The Globe, Cardiff, Wales, UK (2009)

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Network

By Paul S from Cardiff – November 2, 2009, The Globe, Cardiff

Either I’d forgotten just how good a Southside Johnny gig can be or he got even better! There were a few changes from the last time I saw Southside: a little more facial hair, the trademark shades being discarded early on, and the ever changing line up of the Asbury Jukes.

But much remained the same, including great musicianship from the eight strong backing band, featuring a strong horns section (sometimes reminiscent of the Memphis Horns sound), keyboards, drums, lead and bass guitars.

Read the full review at: ENTS24.com

When Sonny Gets Blue

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Network

Sonny Kenn, Asbury Park Legend, Guitar Guru and one of the great early contemporaries of Southside Johnny has been featured in a worth reading piece of interview by Tom Chesek of the Red Bank Orbit:

The way that a lot of his contemporaries on the Sound of Asbury Park scene dressed, they’d likely be denied entry in most of the new Asbury bistros these days – but Sonny Kenn always evidenced a more finely tuned sense of style.

It’s a look that we described more than once as “31st century sideburns, ice cream blazers and Vincent Price shades straight outta Tomb of Ligeia,” and even if the Star Trek ‘burns have been phased back a bit in recent years, the carefully coiffed look remains a marvel of pompadour and circumstance. (…)

Red Bank oRBit paid a call upon Kenn at his little “Fortress of Solitude” studio on the borough’s Left Bank — a place that’s equal parts musical mad-laboratory, bohemian painter’s garret and the attic lair of the world’s oldest living teenager. What follows is but a portion of a nearly three-hour conversation in which we spoke of many things — the painter’s passion and the inventor’s instinct; Muddy Waters and Mrs. Jay’s; dying industries and living legends.

Read on at: RED BANK ORBIT: When Sonny Gets Blue – An Interview with Sonny Kenn

The review of the year

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Klaus

If there’d be a price for the best concert review, Driver, the AMUSED CYNIC would deserve it by far distance to anyone else! His piece about last Saturday’s gig at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, NJ just made my day!

How many words do you need to do full justice describing a night with the JUKES?????

Stay out late, get up late. Woke up this morning way behind in several areas, including blogging. Anyway, the show last night was great fun. Southside Johnny may be an acquired Jersey taste, but you’re not going to find a better white R&B singer anywhere.

Read the piece here: AMUSED CYNIC and leave a comment!

The Human Dominican Pogo Stick At B.B.King’s

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Network

Greetings from the human Dominican pogo stick that usually hangs out in front of Kazee…:-wink. Though most of my friends are rock & rollers, I’m really the only one in my circle of friends that loves SSJ & the AJ’s and whenever I tell them that I’m going to see them they bascially say “Again?”. Well, after this weekend I’ve fallen back in love with them, “AGAIN”,…LOL! Just like every other time that I go to see them…:-wink

Some other folks have already mentioned how into it the crowd was on Saturday and I second that emotion (pun intended…:-wink, :-smile). Same held true for last night, “small but mighty” as SSJ said himself. When I walked in@showtime last night I had mixed emotions. The dancer in me said “yeah, dancing room…” but the fan in me said “I wish there were more here to enjoy what will be another great show” and it was, well before Little Steven (finally!) graced the assembled masses and shared the stage with the band.

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Jukes at B.B.King's in NYC, NY

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Klaus

logo_the_wonderbar The shows of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at BB KING’S Nightclub in Manhattan, NYC are always somewhat special since some years already. Two shows, back to back at the same venue, with almost the same audience both nights usually means that Southside and the Jukes put some extra attention in making each night special for themselves and everybody.

This year an old friend from the neighborhood came by and joined the band the second night… the original mastermind and godfather himself…

Here’s the report from BENZ on the Blog THE WONDERBAR…

Last night, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes played their second of two shows at B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grille in New York City. During the encores, a special guest decided to drop by and play a few songs with the band. Now, it may not be the special guest that you’re thinking of, but who is gonna complain when Little Steven Van Zandt jumps up on stage? Not a sole!

Stevie played the following songs with the band: Hearts of Stone / Forever / Soothe Me / Shake ‘Em Down. It must have been special to see him play “Hearts of Stone” with the Jukes considering his history with Johnny, and also his history with the guy who wrote the song (though his name escapes me at the moment :) )

It’s a second hand account of a report, but it’s a nice blog, so I recommend reding the whole piece at: THE WONDERBAR

Setlist and fan-reports you find all on the messageboard at SOUTHSIDEJOHNNY.COM

Blame It On The Love!

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Klaus

There obviously must be a never ending source of musical talent in New Jersey. Lee from Down Under (Australia!) reports of some more new, fresh and exiting newcomers demonstrating just this fact during a private show at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey on February 23rd…

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Tampa Calling!

Posted on February 14, 2009 by Klaus

Creativeloafing It might be a slower time with all things Jukes right now… and fighting the tough weather in and around New Jersey is keeping everybody more than busy. But as long as telephone lines are operating, the occasional interviews with the band leader are still one thing to look out for. It takes more than a winter storm to stop Southside Johnny!

