
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[7:59] 1. Rick Estrin - Gettin' Out Of Town
[4:30] 2. Billy Boy Arnold - Sugar Gal
[7:24] 3. Paul Delay - Can't Stand Your Evil Ways
[3:11] 4. Lazy Lester - Sugar Coated Love
[4:45] 5. Paul Delay - Mean Old Frisco
[5:05] 6. Mark Hummel - Hard Hearted Woman
[4:23] 7. Magic Dick - High Temperature
[6:12] 8. Sam Myers - Sweet Home Chicago
[9:15] 9. Lee Oskar - Lee's Blues
[4:55] 10. William Clarke - Chrome Jumpin'
[5:49] 11. Mark Hummel - Summertime

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