1894 Jimmy Yancey*
1945 Johannes
„Hansi“ Biebl*
1946 John W. Geils Jr. (J. Geils)*
1951 Maynard
Silva*
1953 Roberto Ciotti*
1959 Randy
McDonald*
1964 Philipp
Fankhauser*
2004 J.J. Malone+
2014 Floyd Taylor
Mick
Kolassa (Mississippi Mick)*
Kurt Krause*
Happy Birthday
Jimmy Yancey *20.02.1894
Jimmy Yancey (* 20. Februar 1898[1] in Chicago; † 17. September 1951 in Chicago; eigentlich James Edward Yancey) war ein schwarzer Blues- und Boogie Woogie-Pianist, dessen Eigenart es war, alle seine Stücke, egal in welcher Tonart, immer mit dem Ton Es zu beenden.
Schon im Alter von sechs Jahren trat Yancey öffentlich auf Vaudevilleshows als Sänger und Stepptänzer auf. Später ging er auf Tourneen in den USA und Europa. Ab 1915 ließ er sich in seiner Heimatstadt Chicago nieder, begann eigene Songs zu komponieren und spielte in Clubs und bei House Rent Partys. 1925 wurde er dann Platzwart vom Comiskey Park für das Baseball-Team Chicago White Sox. Außerhalb von Chicago wurde Yancey erst 1936 populär, als Meade „Lux“ Lewis einen seiner Songs (Yancey Special) coverte und veröffentlichte. Erst im Mai 1939 machte Yancey mit den Songs The Fives und Jimmy's Stuff selbst eigene Aufnahmen, die Dan Qualey produzierte. Später veröffentlichte Yancey dann auf Victor, OKeh und Bluebird. 1948 trat er zusammen mit seiner Ehefrau Estelle „Mama“ Yancey in der Carnegie Hall in https://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1287327165088221635#editor/target=post;postID=1456975889949528822;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=16;src=linkNew York City auf.
Obwohl Yancey am Ende seines Lebens ein gewisses Maß an Berühmtheit erlangt hatte, gab er bis zu seinem Tode 1951 nie seinen Job als Platzwart bei den Chicago White Sox auf. 1986 wurde Yancey postum in der Kategorie „Frühe Einflüsse“ in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
James Edwards "Jimmy" Yancey (February 20, 1894 – September 17, 1951)[1][2][3] was an African American boogie-woogie pianist, composer, and lyricist. One reviewer noted him as "one of the pioneers of this raucous, rapid-fire, eight-to-the-bar piano style".[2]
Biography
Yancey was born in Chicago in (depending on the source) 1894[2] or 1898.[3] His older brother, Alonzo Yancey (1894–1944) was also a pianist, while their father was a vaudeville guitarist and singer. By age ten, Yancey had toured across the United States as a tap dancer and singer, and by twenty he had toured throughout Europe. He began teaching himself piano at 15, and by 1915 had become a noted pianist and was already influencing younger musicians, including Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons.[1][2]
While he played in a boogie-woogie style, with a strong-repeated figure in the left hand and melodic decoration in the right, his playing was delicate and subtle, rather than hard driving. He popularized the left-hand figure that became known as the "Yancey bass", later used in Pee Wee Crayton's "Blues After Hours", Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Know", and many other songs.[4] Yancey favored keys—such as E flat and A flat—that were atypical for barrelhouse blues.[1] Distinctively, he ended may pieces in the key of E-flat, even if he had played in a different key right up to the ending.
Although influential from a young age, Yancey did not record at all through his early career, performing only at house parties and clubs. His first recordings in 1939 created a considerable stir in blues and jazz circles.[5]
While most of his recordings were solo, later in his career he and his wife Estelle Yancey recorded together (she as a vocalist) under the name 'Jimmy and Mama Yancey'.[4] They appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall in 1948,[1] and recorded their first album in 1951—released by Atlantic Records the following year.[1]
During World War I, Yancey played baseball for the Chicago All-Americans, a Negro league baseball team. Throughout his life, he held on to his job as a groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox.[4]
Yancey died of a stroke secondary to diabetes in Chicago on September 17, 1951.[3] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Biography
Yancey was born in Chicago in (depending on the source) 1894[2] or 1898.[3] His older brother, Alonzo Yancey (1894–1944) was also a pianist, while their father was a vaudeville guitarist and singer. By age ten, Yancey had toured across the United States as a tap dancer and singer, and by twenty he had toured throughout Europe. He began teaching himself piano at 15, and by 1915 had become a noted pianist and was already influencing younger musicians, including Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons.[1][2]
While he played in a boogie-woogie style, with a strong-repeated figure in the left hand and melodic decoration in the right, his playing was delicate and subtle, rather than hard driving. He popularized the left-hand figure that became known as the "Yancey bass", later used in Pee Wee Crayton's "Blues After Hours", Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Know", and many other songs.[4] Yancey favored keys—such as E flat and A flat—that were atypical for barrelhouse blues.[1] Distinctively, he ended may pieces in the key of E-flat, even if he had played in a different key right up to the ending.
Although influential from a young age, Yancey did not record at all through his early career, performing only at house parties and clubs. His first recordings in 1939 created a considerable stir in blues and jazz circles.[5]
While most of his recordings were solo, later in his career he and his wife Estelle Yancey recorded together (she as a vocalist) under the name 'Jimmy and Mama Yancey'.[4] They appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall in 1948,[1] and recorded their first album in 1951—released by Atlantic Records the following year.[1]
During World War I, Yancey played baseball for the Chicago All-Americans, a Negro league baseball team. Throughout his life, he held on to his job as a groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox.[4]
Yancey died of a stroke secondary to diabetes in Chicago on September 17, 1951.[3] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Jimmy Yancey - Yancey Stomp - 1939
Johannes „Hansi“ Biebl *20.02.1945
Johannes „Hansi“ Biebl (* 20. Februar 1945 in Berlin) ist ein deutscher Rockmusiker und -sänger.
Biebl erwarb das Abitur und erlernte den Beruf des Funkmechanikers. Er spielte 1964 bei der Reichert Combo und 1965 bei den Atlantics. Von 1966 bis 1969 absolvierte er an der Musikschule Friedrichshain in Ost-Berlin eine Ausbildung für Gitarre und Tanzmusik und war Gitarrist bei den Berolina Singers (1966/67), den Alexanders (1967), der Modern Soul Band (1968–1971), der Klaus Lenz-Band (1971/72) und bei dem Lakomy-Ensemble (1972/73).
1974 gründete er die Johannes Biebl Blues Band, die 1975 Auftrittsverbot erhielt, 1976 spielte er bei Veronika Fischer & Band. 1977 gewann er mit der Gruppe 4 PS den Grand Prix des Internationalen Schlagerfestivals in Dresden. Ab 1978 trat er mit der Hansi Biebl Band auf.
Biebl übersiedelte 1984 nach West-Berlin, wo er unter anderem mit Gerulf Pannach auftrat. 1987 zog er nach Bremen um. Seit 1990 gibt er vor allem in den neuen Bundesländern Konzerte.
Die Hansi Biebl Band war eine deutsche Bluesrock- und Rockband. Sie wurde 1978 in Ost-Berlin gegründet, löste sich 1982 auf und war ab 1996 in neuer Besetzung wieder aktiv. Nach dem Erscheinen ihrer ersten LP konnte die Band auch im DDR-Fernsehen auftreten, unter anderem in Sendungen wie Jugendklub und rund. Beim DDR-Plattenlabel Amiga erschienen zwei LPs.
Der Bluesgitarrist und Sänger Johannes Biebl gründete 1974 die Hansi Biebl Blues Band, die 1975 ein Auftrittsverbot erhielt, nachdem Eberhard Klunker und Olaf Wegner in die Bundesrepublik Deutschland geflüchtet waren. Danach spielte Biebl in der Veronika Fischer Band und bei Vier PS. 1978 gründete er die Hansi Biebl Band und knüpfte damit an die Tradition der Bluesband-Ära an, wobei deutlich Jazzrock- und Folkeinflüsse den Sound der Band prägten. Bereits nach einem Jahr des Bestehens erschien die erste Langspielplatte. Während die Kompositionen auf der Platte von Biebl stammten, lieferte Thomas Schmitt von MTS die meisten Texte.
Weitere Bandmitglieder:
Carlos Shuffat (Perkussion)
Peter Krause (Schlagzeug), bis 1980
Stefan Schirrmacher (Gitarre)
Willi Becker (Bass)
Michael Kaszubowski (Bass), bis 1980
Christian Liebig (Bass), früher bei Freygang, ging zu Engerling, später zu Modern Soul Band und Karat
Herbert Junck (Schlagzeug), wechselte zu NO 55, später Silly
Gastmusiker: Bernd Kleinow[2] (Mundharmonika)
Anfang 1980 war die Hansi Biebl Band in der Besetzung mit Biebl, Liebig und Junck ein Trio, das weiterhin populär war und ein zweites Album veröffentlichte. 1982 löste Biebl die Band nach zwei erfolgreichen Alben auf. Er verließ 1984 die DDR. 1996 startete die Band ihr Comeback mit den Musikern:
Hansi Biebl (Gesang, Gitarre)
Maik Pönisch (Bass, Gesang)
Herbert Junck (Schlagzeug), bis 2002
Steffen Hass (Schlagzeug), seit 2002
Die Band ist nicht mehr aktiv.
Hansi Biebl 2002 (HD)
Ich denke eines der letzten Konzerte.
Konzertmitschnitt 2002 (leider nicht ganz perfekt, aber doch schön)
Musikforum Katharinenkirche Stendal germany
Kamera: Lutz Thiede, Christian Schweda
Schnitt: Erik Krebs
Bearbeitung: Lutz Thiede
Format: VHS
Länge: 110 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW1TlhtzeVQ
http://www.mimsmick.com/
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Ciotti
http://bestclassicbands.com/j-geils-band-rocks-hometown-crowd-9-13-15/
http://www.allmusic.com/album/and-the-band-played-on-mw0000591249
Konzertmitschnitt 2002 (leider nicht ganz perfekt, aber doch schön)
Musikforum Katharinenkirche Stendal germany
Kamera: Lutz Thiede, Christian Schweda
Schnitt: Erik Krebs
Bearbeitung: Lutz Thiede
Format: VHS
Länge: 110 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW1TlhtzeVQ
Maynard Silva *20.02.1951
Maynard
Silva, the Vineyard’s homegrown, authentic American roots bluesman who
was known and admired from Gay Head to Chappaquiddick with his National
guitar, reedy harmonica, red high-top sneakers and growl of a voice,
died Wednesday at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital after a three-year
battle with cancer. He was 57. His wife Basia Jaworska Silva and son
Milo Silva were with him at the time of his death.
A native Island son, Maynard had played with many of the blues greats, including J.B. Hutto, Bukka White, Buddy Guy and Rick Danko. He came of age as a musician in the early 1970s in St. Louis. “I played in this place called Alice’s Moonlight Lounge,” he told the Gazette in an interview in 1994. “I played for guys who were off their shift, they were factory guys who had been up all night. They would be in there, drinking their lunch, and it was a black bar. I’d play Jimmy Reed songs and Elmore James, ’cause that’s what they loved. They’d sit there and sing along with it.”
He bought his first harmonica at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore.
“This was 1971. Maynard Silva was a Vineyard kid in St. Louis, learning the blues the hard way — the right way, the only way,” wrote Gazette reporter Jason Gay in the 1994 interview.
“He was a wolf in every sense of the word at one time or another. He is about this world experience, raw, on-the-toes reaching-for-the-heavens kind of music,” said radio disc jockey and friend Laurel Reddington during a rich musical tribute to Maynard that aired on Vineyard radio station WMVY on Wednesday night.
“Yes, it’s a sad thing that we don’t live forever,” Maynard told the Gazette in 1994. “We don’t get to be with the people we love all the time. Bad things happen to people. How do you accept that? That’s a question I’m not equipped to answer. I’m not a philosopher, I’m a guitar player.”
