La Bamba and the Hubcaps featuring Southside Johnny – Talk To Me – June 5. 2011
The NJ Hall Of Fame: La Bamba and the Hubcaps Featuring Southside Johnny (3 Videos)
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For TV Band, Jet-Lag Is Part Of The Job
You can get a Juke out of New Jersey, but you can’t get New Jersey out of a Juke! It’s been proved again! The New York Times features Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band on it’s TV Feature:
When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Izod Center in the New Jersey Meadowlands on May 21, there was one musician conspicuously absent: Max Weinberg, the group’s drummer for more than three decades.
As Mr. Springsteen tore into his opening number, “Badlands,” Mr. Weinberg was on another stage 3,000 miles away, pounding his drum kit through a dress rehearsal of “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien,” in advance of its debut last Monday on NBC.The following night Mr. Weinberg boarded a red eye for the East Coast so he could rejoin his E Street band mates, however temporarily, for the second show of that New Jersey stand, which fell on a rare night off from his new duties.
For Mr. Weinberg and the seven other East Coast musicians who have relocated to California along with Mr. O’Brien — including all the founding members of the Max Weinberg 7, the house band on Mr. O’Brien’s “Late Night” for 16 years — the turnover in hosts (and bands) on “Tonight” has proved to be both exhilarating and disruptive.
Visit the NYT to read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/arts/television/06max.html?_r=1
Man with A Horn
‘LaBamba’ answers the call from Springsteen, Southside, Conan
By Ellen S. Wilkowe • Daily Record • February 8, 2009
His kids call him Dad, but to everyone else, Richie Rosenberg of Randolph is best known as LaBamba. Everyone except for his wife, that is.
“She calls me LB,” he said.
For the past 16 years, the man of one hat, one horn — a trombone — has found himself on the receiving end of Conan O’Brien’s jokes as a member of the show’s house band, the Max Weinberg 7.
“I don’t know idea why he picks on me,” Rosenberg said jokingly in a phone interview from — where else? — NBC in New York, where he tapes “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” almost daily from 2 to 8 p.m. “But from day one, there was always a camera on Max and on me.”
This year O’Brien will head west to take over “The Tonight Show,” and while an NBC spokesman would not reveal the band’s fate, Rosenberg said he will be going along — “a dream come true,” he said.
“I can only speak for myself and not the band,” Rosenberg said. “I just wish I didn’t have to leave this all behind.”
This, meaning New Jersey. “I’ll miss the Shore,” he said.
Walk Away – The alternate Version (live)
I only heard of Southside Johnny and La Bamba’s gig at Conan’s Late Night in New York City, when it was already four weeks old news. Ever since, I have been spending hours deep into GOOGLE and searching YOUTUBE for a proof that it has really been happening. Not that I wouldn’t trust Joe – but there are things you need to see to believe ‘em… And after just 4 month worth of searchin’, it just needed one link to Sherry’s fine blog at Livejournal to find this wonderful video on the Dailymotion website.
SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & LA BAMBA’s BIG BAND – LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN – September 18th, 2008.
WHAT A DUET! Sherry said: “OMG – it just doesn’t get any better than this!” And she’s been more than right on the point with that statement! LaBamba shines so much in his various roles as a bandleader, trombonist and singer (!!!)… I truly and deeply love the album duet by Johnny & his Waitsness himself. But here, the song gets into a whole new dimension… I only wish I could get more of that one day on a stage in Europe…
And the South? He seems to have the fun of his life… truly wonderful stuff!
sly – I didn’t even know your blog! Forgive me my ignorance! All you out there probably know Sherry from her famous JUKESLEGS project… and only the very, very few and lucky of you know her by her famous cakes… ;-)
Southside Johnny and the La Bamba Big Band
A review by PHIL GALLO
Posted: Sun., Oct. 26, 2008, 12:23pm PT
The premiere of Southside Johnny’s big band project with trombonist Richard “La Bamba” Rosenberg was executed impressively in moments of power or playfulness, although the two-hour show was a bit out of sync early on and slightly drowsy at the end. The program, like Southside’s new self-released album “Grapefruit Moon,” is all Tom Waits songs, and with Southside’s voice sounding like a warmer version of Waits’ earliest gravel tone, Friday night’s show reveled in the balance between familiarity and invention.
The songs of Waits provide Southside Johnny Lyon with an opportunity to add an element of cynicism and noirish qualities to his soulful music, which has long been based on gritty horn-based blues and R&B of the 1950s and ’60s. Many of the songs performed have long been abandoned by Waits, tunes from the 1970s that he penned when Jackson Browne, the Eagles and Warren Zevon were among his peers.
Big Band Amps Up Evening Of Tom Waits
By Jay Lustig, The Star-Ledger Sunday October 26, 2008, 9:16 PM
NEW YORK — There has never been a Southside Johnny concert like the evening of Tom Waits songs he presented at the Nokia Theatre on Friday. There has never been a Waits show like it, either.
On his September album “Grapefruit Moon,” John “Southside Johnny” Lyon recorded 12 Waits compositions, with backing by a big band led by Richie “LaBamba” Rosenberg. Many big band members, as well as LaBamba himself, are or have been members of Southside Johnny’s usual backing group, the Asbury Jukes.