Eric Snider answered Southside’s call and did a write-up of his conversation with John on his blog TAMPA CALLING.

At straight-up 3 p.m., the appointed hour, a man on the other end of the line announces himself: “Heyyyyy, it’s Southside!”

And so begins a spirited 40-minute conversation with one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most undervalued artists, Southside Johnny Lyon, who has fronted a horn-heavy R&B band called the Asbury Jukes for more than three decades. After his first troika of LPs, released in the latter ‘70s on Columbia, fell short of commercial expectations — especially in light of the concurrent rise of his Jersey shore compadre Bruce Springsteen — Southside and company focused mostly on touring.

They don’t do the road-dog slog of the old days, when 250 dates a year was the norm, but the Jukes still cover plenty of turf. And they try their level best not to let performing get stale. “I’ve never wanted to just go out and play the songs,” Southside says. “I need to find that nugget in the middle of the night, where the audience clicks and is really there, and we’re all in that night, in that moment.”

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The English Beat at the Stone Pony

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Network

Popmatters Here’s a foreshadow of the grand re-opening of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ tomorrow night.

Dave Wakeling of THE ENGLISH BEAT has been interviewed by POPMATTERS.COM and demonstrated another time that a certain breed of fine British gentlemen got their history lessons on another level than the average guy (do you hear me Saunders?)…

Q. You’re even headlining the first night of the renovated Stone Pony.

A. Yes, the regroomed Stone Pony, I’ll be part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. It’s the home of Southside Johnny for me. I know that wasn’t the guy, but I know which one was The Boss in my opinion. (Laughs) It’s one of those places where great musicians started off, and it’s become part of the cultural heritage of the community. … I was hoping they’d cut the ribbon into little two-inch squares and we could all have a little bit and frame it. If they gave me a little bit of the ribbon, I’d even consider learning a ska version of “I Don’t Wanna Go Home.”

Now, I wonder if the Boss over there in Ocean Grove get’s to read this and would consider showing up to teach the song to Wakeling? Since he does have a reggae version at hand, it would just be a small step into Ska!

And if someone would please get me a tape of that???

LINK: STONEPONYONLINE.COM

I still have the best job in the world!

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Network

logo_soundboard As the whole JUKES family was on their way to Florida to play the HARD ROCK in Orlando, Jim Abbott of the ORLANDO SENTINEL’S SOUNDBOARD managed to have a short conversation with Johnny. Although Jim fantasizes a bit about the guy who is going to play the Super Bowl halftime in Tampa – and with that he’s not alone to fantasize about the different possible combinations of JUKES and E-STREETERS on a stage on the same weekend in Florida – he still manages to catch a few nice quotes from Southside Johnny:

Being on stage, anywhere, is just fine with Lyon.

“I was just talking with my buddy on the Boardwalk and I was telling him that I still have the best job in the world,” he says. “I make enough money and, after that, who gives a darn?” (…)

This past fall, Lyon released Grapefruit Moon, a high-energy collection of Tom Waits songs accompanied by a big-band under the direction of Jukes trombonist (and Max Weinberg 7 member) Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg.

Still, Lyon concedes that winter has been particularly slow for the band.

“It’s traditionally a slow time, but it has been slower than usual because of the economy,” says Lyon, who still sees the glass as half-full.

“When we do play, the people are ready to have fun that’s what we’re here for.”

Read Jim Abbott’s whole post at THE ORLANDO SENTINEL: SOUNDBOARD

I believe that the JUKES will have a real blast, LaBamba, Kazee, everybody will probably be taking their kids to Disneyland, well… and everybody will have a great time whether they will be playing or watching the Halftime show in Tampa, on stage, off stage, in front of a TV… YOU REALLY SHOULD NOT MISS IT! GO, SEE THE JUKES!

Groovevolt's Albums of the Year 2008

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Klaus

Ok, now, here’s the question: What do artists like Will.I.Am, Beyonce, N.E.R.D., The Hold Steady or Ryan Adams have in common? They all share the list of “Best Albums of 2008″ of the blog-magazine GROOVEVOLT.

SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY, GRAPEFRUIT MOON: THE SONGS OF TOM WAITS: It’s all about the horns. Southside Johnny Lyons’ interpretations of classic Tom Waits tracks benefits from LaBamba and the Hubcaps rich horn section. The disc crackles with an energy nearly unmatched by any band recording this year.

Says GROOVEVOLT on their blog.

The interesting statement comes at the end – about how an album qualifies for the selection and what the consequences that selection process puts on the team:

This is not a countdown. These are the albums that filled our offices all year. Non-Stop, continuous play and sometimes feelings of hatred towards the employee who kept pressing repeat.

Now, me thinks, that the GROOVEVOLT office might be a place I would like to work at. Then I’d spend the whole day at the water cooler together with the person who kept pushing GRAPEFRUIT MOON… Thanks GROOVE-people!