J Geils Band – Must of Got Lost

This just may be my favorite J Geils Band song. It is probably the first song I heard by them. Their live music from this period is just off the charts. Peter Wolf is in the top tier of lead singers. I always held him in high regard…he was like a composite of the best lead singers all in one.

Must Have Got Lost was released in 1974 and it peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100 Charts and #27 in Canada in 1974. The song was on their 5th album called Nightmares…and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle. The album peaked at #26 on the Billboard Album Chart and #32 in Canada.

The band came out of the Boston club scene in the late sixties. I always thought they should have been bigger than they were in the 1970s. They didn’t hit their commercial peak until the early 80s with Love Stinks, Come Back, and then the hugely popular Freeze-Frame album in 1983.

While the band was experiencing the greatest commercial success of its career and preparing a follow-up to Freeze Frame…the two main songwriters Wolf and Justman were not getting along. The band refused to record material Wolf had written with other writing partners…so Wolf left in 1983.

The band wanted to go in a more pop direction while Wolf wanted to continue the blues/rock path they were going before that album. They continued without their charismatic lead singer but were not commercially successful. It would be almost impossible to replace Wolf.

“Must Have Got Lost” was never a huge hit but it was always a favorite of mine.

Peter Wolf: “I did not leave the band, but the majority of the band wanted to move in another direction. They wanted to continue in a pop-techno way, [and] it wasn’t my thing.”

Magic Dick (Richard Salwitz) Harmonica, Saxophone, and Trumpet: “This is very important to me. A lot of people, all they knew us for was ‘Freeze-Frame,’ ‘Centerfold’ and stuff like that, I don’t think they were aware of how blues and R&B; oriented the earlier stuff was. I really feel great about (the reunited band) because this is the music that inspired J. and myself when we first discovered our mutual interest in Chicago-style blues and classic jazz.

Must Have Got Lost

Never thought about tomorrow
Seemed like a long time to come
How could I be so blind, baby
Not to see you were the one

I let ya slip on from me baby
I let you walk on by,
Shoulda loved, you had told me
I refused to love, I let it die

I musta got lost, musta got lost, I musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, musta got lost
Give away the days you were mine

Don’t know why I let you leave me
Honey, I don’t know
Say its hard to see lovers comin’ babe
Honey I’ve a way to see them go

Musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, I got lost
Give away the days you were mine

Love can be a sweet thing
Girl I just don’t understand
Made a game outta lovin’ you
Now I hold the losin’ hand

Oh, I musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, I got lost, girl
Give away the days you were mine

I just don’t understand it
I just don’t understand it
I just don’t understand it

And I musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line, hey
Musta got lost, baby, I got lost girl
Give away them days you were mine

Musta got lost, I got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, oh I got lost girl
Give away them days you were mine

C’mon
Oh, I got lost, babe, double-crossed
Your lovin’, give it to me all night long

I said your love got me higher,
than I ever been lifted before

I said your love has got me higher,
than I ever been lifted before

Somewhere down the line… yeah

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

50 thoughts on “J Geils Band – Must of Got Lost”

  1. Watched the live clip Max Chris Robinson I think copped a lot of Wolfs moves as thats who I thought off right away in regards to his stage presentation.
    Pretty jamming track actually

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    1. With me…my first Beatle album came at 8 years old in 1975…since then I’ve read and read and listened…I have way too much trivial knowledge in my head about many of these artists lol. When I would read about the Beatles…that would lead me to The Who, The Stones, The Kinks…etc.

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      1. Coming from a guy who knows a little, in a general way, it’s enough to ‘connect the dots” as I’m fond of saying, what you guys are able to recall, to know the names, the intricate details, well I’m not just blowing smoke here, really it’s very impressive.

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      2. I appreciate it. You know quite a bit Randy…that post last night blew me away…plus Dave and you can really write….I mean good…I just throw up facts like I’m talking to people.
        If you ask me about 1995 and later…I’m pretty much lost for the most part. I know more about older music I shouldn’t know lol.

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      4. I just told Dave that the other day…really good writer. I wish I could write longer pieces but my attention span is terrible!

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      8. I have the opposite! I wish I could have that much material for one post. I’m writing something right now for UK #1 and I thought I was done but I need to match his format so I have write more. I need a ghost writer lol .

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      9. Your post on a UK #1 will be fine. He just meant “similar” to his style. He posts more pix than you do but, the content is the same. You describe how much you like the song and why. Add another picture or two.

        What did you choose? I went with Blondie’s Atomic.

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      10. Love Affair with Everlasting Love… Yea I copied his format pretty much to the Tee… except I didn’t write as much as him.

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  3. Peter Wolf was really one of the great live frontmen from what I’ve seen and heard about him. Funny this song though, was a hit – even if minor – in Canada but I literally don’t remember hearing anything at all by them until the ‘Love Stinks’ album which did well inToronto with its two singles. I do remember seeing a couple of their LPS on the shelves in the 70s – the one with the yellow front and the cards (‘Full House’?) in particular – but didn’t hear any of this music until after ‘Freeze Frame’ when I got a live album by them.

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    2. This song was somewhat of a staple on our radio stations here. That is what it comes down to I guess…locally were they played?
      I just wished they would have compromised and went on.

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      1. back in the day when there were localized hits. Certainly saw a few examples of that in toronto, like joni Mitchell’s ‘Raised on Robbery’ that was #8 in the city but I think peaked at something like #28 nationwide. Probably got zero airplay in some other cities.

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  5. One of my favorite bands period. That live cut was from when they really cooked. I liked the later stuff but the early music is where I live. Fortunate to see them back then. Bands like Southside , Bruce, Geils were club bands so they had that vibe. No better front man than Wolf.

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    1. Yea and Wolf gets over looked but he is great. I told someone he can out Jagger Jagger at times. ..plus I see other influences…the complete package. I love his raps he goes on.

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      2. In some ways it’s a compliment….I hate being ugly but the RRHOF makes some head-scratching picks. They deserve to be in there no doubt.

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  6. Very Stonesy, especially the chorus, but that’s no bad thing. Some damn fine lyrics that its easy to miss too, like the perfect simplicity of ‘Made a game outta loving you, now I hold the losing hand.’

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  7. “Must of Got Lost” definitely is among my favorite tunes I’ve heard by the J. Geils Band. I really love their first live album, “Live Full House”, from 1972. That one-two punch of the opener “First I Look at the Purse” and “Homework” still blows me away.

    They were a great live band. I saw them once with Peter Wolf (who was still talkin’ like a “crazy man” and workin’ that stage!) but without J. Geils. I think it was in 2013. Needless to add I would have loved to see them in the ’70s.

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    1. Yea they were a completely different band than they were in the 80s….I would say much better in the 70s as far as their drive….but that is not saying I don’t like Freeze frame because I do…but I really like the 70s stuff more

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    1. Yea I heard this one growing up…I’ve always liked them…but they were completely different than Freeze Frame…at least before then…I liked that but this stuff I love.

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      1. I never liked Freeze Frame that much. Centerfold was fun. And, on that note, I finally got One Last Kiss downloaded and added to my Samsung playlist. The more I listen, the more I love that song. Love that 1978 sound. There was a YouTube video with it remastered. I stayed with the analog one.

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  12. Pingback: J Geils Band – Must of Got Lost – MobsterTiger

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