Peter Wolf may be best known as the lead singer for the J. Geils Band. His colorful life, however, has always outstripped his rock star persona. His long-awaited memoir, Waiting On The Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, And Goddesses, joyfully reassesses the man’s journey — from his humble beginnings in New York City, raised by bohemian, progressive parents with artistic streaks and astute eccentricities, to life on his own in Cambridge, where he became a beloved radio DJ and man about town as he honed his skills as a musician, businessman, and celebrity.
Instead of a straightforward, linear narrative, Wolf leaps about from character studies (namely his parents) to life-altering experiences. The first chapter alludes to taking in a foreign film with his parents in New York City where a 10-year-old Peter Wolf suddenly finds himself seated next to, presumably, Marilyn Monroe. At some point, she falls asleep on the young man’s shoulder, leaving a lifelong impression and marking the beginning of many close encounters with a wide range of legends of the arts.
Wolf offers up each experience and observation without pretense or over-the-top theatrics. He’s a nervous wreck setting up a microphone for Eleanor Roosevelt, who gives a speech at his junior high school. Seeing Louis Armstrong as a youngster helps ignite his passion for music, despite the lousy view.
Wolf’s love affair with Edie Hasselman is central to his growth as a DJ, musician, and artist. She was a free spirit, an independent bohemian with interests of her — which was both a blessing and curse. “Although there would be no other relationship that came close to the depth of ours,” Wolf writes, “our time apart increased.” The singer was on the road with J. Geils Band when he received word that Hasselman had died in an auto accident. You get a sense he never quite got over her.
Other personalities come in and out of his life. He sees Bob Dylan perform in Greenwich Village. He becomes roommates with aspiring film director David Lynch. He befriends Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Van Morrison when they come through Boston. With his role as lead singer and manager of J. Geils Band (there’s little mention of the band until late in the book), he works his way inside Hollywood, meeting with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock about possibly scoring a film, while the famed director is simply looking for a reason to have a drink. Then he becomes acquainted with Faye Dunaway, whom he marries.
Even though J. Geils Band isn’t exactly a top-selling band in the 70s, Wolf’s associations with John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, and the Rolling Stones places him amongst the pantheon of A-listers. “The Stones wrote the book on how a successful tour should be run, from VIP access to top-notch catering and well-stocked dressing rooms,” Wolf notes wryly of the time J. Geils Band open for the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.
A few pages on, and he’s sharing an incident during the Stones tour at the entourage’s hotel with “its own stretch of private shoreline” in Jacksonville, Florida. Wolf goes missing and Dunaway immediately suspects he has drowned in the ocean. Promoter Bill Graham helps organize a full- search of the beach, but Wolf doesn’t turn up. Later, he’s found asleep in Keith Richards’ hotel closet.
Once the Geils Band starts doing well in the 80s, largely because of Wolf’s business dealings, that’s when things go haywire. From his point of view, his firing from J. Geils Band doesn’t make a lick of sense. And, of course, they fail without Wolf on the front line. The singer doesn’t gloat about it; he’s sincerely more disappointed he was let go from the group just as they had started to find success.
Further adventures ensue post-Geils with Martin Scorsese, Aretha Franklin, and Merle Haggard. Each foray is approached with a cool, nonchalant tone, yet Wolf doesn’t come across as boastful or smug; he details these occurrences in his life with an air of exoticism and wonder — as curious about the outcome as he hopes the reader will be. In the end, we get a slice-of-life memoir by a man whose life was and still is well lived. It was often a bumpy ride, but the tales of Waiting On The Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, And Goddesses faithfully capture the drive and ambition of Peter Wolf, who embraces each and every opportunity with layers of passion and pride, a dash of chilliness, and a smidge of luck — good, bad, or indifferent.
~ Shawn Perry
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Waiting On The Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, And Goddesses
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