Seth Justman

Last updated
Seth Justman
Born (1951-01-27) January 27, 1951 (age 73)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Genres
  • Hard rock
  • blues
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Keyboards
  • vocals
Years active1968–present
Formerly of The J. Geils Band

Seth Justman (born January 27, 1951) is an American keyboardist, best known as a member of the J. Geils Band.

Contents

Biography

Justman was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Atlantic City, and is Jewish. [1] [2] [3]

He co-wrote many of the band's songs with singer Peter Wolf, and took sole songwriting credits for the band's biggest international hit, "Centerfold" (number 1 for six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100).

Seth is the brother of Paul Justman, director of the 2002 movie, Standing in the Shadows of Motown . [4] Paul and Seth shared songwriting credits for most of the songs on the band's final album, You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd . Justman also became the band's main vocalist following Wolf's departure until the band's first break-up in 1985.

In 1986, Justman produced and partly co-wrote Rockbird , the second solo album by Debbie Harry. [5]

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The J. Geils Band was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz, drummer Stephen Bladd, vocalist/keyboardist Seth Justman, and bassist Danny Klein. Wolf and Justman served as principal songwriters. The band played R&B-influenced blues rock during the 1970s and soon achieved commercial success before moving toward a more mainstream radio-friendly sound in the early 1980s, which brought the band to its commercial peak. They performed a mix of cover songs of classic blues and R&B songs, along with original compositions written primarily by Wolf and Justman, as well as some group compositions written under the pseudonymous name Juke Joint Jimmy, representing compositions credited to the entire band as a whole. After Wolf left the band in 1983 to pursue a solo career, the band released one more album in 1984 with Justman on lead vocals, before breaking up in 1985. Beginning in 1999, the band had several reunions prior to the death of its namesake, J. Geils, on April 11, 2017.

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Danny Klein is an American bassist best known as a member of The J. Geils Band.

References

  1. "The Jewish Traveler: Atlantic City." Muselah, Rahel. Hadassah Magazine. Published June 2011. Accessed December 18, 2016.
  2. "The Jews Who Rock Wiki." Admin. www.jewcy.com. Published November 15, 2008. Accessed December 18, 2016.
  3. "Jews in the News: Andrew Garfield, Jessica Chaffin and Leonard Cohen." www.jewishtampa.com. Tampa Jewish Community Centers & Federation. Published November 1, 2016.
  4. AOL biography Archived 2012-07-10 at archive.today
  5. "MSN Biography". Archived from the original on 2009-07-19. Retrieved 2009-04-24.