She once again explained how she always had to balance her solo work with her duties to the E Street Band as well as to her family, noting she had just taken two days off from touring to get her son Evan ready for college. Wikidot.com Terms of Service - what you can, what you should not etc. Also, I was the blues guy. The newly-formed 1982 lineup of The Asbury Jukes (with former E Street Band member Ernest "Boom" Carter on drums) provided the musical entertainment at the reception, along with "special guest" Bruce Springsteen. Mike Boehm Mike. Despite wide swings in popular music and the unpredictable tastes of the record-buying public, the Jukes have managed to survive as a band while many other 70's bands have not. I'm interested in combining things, like the sounds of the old vocal groups, the blues, even something as foreign sounding as the violin. Starting with I Dont Want to Go Home in 1976, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes released three classic Van Zandt-produced albums that epitomized the Jersey Shore sound. "He's stealing my saxophone players to replace Clarence (Clemons, who passed away last year), so we steal from each other's bands occasionally.". He's a great artist. Coronavirus in NJ: Bon Jovi says son Jake is '100 percent' recovered from COVID-19 scare. I actually started singing in front of people when I was 16 years old. A. I went to Monmouth College for two and a half years and majored in English literature. I remember a hair band opening for us, and I looked in the dressing room and there was a big mirror with all this cocaine. Lyon, frontman for the Asbury Jukes, shared an update on. ", Things You Didn't Know About Bruce Springsteen's Wife Patti Scialfa, Racing In The Street: The Bruce Springsteen Reader. Thats the nature of this kind of long-lived horn band. 110. It's a friendship that has held fast more than four decades. Who gave him the nickname Southside? It could get a boost if the video catches on, but Southside Johnny records have never been huge sellers, even in the glory days. It's just to me that it's a unique vision of the world, a unique take on the world, and of course, I hang around in my career with guys, guys, guys, guys. Each contributed songs to the band that was known then as Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, and Van Zandt, known nowadays as political rocker Little Steven, served as the bands manager and producer. Bruce, we all thought was really going to be something, though we didnt expect him to get as huge as he got. ", A 2004 interview with the Washington Post noted that "21st Street Lullaby" came out almost exactly 20 years after Springsteen's iconic 1984 album "Born In The USA." I dont like making videos, Lyon confessed. Time to find out. Southside Johnny Lyon was born on 4 December 1948 in Neptune, New Jersey, USA. Every time I got off the bus, there would be literally hundreds of people sleeping there and begging and nobody was taking care of them, he said. Can I ask you about your mother and your connection to her? 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 Wedding reception for Southside Johnny and his bride, Jill Glasner. Let's do it this way," but it's the same thing onstage. "He had long hair, a great grin and chicks just loved the s*** out of him. Be Proactive. Southside Johnny soon landed a new record deal with Mercury Records, but had to deal with an even bigger change, as Steve Van Zandt dropped out as the guitarist, songwriter, and producer for the Asbury Jukes; his role in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band had become too time consuming. Right before I went on stage, I had this feeling of revulsion. This Time It's for Real was the second album by New Jersey Rock / R&B band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, featuring three compositions by Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt, as well as an additional five by the latter.Like their first album, I Don't Want To Go Home, there are a number of guest artists and duets, a trend that would be dropped for their next album, Hearts of Stone. Steve was Miami Steve, and I became Southside Johnny because of my love of Chicago blues. I always had kind of a soft spot for Southern Cal, Lyon confessed in an interview at the Hollywood offices of Impact Records, his new label. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. It wasnt a mid-life crisis, said Lyon, who will turn 40 Sunday. You can put it up on the internet. Their son, Evan James Springsteen, was born on July 25, 1990. Asbury Jukes hits include Talk to Me, All I Want Is Everything, Hearts of Stone, Trapped Again, I Dont Want to Go Home, Its Been a Long Time and Having a Party.. The song, with lyrics by Lyon and music by Springsteen, was intended for Southside Johnnys 1978 album, Hearts of Stone, but hadnt surfaced until now. And, he notes with a laugh, the musical cross-pollination that began decades ago is still going on - most recently, with Springsteen's poaching of the Jukes' brass section. I know some of the songs I want to record, but I don't know about the style of those songs. Those albums featured the horn-driven Jukes sound along with a sprinkling of Springsteen-penned nuggets, notably The Fever and Hearts of Stone. Lyon went on to