The Boss joined The Consigliere Sunday (10/26) when Bruce Springsteen honored his longtime bestie, Little Steven, by jamming at their favorite haunt: The Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
Steven Van Zandt doesn't turn 75 for a few more weeks, but his Disciples of Soul show at the New Jersey staple doubled as both a benefit for the rocker and a benefit for TeachRock.
The evening opened with Steven and the Disciples covering Arthur Conley’s “Sweet Soul Music” and then The Breakers’ “Soulfire.” Both are the types of tunes you'd hear on his Sirius satellite station, Little Steven's Underground Garage.
Now that everyone was warmed up, the man who played Tony Soprano's BFF then called Springsteen to the stage.
To make things really fun, The Disciples were joined by E Street Band members Jake Clemons, Curtis King Jr., Michelle Moore, Anthony Almonte, Ozzie Melendez, Ed Manion and Barry Danielian.
The first thing they all played together was “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” the Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes classic that Van Zandt wrote in the 1970s.
Many don't realize - and perhaps this would be a better movie than the disappointing current Springsteen biopic in the theaters now - but in the mid-70s, Little Steven was splitting his time between the E Street Band and the Jukes.
For all the love and respect that he had for Bruce, he actually had more invested in the Jukes beside playing guitar. He sang, wrote or co-wrote songs, and Steve even produced their first three records: I Don’t Want to Go Home (1976), This Time It’s for Real (1977), and Hearts of Stone (1978).
It wasn't until The River in 1980 that Steve went all in with The Boss, and even then he left a few years later in '84, right before the Born in the USA tour.
The ensemble then broke into the call-and-response favorite, "Raise Your Hand," originally done by Eddie Floyd.
According to our database, Springsteen live debuted the cover (which was co-written by Blues Brothers / Stax guitarist Steve Cropper) at the Stone Pony in 1976.
Springsteen fans who weren't lucky enough to catch that gig (or the 30 other times Bruce played the Pony in his career), first heard the cover on the Live 75-85 box set that came out in the wake of the success of Born in the USA.
That box set, by the way, was the first five-record LP to make it into Billboard's Top 10, and the first to sell over a million copies.
The mini-set concluded with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" from Born to Run, which has become an upbeat tribute to the Big Man, Clarence Clemens, the longtime sax player in the E Street Band.
How dear is the Stone Pony to Little Steven? He was married there in 1982 with The Boss as his Best Man and Little Richard doing the honors.
Fun fact: Steve became Little Steven as a nod to his hero, Little Richard.
The birthday bash was also a celebration of Mrs. Maureen Van Zandt, who is also a November baby.
Earlier in the night other Jesse Malin, Gary U.S. Bonds, and Darlene Love, had their turn rocking the mic.
Bruce and E Street hit the road late next summer. In the meantime if you'd like to support kids learning how to become musicians, you can donate to their musical education on the Teach Rock website.
