From The Southside

It´s Southside Johnny´s birthday today, so I thought we´d better celebrate and make sure the guy is not forgotten anytime soon. For together with his band The Asbury Jukes, Johnny Lyon was responsible for the hottest Jersey Shore Sounds this side of Bruce Springsteen. His earlier albums from the late seventies are his masterpieces. I Don´t Want To Go Home, This Time It´s For Real and especially the hard-hitting Hearts Of Stone were all produced by E Street Band guitarist Little Steve Van Zandt. Rhythm & blues as it should be played, with special mention for Johnny´s soulful vocals and a horn section to die for.

Most of his later albums weren´t as satisfying, but in concert the tirelessly touring Southside Johnny (he´s from ´48 btw) has never let his faithful following down. Take these steaming live tracks for instance, recorded on 20 September ´85 at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey. They were actually played in this sequence that night, so when you download them into your iTunes you´ll experience a gapless piece of a great concert. New Coat Of Paint is a fine Tom Waits cover, while The Fever was written by Springsteen himself. Johnny arguably does a better job with it than the Boss. "There ain’t nothing that a poor boy can do, when he’s got the fever for a girl..." Check out that trumpet! And go see him when he´s playing a club near you. You won´t regret it.

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - New Coat Of Paint (live ´85) MP3

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - The Fever (live ´85) MP3
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - Trapped Again (live ´85) MP3