record several 80s albums with the Jukes, along with some solo efforts in several styles, but he never quite regained his stride after the departure of Van Zandt, who was busy in his role as Springsteens guitarist. In 1995, Southside Johnny recorded the title song for a low-budget movie called Tuff Turf, and the tune was issued as a 12" single by Rhino Records, becoming his first solo release. What kind of strategy do you use when it comes time to record? But then there's other songs just about living, and trying to find out who you are, where are the people around you, where are you going to set your compass, and are you going to follow that; where are you going to set your moral compass, and are you going to follow it. Some people thought its success would give both you and the Jukes increased exposure, particularly with younger audiences. I just think it's a great time to make music, and you can communicate with musicians around the world. No fallback, no college, no learn another craft - forget it.". SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: Well, I didn't really believe in it until I had been doing it for a number of years, because most of the time back then, guys wanted to be guitar heroes and play 20-minute guitar solos, and the singer was just somebody that sang in between the guitar solos. I would hear songs like Louis Armstrong Struttin With Some Barbecue and it felt like there was life somewhere. Tickets: $19.50. ''. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: Well, you plan in a vague way that you want to get another album done, but even if you write the songs and you know which way you want to go, when you take it to the band, sometimes they change a little bit and they may shift it a little bit in a different direction and you go, "Oh, I like that," or you don't and you say, "Let's not do it that way. Live recording -- "Reach Up and Touch the Sky. I really liked it and I moved down there, but I didn't move down there because of the music. I collected that kind of music, so they would play their English kind of invasion music and garage bands and I'd play blues. It's just the perfect stage for us in some ways. If you are lazy going through the songs, you wont have an audience. It brings out a slightly different show in that it's so intimate and we do different songs, but we still rock out. We had cheerleaders. If she worked the day shift, I'd say, Mom, I'm going to stay home today and I'll clean the house, do the dishes, make the beds, vacuum, do all the different things, and she said, Okay, of course. You know, I hated school and I wasn't really getting a lot out of it. It was four rolls of toilet paper, some candy bars, some toothpaste, (of which I was almost out), and a bottle of wine. Scialfajoined the bandSouthside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes as a backup singer and met Bruce Springsteen at the Asbury Park, New Jersey club the Stone Pony. "He's got more straight ahead rock 'n' roll roots and I have more rhythm and blues roots," points out Southside. I havent seen either of them in years or spoken to them, Lyon said. We'd love to hear eyewitness Southside Johnny has long been considered the Grandfather of "the New Jersey Sound ." Jon Bon Jovi has acknowledged Southside Johnny as his "reason for singing." permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com. 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 A pair of movies put Southside Johnny back in the public eye in 1990 -- his version of "Please Come Home for Christmas" appeared in the hit Home Alone, and he recorded a pair of tunes for Captain America, "Memories of You" and "Written in the Wind." We've gotten older, but wiser, too. That was Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism ", He laughs. Now that the pieces are in place, the only thing left is to see how the record sells. He carried himself as a person who has something to say, and still does. 877-477-3715. sugarhousecasino.com. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution And we were tenacious about it. He is an American singer-songwriter who fronts the band Southside Johnny & . Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. "He just had that presence where you couldn't take your eyes off him. In 1984, E Street Band member Nils Lofgren was too sick to join Springsteen and the rest of the band on tour, and Springsteen asked Scialfa to join as a backup singer. People can hear it. If anybody needs some, send me an email. Going to Jukesville followed in 2002, and the tough, eclectic Into the Harbour was issued in 2006. In a 1996 interview with The Advocate, reprinted on the site Greasy Lake, when asked about the negative reaction some people had to Scialfa and Springsteen falling in love, Springsteen replied, "It's a strange society that assumes it has the right to tell people whom they should love and whom they shouldn't. Information: (714) 496-8930. So I would vacuum and make the beds and play their records and sing along with them. Help Us | Upload. The album is on Cypress Records, the independent label whose roster leans toward such mellow folk-pop artists as Jennifer Warnes, Leonard Cohen and Jesse Colin Young. Click here to edit contents of this page. Ocean Grove was a very quiet