Southside Johnny
(real name John Lyon
, born December 4, 1948 in Neptune, New Jersey) is an American singer-songwriter who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
.
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SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY AND THE ASBURY JUKES TICKETS
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Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes Tickets 5/4 | May 04, 2024 Sat, 8:00 PM | | Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes Tickets 5/22 | May 22, 2024 Wed, 8:30 PM | | Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes Tickets 5/23 | May 23, 2024 Thu, 8:30 PM | | Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes Tickets 6/8 | Jun 08, 2024 Sat, 7:30 PM | | Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes Tickets 9/21 | Sep 21, 2024 Sat, 8:00 PM | |
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Biography
Lyon grew up in
Ocean Grove, New Jersey [1] and graduated from
Neptune High School.
[2] Southside has long been considered the Grandfather of "the New Jersey Sound." Jon Bon Jovi has acknowledged Southside as his "reason for singing."
1975 - 1980
Southside Johnny first achieved prominence in the mid-1970s as the second act to emerge from the
Jersey Shore music scene and be considered part of the
Jersey Shore sound, following
Bruce Springsteen. Southside's first three albums,
I Don't Want to Go Home
(1976),
This Time It's For Real
(1977), and
Hearts of Stone
(1978), were
Stax-influenced
R&B arranged and produced by the co-founder of the band and Springsteen confederate
Steven Van Zandt and largely featured songs written by Van Zandt and/or Springsteen. The Van Zandt-written "I Don't Want To Go Home" became Southside's
signature song, an evocative mixture of
horn-based melodic riffs and sentimental lyrics. Other notable songs included "
The Fever", "
Talk to Me", "This Time It's For Real", "Love on the Wrong Side of Town", and the definitive version of Springsteen's "Hearts of Stone".
1980 - 1990
Cast under Springsteen's long shadow, Southside and the Jukes never gained national commercial success, and in 1979 they were dropped by their record company. Now working without Van Zandt, they released
The Jukes
in 1979 and
Love is a Sacrifice
in 1980. Neither of these achieved much success either. The band's first official live release also came out in 1980, the
double album Reach Up and Touch the Sky
.
In 1982
Rolling Stone Magazine
voted the album
Hearts of Stone
among the top 100 albums of the 70's and 80's.
During the 1980s Southside Johnny's recording contracts continued to change almost by album, but he continued to release records:
Trash It Up
(1983), a
disco influenced album written by Billy Rush and produced by
Nile Rodgers;
In the Heat
(1984) an album trying to reach out to "Adult Oriented Radio"; and
At Least We Got Shoes
(1986) where guitarist and Jersey shore fixture
Bobby Bandiera took over songwriting and guitar work from Billy Rush and led the Asbury Jukes back to their original sound. Songwriting credits on
At Least We Got Shoes
also contain a song co-written by Bandiera and singer
Patti Scialfa, who was known as a Jukes collaborator since the 1980 album
Love is a Sacrifice
and who became a member of Bruce Springsteen's
E Street Band in 1984.
In 1987, Southside and the Jukes were featured in the film
Adventures in Babysitting
performing at a college frat party. One of the songs performed was
Future In Your Eyes
.
In 1988 Southside Johnny released his first solo record
Slow Dance
containing ballads and love songs, but also "Little Calcutta" which is still discussed as Southside's most political song of his career, describing the life and environment of the homeless in New York City.
More record label switches, Jukes personnel changes, tours and club dates followed.
1990 - today
thumb in 2005
His recording career was re-launched with the album
Better Days
(1991), which featured production by Van Zandt, songs by Springsteen, and vocal performances from Van Zandt, Springsteen and
Jon Bon Jovi. With
Bobby Bandiera driving the band, the Jukes were gaining new energy for a world wide tour supporting the album. But once again, Southside Johnny's bad luck with the industry was shown when the record label went bankrupt while the tour was still rolling.
Southside performed the theme song for the 1990s television
sitcom Dave's World
, a cover of
Billy Joel's "
You May Be Right."
Southside eventually relocated to
Nashville taking a break from the music business. A few members of the Asbury Jukes would end up being part of
The Max Weinberg 7 on the
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
television show, while some others went on tour and into the recording studio with artists like
Jon Bon Jovi,
Mink DeVille,
Graham Parker, and
Robert Cray.
In 1998 Southside Johnny came back into the spotlight with an independent release titled
Spittin' Fire
, a live record with a semi-acoustic Jukes lineup released in France containing a 20 song set recorded during a series of 10 shows at the "Chesterfield Café" in Paris, France.
Since 2001 Southside Johnny and the Jukes have toured the UK and Europe as an annual event, their first since the 1992 Better Days tour, although Southside and
Bobby Bandiera did some acoustic shows in 1995.
After a decade without a record contract Southside finally founded his own record label in 2001 under the name of Leroy Records, and started releasing and distributing his new records fully under his own control:
Messin' with the Blues
(2000),
Going to Jukesville
(2002),
Missing Pieces
(2004),
Into the Harbour
(2005).
Southside continues to perform, and maintains substantial audience followings in some regions of the U.S., such as New Jersey, New York, northeast Ohio, and abroad, in the UK and continental Europe, as 2002's
Live At The Opera House
DVD, filmed at a sold-out performance in
Newcastle upon Tyne, demonstrates. His appearances at Springsteen's
Asbury Park or Bandiera's holiday benefit shows draw as much crowd excitement as Springsteen himself.
Two die-hard Southside fans from England, Mike Saunders and Dave Percival, while following a European tour, befriended the band and became volunteer roadies for the remaining UK shows. Nicknamed 'the Druids' by
Bobby Bandiera for Saunders' long hair and Percival's hooded sweatshirt, they helped on subsequent British tours and became part of the Jukes touring family and legend. Mike Saunders also chronicled the band's many line-up changes over the years in the form of an Asbury Jukes family tree.
In 2008, Southside Johnny collaborated with long-time Asbury Jukes trombone player
Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, for a break from the classic Asbury Jukes sound to classic Big-Band Jazz. Together with a 20 piece big band they recorded a cover album of songs written by
Tom Waits, arranged and conducted by Rosenberg.
[3]
As of 2009, Southside Johnny Lyon lives again in his original hometown Ocean Grove, N.J. USA.
[4]
Discography
[5]
- Southside Johnny
- * Slow Dance
(1988)
- * Spittin' Fire
(1997)
- Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
- * I Don't Want To Go Home
(1976)
- * Live At The Bottom Line
(1976)
- * This Time It's For Real
(1977)
- * Hearts Of Stone
(1978)
- * Havin' A Party
(1979)
- * The Jukes
(1979)
- * Love Is A Sacrifice
(1980)
- * Reach Up And Touch The Sky
(1981)
- * Trash It Up
(1983)
- * Better Days
(1991)
- * Live at The Paradise Theater
(2000)
- * Messin' With The Blues
(2000)
- * Going To Jukesville
(2002)
- * Missing Pieces
(2004)
- * Into The Harbour
(2005)
- * From Southside To Tyneside
(2008)
- * Hearts Of Stone (live)
(2009)
- Southside Johnny & The Jukes
- * In the Heat
(1984)
- * At Least We Got Shoes
(1986)
- Southside Johnny with La Bamba's Big Band
- * Grapefruit Moon: The Songs Of Tom Waits
(2008)
- Selected others
- *Jersey Artists For Mankind: "We Got The Love" / "Save Love, Save Life" (1986)
- *Soundtrack: Home Alone
(1990)
- *Killer Joe: Scene Of The Crime
(1991)
- *Gary U.S. Bonds: Back in 20
(2004) [6]
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