That car was a whammer-jammer to the end. “Probably a demolition derby…” Never mind the grandkids. When we traded it in a few years later, I asked the salesman what they’d do with it. Little wonder that it’s far more enduring than poor Godwin. Geils Band’s second album, The Morning After. Released in 1971, Whammer Jammer is the second track off the J. Sixty-five miles on and totally amped, your day’s work awaits you, as does your evening commute. Go east for an exit, then north for another three, up the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway to Shawan Road and your destination, Executive Plaza III just off the ramp. Chewing up the 10 miles of JFX pavement in 7 ½ minutes is a cinch as long as you brake before the Beltway. Right at the light onto Pratt, past the Inner Harbor, left on Gay, right on Baltimore Street, then left onto the elevated Jones Falls Expressway. Someday this cluttered expanse around Russell Street will feature Oriole Park and M&T Stadium, but today it’s simply the Camden Industrial Park. In an age before texting (and barring the occasional idiot) it’s full-bore fast-lane sailing for another 30 miles until Godwin crosses under the Baltimore Beltway and, with the Bromo-Seltzer Tower dead ahead, into the very heart of Charm City. County, while the rest of the world heads south, then over the Capital Beltway and onto the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Soon enough you’re driving north on Kenilworth Avenue into leafy P.G. It’s the most direct route and at least the morning drive isn’t in the dark. Then, foot-decisively-on-gas, you exit for that topsy-turvy, white knuckle ride up the shoulderless Anacostia Freeway through notorious – as in the highest murder rate in America and lately they’ve been favoring automatic weapons – Southeast Washington, DC.īumpy, poorly maintained, occasionally desolate, you get used to it. Geils’ harmonica player) riding shotgun on any given weekday in the fall of ’88.įirst you cruise south down the George Washington Parkway, then east on the Capital Beltway over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Put to music with an immense 7-Eleven coffee in your cup holder, it’s not hard to imagine Magic Dick (J. Paying the price in worn rotors, ball joints and brake pads, Godwin made it through two metropolitan rush hours each day, from Old Town Alexandria, south of Washington, to Hunt Valley, north of Baltimore, in around 90 minutes. And once the lines and hoses had been checked, the gaskets replaced, the front plate – that said Let Me Tell You About My Grandchildren – set aside, it was the perfect vehicle for an awesomely harrowing commute. Now go see Magic Dick at the Amazing Things Art Center on Saturday Night.Little used for the better part of a decade, we called it Godwin, the 1980 Oldsmobile Brougham Sedan that my Dad signed-over as a wedding present. Geils Band - Whammer Jammer - – Winterland Her’s Magic Dick playing the song that made him famous.
If words aren’t enough, watch the man in action. Geils and Danny Klein and became a founding member of the J.
Having to slow it down enough to figure what is being played takes away the rhythm. Song: Whammer Jammer - J Geils Band - A Harp OK.not easy to put to paper, but I think I ve got it. If you would like to learn more about Magic Dick please visit his. This interview was held at Magic Dick's home in Massachusetts, in February of 2014. The trumpet was his constant companion and served as a springboard to the harmonica in his sophomore year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts where he met J. Want to make Whammer Jammer sound awesome on your harmonica Master tight single notes, rock solid bending and more with easy video lessons -> click here. Magic Dick co-wrote and performed one of the most iconic blues harmonica instrumentals in the later part of the 20th Century, 'Whammer Jammer,' inspiring many people to learn blues harmonica. Dynamic change and growth in the arts and technology would be the hallmark of this era and by the time he was eight Dick knew that music, painting and physics would be his primary interests. He’s the Lord of the Lickin’ Stick.The Original Whammer Jammer.īorn in 1945 in New London, Connecticut, Magic Dick arrived in post-war America to the Atomic Bomb, World Peace, Bebop and Rhythm & Blues.