1970s in
Cleveland, for the band's October 1976 performance with
Nils Lofgren at
John Carroll University in
University Heights, Ohio Southside Johnny and
Steven Van Zandt, the two prime movers behind the formation of the Jukes, began playing together in various bands during the early 1970s. These bands, initially based out of
The Upstage Club at 702 Cookman Avenue in
Asbury Park, New Jersey, were usually short lived and often included
Bruce Springsteen and various future members of
The E Street Band. Funky Dusty & The Soul Broom, a short-lived 1970 band including
Garry Tallent and Bobby Williams (drums), was among the first of these bands. The same quartet also acted as backing band for a local folksinger Jeannie Clark. Van Zandt was also a member of
Steel Mill at the time, and Southside had just left one of his formative bands, Maelstrom. Following this, Steve Van Zandt & Friends was formed in January 1971, including Springsteen, Tallent, Williams, and
Danny Federici. By February 1971, Van Zandt and Southside, together with Tallent and
David Sancious, were playing as Steve Van Zandt & The Big Bad Bobby Williams Band. In March 1971, Van Zandt and Southside also featured in a short-lived Springsteen band, The Friendly Enemies. The highlight of their brief existence was opening for
The Allman Brothers. Other members of this band included Tallent, Sancious, Williams, and
Vini Lopez. In April 1971, Van Zandt and Southside also began co-leading The Sundance Blues Band, a group whose line-up would also feature Springsteen, Lopez, Tallent, and Sancious. In May 1971, Springsteen also recruited all the members of The Sundance Blues Band to play in his very short-lived band, Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom. Among the many musicians to play with this group was Kevin Kavanaugh, a future Juke. Kavanaugh grew up in
Middletown, New Jersey and was a childhood friend of Van Zandt. They had also played together in a band called The Shadows. Beginning in July 1971, Van Zandt, Lopez, Tallent, and Sancious also began backing Springsteen as The Bruce Springsteen Band and they would eventually evolve into
The E Street Band. Southside Johnny would also occasionally play with this band. By 1974, Van Zandt was playing with Al Berger in
The Dovells backing band and
Southside Johnny began to play with the Blackberry Booze Band which Kenny Pentifallo had already been drumming for. They established themselves as the house band at
The Stone Pony in
Asbury Park, New Jersey. Green was the band's lead singer but he preferred to play harmonica. Southside Johnny was playing harmonica with the Bank Street Blues Band but had few opportunities to sing lead. Green and Southside Johnny effectively swapped bands and Southside Johnny soon emerged as the leader of BBB, firing Dickler and Meyers but keeping Pentifallo on the drums. He subsequently recruited Kevin Kavanaugh and Van Zandt, who in turn recruited Al Berger, and in June 1975, inspired by
Little Walter & The Jukes they changed their name to the Asbury Jukes. The original Jukes line-up was then completed with the addition of
Mexican American Carlo Novi (tenor sax) and Billy Rush (guitar) In July 1975,
Steven Van Zandt joined
Bruce Springsteen's
E Street Band and subsequently accompanied him on the
Born to Run tour. Meanwhile back in
Asbury Park, the Jukes became Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes and continued to play as the house band at
the Stone Pony. However Van Zandt maintained his association with the Jukes and produced a four-song demo at the
Record Plant Studios that attracted the attention of
Steve Popovich of
Epic Records. This then led to Van Zandt producing their debut album, ''I Don't Want to Go Home'', at the same studio. Van Zandt also wrote three songs for the album including "How Come You Treat Me So Bad?", which featured guest vocals from
Lee Dorsey and the title track, which effectively became the band's signature tune. Other highlights on the album are two songs donated by Springsteen, "
The Fever" and "You Mean So Much To Me".
Clarence Clemons provided bass vocal on the former but is credited under the pseudonym
Selmon T. Sachs while the latter was performed as a duet by
Southside Johnny and
Ronnie Spector. During the 1970s, Van Zandt went on to produce two further albums with the Jukes. ''This Time It's For Real'', released in 1977, saw Van Zandt write eight of the album's ten songs, including three co-written by Springsteen. It also featured guest appearances from
The Drifters,
The Coasters and
The Five Satins. Their third album,
Hearts Of Stone, released in 1978 was recorded without guest appearances and featured entirely original material. Van Zandt wrote seven of the nine songs including "Trapped Again", co-written with Southside Johnny and Springsteen. Springsteen also donated two further songs, the title track and "Talk to Me". The band was also featured in the 1977 film
Between the Lines which starred then unknown actors
Jeff Goldblum,
John Heard,
Lindsay Crouse,
Jill Eikenberry, and
Stephen Collins. The band is shown performing "Sweeter Than Honey" and "
Having a Party". In 1979, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes performed a homecoming concert in Asbury Park which was the subject of a documentary film directed and produced by
Neal Marshad called
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes at the Asbury Park Convention Center. The film was first shown in January 1980 on Warner Cable's QUBE in Columbus, Ohio. In August 1979, the band played at
Knebworth Festival in England. The headline act at both their appearances at the festival, over two consecutive Saturdays on 4 and 11 August, were
Led Zeppelin. In 1979, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes underwent several important changes. Their first three studio albums had only been moderate commercial successes, Lyon was injured and could not tour to support Hearts of Stone, and they were subsequently dropped by
Epic Records. His commitments to
Bruce Springsteen occurred as
Steven Van Zandt ended his affiliation with the Jukes, leading
Billy Rush to take over as the band's co-leader and principal songwriter. The next three Jukes albums were all released on
Mercury Records. This was then followed by
Love is a Sacrifice and a double live album
Reach Up and Touch the Sky. On the live album,
Stephan Galfas helped out with engineering and production and also featured a trio of backing singers,
Patti Scialfa,
Soozie Kirschner, and Lisa Lowell.
1980s In 1983,
Trash It Up was released by Mirage Records and produced by
Nile Rodgers while 1984's
In the Heat saw
Asbury dropped from the band's name. It also marked the end of Billy Rush’s association with the Jukes. After leaving the band, Rush went on produce for
Taka Boom,
Serge Gainsbourg, and
Kacy Crowley. In 1985, guitarist
Bobby Bandiera replaced Rush. The following year, in 1986, the band released
At Least We Got Shoes as Southside Johnny & the Jukes before becoming Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes again. In 1991 they released
Better Days which yielded minor hits with "It's Been a Long Time" and "I've Been Workin' Too Hard" and included vocal contributions from
Bruce Springsteen and
Jon Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi even joined the band as a special guest on their 1990 tour. The band released several more albums in the 1990s and 2000s and they changed membership several times. their lineup includes keyboardist
Jeff Kazee and bassist John Conte. In 1987, the band was in the film
Adventures in Babysitting. They were featured in the college frat party scene singing two songs. ==21st century==