Monkey Island

We are taking a trip back to the late seventies, 1977 to be precise, for this next album. This was the only album that the J. Geils Band released under another name. If you look at the album cover you will notice it reads only "Geils.” This album is simply different from the rest of their output and in my opinion by far their best, even though when they moved to a more pop-based sound in the eighties they had a string of commercially successful hits and became much more popular.

This album is funky, jazzy, groovy, sweet, sad, rocking and just plain well written, performed and produced from start to finish. You know you are in for a treat when it opens up with Surrender, a funky number featuring sassy lead vocals by Cissy Houston, accompanied by unmistakable lead singer Peter Wolf and a series of backing vocals by Luther Vandross, G. Diane Sumler, Michelle Cobbs and Theresa V. Reed. Next up is You’re the Only One, a slower love ballad which lulls you in with its great message, but immediately you are back into the upbeat J. Geils sound with the next track, I Do with its great piano, horns and vocals.

I think what I like most about this release is that each track on this album is a pleasant surprise with great change ups from tune to tune. I’m Falling is a smooth, poignant blues tune with a great tenor sax solo by Michael Brecker. Wreckage is an incredibly moving song whose superbly crafted lyrics leave you in an introspective state. I could go on about every track on the album, but suffice it to say that they all possess some differentiating nuance to recommend them.

Finally, the title track is the magnum opus of the album with an elongated jazz-rock piano intro and an eerie storyline about Monkey Island where “no one could explain it, what went on that night, where every living thing just dropped out of sight” sung hauntingly by Peter Wolf. The chorus tells you that it is an island where “There ain’t no life on Monkey Island and no one cares and no one knows.” It could easily be the soundtrack for a spooky movie of the same name. Highly recommended.

Here is the elongated jazz-rock piano intro to the title tune Monkey Island. This is only the first 3 minutes of the song. The spooky part with the lyrics begins right after this recording stops.