Today, we welcome Robert Lawson into the cafe to talk about his labour of love: his book about the legend, Stevie Van Zandt. Robert has been a Stevie fan for over 40 years and has written a very comprehensive record of his career including interviews with the man himself and numerous Disciples of Soul.To celebrate our first Stevie podcast, the cafe team pull out all the stops by creating a special menu which Jeff, Mike and Robert tuck into in between stories.'Solidarity Forever: The Art and Soul of Stevie Van Zandt' is out now and available to purchase.
Jeff asks the questions. Dan and Mike battle it out for the special prize of a free ticket to the Gig Time Machine. Pit your wits against the boys as they go head to head with each other in a special Born to Run anniversary quiz. Sloppy Sue and Weak Knees are back from their holiday and join Rosie in the cafe to serve up the coffee and ice creams! Feel free to join in the fun and let us know how you get on!
7 brand new albums in one day from The Boss. Where do we start? It's impossible for us to review these in depth in a single episode so with the help of Jeff, Dan and a special guest Ken Lesnik, one of our friends from New Jersey - we take a shallow dive across the box set. We also choose our stand-out track on each album.Rosalita is on duty today to ensure everything runs very smoothly on the hottest day of the year!
Join Jeff and Dan in the cafe to get their perspectives on the epic four days in Liverpool. With contributions from absent Geezers Mike and Jim, we talk about the two nights at Anfield, the guest appearance from Macca, and the Max Weinberg Pension Top Up events too! Rosalita has the day off, but Sloppy Sue serves up a couple of poorly presented dollops of Chirmside Chicken.
There is so much to say about the Bruce Springsteen shows in Liverpool, so we have decided to do two separate podcasts to discuss what happened. In this episode we talk to three musicians to get their own perspective on the epic concerts at Anfield. Make yourself a drink, sit comfortably and hear what Robert Vincent, Ian Prowse and Hywel (rhymes with towel) Roberts thought of their own experiences.
John Garrett Andrews saw The Castiles in 1967 when he was just 13 years old. Fast forward to April 1974 and John gets the honour of interviewing Bruce after the late show at Brown University. Bruce was not happy with his Record Company at the time and his comments to John got back to the Head of Columbia Records at the time. Listen to John's fascinating story here.
Our own Dan French has gone and released a book! Grab Your Ticket And Your Suitcase documents every Springsteen concert Dan has been to since 1981 and documents his own personal Bruce Springsteen concert journey over this time. Lots of great memories are crammed into this book including how Dan met Bruce in the Stone Pony, the infamous Slane 1985 trip and many many more highlights.Copies of the book can be ordered via www.badlands.co.uk or through Amazon.
To celebrate our 50th episode, we have the enormous pleasure of welcoming our good friend Bobby Chirmside back to the podcast. Bobby was Bruce's Road Manager from 1976 to 1981 and lived with Bruce at the famous Telegraph Hill mansion. Buckle up, pour yourself a drink and enjoy this wonderful trip back down Memory Lane.
Grab a beverage and sit back to listen to two eyewitness reports from two of the recent Canadian arena shows in Montreal and Winnipeg. Firstly, Martin from the UK joins us to tell us his story about how he managed to persuade Bruce to play The Angel in London in 1996, and why he decided to go to Montreal on Halloween night. Next we connect with a 'blast from the past' - Stu Reid -a fellow fanzine editor from the 1980s. We do eventually get around to talking about the recent Winnipeg gig, but not before we catch up on over 40 years of memories. Enjoy!
Mark A Wright is a natural born performer. He is widely known to the Bruce community for his brilliant cover versions of Bruce's songs - and not all the obvious ones! He has performed at Bruce pre-show parties and Light of Day. Not only that, but he has an 'Elvis sings the Boss' act and many other guises. He is also a singer-songwriter. Mark is a wonderful guest and our staff really enjoyed Mark's musical performance live in the cafe. Pour yourself a ginger ale or some Bruce Juice and enjoy the scintillating chat with Jeff and Mike.
Slane Castle in Ireland in 1985 was a first for Bruce on many fronts. It was also a trip that will live with our intrepid podcast hosts (and 12 other fellow travellers) for the rest of our lives. The trip was filled with mishap, adventure, danger and a lot of fun. Well, it is Ireland - we wouldn't expect any less. Tune in for a bag full of stories from 38 years ago that will make you cringe and laugh at the same time. Glory Days indeed. Oh, and don't spill your Guinness.
