A Career in the Shadow of a Jersey God: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
If not for that Bruce guy…
Being linked forever with another artist isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can’t think of Lennon and not immediately think of McCartney. Same with Jagger and Richards, Bono and the Edge, Morrissey and Marr, Willie and Waylon. All of these are, for the most part, positive associations because the artists not only worked closely together but are also essentially equals.
But what if you are an exceptional talent forever linked with a musical god? What if you started out in bands in the same town, often playing together, and while you had a fair amount of success, your comrade achieved that rarified distinction of being recognized simply by his first name? Let me introduce someone who would know: John Lyon, better known (to those who know of him at all) as Southside Johnny, leader of the Asbury Jukes.
If you’ve heard of Southside Johnny, good on you. If you’ve heard of him and did not immediately also think of Bruce Springsteen, then your mama never taught you that it’s wrong to lie. If you’ve never heard of him, that’s what I’m hoping to change.
Southside Johnny is as Jersey as they come. Born in Neptune, NJ in 1948, he graduated high school in 1967 with bassist Garry Tallent and drummer Vini…