Maynard Silva was born Feb. 20, 1951 in Oak Bluffs, the son of Frank and Mabel Porter Silva of Vineyard Haven. His father worked in a gas station and managed the town cemetery; his mother worked at Vineyard Dry Goods. His older brother Thomas died in the Korean War when Maynard was still a baby. (The album Exorcism and Guardian Angels is dedicated to the brother he never knew.)
He graduated from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 1969. His first introduction to the blues came from his high school English teacher Leroy Hazelton. “He played a Howlin‘ Wolf record for me. All I’d heard before was rock and roll and Wolf’s blues was so intense it scared me!” he said in a Gazette interview in 1987. Two other early Island influences were Gene Baer, an art teacher at the high school who was a boogie-woogie piano player and took the time to explain music theory to him, and Peter Ortiz, a professional sign painter on the Island. As a teenager, Maynard apprenticed to Mr. Ortiz.
“‘Don’t be afraid to improvise. If you can do that you can always get by.’ He used that word improvise a lot in sign painting just like people do in music,” Maynard once recalled.
He would later take up sign painting and music as dual careers.
After graduating from high school he entered Lindenwood College near St. Louis.
“I thought I’d be able to hear a lot of blues in St. Louis. I was wrong. So I started going down river to Memphis on weekends and hanging around the clubs on Beale street,” he told the Gazette in 1987.
He left college to study the blues and soon was getting work as a guitarist in Memphis. Of all the musicians he played with, he was most proud of his association with Bukka White, which began on Beale street in 1972. It ended four years later in Boston when he was supposed to play a gig with Bukka at a Boston nightclub, but the musician had a stroke as he was getting off the airplane and never played again.
Another early influence was Paul Butterfield.
“He was doing these slow blues. I just related to the whole thing . . . blues songs made me look at what I saw in my own life,” he said in a Martha’s Vineyard magazine interview in 2002.
He started his own band, the Maynard Silva Band, which cut a record in 1982 and was the subject of a television documentary.
“Fame and fortune, however, are not what Maynard considers the measure of his success in music,” the Gazette reported five years later. “He is proud of keeping the pure American blues sound alive, and of being able to hold his own on stage with people like Buddy Guy.”
In the late 1980s, tired of life on the road, Mr. Silva returned home to the Vineyard where he married and began to raise a family.
“I love the music but I hate show business,” he told the Gazette. “I played professionally for 10 years without taking a week off. Now I want to spend holidays with my family. It’s depressing to be on stage in a bar at Christmastime. Tragic heroes are great to watch but it’s not fun to be one. I’m lucky I’m still a sign painter.”
Maynard Silva
Over the next two decades he continued to play slide guitar, electric and acoustic, alone and in various bands. He played gigs in all the places where emerging musicians of the day were turning up to jam and perform, from Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, R.I., to the Agricultural Fair in West Tisbury.
He also navigated many rough spots in his life, including addiction. His first marriage ended in divorce. And in his music, he deliberately turned his back on what he called corporate blues.
“It’s hard to see this big explosion of BMW blues, you know? I mean Eric Clapton, a multimillionaire singing about five long years working in a steel mill?” he said in the 1994 Gazette interview.
In 1998 he met Basia Jaworska, an Island artist. Yesterday she recalled their first encounter: “I had been on a trip to Portugal and I met Silvas there and I thought, there’s that guy Maynard Silva on the Island, I wonder if he knows anything about his roots? He happened to be playing a rain date for the harbor fest. I went down there with my sketch book. I was being like a sniper artist and sketching him.”
Later she saw him at the post office and offered to send him the sketch. “He was so flustered he didn’t know his post office box number. But then he gave it to me and I sent him the sketch. We ran into each other again later at the bank — the Island is like that — and he said, can I call you. And that was it,” she said.
They were married in January of 2007.
“I’ve played with many blues players and Maynard was a true bluesman in the truest tradition,” said Al Shackman yesterday, a close friend and former session guitarist with Atlantic Records who lives on the Vineyard. “It was quite unexpected — one doesn’t come across true steeped-in-the tradition blues players anymore. He was like a throwback. I came to have the highest respect for him and put him on the same platform as those other bluesmen from the Four Corners to Chicago to Kansas City. He had it and there won’t be another one coming along very soon, if ever,” he said. They had planned to make a CD together. “Guess we will have to look forward to the flip side of life for that,” Mr. Shackman said.
“What kind of blues guitarist was he? The one I always wanted to be,” said Don Groover, an Oak Bluffs resident who was trained at Berklee College of Music and is widely regarded as one of the best professional guitarists on the Island. “What Maynard did for me was he made me realize that you really have to play from the gut. I’ve been trying to do what he does ever since — just play from the heart,” he said.
His solo albums were Maynard Silva, Dancing with El Distorto, Exorcism and Guardian Angels, Rocket Science and Blues Verite. With his band the New Hawks he recorded Wall of Tin and Howl at the Moon. He was also included in several anthologies, most notably Best of Slide Guitar (Wolf Records), A Beanpot of Songs (Blues Trust) and Best of Vineyard Sound (Rhino Records). His music was used for this summer’s performance of the play Rising Water at the Vineyard Playhouse. He loved war movies and the Boston Celtics. Bill Russell was one of his heroes. Fatherhood affected him profoundly and after his divorce he raised his son Milo alone. And he hewed to the simple Vineyard life. “I don’t own a cell phone because I lose things that are smaller than a guitar. I used to play a harmonica but I kept losing it,” he told WMVY in an interview that aired again as part of the radio tribute on Wednesday night.
Three years ago Maynard developed cancer and the Vineyard music community rallied around him, although he refused to allow any benefit concerts, continuing to play his own benefit gigs for others. Then in May this year Island musicians organized a special tribute and benefit for him at Outerland. Following the event, Maynard wrote in a letter to the Gazette: “For me the best thing was still the music. Hearing people who I’ve watched study roots music for decades cut loose and play it real not only packed the dance floor but warmed my heart. Thanks for the hard work, the love, the money, and most of all for the spirit.”
In addition to his wife and his son he is survived by an aunt, Barbara Dugan of Oak Bluffs; two cousins, Glenn Andrews of West Tisbury and Tom Anzer of Concord and their families; his mother in law Teresa Jaworski of Vineyard Haven, and two brothers in law and one sister in law and their families.
He was cremated. A memorial celebration of his life will be held at a future date to be announced.
A native Island son, Maynard had played with many of the blues greats, including J.B. Hutto, Bukka White, Buddy Guy and Rick Danko. He came of age as a musician in the early 1970s in St. Louis. “I played in this place called Alice’s Moonlight Lounge,” he told the Gazette in an interview in 1994. “I played for guys who were off their shift, they were factory guys who had been up all night. They would be in there, drinking their lunch, and it was a black bar. I’d play Jimmy Reed songs and Elmore James, ’cause that’s what they loved. They’d sit there and sing along with it.”
He bought his first harmonica at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore.
“This was 1971. Maynard Silva was a Vineyard kid in St. Louis, learning the blues the hard way — the right way, the only way,” wrote Gazette reporter Jason Gay in the 1994 interview.
“He was a wolf in every sense of the word at one time or another. He is about this world experience, raw, on-the-toes reaching-for-the-heavens kind of music,” said radio disc jockey and friend Laurel Reddington during a rich musical tribute to Maynard that aired on Vineyard radio station WMVY on Wednesday night.
“Yes, it’s a sad thing that we don’t live forever,” Maynard told the Gazette in 1994. “We don’t get to be with the people we love all the time. Bad things happen to people. How do you accept that? That’s a question I’m not equipped to answer. I’m not a philosopher, I’m a guitar player.”
Maynard Silva was born Feb. 20, 1951 in Oak Bluffs, the son of Frank and Mabel Porter Silva of Vineyard Haven. His father worked in a gas station and managed the town cemetery; his mother worked at Vineyard Dry Goods. His older brother Thomas died in the Korean War when Maynard was still a baby. (The album Exorcism and Guardian Angels is dedicated to the brother he never knew.)
He graduated from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 1969. His first introduction to the blues came from his high school English teacher Leroy Hazelton. “He played a Howlin‘ Wolf record for me. All I’d heard before was rock and roll and Wolf’s blues was so intense it scared me!” he said in a Gazette interview in 1987. Two other early Island influences were Gene Baer, an art teacher at the high school who was a boogie-woogie piano player and took the time to explain music theory to him, and Peter Ortiz, a professional sign painter on the Island. As a teenager, Maynard apprenticed to Mr. Ortiz.
“‘Don’t be afraid to improvise. If you can do that you can always get by.’ He used that word improvise a lot in sign painting just like people do in music,” Maynard once recalled.
He would later take up sign painting and music as dual careers.
After graduating from high school he entered Lindenwood College near St. Louis.
“I thought I’d be able to hear a lot of blues in St. Louis. I was wrong. So I started going down river to Memphis on weekends and hanging around the clubs on Beale street,” he told the Gazette in 1987.
He left college to study the blues and soon was getting work as a guitarist in Memphis. Of all the musicians he played with, he was most proud of his association with Bukka White, which began on Beale street in 1972. It ended four years later in Boston when he was supposed to play a gig with Bukka at a Boston nightclub, but the musician had a stroke as he was getting off the airplane and never played again.
Another early influence was Paul Butterfield.
“He was doing these slow blues. I just related to the whole thing . . . blues songs made me look at what I saw in my own life,” he said in a Martha’s Vineyard magazine interview in 2002.
He started his own band, the Maynard Silva Band, which cut a record in 1982 and was the subject of a television documentary.
“Fame and fortune, however, are not what Maynard considers the measure of his success in music,” the Gazette reported five years later. “He is proud of keeping the pure American blues sound alive, and of being able to hold his own on stage with people like Buddy Guy.”
In the late 1980s, tired of life on the road, Mr. Silva returned home to the Vineyard where he married and began to raise a family.
“I love the music but I hate show business,” he told the Gazette. “I played professionally for 10 years without taking a week off. Now I want to spend holidays with my family. It’s depressing to be on stage in a bar at Christmastime. Tragic heroes are great to watch but it’s not fun to be one. I’m lucky I’m still a sign painter.”
Maynard Silva
Over the next two decades he continued to play slide guitar, electric and acoustic, alone and in various bands. He played gigs in all the places where emerging musicians of the day were turning up to jam and perform, from Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, R.I., to the Agricultural Fair in West Tisbury.
He also navigated many rough spots in his life, including addiction. His first marriage ended in divorce. And in his music, he deliberately turned his back on what he called corporate blues.
“It’s hard to see this big explosion of BMW blues, you know? I mean Eric Clapton, a multimillionaire singing about five long years working in a steel mill?” he said in the 1994 Gazette interview.
In 1998 he met Basia Jaworska, an Island artist. Yesterday she recalled their first encounter: “I had been on a trip to Portugal and I met Silvas there and I thought, there’s that guy Maynard Silva on the Island, I wonder if he knows anything about his roots? He happened to be playing a rain date for the harbor fest. I went down there with my sketch book. I was being like a sniper artist and sketching him.”
Later she saw him at the post office and offered to send him the sketch. “He was so flustered he didn’t know his post office box number. But then he gave it to me and I sent him the sketch. We ran into each other again later at the bank — the Island is like that — and he said, can I call you. And that was it,” she said.
They were married in January of 2007.
“I’ve played with many blues players and Maynard was a true bluesman in the truest tradition,” said Al Shackman yesterday, a close friend and former session guitarist with Atlantic Records who lives on the Vineyard. “It was quite unexpected — one doesn’t come across true steeped-in-the tradition blues players anymore. He was like a throwback. I came to have the highest respect for him and put him on the same platform as those other bluesmen from the Four Corners to Chicago to Kansas City. He had it and there won’t be another one coming along very soon, if ever,” he said. They had planned to make a CD together. “Guess we will have to look forward to the flip side of life for that,” Mr. Shackman said.
