A thousand years ago (truthfully, it's actually a little more than forty), shortly after I'd begun to recognize that Bruce Springsteen was the second coming of Christ an exemplar of the best of what rock and roll had to offer, I began to research his musical history, and as such, came across this week's band. While I have not kept up with their catalog through the years quite like I have with Springsteen, their first few albums still bring back a lot of good memories...and a number of hellacious tunes.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (truly one of rock and roll's better band names) began as a union between Steve Van Zandt (of E Street Band and The Sopranos fame) and John Lyon (later known as Southside Johnny) in the early 70's, a time in which they played in numerous bands together (some including Springsteen as well). In 1975 Van Zandt followed Springsteen on his Born to Run tour, at which time Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes were more or less born. Van Zandt would produce as well as write songs for their first few albums, and though the Jukes never quite achieved the commercial success they might have hoped for, they have been able to make a living (in a number of different incarnations) playing music these many years now. For their career, the Jukes have released (more or less as they've had a number of different band names with the only constant being Southside Johnny) seventeen studio albums, sixteen live albums, and seventeen compilations.
Fun Fact: Over one hundred musicians have performed in one of the numerous forms of the Jukes, including Jon Bon Jovi and a number of members of the E Street Band.
"I Don't Want to Go Home" was not released as a single in the United States, but it was the first song on their debut album, the not so surprisingly entitled I Don't Want to Go Home. The song is considered one of the Jukes signature tunes, and the album is often mentioned as one of the forerunners of the Jersey Shore sound.
For those not familiar, one listen of "I Don't Want to Go Home" and you are going to realize that you are familiar...with the Jersey Shore sound. Lots of horns, a righteous rock and roll band, and some raucous vocals lead the way as Southside Johnny weaves a tale (written by Van Zandt) of a man who at first we think is having a good time but later come to see that he doesn't want to go home because his baby has left him and he doesn't want to return to an empty house. Lyon sings the vocals with the longing of a man adrift, and the band backs him with just enough oomph to keep the song from becoming maudlin. I hadn't heard this one in years when I added it to my list of future Jukebox posts, but you can bet I've more than caught up in the last couple of years. Another in a long line of great songs in the "My Baby She Left Me" genre.
Lyric Sheet: "I know we had to try/To reach up and touch the sky baby/What ever happened to you and I/That I don't want to go home..."
Enjoy:
Republican = Racist
Peace,
emaycee
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