December 20, 2024
"Southside Johnny... One of the weirdest guys I ever saw. He used to dress just like my old man. He was definitely comin' in from the outside. First time I saw him he was playin' bass behind one of the early legends in Asbury, a guy named Sonny Kenn. Johnny was terrible. This was a person that could not play the bass. But he could sing and play harp and he knew a lot about the blues. Once I talked to him, I realized he wasn't as weird as he looked... He was weirder, and his general conversation consisted of insulting everyone within fifty feet. But he was the only white kid on the Jersey shore that you could stand to hear sing straight R&B five sets a night.
"I brought up a lot of the past in these notes, and I hope Johnny don't mind, but I think it's time to bring it up before it's lost forever, because I know pretty soon it'll all be gone. So it's time to speak the names of the lost soldiers, 'cause the music on this album - Johnny's music - is something that grew out of those friendships and the long summer nights when there was no particular place to go and nothing to do... except play.
-All night long."
Bruce Springsteen, from his liner notes for I Don't Want To Go Home, the first album by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
Countless thanks, Southside, for all of those great live performances over the years. Much health and happiness to you in the future, good sir.