“What kind of blues guitarist was he? The one I always wanted to be,” said Don Groover, an Oak Bluffs resident who was trained at Berklee College of Music and is widely regarded as one of the best professional guitarists on the Island. “What Maynard did for me was he made me realize that you really have to play from the gut. I’ve been trying to do what he does ever since — just play from the heart,” he said.
His solo albums were Maynard Silva, Dancing with El Distorto, Exorcism and Guardian Angels, Rocket Science and Blues Verite. With his band the New Hawks he recorded Wall of Tin and Howl at the Moon. He was also included in several anthologies, most notably Best of Slide Guitar (Wolf Records), A Beanpot of Songs (Blues Trust) and Best of Vineyard Sound (Rhino Records). His music was used for this summer’s performance of the play Rising Water at the Vineyard Playhouse. He loved war movies and the Boston Celtics. Bill Russell was one of his heroes. Fatherhood affected him profoundly and after his divorce he raised his son Milo alone. And he hewed to the simple Vineyard life. “I don’t own a cell phone because I lose things that are smaller than a guitar. I used to play a harmonica but I kept losing it,” he told WMVY in an interview that aired again as part of the radio tribute on Wednesday night.
Three years ago Maynard developed cancer and the Vineyard music community rallied around him, although he refused to allow any benefit concerts, continuing to play his own benefit gigs for others. Then in May this year Island musicians organized a special tribute and benefit for him at Outerland. Following the event, Maynard wrote in a letter to the Gazette: “For me the best thing was still the music. Hearing people who I’ve watched study roots music for decades cut loose and play it real not only packed the dance floor but warmed my heart. Thanks for the hard work, the love, the money, and most of all for the spirit.”
In addition to his wife and his son he is survived by an aunt, Barbara Dugan of Oak Bluffs; two cousins, Glenn Andrews of West Tisbury and Tom Anzer of Concord and their families; his mother in law Teresa Jaworski of Vineyard Haven, and two brothers in law and one sister in law and their families.
He was cremated. A memorial celebration of his life will be held at a future date to be announced.
MAYNARD SILVA BLUES FEST 07
Philipp Fankhauser *20.02.1964
Philipp Fankhauser (* 20. Februar 1964 in Thun) ist ein Schweizer Bluesmusiker und Songwriter.
Anfangsjahre
1974 zog Fankhauser mit seiner Mutter in das Tessin. Dort begann er im Alter von 11 Jahren Gitarre zu spielen und entwickelte eine Liebe zu schwarzer Musik, insbesondere zu Blues. 1977 gründete er in Locarno seine erste Schülerband. 1982 kehrte Fankhauser nach Thun zurück.
In den 1980er Jahren besuchte Fankhauser verschiedene Jazz- und Blues-Musikfestivals, insbesondere das Montreux Jazz Festival, und kam so mit verschiedenen Musikgrössen in Kontakt. 1984 begann er mit Soloauftritten und betätigte sich als Schweizer Korrespondent einer Berliner Blues-Zeitschrift.
Checkerboard Blues Band
1987 gründete er die Checkerboard Blues Band, mit der er in der ganzen Schweiz auftrat. Die Bekanntschaft mit der US-amerikanischen Bluessängerin Margie Evans führte 1989 zu einem gemeinsamen Album, Blues for the lady. Margie Evans verhalf Fankhauser und seiner Checkerboard Blues Band auch an grössere Auftritte zu kommen. In der Folge gab Fankhauser mit seiner Band Konzerte am Amsterdam Blues Festival, am Sanremo Blues Festival, im Quasimodo Club in Berlin, im Zürcher Volkshaus und spielte weitere 120 Clubkonzerte. 1990 folgte die zweite Europa-Tour mit Margie Evans.
Zwischen 1991 und 1993 veröffentlichten Fankhauser, der damals auch Produzent war, und die Checkerboard Blues Band drei weitere Alben und traten an unzähligen Konzerten auf, unter anderem 1992 am OpenAir St. Gallen. 1993 war das siebte und vorläufig letzte Jahr der Checkerboard Blues Band. Aus den drei ausverkauften Abschiedskonzerten in der Mühle Hunziken in Rubigen Ende Dezember 1993 entstand das Live-Album Thun - San Francisco.
ab 1994
Auf Einladung von Johnny Copeland ging Fankhauser 1994 mit ihm als Gastsänger einen Monat lang auf US-Tour. 1995 nahm Fankhauser in Los Angeles unter der Leitung von Produzent Dennis Walker und mit The Memphis Horns sein erstes Soloalbum auf. Weitere zwei Alben folgten 1996 und 1997. In dieser Zeit war Fankhauser auch verschiedentlich auf Konzerttour und ging 1998 mit der Original-Checkerboard Blues Band ins Studio, um für ein neues Album ein paar Aufnahmen zu machen. 1999 war das erste Jahr seit 1980, in dem Philipp Fankhauser keine Konzerte gab. Er konzentrierte sich vor allem auf die Fertigstellung des Albums und auf das Songschreiben.
Anfang 2000 erschien das Album Welcome to the real world mit der Checkerboard Blues Band. Zwischen Februar und April 2000 ging die Checkerboard Blues Band ein letztes Mal auf Konzerttour durch die Schweiz.
In der Folge bildete Fankhauser mit Funkhouseblues und der Philipp Fankhauser Blues Band zwei unabhängige, eigenständige Formationen, die so ein breiteres musikalisches Spektrum ermöglichten. Mit ihnen trat Fankhauser an verschiedenen Konzerten auf und veröffentlichte mit der Philipp Fankhauser Blues Band 2003 das Live Album Life's so Damn' Cool. Dieses entstand anlässlich ihres Auftrittes am Piazza Blues Festival in Bellinzona. In der Folge veröffentlichte Fankhauser drei weitere Alben und war in den USA, in Europa und in der Schweiz auf Konzerttournee.
Er lebte von 2009 bis 2013 mit einem brasilianischen Tanzlehrer in einer eingetragenen Partnerschaft und ist seit Januar 2013 Jurymitglied und Coach in der Gesangs-Castingshow The Voice of Switzerland.
Anfangsjahre
1974 zog Fankhauser mit seiner Mutter in das Tessin. Dort begann er im Alter von 11 Jahren Gitarre zu spielen und entwickelte eine Liebe zu schwarzer Musik, insbesondere zu Blues. 1977 gründete er in Locarno seine erste Schülerband. 1982 kehrte Fankhauser nach Thun zurück.
In den 1980er Jahren besuchte Fankhauser verschiedene Jazz- und Blues-Musikfestivals, insbesondere das Montreux Jazz Festival, und kam so mit verschiedenen Musikgrössen in Kontakt. 1984 begann er mit Soloauftritten und betätigte sich als Schweizer Korrespondent einer Berliner Blues-Zeitschrift.
Checkerboard Blues Band
1987 gründete er die Checkerboard Blues Band, mit der er in der ganzen Schweiz auftrat. Die Bekanntschaft mit der US-amerikanischen Bluessängerin Margie Evans führte 1989 zu einem gemeinsamen Album, Blues for the lady. Margie Evans verhalf Fankhauser und seiner Checkerboard Blues Band auch an grössere Auftritte zu kommen. In der Folge gab Fankhauser mit seiner Band Konzerte am Amsterdam Blues Festival, am Sanremo Blues Festival, im Quasimodo Club in Berlin, im Zürcher Volkshaus und spielte weitere 120 Clubkonzerte. 1990 folgte die zweite Europa-Tour mit Margie Evans.
Zwischen 1991 und 1993 veröffentlichten Fankhauser, der damals auch Produzent war, und die Checkerboard Blues Band drei weitere Alben und traten an unzähligen Konzerten auf, unter anderem 1992 am OpenAir St. Gallen. 1993 war das siebte und vorläufig letzte Jahr der Checkerboard Blues Band. Aus den drei ausverkauften Abschiedskonzerten in der Mühle Hunziken in Rubigen Ende Dezember 1993 entstand das Live-Album Thun - San Francisco.
ab 1994
Auf Einladung von Johnny Copeland ging Fankhauser 1994 mit ihm als Gastsänger einen Monat lang auf US-Tour. 1995 nahm Fankhauser in Los Angeles unter der Leitung von Produzent Dennis Walker und mit The Memphis Horns sein erstes Soloalbum auf. Weitere zwei Alben folgten 1996 und 1997. In dieser Zeit war Fankhauser auch verschiedentlich auf Konzerttour und ging 1998 mit der Original-Checkerboard Blues Band ins Studio, um für ein neues Album ein paar Aufnahmen zu machen. 1999 war das erste Jahr seit 1980, in dem Philipp Fankhauser keine Konzerte gab. Er konzentrierte sich vor allem auf die Fertigstellung des Albums und auf das Songschreiben.
Anfang 2000 erschien das Album Welcome to the real world mit der Checkerboard Blues Band. Zwischen Februar und April 2000 ging die Checkerboard Blues Band ein letztes Mal auf Konzerttour durch die Schweiz.
In der Folge bildete Fankhauser mit Funkhouseblues und der Philipp Fankhauser Blues Band zwei unabhängige, eigenständige Formationen, die so ein breiteres musikalisches Spektrum ermöglichten. Mit ihnen trat Fankhauser an verschiedenen Konzerten auf und veröffentlichte mit der Philipp Fankhauser Blues Band 2003 das Live Album Life's so Damn' Cool. Dieses entstand anlässlich ihres Auftrittes am Piazza Blues Festival in Bellinzona. In der Folge veröffentlichte Fankhauser drei weitere Alben und war in den USA, in Europa und in der Schweiz auf Konzerttournee.
Er lebte von 2009 bis 2013 mit einem brasilianischen Tanzlehrer in einer eingetragenen Partnerschaft und ist seit Januar 2013 Jurymitglied und Coach in der Gesangs-Castingshow The Voice of Switzerland.
Philipp Fankhauser is a Swiss blues singer/guitarist who experienced Top Ten success in his homeland after two decades of recording activity. Born in 1964 in Thun, Switzerland, he began playing music during the late '70s after taking an unlikely interest in the blues as a teenager. His interest in the blues was compounded after he attended the 1981 Montreux Jazz Festival, where he witnessed firsthand a performance by Albert Collins. Other American blues legends he saw at the Montreux Jazz Festival during the early '80s included such luminaries as B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In particular, a 1984 performance by Johnny "Clyde" Copeland left a lasting impression on Fankhauser; in fact, the two became acquainted and the Texas legend became a mentor to the Swiss novice, whose performance career was becoming a full-time occupation around this time period.
In 1987 Fankhauser founded the Checkerboard Blues Band and began touring throughout Switzerland, playing dozens of shows a year. The Checkerboard Blues Band featured vocalist Margie Evans, and made their recording debut in 1989 with Blues for the Lady, which Fankhauser produced and on which he also sang. The Checkerboard Blues Band -- sans Evans -- returned in 1991 with their second album, With a Feeling; two other albums by the band followed -- Dedicated (1992) and the live album Thun-San Francisco (1994), the latter featuring Evans -- before Fankhauser recorded the solo album On Broadway (1995) in Memphis with producer/songwriter Dennis Walker. Beginning in 1994, Fankhauser resided in the United States, where he toured with his mentor, Copeland, until the Texan's death in 1997. In the meantime, a best-of album, His Kind of Blues (1996), was compiled as a gap-filler.