On “Grapefruit Moon,” Southside Johnny and LaBamba thoroughly reinterpreted Waits’ songs rather than presenting faithful covers of them. Capitalizing on the size and power of the big band (and its large horn section in particular), they made songs like “Down, Down, Down,” “Please Call Me Baby” and “Yesterday Is Here” swing and swagger in ways the originals didn’t.
Southside, La Bamba Salute Tom Waits
THE ASBURY PARK PRESS, OCTOBER 12, 2008, BY KELLY-JANE COTTER,
Southside Johnny Lyon needs to get home and do laundry before hitting the road for his European tour with the Asbury Jukes.
Nevertheless, he is spending a brisk, gusty morning on the Asbury Park boardwalk and showing infinite patience with a reporter and a photography team who aren’t sure what to do with him. Where would he feel most comfortable posing for pictures — in the hollowed-out Casino? In front of The Stone Pony? Is it too windy for him?
“You just tell me where to stand,” he says. “It’s up to you. You’re in charge.”
That’s not true. Genial though he is, John is definitely the leader of the pack. With his trademark sunglasses and his average-Joe attire, he is casual but commanding. He can go from small talk to serious talk at a minute’s notice, and what’s serious to Southside Johnny is, of course, his music.
His work with the Jukes continues apace. His dash through England, the Netherlands and Germany has became a tradition each autumn. European audiences are “so enthusiastic and delighted to see an American band with horns,” Lyon says, “and we get to show them that we’re still a lot of fun live. There’s this real cult of Jukes over there, so it’s fun.”
Grapefruit Moon – The Songs Of Tom Waits
LEROY RECORDS (US) / EVANGELINE (UK) 2008
- Yesterday is Here
- Down, Down, Down
- Walk Away
- Please Call Me Baby
- Grapefruit Moon
- All the Time in the World
- Tango til They’re Sore
- Johnsburg, IL
- New Coat of Paint
- Shiver Me Timbers
- Dead and Lovely
- Temptation
Buy the album at: SouthsideJohnny.com | amazon.com | amazon.de | JPC.de
Musicians play three nights of "light"
THE ASBURY PARK PRESS – 11/8/05 – BY RICHARD SKELLY – CORRESPONDENT
What do Southside Johnny, Robert Earl Keen, Soozie Tyrell, Gary U.S. Bonds, Pete Yorn, Joe Grushecky, Jess Klein, Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg, Cindy Bullens, Willie Nile, Jesse Malin, Jeffrey Gaines and Garland Jeffreys have in common? All of them put their egos aside for the sake of a common cause this past weekend, at the annual Light of Day concerts to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research.
Fund-raising concerts were held Friday night at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park and Saturday and Sunday nights at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville.
Founded by Highland Park-based musical impresario Bob Benjamin, who has Parkinson’s, the annual shows are a way to spread awareness of the need for more research into the causes of the neuro-muscular disorder. Recent research has shown that embryonic stem cells may offer a cure for Parkinson’s and ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. This year’s shows were dedicated to the memory of Joan Dancy, a longtime companion to Terry Magovern, who has worked closely with Bruce Springsteen for many years. Benjamin is proprietor of School House Records and manages musicians, including Grushecky, Joe D’Urso and Stone Caravan and Dawne Allynne, among others.
As often happens in this three-day musical marathon, there were as many musical high points as there were performers. The vibe throughout all three shows was a positive one. Musicians freely mingled with the audience before and after their sets, signing autographs and selling CDs, lending as much support as they could to their fellow musicians, putting up with occasional odd couplings on stage for the sake of a common cause.
One musician missing in action this year was Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen had performed at all five previous Light of Day fund-raising concerts, but since the shows have expanded this year to include a Dec. 12 event at House of Blues in Los Angeles and one later this month in Rome, the Freehold native — in the midst of a tour for his latest album, “Devils and Dust,” — may show his face yet.
High points from Friday’s show at the Pony included Bonds and Southside Johnny Lyon delivering spirited takes on two songs off Bonds’ latest album, “Back In 20.” Bonds traded vocals with Lyon, who offered up some tasty harmonica solos on “Murder in the First Degree” and “Fannie Mae.”
Inspired performances
Saturday night at Starland, Joe D’Urso and his Stone Caravan delivered a four-song set — most groups played only four or five tunes — that consisted of nothing but new songs that will appear on a forthcoming album.
Jeffreys and Yorn and their bands delivered inspired sets Saturday at Starland. Yorn, a native of Montville, opened with North Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough’s “I Feel Good Again,” while Brooklyn-based Jeffreys and his band blended blues, classic R&B, rock and reggae with “Don’t Call Me Buckwheat,” “We the People” and an audience rousing take on the blues, “King Bee.” Jeffreys and his band closed with their take on ? and the Mysterians’ “96 Tears.”
After Jeffreys’ rousing set Saturday night, Benjamin got on stage and told the audience, “Rock ‘n’ roll is the tool that can change the world.”
Sunday night’s show at Starland was a totally different format, an acoustic show. Instead of the usual open floor space, patrons were encouraged to sit in chairs at tables. An extension of Gordon Brown’s successful “Writers in the Raw” series that was often held at Harry’s Roadhouse in Asbury Park, Sunday’s show included conversation and performances from Yorn, Grushecky, John Eddie, D’Urso, Malin and Jess Klein, among others.
More information on Parkinson’s Disease symptoms, possible causes, and research, is offered on the Web at www.pdf.org. More on Light of Day shows in Los Angeles and Italy can be found at www.lightofday.org.
Copyright (c) The Asbury Park Press – 2005