Peter Wolf, the long-time frontman of The J. Geils Band, calls James Montgomery “the John Mayall of New England.”

The comparison is a fair one. Mayall helped created a bustling blues scene in England in the 1960s, influencing generations of musicians. From 1966 to 1969, his Bluebreakers included at various times Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor and many others.

Starting in the early 1970s, Montgomery became synonymous with the Boston blues scene. Musicians that have played in his band over the years include Billy Squier, Wayne Kramer of The MC-5 and Jeff Golub of Rod Stewart’s band, among others.

Montgomery has toured and recorded with everyone from Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Springsteen to B.B. King and The Allman Brothers Band.

However, although he’s legendary among New England blues fans and among his peers, Montgomery never hit it big nationally, at least not as big as fellow musicians think his talent is.

It may be because he plays blues harmonica, or that he’s stayed around New England since moving to Boston to attend Boston University in 1970. He’s originally from Detroit.

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Whatever the reason, Montgomery, 61, just keeps playing. He’ll be playing Friday at Port City Music Hall in Portland, as a matter of fact. One of the vocalists in his band will be another New England legend, blues shouter Barrence Whitfield.

Montgomery says his love of playing live is one of the things that has kept him in the music business all these years.

“Relating to the audience and band members through music is a spiritual experience,” said Montgomery from his home in Newport, R.I. “We have several songs each night where each musician is free to improvise, so that helps keep things fresh, as well as new material. And again, every night there is a different crowd to relate to, so it’s always in the moment and fresh.”

But Montgomery does think sometimes about what sort of success he might have had if he had thought more about crossing over to pop.

“I’ve always wondered about being basically a blues musician and not playing poppier music,” said Montgomery. “But every blues artist I know had a defining moment that led them to choose blues as their passion and stay with it.”

Whitfield has shown a similar passion during his career. Performing with Barrence Whitfield and The Savages in the 1980s, he was as electric a performer as New England has ever seen. He’s been compared to Little Richard and Wilson Pickett, and called “crazed” and “completely unhinged” by admiring music critics.

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One interesting side note about Whitfield is that his name, which sounds like that of an accountant or lawyer, was actually created by him for show business. His real name is Barry White. But when he came to Boston in the mid-1970s — also to study at Boston University — and started performing, he didn’t want to be confused with that other Barry White with a distinctive bass voice. So he changed his name.

But back to Montgomery.

Montgomery was majoring in English at BU when he started his band, which was soon among the hottest in the region, along with J. Geils and Aerosmith. The band was signed to Capricorn Records, and he later recorded with Island Records.

Living in Newport, Montgomery enjoys gardening, meditating, writing poetry and traveling, in addition to his music. In recent years, he has been touring with guitar legend Johnny Winter. In 2010, Winter and Montgomery played Portland’s Merrill Auditorium together.

That night, Montgomery’s band included Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, former Boston member Barry Goudreau and guitar legend Johnny A. They opened the show and created such a frenzy that when Winter came out for his set, it was almost anti-climactic.

But on Friday’s show at Port City, Montgomery’s band is the headliner, and thus, last on stage. So there’s probably little chance of the excitement peaking too early.

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com

 


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