Fankhauser subsequently returned to Switzerland in 2000 and resurrected the Checkerboard Blues Band for a new album, Welcome to the Real World (2000). Following a live album by the Philipp Fankhauser Blues Band, the trio showcase Live -- So Damn Cool (2003), Fankhauser signed a recording contract with Memphis International Records and proceeded to release Talk to Me (2004), a solo album recorded in Memphis with producer David Less. Fankhauser then signed with Funk House Blues, a Sony BMG subsidiary, and released his most commercially successful albums to date: Watching from the Safe Side (2006) and Love Man
In 1987 Fankhauser founded the Checkerboard Blues Band and began touring throughout Switzerland, playing dozens of shows a year. The Checkerboard Blues Band featured vocalist Margie Evans, and made their recording debut in 1989 with Blues for the Lady, which Fankhauser produced and on which he also sang. The Checkerboard Blues Band -- sans Evans -- returned in 1991 with their second album, With a Feeling; two other albums by the band followed -- Dedicated (1992) and the live album Thun-San Francisco (1994), the latter featuring Evans -- before Fankhauser recorded the solo album On Broadway (1995) in Memphis with producer/songwriter Dennis Walker. Beginning in 1994, Fankhauser resided in the United States, where he toured with his mentor, Copeland, until the Texan's death in 1997. In the meantime, a best-of album, His Kind of Blues (1996), was compiled as a gap-filler.
Fankhauser subsequently returned to Switzerland in 2000 and resurrected the Checkerboard Blues Band for a new album, Welcome to the Real World (2000). Following a live album by the Philipp Fankhauser Blues Band, the trio showcase Live -- So Damn Cool (2003), Fankhauser signed a recording contract with Memphis International Records and proceeded to release Talk to Me (2004), a solo album recorded in Memphis with producer David Less. Fankhauser then signed with Funk House Blues, a Sony BMG subsidiary, and released his most commercially successful albums to date: Watching from the Safe Side (2006) and Love Man
PHILIPP FANKHAUSER and Claude Nobs Harmonica - Sierre Blues Festival 2011
Randy McDonald *20.02.1959
Randy McDonald brings 20+ years of both road and studio experience. His ten-year gig with The Dynatones, and a more recent decade with The Tommy Castro Band, have paid off by gifting him with extraordinarily deep grooves. "Randy McDonald creates bass lines as intricate as any I've ever heard, weaving through Castro's guitar work," said Philip Elwood of The San Francisco Examiner. And lest one entertain ideas about bass players making peculiar front men, Randy's epic touring schedule (he's logged well over a million miles) has borne fruit in the rousing persona of roadhouse party ringleader.
If you took a close look at Randy’s McDonald's career over the past 20 years, you might not think anyone in such position would have time for a side project. But as Randy says, "I’m not starting a solo career, I just want a milestone on the path of my career as a musician".
You may have seen him step to the mike on occasion to lead the band through any number of raucous R&B and original tunes. "Randy McDonald creates bass lines as intricate as any I’ve ever heard, weaving through Castro’s guitar work" -- Philip Elwood (San Francisco Examiner).
If you took a close look at Randy’s McDonald's career over the past 20 years, you might not think anyone in such position would have time for a side project. But as Randy says, "I’m not starting a solo career, I just want a milestone on the path of my career as a musician".
You may have seen him step to the mike on occasion to lead the band through any number of raucous R&B and original tunes. "Randy McDonald creates bass lines as intricate as any I’ve ever heard, weaving through Castro’s guitar work" -- Philip Elwood (San Francisco Examiner).
Tommy Castro and the Painkillers at Blues From The Top 6-29-14 w/ Jimmy Carpenter and Deanna Bogart
Tommy Castro-guitar,vocals Randy McDonald-bass James Pace-keys David Tucker-drums
Mick Kolassa (Mississippi Mick) *20.02.
Originally from Michigan, Mick Kolassa (aka “Michissippi Mick”) has lived in Mississippi for the past 20 years. An avid blues fan and musician, Kolassa currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Blues Foundation, and he is a staple on the Memphis Blues scene. Kolassa views this album as his labor of love for the blues, and it is obvious that he had a blast recording it too. In addition, he is showing his love for the blues by donating all gross proceeds to the Blues Foundation, split equally between two wonderful programs: the HART Fund, and Generation Blues.
Michissippi Mick, on the Swing Suit Records label, contains 12 songs; seven originals and five covers. Recorded by Adam Hill, mixed by Dawn Hopkins, and produced by Jeff Jensen, sound quality is excellent, and the mix really lets this music shine. Personnel here are Mick Kolassa – vocals and guitars, Jeff Jensen – lead guitar, Bill Ruffino – bass, Doug McMinn – drums, and Chris Stephenson on organ. Guests include the always awesome Brandon Santini on harmonica, 2014 Pinetop Perkins BMA winner Victor Wainwright on piano, and Eric Hughes joins in on harmonica as well. Reba Russell and Redd Velvet deliver divine vocals here, elevating songs to a whole other level of impressive.
This album is such a joy on so many levels. First of all, it really is a lot of fun to listen to. Second, the playing here is just so good! Lots of tasty cuts here, and as usual, we had our favorites. There’s a friends-on-the-back-porch rendering of W.C. Handy’s “Beale Street Blues,” and a very smoky jazz tinged blues performance of Johnny Mercer’s “Blues In The Night” that is superb. “Blues Are All Around You” features excellent guitar, and the organ contributes to the overall club feel of the song. There’s also a very spirited, joyful interpretation of the classic “Refer Man,” and a stirring version of “The Letter.”
Michissippi Mick will be a welcome addition to any blues fan’s collection. Bringing this home is a win-win for everyone. The Blues Foundation receives donations from the sales, and blues lovers experience some outstanding blues, served up with a joyful heart.
Michissippi Mick, on the Swing Suit Records label, contains 12 songs; seven originals and five covers. Recorded by Adam Hill, mixed by Dawn Hopkins, and produced by Jeff Jensen, sound quality is excellent, and the mix really lets this music shine. Personnel here are Mick Kolassa – vocals and guitars, Jeff Jensen – lead guitar, Bill Ruffino – bass, Doug McMinn – drums, and Chris Stephenson on organ. Guests include the always awesome Brandon Santini on harmonica, 2014 Pinetop Perkins BMA winner Victor Wainwright on piano, and Eric Hughes joins in on harmonica as well. Reba Russell and Redd Velvet deliver divine vocals here, elevating songs to a whole other level of impressive.
This album is such a joy on so many levels. First of all, it really is a lot of fun to listen to. Second, the playing here is just so good! Lots of tasty cuts here, and as usual, we had our favorites. There’s a friends-on-the-back-porch rendering of W.C. Handy’s “Beale Street Blues,” and a very smoky jazz tinged blues performance of Johnny Mercer’s “Blues In The Night” that is superb. “Blues Are All Around You” features excellent guitar, and the organ contributes to the overall club feel of the song. There’s also a very spirited, joyful interpretation of the classic “Refer Man,” and a stirring version of “The Letter.”
Michissippi Mick will be a welcome addition to any blues fan’s collection. Bringing this home is a win-win for everyone. The Blues Foundation receives donations from the sales, and blues lovers experience some outstanding blues, served up with a joyful heart.
Mick Kolassa with Darren J and the Delta Souls
Kurt Krause aka Holger Diekmann *20.02.
Songs von unten...
...denn Krause weiß Bescheid!
Seine Songs kommen mitten aus dem Leben und werden als eigenwilliger Blues in deutscher Sprache serviert. Kurt zitiert seine alten Helden, hält sich aber dabei nicht auf und bringt lieber seine eigenen Nummern. Und die haben es in sich. Seine Songs wurden auf einer Session einmal als "erfrischend unakademisch" bezeichnet. Krause ist kein Vielspieler und Fretboardsurfer - das überlässt er anderen. Lieber greift er zum Slide und spielt etwas zurückhaltender und dafür mit dem richtigen Gefühl für Sound und Wirkung. Der Krausegesang ist nicht wirklich schön - da ächzt und stöhnt und jault es wie es im Blues eben zu sein hat. Und immer wieder sind es die Texte, die auffallen, anecken und zum lachen und mitgrölen einladen. Man findet den Krause Kurt auf den unzähligen Sessions der Region oder mit den verschiedenen Band- und Liveprojekten. Dann rockt er richtig los und fegt mit seinem Slidegitarrenspiel den Alltag aus der Birne.
Krause spielt mit "White Cat Bone" (Schwarzer Anzug, schwarze Sonnenbrillen und schwarzer Humor), "Das Bluesgericht" (Bluespower-Trio mit sechs Fäusten) und in dem Duo "Bodensatz"(Tuba, Gitarre/Gesang)
...denn Krause weiß Bescheid!
Seine Songs kommen mitten aus dem Leben und werden als eigenwilliger Blues in deutscher Sprache serviert. Kurt zitiert seine alten Helden, hält sich aber dabei nicht auf und bringt lieber seine eigenen Nummern. Und die haben es in sich. Seine Songs wurden auf einer Session einmal als "erfrischend unakademisch" bezeichnet. Krause ist kein Vielspieler und Fretboardsurfer - das überlässt er anderen. Lieber greift er zum Slide und spielt etwas zurückhaltender und dafür mit dem richtigen Gefühl für Sound und Wirkung. Der Krausegesang ist nicht wirklich schön - da ächzt und stöhnt und jault es wie es im Blues eben zu sein hat. Und immer wieder sind es die Texte, die auffallen, anecken und zum lachen und mitgrölen einladen. Man findet den Krause Kurt auf den unzähligen Sessions der Region oder mit den verschiedenen Band- und Liveprojekten. Dann rockt er richtig los und fegt mit seinem Slidegitarrenspiel den Alltag aus der Birne.
Krause spielt mit "White Cat Bone" (Schwarzer Anzug, schwarze Sonnenbrillen und schwarzer Humor), "Das Bluesgericht" (Bluespower-Trio mit sechs Fäusten) und in dem Duo "Bodensatz"(Tuba, Gitarre/Gesang)
Das Bluesgericht ist ein Trio aus Bielefeld, das sich im Jahr 2013 gegründet hat.
Das Bluesgericht mischt modernen und klassischen Blues mit deutschen Texten,
wobei die Songtexte sich stilistisch an den Vorgaben der „altvorderen“ Bluesurväter orientieren. Sie behandeln das alltäglich Absurde und Hintergründige gemischt mit teilweise schwarzem Humor, aber auch Beschauliches, Versöhnliches und natürlich Liebeslieder gepaart mit ganz schwarzem Humor.
Holger Diekmann als Textschreiber, Sänger und Gitarrist kopiert nicht nur einfach die alten Vorgaben, sondern präsentiert sie mit hintergründiger und augenzwinkender Art in seinem ganz eigenen Stil .
Beppo Hannemann spielt Elektro – aber vor allem auch Kontrabass. Er liefert das nötige Fundament, rundet nach unten ab und liefert den knurrenden und schmatzenden Tiefton, der irgendwie immer sättigt und das Gefühl vermittelt: „ ...es wird alles gut!“
Karl Snelting trommelt. Er treibt Bassist und Sänger mit seinen Grooves vor sich her. Und nebenbei erleben die Zuhörer, dass Schlagzeuger wie Karl nicht nur grooven können, sondern dass mit einem Schlagzeug auch so richtig musiziert werden kann.
Das Bluesgericht mischt modernen und klassischen Blues mit deutschen Texten,
wobei die Songtexte sich stilistisch an den Vorgaben der „altvorderen“ Bluesurväter orientieren. Sie behandeln das alltäglich Absurde und Hintergründige gemischt mit teilweise schwarzem Humor, aber auch Beschauliches, Versöhnliches und natürlich Liebeslieder gepaart mit ganz schwarzem Humor.
Holger Diekmann als Textschreiber, Sänger und Gitarrist kopiert nicht nur einfach die alten Vorgaben, sondern präsentiert sie mit hintergründiger und augenzwinkender Art in seinem ganz eigenen Stil .
Beppo Hannemann spielt Elektro – aber vor allem auch Kontrabass. Er liefert das nötige Fundament, rundet nach unten ab und liefert den knurrenden und schmatzenden Tiefton, der irgendwie immer sättigt und das Gefühl vermittelt: „ ...es wird alles gut!“
Karl Snelting trommelt. Er treibt Bassist und Sänger mit seinen Grooves vor sich her. Und nebenbei erleben die Zuhörer, dass Schlagzeuger wie Karl nicht nur grooven können, sondern dass mit einem Schlagzeug auch so richtig musiziert werden kann.
