Full House, bassist Danny Klein's tribute to the J. Geils Band—a band that Klein, a member of the original J. Geils Blues Band (the band before Peter Wolf and Steven Jo Bladd got into the act) helped to start in the 1960s—is not like any cover band you've ever seen.
What makes Full House different? The answer comes in three parts: 1) the huge repertoire of the J.Geils Band, a lot of which the band rarely played on stage; 2) the quality of musicians that, with Klein, comprise Full House; and 3) the abundant talent and good taste of Danny Klein, a musician's musician who wouldn't try to bleed the vitality of live performance out of his shows by demanding that his new band simply copy his old band.
Klein, known as the "Ace on Bass," is the obvious leader and frontman of Full House, though he leaves the singing to his bandmates. All veteran musicians, the members of Full House demonstrate rock-solid mastery of Geils' classic R&B material.
As Full House prepares for its upcoming Western Massachusetts appearance at Doyle's in Palmer, Danny Klein (pictured) recently spoke with the Valley Advocate:
Advocate: Even without singing, you're the frontman. How do you pull that off?
Klein: I don't do anything consciously. I enjoy being on stage and performing with passion. This is pretty much how I've always played and performed on stage, so however it comes off, it's how I naturally perform and feel when I'm up there playing.
With Full House, you play J. Geils Band material. Is it still a thrill to perform these tunes?
I still love to play the Geils material. With a few exceptions, I haven't had a chance to do it since the Geils band stopped touring. Also, the guys in Full House are such great players and know the material so well, it makes it a lot of fun. In addition, we take the essence of the Geils material, but we don't copy it exactly, letting each player express himself musically according his own interpretation of the song.
As a bluesman, you've played with a lot of the greats, including Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. What do you think the state of the blues is right now?
It's getting tougher to play blues these days, with a lot of the blues venues going under. This is just my experience in New England—it may be different in other parts of the country. There are tons of great new players out there. Blues is a very interpretive and personal music, so I think it will always go in a new and interesting direction.
Danny Klein and Full House perform Sunday, Oct. 7, 3 p.m. at Doyle's At Forest Lake, 702 River St., Palmer, (413) 283-9966.
