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Sep 29, 2021Liked by Alan Paul

I never thought of that until you mentioned it Alan; my interest in Springsteen ended when Stevie left . I never really got it back. My respect for Stevie Van Zandt has always been overwhelming, (I never knew he was one of the founders of Southside Johnny.) from those early days with Bruce when that music was the soundtrack of our lives to (forgetaboutit!!) The Sopranos and to Lilyhammar (Season 1 is phenomenal), Stevie has always been there. Sometimes, though, we didn't know it. Great ones like this are far and few, we are blessed!

Thanks Alan, appreciate your work!! Best regards.

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Sep 29, 2021Liked by Alan Paul

Steve is also INCREDIBLE with the twelve string guitar. That was such a feature on 'The River' where he just came to grips with it. But he adds so much with it. You and I both saw the 1999 reunion tour and you might recall the FURY of all those guitars, Bruce, Nils, Patti and Steve mowing everybody down...and Steve's guitar was such a standout feature. His parts are so expertly placed...like everyone else's in the band. Most people are unaware that he played the guitar solo on "Jungleland" both on the album and live. It's masterful. And as you know, his PERECTLY intonated slide work on that live version of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" from Hammersmith '75 is spine tingling!

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Ok, I spoke with Dave Marsh and he confirmed that Steve did not play a note on the ‘Born To Run’ album, even though he was present in his consigliere role as can be seen in the videotaped segments of the sessions that we see in ‘Wings For Wheels’. So I was way off on the album version solo on “Jungleland”. I still think that Bruce might have used a Strat on that recording as Steve did play the solo in the live versions and he generally got a very similar sound on his Strat on those performances.

An interesting note that Dave shared…Steve played the solo on the album version of “The Promised Land”. That solo was apparently a late addition to the album. “The Promised Land” was finished with a solo by Bruce and it and the rest of the album met with the approval of the record company. But Bruce would not let the record go out until the version with Steve’s solo was added. It caused a delay in the release of the record in fact. I hope to get more information on which other solos, if any, that Steve played on ‘Darkness’, or ‘The River’. I don’t think he played any leads on ‘Born In the U.S.A.’. You can hear Steve play the solo from “The Promised Land” on the new version of the ‘No Nukes’ concert here https://youtu.be/pzhqljeWqeo

It’s more typical of Steve’s leads on the Strat…kind’ve unusual and off kilter with an almost Buddy Guy type of “edge of your seat, will he or won’t he bend in pitch?” type of thing!

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