Bessere Zeiten
Fernsehkonzert: "Das Bluesgericht" aus Bielefeld
Roberto Ciotti *20.02.1953 +31.12.2013
Roberto
Ciotti (20 February 1953 – 31 December 2013) was an Italian
bluesman, composer and professional guitarist.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Ciotti began playing the guitar at the age of 12.[1] From 1970 to 1972 he was a member of the jazz band Blue Morning, then he started a solo career as a bluesman, a composer and a professional guitarist, collaborating with Chet Baker, Francesco De Gregori and Edoardo Bennato, among others.[1][2]
His debut album was Supergasoline Blues, released in 1978.[1] In 1980, he opened the Italian concerts of Bob Marley.[1] In 1989 he got critical and commercial success with the musical score of Marrakech Express by Gabriele Salvatores, with whom he collaborated again two years later in On Tour.[1][2] After the 2002 album Behind the Door he devoted himself mainly to the live concerts.[2] In 2006 he published an autobiography, Unplugged, in which he recounted the difficulty of coherence in doing blues without ever yielding to the lure of show business and easy money.[3]
Ciotti died, aged 60, following a long illness, on December 31, 2013.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Ciotti began playing the guitar at the age of 12.[1] From 1970 to 1972 he was a member of the jazz band Blue Morning, then he started a solo career as a bluesman, a composer and a professional guitarist, collaborating with Chet Baker, Francesco De Gregori and Edoardo Bennato, among others.[1][2]
His debut album was Supergasoline Blues, released in 1978.[1] In 1980, he opened the Italian concerts of Bob Marley.[1] In 1989 he got critical and commercial success with the musical score of Marrakech Express by Gabriele Salvatores, with whom he collaborated again two years later in On Tour.[1][2] After the 2002 album Behind the Door he devoted himself mainly to the live concerts.[2] In 2006 he published an autobiography, Unplugged, in which he recounted the difficulty of coherence in doing blues without ever yielding to the lure of show business and easy money.[3]
Ciotti died, aged 60, following a long illness, on December 31, 2013.
John W. Geils Jr. (J. Geils) *20.02.1946
John W. Geils Jr. besser bekannt als J. Geils (* 20. Februar 1946 in New York City) ist ein US-amerikanischer Musiker. Er wurde als Gitarrist und Gründungsmitglied der J. Geils Band bekannt.
J. Geils Band
1967 gründete J. Geils das Bluestrio J. Geils Band, in der er selbst (Gesang, Gitarre), Danny Klein (Dr. Funk) (Bass) und Magic Dick (Richard Salwitz) (Mundharmonika) sind. Ein paar Jahre später kamen Peter Wolf (Gesang), Seth Justman (Keyboard) und Stephen Jo Bladd (Schlagzeug) dazu und sie entwickelten sich zu einer Rockband. 1986 löste sich die Band auf. 2006 gab es eine Wiedervereinigung.
Instrumente
J. Geils spielte folgende E-Gitarren:
Gibson ES-335
Gibson Flying V
Gibson Les Paul
Fender Telecaster
Fender Stratocaster
J. Geils Band
1967 gründete J. Geils das Bluestrio J. Geils Band, in der er selbst (Gesang, Gitarre), Danny Klein (Dr. Funk) (Bass) und Magic Dick (Richard Salwitz) (Mundharmonika) sind. Ein paar Jahre später kamen Peter Wolf (Gesang), Seth Justman (Keyboard) und Stephen Jo Bladd (Schlagzeug) dazu und sie entwickelten sich zu einer Rockband. 1986 löste sich die Band auf. 2006 gab es eine Wiedervereinigung.
Instrumente
J. Geils spielte folgende E-Gitarren:
Gibson ES-335
Gibson Flying V
Gibson Les Paul
Fender Telecaster
Fender Stratocaster
The J. Geils Band war eine amerikanische Bluesrock-/Rhythm and Blues-Gruppe, die 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts gegründet wurde. In den 1970er Jahren waren sie mit ihrem R&B-Sound erfolgreich, bevor sie nach ihrem Wechsel zu EMI America Records 1978 einen eher Pop-orientierten Sound annahmen, der ihnen MTV Airplay und 1981 ihren größten Hit Centerfold bescherte.
In Deutschland wurde die Einleitung Believe In Me (vom Album Hotline) als Titelmelodie des WDR-Rockpalast verwendet.
Karriere
Die Gruppe begann als akustisches Blues-Trio Mitte der 1960er Jahre mit Sänger und Gitarristen John Warren „Jerome“ Geils (* 20. Februar 1946 in New York City), Bassist Danny Klein (Dr. Funk) und Mundharmonikaspieler Richard Salwitz (Magic Dick). Als Geils für ein paar Semester am Worcester Polytechnic studierte, firmierte die Gruppe erst unter dem Namen Snoopy & the Sopwith Camels. 1967 stießen der schnell sprechende, ehemalige DJ Peter Wolf (geboren als Peter Blankenfeld), der zum Sänger der Band wurde, und Schlagzeuger Stephen Jo Bladd, beide aus Boston, hinzu und die Gruppe spielte fortan einen elektrischen RnB.
Organist Seth Justman vervollständigte 1968 die Gruppe, die 1970 bei Atlantic Records unter Ahmet Ertegün unterschrieb. Erster FM-Radio-Erfolg war die live aufgenommene Single „First I Look At The Purse“, danach folgten einige Hitsingles in den 1970ern, wovon „Musta Got Lost“ 1974 am erfolgreichsten war.
1977 veröffentlichte die Gruppe das Album Monkey Island, das lediglich unter dem Namen Geils veröffentlicht wurde. Mit Auslaufen ihres Atlantic-Vertrages unterschrieb die Gruppe bei EMI America Records.
Nach ersten kommerziellen Erfolgen schien die Gruppe, die stetig tourte, nicht mehr als eine erstklassige Partyband zu sein. Erst die Alben „Monkey Island“ (1977) und das eher am konventionellen Rock orientierte „Sanctuary“ änderten dies.
Dem europäischen Publikum wurde die J. Geils Band durch die Übertragung des 4. Rockpalasts am 21. April 1979 per Fernsehen und Radio bekannt, als „sie mit 150 % Energie“ [1] für „Begeisterung ohne Grenzen“ sorgten, wobei Peter Wolf in der Menge badete.
In den frühen 1980ern stieg die Gruppe mit der humorvollen Single „Love Stinks“ und vor allem mit dem Album „Freeze Frame“ und den Singles „Centerfold“ (#1 Billboard für 6 Wochen), dem Titelstück (#4), „Flamethrower“ (#30), „Angel In Blue“ (#40) in die Hitparaden ein.
Mit dem Album tourte die Gruppe im Vorprogramm der Rolling Stones 1981 in Nordamerika und 1982 in Europa, um 1983 das dritte Live-Album Showtime zu veröffentlichen. Peter Wolf sorgte für negative Schlagzeilen, als er das Publikum bei einem Deutschland-Konzert aufwiegelte und fragte, „ob sie Schlager mögen?“ und der danach auftretende Peter Maffay mit Eiern und anderen Gegenständen beworfen wurde.[2]
Wolf verließ die Gruppe 1983 aufgrund musikalischer Differenzen, um eine erfolgreiche Solokarriere zu beginnen. Die Gruppe nahm noch aus Vertragserfüllungsgründen ein Album ohne Wolf, „You’re Gettin’ Even While I’m Gettin’ Odd“ auf, wobei Justman als Sänger fungierte. Trotz US-Tournee erreichte das Album nur #80 und die Singleauskopplung Concealed Weapons 1984 lediglich #63. Musikexpress-Gastkritiker Wolf Maahn attestierte „grausames Gehacke und Gedudel... die Band ist völlig auf den Hund gekommen“. Ein letztes Lebenszeichen gab die Band mit der Single „Fright Night“ (1985) (#91), dem Titelstück des Films „Fright Night“ (deutsch: „Die rabenschwarze Nacht – Fright Night“, Regie: Tom Holland), ab und löste sich auf.
1999 plante die Gruppe eine Reunion-Tour mit Wolf. Diese wurde jedoch abgesagt, nachdem die Kartenverkäufe schleppend anliefen. Wolf ist weiterhin solo tätig, während der Rest der Gruppe ohne Wolf gelegentlich auftritt. Geils restauriert Sportwagen. Geils und Magic Dick gründeten eine Gruppe „Blues Time“ und veröffentlichten ein gleichnamiges Album. Geils widmete sich Bostoner Jazzprojekten, wie dem The New Guitar Summit und Gerry Beaudoin, mit denen er gelegentlich auftritt und produzierte u.a. die CD von Stone Crazy, bei der auch Danny Klein mitwirkt. Klein betreibt darüber hinaus ein eigenes Restaurant, Z Square, in Bostons Harvard Square. Magic Dick brachte seine eigenen patentierten Mundharmonikas heraus und tourt mit Mark Hummel. Seth Justman produziert andere Bands und schrieb die Musik für die PBS-Fernseh-Dokumentation Country Boys, bei der auch Magic Dick mitwirkte. Bladd hat sich vom Musikgeschäft zurückgezogen.
Am 22. Mai 2006 kam es nach 20 Jahren zur Wiedervereinigung der sechs Original-Mitglieder anlässlich von Danny Kleins 60. Geburtstag im Scullers Jazz-Club in Boston.
In Deutschland wurde die Einleitung Believe In Me (vom Album Hotline) als Titelmelodie des WDR-Rockpalast verwendet.
Karriere
Die Gruppe begann als akustisches Blues-Trio Mitte der 1960er Jahre mit Sänger und Gitarristen John Warren „Jerome“ Geils (* 20. Februar 1946 in New York City), Bassist Danny Klein (Dr. Funk) und Mundharmonikaspieler Richard Salwitz (Magic Dick). Als Geils für ein paar Semester am Worcester Polytechnic studierte, firmierte die Gruppe erst unter dem Namen Snoopy & the Sopwith Camels. 1967 stießen der schnell sprechende, ehemalige DJ Peter Wolf (geboren als Peter Blankenfeld), der zum Sänger der Band wurde, und Schlagzeuger Stephen Jo Bladd, beide aus Boston, hinzu und die Gruppe spielte fortan einen elektrischen RnB.
Organist Seth Justman vervollständigte 1968 die Gruppe, die 1970 bei Atlantic Records unter Ahmet Ertegün unterschrieb. Erster FM-Radio-Erfolg war die live aufgenommene Single „First I Look At The Purse“, danach folgten einige Hitsingles in den 1970ern, wovon „Musta Got Lost“ 1974 am erfolgreichsten war.
1977 veröffentlichte die Gruppe das Album Monkey Island, das lediglich unter dem Namen Geils veröffentlicht wurde. Mit Auslaufen ihres Atlantic-Vertrages unterschrieb die Gruppe bei EMI America Records.
Nach ersten kommerziellen Erfolgen schien die Gruppe, die stetig tourte, nicht mehr als eine erstklassige Partyband zu sein. Erst die Alben „Monkey Island“ (1977) und das eher am konventionellen Rock orientierte „Sanctuary“ änderten dies.
Dem europäischen Publikum wurde die J. Geils Band durch die Übertragung des 4. Rockpalasts am 21. April 1979 per Fernsehen und Radio bekannt, als „sie mit 150 % Energie“ [1] für „Begeisterung ohne Grenzen“ sorgten, wobei Peter Wolf in der Menge badete.
In den frühen 1980ern stieg die Gruppe mit der humorvollen Single „Love Stinks“ und vor allem mit dem Album „Freeze Frame“ und den Singles „Centerfold“ (#1 Billboard für 6 Wochen), dem Titelstück (#4), „Flamethrower“ (#30), „Angel In Blue“ (#40) in die Hitparaden ein.