Lauren Onkey has probably one of the most respected CVs/ résumés in the music industry. Not only has she interviewed The Boss online a couple of years ago, but she was asked to write the introduction to Dave Marsh's new book 'Kick Out The Jams.' In fact if it wasn't for Dave's encouragement all those years ago - Lauren's career may not have taken the turn it did. In this episode, with the help of Rosalita and the new staff plying Lauren with ice-cold beers, she tells Jeff and Dan about how she discovered Bruce's music, her journey into music journalism and her working relationship with Dave Marsh.
In 2015, Jake Clemons played a very intimate and special gig in the tiny front room of Deirdre and Saoirse Houston's house on the west coast of Ireland. 37 very lucky people (and a cat) were there that night as Jake pulled up in his small red rental car and proceeded to unload his saxophone and guitar. That night will stay with those lucky 37 people forever - especially as they were required to collectively help out on one song! Tune in to find out the full story of that wonderful night in Galway and to hear the fantastic memories from that living room gig.
The E Street Cafe Podcast often asks our guests: 'If you could travel back in the Gig time machine and see any concert - what would it be?' Our three intrepid hosts often state that the 1976/1977 Chicken Scratch and Lawsuit Tours would be right up there. Not only has this week's guest been to those concerts, but he was also very lucky to be in the second row of the second Hammersmith show in 1975. Are we envious of John Hersov - you bet we are! However, we are very fortunate that John dropped into the cafe to regale tales from his time on the road during this very special time and beyond. Enjoy!
Bruce's career is pretty well documented from 1975 onwards. In this intriguing chat, the author and researcher Craig Statham pops into the cafe to talk about his updated version of his book Springsteen: Saint in the City 1949 to 1974 - a superb and thoroughly researched book about his real formative years. On one of the hottest days of the year, Rosie keeps the guys going with iced water and other refreshments. Please contact Craig direct if you want to order a revised copy of this great book.
In this episode, we give first hand accounts of some of the recent European gigs that our hosts attended. What was the first E Street Band gig in Edinburgh for 42 years like? A welcome tour debut in Birmingham. Geezers reunited in Gothenburg, and have we uncovered a better way to 'see' Bruce in Hyde Park? Mix all that up with a random mix of predictions for 2024 and this makes for a friendly chat in the cafe.
Joe Francis unexpectedly met Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney backstage at Glastonbury in 2022. He was hungover a little, but styling it out in denim shorts and Crocs whilst nursing plenty of coffee from the magical barista backstage. But, this is the important part ..... Joe is also a very talented musician and songwriter himself. He is the front man and face of Winter Mountain. Joe brings his guitar into the cafe today and starts to serenade the staff - especially Rosalita!! For more information about Joe's music - visit www.wintermountain.co.uk
'I'm with my main man' says Bruce of Pete Harris in 1975. That's why the media couldn't get anywhere near him at the iconic Hammersmith '75 concert. Pete was a confident and self-assured sales rep for HP Sauce at the time, but had managed to talk his way into Bruce's inner circle on the day of Bruce's first and historic overseas concert with the help of an oversized jar of pickled onions! Again in 1981, Pete hung out with Bruce and the band on the River tour. A larger than life character, Pete shares some of his personal stories with Jeff and Dan whilst Rosie searches around the kitchen for Pete's chosen drink of Vimto and a peculiar special bread request. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode. We certainly had great fun making it. Don't forget to leave us a nice review, tell your fellow E Streeters about the podcast and follow us on Facebook.
Eileen Chapman is the Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Centre for American Music. She lives in Asbury Park and takes the short ride to Monmouth University each day for work, passing all the iconic New Jersey shore attractions. In this episode, Eileen joins Jeff and Dan to discuss the work of the Springsteen Archive Centre and the worldwide interest from Bruce fans. We discover the rarest item in the collection (prepare to be astounded) and of course the E Street Cafe team are on hand to provide refreshments. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. If you like these podcasts - don't forget to leave us a 5 star review. It will put a smile on our faces!
These are the best clips and bits from Episodes 7 to 12 of Season 1. Listen to Hywel (rhymes with towel) Roberts try and engage with our waitress Rosalita, and make a new doggy friend for life. Tune in for the journalist Patrick Humphries impersonating one of our dear old departed friends. Nicki Germaine talks about photographing the band backstage in 1974, and Marc Ribler wonders what does 'Mikipedia' Saunders really wear behind the camera on a podcast. Jeff and Dan also catch up with fellow fanzine editor Paul Limbrick, and we finish off with a funny clip from our 'almost live' Barcelona report. Don't forget to 1) Tell your friends 2) Leave us a nice review 3) Follow us The E Street Cafe Podcast on Facebook and Instagram Enjoy folks!