Southside Johnny

R&B fanatic Southside Johnny (b. John Lyon, 4 December 1948, Neptune, New Jersey, USA) sang with the Blackberry Booze Band in the late 60s before teaming up with the Asbury Jukes with school friends Billy Rush (b. 26 August 1952; guitar), Kevin Kavanaugh (b. 27 August 1951; keyboards), Kenneth Pentifallo (b. 30 December 1940; bass) and Alan "Doc' Berger (b. 8 November 1949; drums). Popular in Upstage, Stone Poney and other parochial clubs, they sought a wider audience via a 1976 promotional album, Live At The Bottom Line, which helped facilitate a contract with Epic. Like another local lad, Bruce Springsteen, the outfit bolstered their reputation with practical demonstrations of credible influences by enlisting Ronnie Spector, Lee Dorsey, and black vocal groups of the 50s on I Wanna Go Home and its follow-up, This Time It's For Real. Both were weighted further with Springsteen sleeve notes and songs as well as songwriting input and production supervision by his guitarist (and ex-Juke) Steven Van Zandt. After Hearts Of Stone failed to reach a mass public, Epic let the band go with the valedictory Havin" A Party With Southside Johnny. Mitigating this setback were increasing touring fees that permitted sensational augmentation with a horn section including Carlo Novi (b. 7 August 1949, Mexico City, Mexico; tenor saxophone), Eddie Manion (b. 28 February 1952; baritone saxophone), Tony Palligrosi (b. 9 May 1954; trumpet), Ricky Gazda (b. 18 June 1952; trumpet), and ex-Diana Ross trombonist Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, as well as an additional guitarist in Joel Gramolini and replacement drummer Steve Becker.
The band's debut for Mercury Records, 1979's The Jukes sold well as did Love Is A Sacrifice in 1980 but, for all the polished production by Barry Beckett many felt that much nascent passion had been dissipated. Possibly, this was traceable to the borrowing of the horns by Van Zandt for his Disciples Of Soul, and the exits of Pentifallo and Berger, the latter writer (with Lyon and Rush) of the band's original material. The in-concert Reach Up And Touch The Sky (with its fiery Sam Cooke medley) halted a commercial decline that resumed with later studio efforts, although there was still radio interest in a revival of the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee" (from At Least We Got Shoes) and a Jersey Artists For Mankind charity single (organized by Lyon). The band's second album for the Mirage label, At Least We Got Shoes, was completed without Rush. Lyon recorded a solo album in the late 80s before returning to the studio with a new Jukes line-up to record Better Days. This lyrically nostalgic album contained a Springsteen song "Walk You All The Way Home" in addition to Van Zandt's numerous contributions. The band only occasionally returns to the studio these days, opting instead to tour constantly along the eastern coast of America and sometimes venturing further afield. Widely regarded as "The World's Greatest Bar Band", they continue to attract star guests including Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi.

-VH1.com