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Originally Posted by Jukebox_Graduate:

I'm starting to question if it even exists. Other than a mention of Wikipedia, and a few mentions in interviews of SSJ, I've never seen a tracklisting, picture of the cover, listings of it on torrent sites, nothing.

OH, it exists:  Here's an article from 2012 when he was playing at Ramapo College.

 

Southside Johnny brings acoustic side project to Ramapo College in Mahwah

JANUARY 26, 2012, 7:19 AM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012, 11:25 AM
 
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Southside Johnny is trying something materially different.

“Southside Johnny” Lyon [center) and the Poor Fools aren’t afraid to mix things up. “Everybody’s playing all sorts of instru­ments,” the influential Shore rocker says. If you see them Friday, you can expect to hear an eclectic range of tunes, too.
“Southside Johnny” Lyon (center) and the Poor Fools aren’t afraid to mix things up. “Everybody’s playing all sorts of instru­ments,” the influential Shore rocker says. If you see them Friday, you can expect to hear an eclectic range of tunes, too.

For a start: different material.

"Parchman Farm," by Mose Allison, "Shiver Me Timbers," by Tom Waits, and "Shim Sham Shimmy," by Champion Jack Dupree, along with B-sides, lesser-known original tunes and others that are off the beaten track, are all liable to turn up on the set list of Southside Johnny and the Poor Fools.

"This is mostly doing good songs that I don't normally do," says "Southside Johnny" Lyon. "We're doing a mix of material. Including some pretty obscure things."

But a new songbook isn't the only thing that makes this latest side project of Lyon, Jersey's quintessential Shore rocker, different from his flagship brand, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes.

No horns, for starters. That Jukes trademark, key to the Southside sound since the 1970s, when Lyon translated the musical language of the Memphis Stax label into Jersey-ese, is a no-show here.

Moreover, all of the musicians on this acoustic project launched in 2011 — including Jeff Kazee; John Conte; Neal "The Dude" Pawley; Tommy Byrnes, from Billy Joel's band; and Soozie Tyrell, from Springsteen's — are multi-instrumentalists, in some cases taking turns on instruments they're less accustomed to.

"Everybody plays a little bit of drums," says Lyon, whose weapon of choice was and is the blues harp. "I play bass and guitar and harmonica and whatever it is. Everybody's playing all sorts of instruments. It's a chance to challenge yourself and have fun doing it. It's not all deadly serious, but we have our moments where there are important, serious songs and we hunker down and try to be emotional. There's also songs that are just free-for-alls."

If Lyon hasn't lately been selling out stadiums, winning "Best Song" Oscars and serving on presidential committees like some other Jersey rockers he could name, he's at least been keeping busy. Very busy.

His last full album, "Pills and Ammo," came out in 2010; a follow-up EP, "Acoustic Ammo," came out in 2011; and he'll be heard soon on "Men Without Women LIVE," a concert-album rendition of the 1982 Little Steven classic. He's already recorded his first track with the Poor Fools, an ensemble he cobbled together late last year. They contributed a version of a lesser-known Beatles tune, "I'm Down," to an ongoing music project, "The Beatles Complete on Ukulele."

"It just tickled me so much I said, 'Let's do it,' " he says.

Though Lyon didn't ultimately achieve the breakout success of his fellow 1970s Shore rockers Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, there are legions of diehard fans — here and abroad — who put him on an equally high pedestal. Bon Jovi acknowledged Southside as his "reason for singing."

"Did I ever want to be as big as Bruce or Jon? No, that's too much baggage; that's way too much, more than I could handle, all of that," he says. "So right where I am is great, because when we get on stage, I got a great band, I got all this material, I can pick and choose the songs I want to do, and if I want to change them on stage, [the musicians] are good enough to do that. And I've got an audience that knows what we do."

 

Experimentation

 

Part of the thinking behind The Poor Fools, he says, was to create a light, portable band that could go to clubs where The Jukes, with its big sound and big horn section, couldn't fit. "It's a break from traveling with a million guys," he says. "Now it's only a handful of guys. And it's a chance to play places we can't get the Jukes into."

It's also a chance to continue the musical no-holds-barred experimentation that Lyon loves, and that his audience has come to dote on. