Sunday, April 2, 2023 Entry #64
More on the tour I took of Springsteen-related sites on the New Jersey Shore.
II. “Springsteen and Music” (continued)
One of our first tour stops right off of the Asbury Park boardwalk was not typically used as a music venue, but it is an iconic spot on the Jersey Shore. Moreover, it is the backdrop used in a 2023 photo shoot with Springsteen and his blue Camaro convertible. Pictures from that session are by now ubiquitous for Springsteen fans as they are being used for the main publicity material and the merchandise on the current tour.
This unique and ornate structure is called The Carousel House, once part of a waterfront/boardwalk casino and amusement center scene from a certain era that is lodged in the American cultural imagination. With the merry-go-round no longer housed in the building, the space is now used mostly for special events. In 2010, Bruce Springsteen played a special concert at the Carousel House for the first and so far only time, a performance that was filmed for a special DVD release. While Springsteen’s first concert without Clarence Clemons at his side was at the nearby Wonder Bar (see entry #63), this show highlighting a much anticipated new Springsteen release of “Darkness on the Edge of Town” outtakes (“The Promise”) sadly turned out to be Clarence Clemons last time onstage as he passed away six months later.
The pictures at the Carousel House were taken by photographer Danny Clinch, who has been involved in many Springsteen projects. He also owns a gallery of his rock photography (including a lot of Bruce, of course!) in Asbury Park which was another fun part of the tour.
Danny was kind enough to gift everyone on the tour bus with two postcards, each containing a wonderful image he had captured of Springsteen. The photo on the left below was used for the cover of Springsteen’s 2020 “Letter To You” album, and the one on the right is a classic of Springsteen crowd surfing.
The bus dropped us off where we began, at the legendary Stone Pony. This time, I had time to venture inside. Immediately it was obvious that though the walls of the place were crowded with photographs, display guitars, and other rock memorabilia, the Stone Pony was no museum, but rather a living, breathing rock club. This point was driven home when I turned toward the stage and one of the musicians from the band that was playing later that night was up there launching into a raucous sound check. It was a thrill for me to finally hear music at the Stone Pony, though it also made it even more palpable for me to jealously imagine what it must be like to see Bruce Springsteen himself on that stage.
After all, it is impossible to understate the Stone Pony’s connection to Springsteen and vice-versa, a connection that isn’t only historical, but one that continues to this day. Besides Springsteen’s own early performances at the club, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, the Stone Pony’s house band at the time, was comprised of Springsteen compatriots who often covered Bruce’s songs. As Springsteen became a rock superstar, his relationship to the Stone Pony made the club famous as well, especially after he kicked off his massive “Born In The U.S.A.” tour at his hometown hangout. Scores of big-name national acts are still booked there-because of Bruce, the nondescript seaside bar punches way above it’s weight (Just last night I saw Elvis Costello in St. Louis who told the audience a long tale about playing the Stone Pony). Whether it is an unknown local act or an established band playing at the Stone Pony, there is always the possibility that Springsteen will be among the crowd and decide to jump onstage and jam. According to our tour guides, there was a summer in the early 80’s when Springsteen played at the Stone Pony almost every Sunday night. A catchphrase, suitable for bumper stickers and t-shirts was coined: “I heard Bruce might show up.”
Bob Santenelli is now the Executive Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music housed at Monmouth University (lucky guy!). But, back in the mid-1970’s, he was a substitute teacher who spent most of his free time at the Stone Pony (which obviously influenced his career path). He reminisced about those days in “Rock & Roll Tour Of The Jersey Shore”:
“There was a special magic in the place…In all my years of being a music journalist and a rock fan, I have never come close to experiencing that sense of community and that sense of specialness that I felt at the Pony. Fans and musicians alike remember feeling that music history was being made at the club, and that they were…at the heart of an important and vital music scene.”
The Stone Pony even received the Presidential seal of approval. In 2013, seven months after Superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey, President Obama (named, in an essay I recently read, “The most ‘Springsteenian’ political figure in American political history.”) addressed a crowd on the Asbury Park boardwalk and referenced Bruce, saying:
“I think a friend of mine from here once put it pretty well: ‘Down the shore, everything’s all right.’ He’s the only guy a President still has to call ‘The Boss’…But, if anybody wondered whether the Shore could ever be all right again, you got your answer this weekend….folks were hanging out on balconies and beaches. Shows were sold out at the Stone Pony. Kids were eating ice cream and going on rides…”
As I write this post, the Stone Pony is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary! On February 10, 2024, the afore-mentioned Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music is presenting a panel at the club featuring the Stone Pony’s founder Jack Roig, along with other area musicians, concert promoters, music writers and other members of the music community who were instrumental in creating the history of this iconic music club. Then, a week later, the Stone Pony is throwing itself a birthday party with a concert by quintessential Jersey Shore rockers Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.
I imagine somebody out there is saying it…”I heard Brice might show up!”