AT THE ZOO WITH THE J. GEILS BAND

It was time for a big Rock Show at the monolith just outside of Detroit, Pontiac Stadium, and this wasnt no rock 'n' roll at the Hollywood Bowl, sir. The parties involved in filling the cattle pen arena for the (J.) Geils (Band)/Steve Miller/ Peter Frampton show were the younger, just slightly more luded out, and definitely anti-social brothers and sisters of the cats whod packed the Cinderella Theatre on April 21st and 22nd, 1972, when the J. Geils Band cut their first live album, Full House. It was an evening to kick that restroom door open, jack, and dont get th cooties on you hands. What should be a good Geils audience, even if there were a few bloated Steve Miller lookalikes in the audience rootin for their man, and all 20 groupies from Detroit had turned out to see if Frampton was really picking up waitresses, really that desperate...

Still, itd been a long time between dream dates for the Geils band and their Detroit friends...after several intensely erotic encounters—who could forget those nights at the Cinderella? Those sweaty trysts at Cobo?—the band seemed played out, the Woofer Goofers manic prancing a little too strained to be fun. So you thought the last album a bit gratuitous? Guess what? The boys agree. Thats why they took a year off.

“It was a difficult year," said keyboard man Seth Justman later. “We were trying to make a great LP. We wanted to raise our standards."

I wish I could tell you about their 1977 stage show (and I bet you thought we rock writers were all in the first row) —but in typical day-in-the-life-ofa-rock-crit style, I was allowed access to backstage (nice view of the backsides of all those Marshall stacks) and the press box (miles and miles above the aisles) only. But I didnt do too badly; I heard the show, made Stevie “Guitar" Miller blush (Said “Heard you thought CREEM was sleeezy, Steve?" in my best vanilla ice cream voice), and I saw the kids in the Lions Club of Pontiac food concessions clapping hands and taking turns improvising Wolfian jigs while the strains of Magic Dicks harp floated in past the bleachers. Not to mention the little kid walking up in front of me on my way to the pressbox who faked playing harp to Dicks solo in “Lookin For A Love." No doubt about it, Miller couldnt make them move in their seats and Frampton didnt inspire any impromptu shuckin and jivin even on a Motown chestnut, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered".

"There are NO comprom Ises on Monkey Island. --Peter Wolf"

It was left to Geils to do it right, do it tight, start it off to-night, even if the audience was left quivering in postorgasmic bliss, to turn limp and flaccid when Miller came out to pump the organs of his mind.

When I appeared in Geils dressing room the boys all dutifully pulled chairs around me, all except Wolf who was sliding around the room like a small child on an icy pavement in his black slippers.

When the magic word “CREEM" was uttered, Wolf slammed a chair down in front of me and beat his fist to his heart.

“Let me tell you about the Geils Band and CREEM," he said. “Its like when someone you looove hurts you bad—they can really hurt you more than anyone! And we love CREEM and you hurt us!" He went on to describe a long series of editorial abuses ranging from bringing 800 people to drink up all the alcohol in various hospitality suites to never writing up interviews.. .but we decided as it was a new era for the Geils Band, so it was for us and lets just kiss and make up. Smoooooch.

That aside, Peter expounded vigorously and at length about Monkey Island, interrupted occasionally by J. Geils and Seth Justman, and less occasionally by Magic Dick.

What had happened, basically, was Too Much Road and Too Many Quickie Records, said Wolf. Two live albums and a quick succession of studio works in between constant touring left the band wired and with nothing left to say—for the time.

“We decided no more road!" said Wolf. “The sound on this album is much better because we took so much time with it. This represents a further development of the J. Geils Band." The rest of the band nodded solemnly.

“On 'Im Not Rough Magic Dick plays a totally different kind of blues— New Orleans blues! Hes the Jimi Hendrix of the harp! On 'Monkey Island he does this harp solo—people wont believe its a harp! He takes this toy you buy in Wool worths... and this guy makes it legitimate."

Dick bowed his head bashfully.

In suburban Detroit there are gravel pits used as a teenage playground called “Monkey Island" so I asked the boys where theyd gotten the name.

“Its self-explanatory," said Wolf enigmatically. “Theres a Monkey Island in every city."

Seth offered: “Its too personal to explain. Its based on real life—things that happen that you draw on.. .its how you interpret Monkey Island yourself."

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But Wolf was off on a different tack. “You have to understand, the Geils Band is a mixture of six very different people, and each guy has a different kind of groove...things that turn you

on.. .interests. Dicks into jazz—hes got a huge collection; J. s into early guitarists and sports cars...we all have different lifestyles; some of us live in houses, some of us live in apartments, some of us live up trees..."

All right, who lives in the tree?

Wolf yelped and grabbed my hand. “Hoooney, you can come up my tree any time!" (Faye, I wouldnt make much of this slight flirtation. You know what a smoothie he is.)

“The point is," Peter went on, “We all really like each other. Thats why weve been together this long. This is the tenth anniversary of the band... after all these years we wanted to do, something we could get off on and that we could turn the audiences on to. There are NO compromises on Monkey Island!" Another wave of vigorous nodding from the band. “Magic Dick has taken New Orleans type stuff and made it new. Were not sayin its the^ best LP in the world—but its the best LP for us. No compromises!"

As always with the Geils Band, talk turned to Black Culture and its pervasive but unrecognized influence on the youth of America.

Wolf: “The English movement was great because it brought so many black artists to the public eye—Led Zeppelin and the Stones did it. These black cats that turned on the Beatles, turned on the Stones. We were doin blues and diggin black music a long time ago... We still like to carry that bar & lounge feeling across:

“The black influence on dress, music—these guys write music thats so simple and at such a gut level, that some people cant take it! Some guys might say," Wolfs eyes got all misty and his voice turned to honey: “ 'My darling, I wish to get close to you because your eyes are so lovely!... And thats just sayin " (with that he grabbed my knee as a reference point—sorry, Faye, I had to say it) “ 'I wooont to get next to you/" With that he leaped onto photographer Michaels lap (youll recall him from the Heart story last month) and smiled blissfully..

The interview having veered in such a homoerotic direction, I decided to wrap things up. What was their game plan for the future, then?

“We just wont stay on tour too long, like we did before," Wolf sighed.

J. rolled his eyes. “Soooo many dives. I want to forget!"

I hate to break it to J., but Im afraid Geils is just one of those bands thatll always carry its dive with it...and whether its a picnic out on Monkey Island or a house party downtown, you can be sure itll be, for the little ladies of the night and all the ships out at sea, for the kid from Alabama keepin it all hid, for the Master-Blaster...a wondrous good time.