Happy Birthday, Charlie Giordano, still rockin' those keys for Springsteen... and many others, too!
- Letters To You
- Oct 13
- 4 min read
October 13, 2025
Happy 71st Birthday to E Street Band keyboardist Charlie Giordano. Coincidentally, if you flip those digits in "71" around to "17," you'll also get the number of years it's been since Charlie first joined the E Street Band, in the wake of Danny Federici's illness and untimely passing. Charlie has been such a great choice to fill such a difficult role because he's never tried to "play like Danny," but instead has consistently incorporated his own unique musical talent and skills into the E Street sound. Of course, Charlie's been performing with Bruce Springsteen for even longer than seventeen years, thanks to his previous stellar stint in The (Seeger) Sessions Band.
And very soon we'll get to hear - and see - Charlie in action with Bruce yet again. It was only Charlie and guitarist Larry Campbell who performed with Springsteen in the special live 2025 full-album performance of Nebraska that was recorded and filmed at Red Bank, NJ's Count Basie Theatre last April for the forthcoming Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition box-set. (Incidentally, just in case you haven't heard already, the official release of that box-set has been pushed back a week to Friday, October 24.)
But Charlie also has pursued and continues pursuing many other musical paths besides E Street, and has played with and continues playing with many musicians other than Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. The latest case in point: Charlie's keyboard contributions to the just-released The King of Good Intentions, the debut album by poet, novelist, and singer-songwriter Jon Loomis.
We recently connected with Loomis, who told us about his album and how thrilled he was to have Charlie Giordano play on it. "The record was produced by Eric 'Roscoe' Ambel," Loomis began, "at his studio, Cowboy Technical Services Recording Rig, in Green Point, Brooklyn, NYC. Roscoe was the original lead guitarist for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; he also toured with Steve Earle for several years, and has fronted a bunch of bands including the cult-favorite The Del-Lords, and the equally awesome Yayhoos. He’s also produced scores, if not hundreds, of records over the years, for folks like the late, great Mojo Nixon, The Bottle Rockets, and so on. According to Roscoe, he met Charlie when The Del-Lords were touring with Pat Benatar in the '80s, and Charlie was playing keys for Pat. [Editor's note: We covered the Benatar period of Charlie's long and illustrious career in our 2023 birthday salute to the man, and had some fun doing it, too. Click here to read our archived salute.]
"Charlie and Roscoe have collaborated on a lot of projects together over the years. So that’s how Charlie ended up doing those incredible keyboard parts on three of the tunes on The King of Good Intentions." Loomis also referred Letters To You directly to Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, who wanted to let our readers and us know the following: "I love Charlie. Love having him at the studio. I kind of reconnected with Charlie through the records that I did with Emily Duff. We usually take a picture of the two of us and send it to Nils Lofgren. I produced Nils’ Crooked Line album. And sometimes to [Pat Benatar's longtime musical/marital partner] Neil Giraldo, too." The three The King of Good Intentions tracks on which Giordano appears are "Big Ol' Stupid Love," "Anna's Garden," and "Beautiful Wreck." You can click here to listen to and purchase those tracks or the entire album, which is a very impressive debut indeed.
"When Roscoe told me that he’d lined up Charlie to play keys on a few of my tunes," adds Loomis, "I think my exact words were 'NO FUCKING WAY!!!' Seriously, I was beyond amazed. Charlie did his parts on the tracks separately at Cowboy Technical, so unfortunately we were never in the studio together, but my mind was blown just by his participation. Then my mind was completely blown a second, third and fourth time, when I got to hear what he’d done. All brilliant, of course, and all recognizably him, somehow. It was like a little taste of the E Street Band had magically made its way onto my record. I continue to be amazed even after listening to those tracks probably a thousand times now; his work is that good. So, huge thanks to Charlie for all the great music. I am, of course, a major fan of 'The Boss' and the E Street Band, which maybe goes without saying, and thanks especially for creating these brilliant keyboard tracks for The King of Good Intentions! Also, thanks to Eric Ambel for bringing Charlie into the project, and for all the great work he did as producer. It’s been a great experience, and I continue to be blow away by how well it all turned out... Please wish Charlie a very happy birthday for me!"
Glad to do so, Jon. On behalf of Jon Loomis, Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, and your many other fans around the globe (ourselves at Letters To You included, of course,) Happy Birthday, Charlie, and best wishes for many more Happy Birthdays to come!