Mit dem Album tourte die Gruppe im Vorprogramm der Rolling Stones 1981 in Nordamerika und 1982 in Europa, um 1983 das dritte Live-Album Showtime zu veröffentlichen. Peter Wolf sorgte für negative Schlagzeilen, als er das Publikum bei einem Deutschland-Konzert aufwiegelte und fragte, „ob sie Schlager mögen?“ und der danach auftretende Peter Maffay mit Eiern und anderen Gegenständen beworfen wurde.[2]
Wolf verließ die Gruppe 1983 aufgrund musikalischer Differenzen, um eine erfolgreiche Solokarriere zu beginnen. Die Gruppe nahm noch aus Vertragserfüllungsgründen ein Album ohne Wolf, „You’re Gettin’ Even While I’m Gettin’ Odd“ auf, wobei Justman als Sänger fungierte. Trotz US-Tournee erreichte das Album nur #80 und die Singleauskopplung Concealed Weapons 1984 lediglich #63. Musikexpress-Gastkritiker Wolf Maahn attestierte „grausames Gehacke und Gedudel... die Band ist völlig auf den Hund gekommen“. Ein letztes Lebenszeichen gab die Band mit der Single „Fright Night“ (1985) (#91), dem Titelstück des Films „Fright Night“ (deutsch: „Die rabenschwarze Nacht – Fright Night“, Regie: Tom Holland), ab und löste sich auf.
1999 plante die Gruppe eine Reunion-Tour mit Wolf. Diese wurde jedoch abgesagt, nachdem die Kartenverkäufe schleppend anliefen. Wolf ist weiterhin solo tätig, während der Rest der Gruppe ohne Wolf gelegentlich auftritt. Geils restauriert Sportwagen. Geils und Magic Dick gründeten eine Gruppe „Blues Time“ und veröffentlichten ein gleichnamiges Album. Geils widmete sich Bostoner Jazzprojekten, wie dem The New Guitar Summit und Gerry Beaudoin, mit denen er gelegentlich auftritt und produzierte u.a. die CD von Stone Crazy, bei der auch Danny Klein mitwirkt. Klein betreibt darüber hinaus ein eigenes Restaurant, Z Square, in Bostons Harvard Square. Magic Dick brachte seine eigenen patentierten Mundharmonikas heraus und tourt mit Mark Hummel. Seth Justman produziert andere Bands und schrieb die Musik für die PBS-Fernseh-Dokumentation Country Boys, bei der auch Magic Dick mitwirkte. Bladd hat sich vom Musikgeschäft zurückgezogen.
Am 22. Mai 2006 kam es nach 20 Jahren zur Wiedervereinigung der sechs Original-Mitglieder anlässlich von Danny Kleins 60. Geburtstag im Scullers Jazz-Club in Boston.
The J. Geils Band /ˌdʒeɪ ˈɡaɪlz/ is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist J. Geils.
The band played R&B-influenced blues rock in the 1970s before moving towards a more new wave sound in the 1980s. Since its initial break-up in 1985, the band has reunited several times.
Their biggest hit was their 1981 single, "Centerfold," which charted No. 1 in the United States in early 1982.
Career
The band started as an acoustic blues trio in the mid 1960s, with vocalist and guitarist John Geils, bassist Danny Klein (Dr. Funk) and harmonica player Richard Salwitz (stage name Magic Dick).
The band formed under the name 'Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels,' while Geils was attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute for a couple of semesters. In 1967, the band switched focus, starting to play electric guitar and bass and recruiting drummer Stephen Jo Bladd and fast-talking ex-disc jockey singer Peter Wolf, born Peter Blankenfeld, (originally from the Bronx). They became the J. Geils Blues Band, later dropping the word "Blues" from the band name. The following year, former fan Seth Justman joined as an organist. The group signed to Atlantic Records in 1970.
Although living in Boston, the band had always considered Detroit its second home because of its enormous popularity there. Two of its three live albums were recorded in Detroit at the Cinderella Ballroom and Pine Knob Music Theater (now DTE Energy Music Theater). Their second live album, 1976's Blow Your Face Out, was recorded in Boston (at Boston Garden) and Detroit (at Cobo Arena).
The J. Geils Band first received FM radio airplay with the live single cover version of The Contours' "First I Look at the Purse." They then began to get AM radio airplay as well with a series of several hit singles in the 1970s, the most successful of which were a cover version of The Valentinos' "Lookin' for a Love" (1971), a cover version of The Showstoppers' "Ain't Nothin' But a Houseparty" (1973), "Give it to Me" (1973), and "Must Of Got Lost" (1974). Later in the 1970s, the band signed with EMI America Records.
The band attracted special attention for its innovative use of the harmonica as a lead instrument.[citation needed] Harmonicalinks.com later called Magic Dick "a pioneer in sound and style for rock harmonica".[1]
On August 17, 1971, at a show in the Boston Common, The Allman Brothers Band named the J. Geils Band as its favorite local band.[citation needed] Both bands later played the last show at the Fillmore East. After their initial commercial successes the group seemed destined to be nothing more than a party band, until the release of Monkey Island (1977), followed by Sanctuary (1978), which charted at No. 49 on the Billboard 200 and spun off a sizable hit single in "One Last Kiss" (No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100).
The group's commercial fortunes improved even more in the early 1980s, first with the humorous Love Stinks, then with their success with the Freeze Frame album, which included "Centerfold" (No. 1 for six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100), and then the title cut (No. 4). "Centerfold" also became their only major hit single in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 3 in February 1982. Another live album, Showtime (1982), contained their hit cover of "I Do" (No. 24), a 1965 hit by The Marvelows. Wolf left the group in 1983 over artistic disagreements.
The band went on to record one more album of new material, You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd, after Wolf left. He was not replaced, and Seth Justman took over most of the vocal duties. The album produced only one single, "Concealed Weapons," and was not a commercial success. The group then disbanded in 1985 after contributing the title song to the 1985 horror film Fright Night.
Reunion appearances
The group reunited with Wolf in 1999 for a 13-date tour of the East Coast and upper Midwest. Rollins Band drummer Sim Cain sat in for Stephen Jo Bladd for this tour, which also saw the band supported by backup singers Andricka Hall and Catherine Russell, as well as the Uptown Horns (who had also appeared with the group on its Freeze Frame Tour). After the '99 reunion tour finished at that year's end, Wolf returned to touring with his own backup band with the rest of the Geils band making occasional appearances.
On February 26, 2005, the band (with drummer Marty Richards filling in for Bladd) reunited at Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a charity show for the Cam Neely Foundation for cancer care.
On May 22, 2006, all six original members had a surprise reunion at bassist Danny Klein's 60th birthday party at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston.
On February 19, 2009, the band reunited again to perform the opening concert at the new House of Blues in Boston on Lansdowne Street (formerly the location of Avalon, Axis, The Embassy and The Modern), with Marty Richards once again filling in for Bladd and Mitch Chakour supplying backup vocals. Subsequently, they played two shows on April 24 and 25 at Detroit's Fillmore Theater (formerly State Theater). They also did a second show on Lansdowne Street on April 28.[2]
On July 11, 2009 the J. Geils Band played at the Borgata Hotel/Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, selling out the Borgata's 2,000-seat Event Center.
On December 31, 2009, the original members (with Marty Richards again subbing for Stephen Jo Bladd) reunited for a one-night live gig at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.[3]
The band played a benefit in Boston for Big Brothers/Big Sisters on January 23, 2010, which Wolf called the "last" Geils show. "You never say never," Wolf noted, "But I can tell you in my heart of hearts that as far as I know -- and I'm a pretty good source -- there is nothing I can think of that's planned. So this is basically it right now."
On August 14, 2010, the J. Geils Band reunited once again to open for Aerosmith at a sold-out show at Fenway Park.[4]
For their 2010 dates, the band was again supported by the Uptown Horns along with backup singers Mitch Chakour, Andricka Hall and Nichelle Tillman. Hall and Tillman continued on in the band for their 2011 and 2012 tours, as did the Uptown Horns. Since this time, Wolf and Geils have also both been touring as solo artists. Danny Klein has formed a new band called "Danny Klein's Full House" that is dedicated to playing the music of the J. Geils Band.
The J. Geils Band embarked on a short U.S. tour in August/September 2012. However, guitarist Geils was not a part of this tour. According to Rolling Stone, John Geils filed a lawsuit against the other members of the group over use of the name in an upcoming tour that does not feature the guitarist, Reuters reported. Geils named band members Richard Salwitz, Danny Klein, Peter Wolf and Seth Justman in the lawsuit filed in Boston Superior Court, claiming they "planned and conspired" to exclude Geils from a tour and are unlawfully using the group's trademarked name. On the 2012 tour, guitarists Duke Levine and Kevin Barry replaced Geils, and the new drummer was Tom Arey.
On May 30, 2013, the J. Geils Band performed six songs as part of the Boston Strong concert at the TD Garden in Boston. The concert, a benefit for victims of the recent Boston Marathon bombing victims, also featured Aerosmith, James Taylor, Boston, Dropkick Murphys, New Kids on the Block, Bell Biv DeVoe, Boyz II Men, Jimmy Buffett, Carole King, Extreme and Jason Aldean.
In 2013 the band played for an hour as the opening band for Bon Jovi in multiple locations across the United States.
Beginning in the fall of 2014 and through the beginning of 2015 the J. Geils Band made opening act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band on most tour dates across north America, along with some solo shows in the gap.
Post-breakup
Since the semi-retirement of the band, Geils has been restoring sports cars in Massachusetts and started the performance shop KTR European Motorsports in Ayer, Massachusetts.[5] In 1992, he joined his old bandmate Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz to form the band Bluestime, which released two records: the self-titled Bluestime (1994) and Little Car Blues (1996) on Rounder Records.
In 2004, Geils produced the album Nail It! for Massachusetts-based blues/rock group The Installers (Francesca Records No. 1011). He has also been known to appear on stage with The Installers occasionally.
Magic Dick recently contributed his harmonica playing and some vocals as part of a live recording called Command Performance by the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue featuring The Tommy Castro Band, Deanna Bogart, Ronnie Baker Brooks and others. Since 2007, he has toured as part of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue on different Blues Cruises and again on land-based shows.[6] Peter Wolf toured with Kid Rock during the first half of 2008.
The December 2009 edition of Vintage Guitar (magazine) featured an in-depth interview with J. Geils by Mambo Sons guitarist Tom Guerra. In the interview, Geils revealed his playing approach, jazz influences and choice of instruments.
In September 2010 it was announced that the J. Geils Band was a finalist nominee for selection to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Class of 2011, but were not selected for induction that year.
Members
Current members
Magic Dick – harmonica, trumpet, harmonium (1967–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Danny Klein – bass (1967–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Seth Justman – keyboard, vocals (1968–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Peter Wolf – vocals (1967–1983, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Former members
J. Geils – guitar (1967–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–2012)
Stephen Bladd – percussion, drums, vocals (1967–1985, 2006)
Harold Stone – keyboards (1966–1967)
Touring members
Sim Cain – drums (1999)
Marty Richards – drums (2005, 2009-2011)
Duke Levine – guitar (2011–present)
Kevin Barry – guitar (2012–present)
Tom Arey – drums, percussion (2012–present)
Andricka Hall – backup vocals (1999, 2010–present)
Catherine Russell – backup vocals (1999)
Nichelle Tillman – backup vocals (2010–present)
Mitch Chakour – backup vocals (2009–2010)
The band played R&B-influenced blues rock in the 1970s before moving towards a more new wave sound in the 1980s. Since its initial break-up in 1985, the band has reunited several times.
Their biggest hit was their 1981 single, "Centerfold," which charted No. 1 in the United States in early 1982.
Career
The band started as an acoustic blues trio in the mid 1960s, with vocalist and guitarist John Geils, bassist Danny Klein (Dr. Funk) and harmonica player Richard Salwitz (stage name Magic Dick).
