POP REVIEW : The Jacks Are Back and as Good as Ever With Blue at Helm

Comebacks can be a real pain, particularly for a rock band with as rich a legacy as the Jacks. Between 1986 and 1989, they consistently tore up local nightclubs with their steamy “blue-eyed soul” originals, and in 1988 released a brilliant album on the Rounder Records label, “Jacks Are Wild,” that never got the attention it deserved.

The Jacks regrouped over the summer, some six months after their dissolution last December, because singer-songwriter-guitarist Buddy Blue landed a solo deal with Rhino Records and needed a band to back him in the studio.

And now that Blue’s solo album, “Guttersnipes ‘n’ Zealots,” is in the can--it’s due out next February--the resurrected group is once again plying the local nightclub circuit. The only changes are the replacement of original bassist Chris Sullivan with Michael Davis, formerly with fellow local rockers Secret Society, and a rechristening as Buddy Blue and the Jacks.

On Saturday night, the group played its second reunion gig at Bodie’s downtown. The members not only lived up to their legacy, they enhanced it. Instead of simply dusting off their old tunes, they polished them up and made them shine like new. As for the cleverly crafted new songs, from Blue’s upcoming solo album, they played them with the enthusiasm and excitement of a kid opening presents on Christmas morning. And just for the heck of it, they threw in a handful of electric blues standards that added even more sizzle to the fire.

Bassist Davis, keyboardist “Mighty” Joe Longa and drummer Jack DiMatteo were already on stage when Blue--dressed all in black and looking like a cross between those two TV monster sitcom kids, Eddie Munster and Pugsley Adams--swaggered up to join them.

Toward the end of the first song, a cover of the Blues Project’s “Can’t Keep From Crying,” Blue broke a string on his guitar. The accident put him in a rather churlish mood that continued all night long, but hey, what else is new? Blue has always been the quintessential temperamental artist, and his little tantrums have almost become an expected part of the show.

Next came two new tunes. “Saturday Night” is a raucous party anthem punctuated by Longa’s soulful organ bursts. “No Right to Die” is a real tear jerker in the guise of an angry, ferocious rocker ala the Yardbirds’ “Evil Hearted You.” It’s about the death of Blue’s father, apparently written during the anger phase of the mourning process (“You sleep in peace while I’m sentenced to live”).

Then came the bluesy ballad “Missing You,” off “Jacks Are Wild.” The song is a particularly good showcase for Blue’s warbling tenor vibrato; he doesn’t hold notes, he gargles with them--and the effect is something so passionate, so heartfelt, that it brings chill bumps.

As the evening wore on, the dance floor filled with a most diverse selection of people: punkers, rockers, yuppies, even an elderly black man nattily clad in a red-and-white seersucker suit with a red tie and carnation. Quite appropriate, considering that the Jacks’ music--essentially a throwback to the intoxicating, bop-till-you-drop rhythm-and-blues of the 1960s--is a real musical melting pot. White rock, black soul--the Jacks have made it one and the same.

The new “Lazy Blues” included an incredible lead guitar solo by Blue, and a few songs later, on another new tune, “The Duke of J Street,” something of an ode to machismo, he again made chop suey of his frets. Blue’s guitar playing has improved immensely.

About midway through the show, sound problems prompted the Jacks to take a brief break, which only compounded Blue’s surly mood. When they returned, they performed spirited renditions of several classic electric blues tunes, including Johnny Winter’s “Dallas.”

Alfred Williams, the lead singer of local funk band Sharkskin, joined the Jacks on the vintage Smokey Robinson dance tune “Mickey’s Monkey.” Then they left the stage, only to be called back for an invigorating blues jam with hot guitarist Willie Jaye, who had opened the show for them.

The new model of the Jacks--er, Buddy Blue and the Jacks--is also an improved model. They’ve not only come back, they’ve come back with a vengeance.