place. Eager to record again but not excited about signing another record deal, Southside Johnny devised a new strategy and formed his own label, Leroy Records, to release his music when and how he wanted, and giving him full creative freedom. With the addition of a horn section, the Blackberry Booze Band evolved into Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. rights reserved. I wasnt a big cocaine person, though. One of the seminal figures on the New Jersey rock scene and a gifted, charismatic singer steeped in soul, blues, and R&B. He was born as John Lyon in New Jersey. I have a lot of women friends. This led to Southside Johnny reviving the Jukes as a live act, playing occasional shows in the United States and touring Europe and the U.K. every year. We were young and we wanted adventure and there was this music that promised that. One of the things I'm most proud of is that the Jukes haven't lost their edge on stage. Songs | Lyrics But Epic Records were disappointed with their sales, and in 1979 they dropped the band. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: Yeah, I love The Birchmere. The singer-songwriter and the frontman of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes is known for influencing what critics call the "New Jersey sound," but if you ask him about it as I did, he would tell you that this sound does not exist. The year was 1967, says Southside, or maybe '68, and New Jersey was alive with the sounds of the primitive, pre-Beatles rock and Stax soul that would infuse both his and Springsteen's work. Low 49F. But because success is associated with planning, as they always tell you that although you don't have to follow the plan, you have to plan; can you explain your success to me? Is Virginia ready for mandated electric vehicles? But I don't worry about things I can't control. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: I think it's a great time to be a musician because you don't have to pay $1 million to go into a studio to record. She worked along with my father. Understandably frustrated with the business, Southside briefly dropped out of music and relocated to Tennessee, but in 1996, he staged a low-key tour of Europe, where he discovered he still had an audience, and a four-night stand at the Chesterfield Cafe in Paris became the basis of a live album, Spittin' Fire. Southside Johnny (his nickname comes from his love of the raw, hard-edged brand of blues from Chicago's South Side) and the Asbury Jukes started out in 1974 as the house band at the Stone Pony, Asbury Park's now-legendary rock club. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: I kind of got fed up with the record business, the music business, and I didn't want to work anymore. It had never happened to me before. At the end of the show, they ran through Its Been a Long Time several times for the cameras, with the result patched together by the director. Recorded over six weeks in June and July, Better Days was released late last month. I cover pop music, from what's happening in the local scene to national trends and touring acts. 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 "Sometimes there's got to be a good reason to go down a different path.". Q. Q. "But I walked into the place I used to hang out, the Upstage Club, and this long-haired guy was onstage telling a story about how the nuns taught him the blues by bringing in a B.B. Too many times I've gone into the recording studio with the idea that the album would sound like this and it comes out sounding like something entirely different. Springsteen, working on his own album, took time to contribute a song, All the Way Home, on which he plays guitar. Southside Johnny: To me, the spontaneity of making music is the beauty of it, instead of this idea that you're going to program everything and everything's going to work out right --really just let it go and see where the night takes you.. Relations (People / Bands) Q. Scialfa noted in 2004, "I was always friends with a lot of guys, maybe because their girlfriends were girly-girls and they felt safe with me. Bruce Springsteen was the breakout star. My life has been an adventure; I want to keep it that way. Bruce Springsteen was the man who took the sound of the Jersey Shore music scene to the world, but it was Southside Johnny (aka John Lyon) who was the early focal point of the scene that produced many of the major figures of the Garden State's rock & roll community.A powerful vocalist whose style is steeped in vintage blues, R&B, and soul, Johnny was the leader and frontman for the group the . I like that--really just let it go and see where the night takes you, and I don't knowI've always been that way where I trust in the people around me and I trust in myself to not go so far that I'll lose my career or my audience, but they understand that I'm not going to do the same thing over and over. All the activity has been spurred by the release of Better Days, the first Southside Johnny album in three years. "I haven't put on a suit for 40 years. I've always known what the Jukes ought to sound like. I really am not good at lip-syncing. Southside Johnny Tickets, Tour Dates & Concerts 2024 & 2023 - Songkick Southside Johnny On tour: yes Southside Johnny is not playing near you.