If you were in Red Bank on the evenings of May 12th and 13th, 1977, you had a chance to witness in person a one-time only alignment of stars: the Asbury Jukes and the E Street Band playing a show together, with Steve Van Zandt out in front for most of the show, Bruce mostly in a supporting role, and Southside Johnny missing in action altogether.
The shows were originally billed with Southside Johnny as the headliner, but when Southside got sick and couldn’t perform, Van Zandt organized a rescue mission to save the Jukes’ four-show stand at the Monmouth Arts Center.
Assembled on stage that night were the Asbury Jukes, the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen, and Ronnie Spector, performing a mix of Southside’s and Spector’s classics with a four-song Springsteen encore.
Although Bruce took lead vocals on his own songs, for most of the night he stayed on backing vocals and guitar while Steve played the frontman.
Was Steve up to the task? Heck yes. Take a listen to one of the many highlights from that night, “She Got Me Where She Wants Me,” from Southside’s new (at the time) album, This Time It’s For Real.
At that point, Southside’s new album had only been out a few weeks, but Steve led the band through the song like it was made for him.
That’s probably because it was made by him. Steve wrote, arranged, and produced “She Got Me Where She Wants Me” along with most of the songs on the album. An obvious homage to the classic R&B groups (a few of whom appear on the album), “She Got Me Where She Wants Me” is a quintessential Van Zandt track, and one of my favorites from an album full of them.
As for Southside, he was back in action pretty quickly. Here he is back where he belongs two months after that All-Star Revue rescue mission, leading his band through “She Got Me Where She Wants Me” in Asbury Park.
Bonus: Here’s another chance to hear Steve sing “She Got Me Where She Wants Me,” from a rehearsal session at the Stone Pony sometime that same year.
She Got Me Where She Wants Me
First performed: May 12, 1977 (Red Bank, NJ)
Last performed: May 13, 1977 (Red Bank, NJ)
