The year 1977 will always be remembered in rock and roll history as ‘The Year of Punk’, especially as far as the UK was concerned. Although that is to some extent true, there was also a great deal of music that didn’t really fit into the musical straitjacket that Punk rapidly became, but at the same time didn’t belong entirely to the pre-Punk era.
Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes had already released their debut album in June 1976 with the sparkling I Don’t Want To Go Home, and would issue the follow-up, This Time It’s For Real, in April 1977. They were clearly cut from similar cloth to Bruce Springsteen and the ‘E’ Street Band, sharing the same New Jersey geographical location, and Springsteen even gave them some songs to chew on – the smouldering The Fever, and You Mean So Much To Me – the latter being a duet with the former main Ronette, Ronnie Spector, neatly joining up the link between Southside and one of his musical influences. The band included in their ranks guitarist Miami Steve Van Zandt, who wrote songs for the band, produced their debut album, and was also their manager at the time. He simultaneously joined Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band on 20th July 1975, and for a while was a member of both combos.
Southside Johnny clearly had one foot in the past; their music had a marbling of sounds and styles reminiscent of old school rhythm and song combos such as The Drifters, Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters, and others, as well as gutsy urban Blues and Doo Wop, not quite as lyric-driven as Springsteen (Indeed, their second album featured guest slots from The Drifters, The Coasters and The Five Satins). Yet their sound transcended those influences, and had an urgency and go-for-the-throat intensity that was utterly contemporary. They ended up being signed to the Epic Records label, which was a wholly owned subsidiary label of the Columbia Records imprint, and were pretty much de facto label mates of Springsteen.
Performing at The Bottom Line in New York on 4th June 1977, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes were actually revisiting the site of past triumphs having played there on the promo tour for their debut album. The Jukes line-up on the night featured Southside Johnny (John Lyon) on harmonica and lead vocals; Billy Rush, guitar; Allan Berger, bass; Kevin Kavanaugh, keyboards; Kenny “Popeye” Pentifallo, drums; Ed Manion, Richie ‘La Bamba’ Rosenberg, Rick Gazda, Tony Pallagrosi and Carlo Novi on horns. There’s also a Special Guest in the shape of vocalist Ronnie Spector, whose presence was most welcome, as Lyon recalled: “She was on the bus with us — she was one of the guys. She put up with everything, watching movies late at night and all of that. She knew what it was like to be on the road before we did, so she fit right in.”
Spector came into the Jukes orbit thanks to music man Jimmy Iovine, who had engineered the Jukes’ debut album. Iovine had also worked on John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album, which was produced by Phil Spector, then Ronnie's husband., and it was Iovine who effected the introductions. Spector's appearance on the Jukes album, and subsequent shows, was in keeping with the band's mission of presenting the greats of early rock and R&B, who by the '70s were often bypassed by the mainstream. Lee Dorsey, the Drifters, the Coasters, and the Five Satins also appeared on the early Jukes' albums.
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes sadly never achieved the kind of high sales recognition that their in-concert majesty warranted. Lyon still leads an iteration of the band to this day, and they are simply a magnificent combo to witness live.
With thanks to Alan Robinson