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

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

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

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

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

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

Bluestime mc
Bluestime gofile

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

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

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

Little Car Blues mc
Little Car Blues gofile

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