Seth Justman

When it comes to keyboard players in rock & roll, Seth Justman may not have the name recognition of Ray Manzarek, or the distinctive modern style of Cars wizard Greg Hawkes, but as with most members of The J. Geils Band, he confirms Euclid's axiom that the whole is equal to and greater than the sum of its parts. Justman's production skills, songwriting, and sound were and are as essential to the unit that brought him success as anyone else in that ensemble.

A search on the web brings the usual 1,000 pages or so, especially because of his hand in writing and producing some of the group's major hits. In-depth and especially excellent fan-club pages abound, giving interesting looks at the man who penned "Just Can't Wait" and the entire Love Stinks album on his own after years of co-writes with Peter Wolf. Though Barry & The Remains opened for The Beatles in 1966, it was The J. Geils Band that was known as the pre-eminent band in New England. When they originally signed to Atlantic Records, as chronicled in the Fred Goodman book The Mansion on the Hill, it was Atlantic's radio promotion star, Mario Medious, who hooked the Justman-less group up with Jerry Wexler for the aborted Jon Landau sessions.

Read More