The band formed under the name 'Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels,' while Geils was attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute for a couple of semesters. In 1967, the band switched focus, starting to play electric guitar and bass and recruiting drummer Stephen Jo Bladd and fast-talking ex-disc jockey singer Peter Wolf, born Peter Blankenfeld, (originally from the Bronx). They became the J. Geils Blues Band, later dropping the word "Blues" from the band name. The following year, former fan Seth Justman joined as an organist. The group signed to Atlantic Records in 1970.
Although living in Boston, the band had always considered Detroit its second home because of its enormous popularity there. Two of its three live albums were recorded in Detroit at the Cinderella Ballroom and Pine Knob Music Theater (now DTE Energy Music Theater). Their second live album, 1976's Blow Your Face Out, was recorded in Boston (at Boston Garden) and Detroit (at Cobo Arena).
The J. Geils Band first received FM radio airplay with the live single cover version of The Contours' "First I Look at the Purse." They then began to get AM radio airplay as well with a series of several hit singles in the 1970s, the most successful of which were a cover version of The Valentinos' "Lookin' for a Love" (1971), a cover version of The Showstoppers' "Ain't Nothin' But a Houseparty" (1973), "Give it to Me" (1973), and "Must Of Got Lost" (1974). Later in the 1970s, the band signed with EMI America Records.
The band attracted special attention for its innovative use of the harmonica as a lead instrument.[citation needed] Harmonicalinks.com later called Magic Dick "a pioneer in sound and style for rock harmonica".[1]
On August 17, 1971, at a show in the Boston Common, The Allman Brothers Band named the J. Geils Band as its favorite local band.[citation needed] Both bands later played the last show at the Fillmore East. After their initial commercial successes the group seemed destined to be nothing more than a party band, until the release of Monkey Island (1977), followed by Sanctuary (1978), which charted at No. 49 on the Billboard 200 and spun off a sizable hit single in "One Last Kiss" (No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100).
The group's commercial fortunes improved even more in the early 1980s, first with the humorous Love Stinks, then with their success with the Freeze Frame album, which included "Centerfold" (No. 1 for six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100), and then the title cut (No. 4). "Centerfold" also became their only major hit single in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 3 in February 1982. Another live album, Showtime (1982), contained their hit cover of "I Do" (No. 24), a 1965 hit by The Marvelows. Wolf left the group in 1983 over artistic disagreements.
The band went on to record one more album of new material, You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd, after Wolf left. He was not replaced, and Seth Justman took over most of the vocal duties. The album produced only one single, "Concealed Weapons," and was not a commercial success. The group then disbanded in 1985 after contributing the title song to the 1985 horror film Fright Night.
Reunion appearances
The group reunited with Wolf in 1999 for a 13-date tour of the East Coast and upper Midwest. Rollins Band drummer Sim Cain sat in for Stephen Jo Bladd for this tour, which also saw the band supported by backup singers Andricka Hall and Catherine Russell, as well as the Uptown Horns (who had also appeared with the group on its Freeze Frame Tour). After the '99 reunion tour finished at that year's end, Wolf returned to touring with his own backup band with the rest of the Geils band making occasional appearances.
On February 26, 2005, the band (with drummer Marty Richards filling in for Bladd) reunited at Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a charity show for the Cam Neely Foundation for cancer care.
On May 22, 2006, all six original members had a surprise reunion at bassist Danny Klein's 60th birthday party at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston.
On February 19, 2009, the band reunited again to perform the opening concert at the new House of Blues in Boston on Lansdowne Street (formerly the location of Avalon, Axis, The Embassy and The Modern), with Marty Richards once again filling in for Bladd and Mitch Chakour supplying backup vocals. Subsequently, they played two shows on April 24 and 25 at Detroit's Fillmore Theater (formerly State Theater). They also did a second show on Lansdowne Street on April 28.[2]
On July 11, 2009 the J. Geils Band played at the Borgata Hotel/Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, selling out the Borgata's 2,000-seat Event Center.
On December 31, 2009, the original members (with Marty Richards again subbing for Stephen Jo Bladd) reunited for a one-night live gig at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.[3]
The band played a benefit in Boston for Big Brothers/Big Sisters on January 23, 2010, which Wolf called the "last" Geils show. "You never say never," Wolf noted, "But I can tell you in my heart of hearts that as far as I know -- and I'm a pretty good source -- there is nothing I can think of that's planned. So this is basically it right now."
On August 14, 2010, the J. Geils Band reunited once again to open for Aerosmith at a sold-out show at Fenway Park.[4]
For their 2010 dates, the band was again supported by the Uptown Horns along with backup singers Mitch Chakour, Andricka Hall and Nichelle Tillman. Hall and Tillman continued on in the band for their 2011 and 2012 tours, as did the Uptown Horns. Since this time, Wolf and Geils have also both been touring as solo artists. Danny Klein has formed a new band called "Danny Klein's Full House" that is dedicated to playing the music of the J. Geils Band.
The J. Geils Band embarked on a short U.S. tour in August/September 2012. However, guitarist Geils was not a part of this tour. According to Rolling Stone, John Geils filed a lawsuit against the other members of the group over use of the name in an upcoming tour that does not feature the guitarist, Reuters reported. Geils named band members Richard Salwitz, Danny Klein, Peter Wolf and Seth Justman in the lawsuit filed in Boston Superior Court, claiming they "planned and conspired" to exclude Geils from a tour and are unlawfully using the group's trademarked name. On the 2012 tour, guitarists Duke Levine and Kevin Barry replaced Geils, and the new drummer was Tom Arey.
On May 30, 2013, the J. Geils Band performed six songs as part of the Boston Strong concert at the TD Garden in Boston. The concert, a benefit for victims of the recent Boston Marathon bombing victims, also featured Aerosmith, James Taylor, Boston, Dropkick Murphys, New Kids on the Block, Bell Biv DeVoe, Boyz II Men, Jimmy Buffett, Carole King, Extreme and Jason Aldean.
In 2013 the band played for an hour as the opening band for Bon Jovi in multiple locations across the United States.
Beginning in the fall of 2014 and through the beginning of 2015 the J. Geils Band made opening act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band on most tour dates across north America, along with some solo shows in the gap.
Post-breakup
Since the semi-retirement of the band, Geils has been restoring sports cars in Massachusetts and started the performance shop KTR European Motorsports in Ayer, Massachusetts.[5] In 1992, he joined his old bandmate Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz to form the band Bluestime, which released two records: the self-titled Bluestime (1994) and Little Car Blues (1996) on Rounder Records.
In 2004, Geils produced the album Nail It! for Massachusetts-based blues/rock group The Installers (Francesca Records No. 1011). He has also been known to appear on stage with The Installers occasionally.
Magic Dick recently contributed his harmonica playing and some vocals as part of a live recording called Command Performance by the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue featuring The Tommy Castro Band, Deanna Bogart, Ronnie Baker Brooks and others. Since 2007, he has toured as part of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue on different Blues Cruises and again on land-based shows.[6] Peter Wolf toured with Kid Rock during the first half of 2008.
The December 2009 edition of Vintage Guitar (magazine) featured an in-depth interview with J. Geils by Mambo Sons guitarist Tom Guerra. In the interview, Geils revealed his playing approach, jazz influences and choice of instruments.
In September 2010 it was announced that the J. Geils Band was a finalist nominee for selection to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Class of 2011, but were not selected for induction that year.
Members
Current members
Magic Dick – harmonica, trumpet, harmonium (1967–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Danny Klein – bass (1967–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Seth Justman – keyboard, vocals (1968–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Peter Wolf – vocals (1967–1983, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–Present)
Former members
J. Geils – guitar (1967–1985, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009–2012)
Stephen Bladd – percussion, drums, vocals (1967–1985, 2006)
Harold Stone – keyboards (1966–1967)
Touring members
Sim Cain – drums (1999)
Marty Richards – drums (2005, 2009-2011)
Duke Levine – guitar (2011–present)
Kevin Barry – guitar (2012–present)
Tom Arey – drums, percussion (2012–present)
Andricka Hall – backup vocals (1999, 2010–present)
Catherine Russell – backup vocals (1999)
Nichelle Tillman – backup vocals (2010–present)
Mitch Chakour – backup vocals (2009–2010)
The J Geils Band Live @ The House of Blues Boston 2009 "FULL SHOW"
R.I.P.
J.J. Malone +20.02.2004
John Jacob (J.J.) Malone (August 20, 1935 – February 20, 2004)[2] was an American West Coast blues, electric blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and keyboardist.[1] His best known recordings were "It's a Shame" and "Danger Zone". Malone was a member of The Rhythm Rockers, and variously worked with musicians such as Troyce Key, Jill Baxter, Al Green, Joe Simon, Etta James, Scott McKenzie and Frankie Lee.
Malone was born in Pete's Corner, Alabama, United States. He sang in his local church, and learned to play the harmonica, guitar and piano.[4] After moving to California, he found more regular employment in the music industry, and had localised hit singles with "It's a Shame", "One Step Away", and "Danger Zone". Malone met the record producer, Ray Shanklin, and was subsequently employed as a record company executive at Fantasy Records (and it's subsidiary Galaxy) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At Galaxy, Malone worked alongside Little Johnny Taylor, Big Mama Thornton, Sonny Rhodes and Creedence Clearwater Revival. With the singer and guitarist, Troyce Key, he bought a club near to Oakland, California, 'The Eli's Mile', which in the 1970s acquired a reputation for supporting West Coast blues artists.[4] In 1980, the duo appeared at the San Francisco Blues Festival.
Malone appeared in conjunction with Key on the albums, I've Gotta a New Car (1980, Red Lightnin' Records),[5] and Younger Than Yesterday (1981, Red Lightnin').[6] Malone returned to performing as a solo artist in the 1980s, and continued to record until 2001.[3] He released three solo albums, including Highway 99 (1997).[7]
Malone died from cancer in Hawaii, in February 2004 at the age of 68. He was buried next to his father on March 2, 2004, at Ragland Cemetery in Limestone County, Alabama.
Malone was born in Pete's Corner, Alabama, United States. He sang in his local church, and learned to play the harmonica, guitar and piano.[4] After moving to California, he found more regular employment in the music industry, and had localised hit singles with "It's a Shame", "One Step Away", and "Danger Zone". Malone met the record producer, Ray Shanklin, and was subsequently employed as a record company executive at Fantasy Records (and it's subsidiary Galaxy) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At Galaxy, Malone worked alongside Little Johnny Taylor, Big Mama Thornton, Sonny Rhodes and Creedence Clearwater Revival. With the singer and guitarist, Troyce Key, he bought a club near to Oakland, California, 'The Eli's Mile', which in the 1970s acquired a reputation for supporting West Coast blues artists.[4] In 1980, the duo appeared at the San Francisco Blues Festival.
Malone appeared in conjunction with Key on the albums, I've Gotta a New Car (1980, Red Lightnin' Records),[5] and Younger Than Yesterday (1981, Red Lightnin').[6] Malone returned to performing as a solo artist in the 1980s, and continued to record until 2001.[3] He released three solo albums, including Highway 99 (1997).[7]
Malone died from cancer in Hawaii, in February 2004 at the age of 68. He was buried next to his father on March 2, 2004, at Ragland Cemetery in Limestone County, Alabama.
Floyd Taylor +20.02.2014
Die traurige Nachricht vom Tod von Soul-Blues-Sänger Floyd Taylor, die mich heute früh via Facebook erreichte, hat mich bewogen, hier nach längerer Zeit endlich wieder einmal etwas aktiv zu werden. Taylor soll, laut einem Familienangehörigen, in seinem Haus in Chicago tot aufgefunden worden sein. "Passed in his sleep" heisst es halboffiziell in einer Nachricht vom Fanclub von Floyd Taylors Bruder TJ Hooker Taylor. Floyd verstarb im Alter von nur 60 Jahren. Er war einer der mehreren musikalisch aktiven Nachkommen der im Mai 2000 verstorbenen Soul-Legende Johnnie Taylor.
