Praise For Memoir By J. Geils Band’s Peter Wolf, From Bob Dylan
by Best Classic Bands Staff
A scene from the J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold” video, with Peter Wolf up front.
Peter Wolf, the frontman for one of rock’s great live acts, the J. Geils Band, has published his memoir. Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters and Goddesses arrived March 11, 2025, via Little, Brown. It’s available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here. Wolf will support the memoir with a book tour (dates and links are below).
In the weeks leading up to its release, Wolf, who turned 79 on March 7, shared some early praise for the book from some of the biggest names in classic rock, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and Elvis Costello.
“This book reads like a fast train and you’ll get a glimpse of everyone passing by through the windows,” wrote Dylan. “Characters that have crossed Pete’s path who he’s known up close and personal. A diverse crowd, one you wouldn’t think belong in the same book: Marilyn Monroe with a scarf on her head sitting next to him in a movie theater, Muddy Waters, Faye Dunaway, David Lynch, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jagger, Tennessee Williams, Merle Haggard.
“They all play an important part in Pete’s life. As you’ll see, Pete’s been on quite a journey. This memoir has been a long time coming and it’s Pete’s great painting.”
“Arriving home from my 114th tour date, Peter’s book has kept me wonderful company,” wrote Springsteen. “As the eastern sun rises through my airplane window, the warmth of its rays reminds me of the love of life and living so beautifully expressed in his writing.”
From Bonnie Raitt: “Peter is a terrific writer. It’s great to get his unique take being around some of the most fascinating music and cultural figures of our time. I especially love his recounting his time with Muddy Waters, John Lee and Van Morrison. Captures them as only an insider with soul could. Love his book as much as I love his music…Couldn’t put it down!”
“This is the book I’ve been hoping Peter would write since we walked the streets of Paris together, back in the 20th Century,” wrote Costello. “A true account of his life, love and music told with unique humor and rare humility.”
The original November 2024 book announcement noted that the lead singer and songwriter of such classic rock favorites as “Centerfold” and “Must of Got Lost” shares a treasure trove of vignettes, musings and recollections of his fascinating life during his six decades long career in the new book.
Wolf grew up in a tiny, three-room apartment in the Bronx, New York, raised by his Bohemian intellectual mother and his father, a former Vaudeville singer, who influenced both his love of music and painting. Through his wanderlust he came to rub shoulders in his Zelig-like life with some of the most iconic artists and musicians of his generation—including a very young Bob Dylan as he arrived on the Greenwich Village folk scene.
Each chapter reads as its own short story such as when Wolf reflects on his art studies in Boston—where he shared an apartment with David Lynch—and recalls stories of first love, his untraditional literary education, and his soulful early musical influences such as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Many other greats left their impressions on him, including members of the Rolling Stones, Tennessee Williams, Alfred Hitchcock, Sly Stone, John Lennon and Van Morrison. He also sheds light on his marriage to Faye Dunaway during the height of her Hollywood career.
While the J. Geils Band only achieved modest Top 40 play early on, their reputation was earned as a live band with great concert recordings; their first Gold album was for 1972’s Live Full House. The first pop radio successes that Wolf and his songwriting partner—the Geils Band keyboardist Seth Justman—initially earned were with “Give it to Me” and “Must of Got Lost.” It wasn’t until the early ’80s that the band became a Top 40 favorite, first with “Come Back” and “Love Stinks,” followed soon thereafter with the #1 single, “Centerfold,” and the title track from Freeze-Frame. The pair of tracks coincided with the start of the MTV era and helped make Wolf and the J. Geils Band stars.
Photo of the J. Geils Band (with Peter Wolf at R) from a Best of album collection
Related: When the J. Geils Band finally broke through
Told with gentle humor and often heart-rending poignancy, Waiting on the Moon is a revealing glimpse through lyrical snapshots of artists, writers, actors, and musicians as they work—the creative forces that drive them to achievement; the demons they battle; and the patterns of their human relationships.
In the ’60s, Wolf secured a job as an all-night DJ on the fledgling FM radio station WBCN, where he adopted the persona of the “Woofa Goofa” and spun obscure rock ’n’ roll and early rhythm and blues. His encyclopedic musical knowledge came in handy when he and some like-minded Boston players formed the J. Geils Band, much of whose early repertoire was drawn from Wolf’s vast record collection. In 1970 the band was signed by Jerry Wexler for Atlantic Records where they went on to release nine albums.
Watch a vintage Geils live performance
A prolific artist, Wolf currently tours with his band The Midnight Travelers and will be releasing his ninth solo album in 2025.
Mar 11 – Cambridge, MA – First Parish Church (in conversation with Peter Guralnick)
Mar 12 – New York – The Strand (in conversation with Warren Zanes)
Mar 13 – Ridgewood, NJ – Bookends
Mar 18 – Portsmouth, NH – Writers on a New England Stage at The Music Hall
Mar 27 – Philadelphia, PA – Free Library of Philadelphia
Apr 08 – Madison, CT – RJ Julia Booksellers
Apr 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (with Mike Campbell)
More dates to follow.
7 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationI’m interested for sure in his relationship with Faye Dunaway that seemed like such an unlikely pair, but she was quite the catch back in the day…lucky dog
The only thing I don’t like about Pete is that he never does concerts out west. But I’ve been a fan for 44 years and really look forward to the book.
I just preordered it for my Kindle. I saw him twice, once at a gig at an old airport in Leicester MA in 1969, it was a Sunday afternoon underage matinee, (I was 16), and once in 1977 at a huge outdoor gig in NY. All I know is that he was one of the best frontmen I’ve ever seen and the band always rocked.
In 81 or 82 I got to see them at The Great American Music Hall in SF when Freeze Frame and Centerfold were on the radio daily. They killed it as did the opener U2 on their first gigs in the US! Please book some dates on the West Coast? Hard to be a fan when you can’t see your HEROES live!!
I’ve been a Peter Wolf & J Geils Band fan/groupie since Full House came out in 1972. Saw them every time they played the Philly spectrum starting in 1973 or in Jersey or New York and many times elsewhere. Pete is the ultimate rock frontman- even Bruce Springsteen says: “I learned how to grab an audience within the first 3 songs and not let go until the end from Pete.” Bruce’s Bandmate Steve Van Zandt says: “The J Geils Band is the best band that he’s not in” LOL
I’ve already pre-ordered the audio book and can’t wait to meet Pete again on his book tour stop here in Jersey on March 13. He and The J Geils Band are long overdue for membership in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
My main man back in HS. Can’t wait to read his book.
I saw them at Tinker Field in Orlando, FL soon after Full House came out. One of the few live albums I liked. They were great.
“Magic Dick On Your Lickin Stick”