DANNY CLINCH
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes: From left, Glenn Alexander, John Isley, Jeff Kazee, John Conte, Southside Johnny (seated), Neal Pawley, Tom Seguso and Chris Anderson.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of perhaps the most important day in the history of the Asbury Park music scene. On May 30, 1976, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes played for a packed crowd at The Stone Pony, which had just opened two years previously. The band’s producer, Stevie Van Zandt, performed with them, and Bruce Springsteen made a guest appearance. Other E Street band members participated as well, as did Ronnie Spector and Lee Dorsey. And radio stations throughout the Northeast played a live broadcast, spreading the Asbury Park musical gospel far and wide.
Dennis Laverty and Southside Johnny at The Stone Pony in 1986.
For anyone looking for a great way to celebrate the anniversary … check out the video below. Dennis Laverty — who published a fan newsletter in the ’80s called Juke News —has just released the fourth part of his incomparably thorough “History of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes” video documentary series, and it is embedded here.
“Vol. 1,” released in 2016, covered the early years, up to 1979. “Vol. II” (2018) and “Vol. III” (2024) continued the story up to 1991 and 2005, respectively. The new, four-hour “Vol. IV” — the series as a whole runs for close to 14 hours — brings us from 2006 to the present: its last segment covers Southside’s surprise appearance with Bobby Bandiera at The Elbow Room in Bradley Beach, earlier this month.
Also covered throughout Vol. IV are the Pills and Ammo and Soultime! studio albums; live albums, anthologies and projects devoted to the music of Tom Waits and Billie Holiday; Bobby Bandiera’s exit from the Jukes and Jeff Kazee taking over the role of second-in-command; New Year’s Eve shows; Southside’s activities during the pandemic; his appearances on soundtracks and cameos in TV shows; his induction into The New Jersey Hall of Fame; his friendship with and influence on Jon Bon Jovi; his 2024 retirement from touring; and much more. In one segment, Laverty edits together many different performances of Southside’s trademark song, “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” over the years.
As in his previous volumes of this documentary — and in video projects focusing on other subjects, including Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA-era breakthrough and Elvis Presley’s influence on Springsteen — Laverty takes a unique approach, drawing on performance, interview and historical clips (some available on YouTube, some not); vintage photos and ads; newspaper and magazine articles; internet posts, etc. There is stuff here that will be new for even the most ardent Southside fan.
Laverty makes these documentaries available on the internet, at no charge. (Full disclosure: He quotes from some of my articles on Southside, from both The Star-Ledger and NJArts.net, and even includes some footage of me.)
In one interview clip, included near the end of the documentary, Southside is asked what he wants his legacy to be.
“Just honest music, that’s all,” he replies. “I’m not anybody trying to do anything other than make a song and connect with the public. … I don’t care what happens when I’m gone. But I would like the honesty of all of us to live on.”
Indeed, all of this music seems more precious, now that Southside is no longer touring, and may not record again.
Here is the documentary. Enjoy!
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