The son of Johnnie Taylor, Floyd Taylor alternated between mature R&B and contemporary blues material throughout his career as a recording artist and tireless performer. Born in Chicago, he came up as a background vocalist and occasional duet partner for his father, performing with him from the mid-'70s until his death in 2000. During the early 2000s, the younger Taylor recorded as a solo artist for the Malaco label, where he released the albums Legacy (2002), No Doubt (2005), and You Still Got It (2007). He went on to record All of Me (2010) for CDS and Shut Um Down (2013) for Artia. He died in 2014 at the age of 60.
Over a year ago we told you that Malaco has signed Floyd Taylor, son of the late Johnnie Taylor, and now finally his impressive debut called Legacy has reached us.
Floyd: "I was born in Chicago, Illinois, January 25th, 1954. I have four brothers and two sisters, and I'm next to the oldest." Floyd also has a family of his own, two boys and two girls, but they're not into music at this point. Of Johnnie's offspring only Floyd and Johnnie Jr. are more seriously involved in business, and Johnnie Jr. recently released his own cd titled Doing My Own Thing on Miss Butch label.
"I idolized Sam Cooke and, as I got older, Eddie Levert of the O'Jays, also Peabo Bryson, but my father was the biggest. I studied my father. I used to sit up there and watch my father work and it was amazing. He was just a regular father, but I was very impressed by his work. I always knew he was a celebrity, but it never went to my head. But that was later. Before that, as a kid, I didn't travel with him. At home my mom kept my life rounded, so I got a chance to go out, play baseball with the other kids and get dirty.
"I started to be serious about music at about the age of fifteen. I got into a talent show one time, cause I had seen my father perform and I said 'looks like he's having fun', and - lo and behold! - I started to have fun, too. Then I started loving it, and the rest is history.
"I was in a group back in 1973. We called it the Peace Band. At that time it was love, peace and rock 'n' roll. We did shows and things, but it was something more or less like a school link for me to get, where I am today. I think we were the first " Kool & the Gang" band, because there were ten of us. And we played their music. We stayed together for like three years.
"After that I started touring with my father. I did that off-and-on for a number of years. I was one of my father's backup singers in the 70s, in the 80s and also in the 90s. When I wasn't doing background for him, I was out in the studio trying to get my things together.
"My dad would always let me come in and work, to get the knowledge what I needed for this business. He never encouraged me to be in this business and he never did discourage me, either. He practically let me make my own decisions, if I want to be in show business or not. He said 'if I'm going to hold your hand, while you're doing it, you're not going to learn anything about this business. If you want to be somebody, you gotta learn the business aspect of it first'.
"In the 80s I went back into the studio and I recorded a bunch of songs that I submitted to some companies. All the companies would turn me down and say 'hey, you sound too much like Johnnie Taylor. We can't use you'. I was like 'hey, wait a minute, Gerald Levert, whose father is Eddie Levert of the O'Jays, sounds more close son-to-father than I sound to mine. He's got a record deal'.
Then my father told me 'you go out and fight this here. If this is what you wanna do, get out there and do it. Deal with the rejections. Find your own sound'.
"Those masters are still in Chicago. They were recorded with real instruments. At this particular point I want to see, how the music is going and see if those masters fit in. After rejections my dad said 'hey, you want a job? Come on out here, I need you to sing background again'."
His masters still waiting for the music getting closer to its roots again, Floyd - after having hooked up with Malaco Records - finally had his debut released. "This is my first baby - not my first album, but my very first baby. I went to my father's funeral, and there me and Malaco actually got connected. They heard me singing at my father's funeral. They asked me, if this was what I wanted to do, and I gave them the look 'are you kidding? Of course, this is what I wanna do and then it gives me the chance to carry on my father's legacy'."
On Legacy Malaco used three production units. Wolf Stephenson produced four tracks and used some real instruments and a big Nashville horn section. The opener, I'm Crazy 'Bout That Woman In Red, is a brisk and infectious mover, written by Rue Davis and Harrison Calloway. "Harrison used to be a horn player for my father's band. Rue Davis I just met. When I heard this song, I wanted to get into it, because I enjoyed the song myself. It tells a story and I'm trying to be a good story-teller. After the Bobby Blands and the Little Miltons and all of those guys there won't be any more story-tellers, nothing but a bunch of rappers."
I'm In Love With The Girl Next Door, a jolly uptempo ditty, is again written by Rue (or Reuben, to be exact) and also first recorded by him on his KonKord album, You Are My Honey Poo.
A dreamy ballad called Fantasy Lady was written and co-produced by Larry Addison. "I Love that song. It's a beautiful song. Larry also did Just Because for my father's album. When he brought me the song, I sat down and listened to it and I said 'hey, I gotta have this song'."
When You Finally Realize, co-written by George Jackson, is a slightly jazzy, late-night slowie. "This song is meant to enjoy, when you're with a very special, significant person."
Charles Richard Cason again has a scarce backing with an occasional guitar and sax thrown in, but this time his machines give a fuller sound than normally. "There's a good thought and a bad thought. The bad thought is that the machines put a lot of cats out of work, and the good one is that it is consistent and it's also cheaper that way. It was a lot of fun working with Charles and the guys. They were very down-to-earth with me. They didn't cut any corners. We got very close. They took very good care of me in the studios, because those guys used to work with my father, so they wanted this project to be very good."
Charles also wrote all of his five songs. A throwaway beater titled Back-Up Lovin' aside, three beat ballads - Old School Style, I Love Being In Love With You and Part-Time Lover (co-written by Zuri) - are all nice and melodic, but his best contribution is Caught Between Two Hearts, a soulful, touching and dramatic infidelity ballad.
Two mellow mid-bouncers - When We Touch and She Ain't Mine - were written and produced by Lawrence Harper. "He is a musician out of Memphis, whose sister used to play keyboards for my father. They knew I was looking for material, and Lawrence sent me the tracks. If you remember a song, I Know It's Wrong But I Just Can't Do Right (the title track to Johnnie's '91 Malaco album -ed.), Lawrence wrote that. When We Touch is the first single off this album. We haven't picked the next one yet.
Floyd's album is one of the most pleasant surprises this year so far, and not only Johnnie Taylor fans, but also all Southern and real soul lovers should give it a listen. "If I could get three good albums under my belt, then I would try to produce myself. I'd also like everybody to know that I'm not trying to emulate my father. It just comes out that way, and in certain phrases."
Floyd: "I was born in Chicago, Illinois, January 25th, 1954. I have four brothers and two sisters, and I'm next to the oldest." Floyd also has a family of his own, two boys and two girls, but they're not into music at this point. Of Johnnie's offspring only Floyd and Johnnie Jr. are more seriously involved in business, and Johnnie Jr. recently released his own cd titled Doing My Own Thing on Miss Butch label.
"I idolized Sam Cooke and, as I got older, Eddie Levert of the O'Jays, also Peabo Bryson, but my father was the biggest. I studied my father. I used to sit up there and watch my father work and it was amazing. He was just a regular father, but I was very impressed by his work. I always knew he was a celebrity, but it never went to my head. But that was later. Before that, as a kid, I didn't travel with him. At home my mom kept my life rounded, so I got a chance to go out, play baseball with the other kids and get dirty.
"I started to be serious about music at about the age of fifteen. I got into a talent show one time, cause I had seen my father perform and I said 'looks like he's having fun', and - lo and behold! - I started to have fun, too. Then I started loving it, and the rest is history.
"I was in a group back in 1973. We called it the Peace Band. At that time it was love, peace and rock 'n' roll. We did shows and things, but it was something more or less like a school link for me to get, where I am today. I think we were the first " Kool & the Gang" band, because there were ten of us. And we played their music. We stayed together for like three years.
"After that I started touring with my father. I did that off-and-on for a number of years. I was one of my father's backup singers in the 70s, in the 80s and also in the 90s. When I wasn't doing background for him, I was out in the studio trying to get my things together.
"My dad would always let me come in and work, to get the knowledge what I needed for this business. He never encouraged me to be in this business and he never did discourage me, either. He practically let me make my own decisions, if I want to be in show business or not. He said 'if I'm going to hold your hand, while you're doing it, you're not going to learn anything about this business. If you want to be somebody, you gotta learn the business aspect of it first'.
"In the 80s I went back into the studio and I recorded a bunch of songs that I submitted to some companies. All the companies would turn me down and say 'hey, you sound too much like Johnnie Taylor. We can't use you'. I was like 'hey, wait a minute, Gerald Levert, whose father is Eddie Levert of the O'Jays, sounds more close son-to-father than I sound to mine. He's got a record deal'.
Then my father told me 'you go out and fight this here. If this is what you wanna do, get out there and do it. Deal with the rejections. Find your own sound'.
"Those masters are still in Chicago. They were recorded with real instruments. At this particular point I want to see, how the music is going and see if those masters fit in. After rejections my dad said 'hey, you want a job? Come on out here, I need you to sing background again'."
His masters still waiting for the music getting closer to its roots again, Floyd - after having hooked up with Malaco Records - finally had his debut released. "This is my first baby - not my first album, but my very first baby. I went to my father's funeral, and there me and Malaco actually got connected. They heard me singing at my father's funeral. They asked me, if this was what I wanted to do, and I gave them the look 'are you kidding? Of course, this is what I wanna do and then it gives me the chance to carry on my father's legacy'."
On Legacy Malaco used three production units. Wolf Stephenson produced four tracks and used some real instruments and a big Nashville horn section. The opener, I'm Crazy 'Bout That Woman In Red, is a brisk and infectious mover, written by Rue Davis and Harrison Calloway. "Harrison used to be a horn player for my father's band. Rue Davis I just met. When I heard this song, I wanted to get into it, because I enjoyed the song myself. It tells a story and I'm trying to be a good story-teller. After the Bobby Blands and the Little Miltons and all of those guys there won't be any more story-tellers, nothing but a bunch of rappers."
I'm In Love With The Girl Next Door, a jolly uptempo ditty, is again written by Rue (or Reuben, to be exact) and also first recorded by him on his KonKord album, You Are My Honey Poo.
A dreamy ballad called Fantasy Lady was written and co-produced by Larry Addison. "I Love that song. It's a beautiful song. Larry also did Just Because for my father's album. When he brought me the song, I sat down and listened to it and I said 'hey, I gotta have this song'."
When You Finally Realize, co-written by George Jackson, is a slightly jazzy, late-night slowie. "This song is meant to enjoy, when you're with a very special, significant person."
Charles Richard Cason again has a scarce backing with an occasional guitar and sax thrown in, but this time his machines give a fuller sound than normally. "There's a good thought and a bad thought. The bad thought is that the machines put a lot of cats out of work, and the good one is that it is consistent and it's also cheaper that way. It was a lot of fun working with Charles and the guys. They were very down-to-earth with me. They didn't cut any corners. We got very close. They took very good care of me in the studios, because those guys used to work with my father, so they wanted this project to be very good."
Charles also wrote all of his five songs. A throwaway beater titled Back-Up Lovin' aside, three beat ballads - Old School Style, I Love Being In Love With You and Part-Time Lover (co-written by Zuri) - are all nice and melodic, but his best contribution is Caught Between Two Hearts, a soulful, touching and dramatic infidelity ballad.
Two mellow mid-bouncers - When We Touch and She Ain't Mine - were written and produced by Lawrence Harper. "He is a musician out of Memphis, whose sister used to play keyboards for my father. They knew I was looking for material, and Lawrence sent me the tracks. If you remember a song, I Know It's Wrong But I Just Can't Do Right (the title track to Johnnie's '91 Malaco album -ed.), Lawrence wrote that. When We Touch is the first single off this album. We haven't picked the next one yet.
Floyd's album is one of the most pleasant surprises this year so far, and not only Johnnie Taylor fans, but also all Southern and real soul lovers should give it a listen. "If I could get three good albums under my belt, then I would try to produce myself. I'd also like everybody to know that I'm not trying to emulate my father. It just comes out that way, and in certain phrases."
Johnny Taylor sings with son Floyd Taylor
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