The J. Geils Band - "Ladies Invited" (1973) - Atlantic Records
Hello Friends,
Shitty cover. Shitty title. But a damn fine record between the grooves!
The band's fifth LP has more of the same blues-inspired, Rock 'n' Roll party tunes! Nearly every song is a solid R&B rager and the perfect soundtrack to a late night keg party (preferably in the woods!) Side One has opening fist-pumping triumvirate of, "Did You No Wrong", "I Can't Go On" & "Lay Your Good Thing Down".
Things get a little bit slower on the soulful ballad, "That's Why I'm Thinking of You" (which sounds like a Sticky Fingers outtake) and the side ends with the blistering rocker, "No Doubt About It" featuring some fine Magic Dick jaw work!
Side Two is more of the same with the diminutive hipster Peter Wolf leading the pack. "The Lady Makes Demands" sounds like a groovy E Street Band tune backed up a young American Rod Stewart (which, by the way, kinda describes a lot of early Geils.)
"My Baby Don't Love" is another great Stonesy-sounding ballad.
Its a mystery to us how the song "Diddyboppin'" wasn't one of those ubiquitous tunes heard at keggers and suburban High School football parking lots throughout the mid-seventies. (At the very least, it should have made an appearance in "Dazed & Confused"!)
"Take A Chance (On Romance)" is more fist-pumpin' fun! Damn, I feel like throwing a keg party in the woods just so I can play this record on repeat all night!
The album's final song, "Chimes" is a dark, little ballad that recalls The Classics IV "Spooky"-- but a million times better! Wolf sounds strung out and soulful; literally howling like an all night drug-prowling wolf. The music is lumbering and particularly sleazy. Great Magic Dick solo and a fantastically spooky guitar solo by Geils. Its like the album is saying, "Hey kids, party's over! You don't have to go home, but you can't crash here!"
Once again, all of the songwriting duties on Ladies Invited were handled by Wolf and keyboardist, Seth Justman. The shitty cover art can be blamed on some artist named Antonio and is supposedly a rendering of Faye Dunaway who Wolf was dating at the time (and who he would marry in 1974). Good for him!
RATING: 4 Woofa Goofa Mama Toofas out of 5
Things get a little bit slower on the soulful ballad, "That's Why I'm Thinking of You" (which sounds like a Sticky Fingers outtake) and the side ends with the blistering rocker, "No Doubt About It" featuring some fine Magic Dick jaw work!
Side Two is more of the same with the diminutive hipster Peter Wolf leading the pack. "The Lady Makes Demands" sounds like a groovy E Street Band tune backed up a young American Rod Stewart (which, by the way, kinda describes a lot of early Geils.)
"My Baby Don't Love" is another great Stonesy-sounding ballad.
Its a mystery to us how the song "Diddyboppin'" wasn't one of those ubiquitous tunes heard at keggers and suburban High School football parking lots throughout the mid-seventies. (At the very least, it should have made an appearance in "Dazed & Confused"!)
"Take A Chance (On Romance)" is more fist-pumpin' fun! Damn, I feel like throwing a keg party in the woods just so I can play this record on repeat all night!
The album's final song, "Chimes" is a dark, little ballad that recalls The Classics IV "Spooky"-- but a million times better! Wolf sounds strung out and soulful; literally howling like an all night drug-prowling wolf. The music is lumbering and particularly sleazy. Great Magic Dick solo and a fantastically spooky guitar solo by Geils. Its like the album is saying, "Hey kids, party's over! You don't have to go home, but you can't crash here!"
Once again, all of the songwriting duties on Ladies Invited were handled by Wolf and keyboardist, Seth Justman. The shitty cover art can be blamed on some artist named Antonio and is supposedly a rendering of Faye Dunaway who Wolf was dating at the time (and who he would marry in 1974). Good for him!
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