Monkey Island

My brother was a big J.Geils Band fan, he really like their The Morning After and live Full House albums.  He played them a fair amount and would jump into my face and say "First I look at the Purse!". As an fourth grader I found that amusing. When he shared Monkey Island with me, it was to show how they had dropped the "J" from their name and lessened the blues basis of their music. I swallowed this album, staring at the black and white cover and pouring over the lyric sheet. When I found it in a store, I immediately bought my own copy.

"Surrender" starts it all with a full blown blues rock features Cissy Houston belting her lungs out in a duet with Peter Wolf. I also like the line "could it be mind over matter/or maybe you just can't see"."You 're the Only One" stills sounds like late seventies romance rock, it was a hit single. Although there isn't an objectionable song on the album, it is full of pop ditties.Their version of "I Do'" is freaking awesome for what it is a do wop number, but I enjoy the handclaps throughout, honky piano and horn arrangement. This is the first song that Magic Dick starts to rip on his harmonica; probably the J.Geils Band claim to the early east coast scene, They grab onto the Rolling Stones on "Somebody", always liked this film noir tale of a song (I realized I could take all mine/And skip off with theirs, too/I know I must be crazy/I'm bound to wake up dead/Somebody, somebody/Waitin' outside my back door/Somebody, somebody/Tryin' to even up the score). "I'm Falling " is another seventies typical rock ballad, remains catchy but I guess I wanted those cheezy songs without having it be something you would hear on the radio. It was a comfort food, this song ends with extended sax jam by Michael Brecker recalling that whole Asbury style.

Side two opens with epic "Monkey Island" from the long intro (it's a seven minute song) to spooky sounds of the verses to the all hail of the chorus.  Ah, how the imagery of the lyrics stuck with me like a Jim Thompson paperback.

No one could explain it

What went on that night

How every living thing

Just dropped out of sight

We watched them take the bodies

And row them back to shore

Nothing like that ever

Happened here before.

On the east side of the island

Not too far from the shore

There stood the old house

Of fifty years or more

All the doors and windows

Were locked inside and out

The fate of those trapped in there

Would never be found out.

There ain't no life on Monkey Island

No one cares and no one knows

The moon hangs out on Monkey Island

The night has dealt the final blow

The fish jumped from the water

And started walking home

The birds all started screaming

And dove into the foam

The night came out of nowhere

And then a quiet rain

Footsteps in the darkness

Down a half forgotten road.

This song has the classic rock sections and at the time I had first got this record it was all mine. It was not where most my friends were musically but I was weird since at the time I was listening to Sparks and Amon Duul II. I mean this album is the transition between the blues rock bar band J Geils and the "Centerfold" popsters and those who knew good tell. Their version of Louis Armstrong's "I'm Not Rough" is dixie done by a good studio band. "So Good" follows with more memphis horn pop rock. I like on this record how they put the rhythm guitar in one speaker for a lot of the breaks. I enjoy good use of stereo. Acoustic track "Wreckage" ends the album, It's so note perfect with its chorus of "Only few return/So only few will learn/About the wreckage along the way". This record helped me through early high school and is still a go to when I need a pop fix...it's my soda of choice.