BELMAR — Three of Bruce Springsteen’s original band members descended from a promotional engagement to meet up in Belmar where it all started– E Street.
Dave Sancious, Vini Lopez and Garry Tallent took some time out on Jan. 8 to converge at the corners of 10th Avenue and E Street in Belmar.
The three musicians were the remaining living members from Springsteen’s E Street Band, which launched their careers. The other two members were the late Clarence Clemons and the late Danny Federici.
The friendly stroll happened that Sunday afternoon after the three appeared on Tom Cunningham’s radio show, “Springsteen on Sunday,” on 107.1 FM The Boss radio. The radio broadcast happened live that day at the Bar Anticipation in Lake Como to promote the 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.”
Other supporters who also came out on the friendly tour were Stan Goldstein, Jean Mikle and Eileen Chapman. Mr. Goldstein and Ms. Mikle have been giving local area Springsteen-related tours since 1999, while Ms. Chapman is the director of the Springsteen Archives and the Center for American Music at Monmouth University.
Monmouth University’s Center for American Music has worked on the contributions of the band to American music and the preservation of recent Asbury Park and Belmar history in the 1970s when the band was formed. The center has done research work in understanding the roots and development of American music that took place in these two Jersey towns, among which are: Springsteen’s early writing 1970s style, the Jersey Shore music scene in ’72, the year when “Greetings” was recorded, and recollections of the E Street band members who played on the album.
Before forming the band, the members and Springsteen have been playing in the local scene which have nurtured that kind of American rock style, “heartland rock,” something distinct to the band because their lyrics talked about the everyday lives of typical American people.
“I began to realize that through listening to Springsteen, I was myself yet again carried to certain neighborhoods, homes, schools, backyards, playing fields, places of worship, where I’d been as I was getting to know fellow citizens of a country as well,” said Robert Coles, Harvard professor and Pulitzer Prize winning author of “Children of Crisis,” who wrote about Springsteen’s influence on American life and thinking.
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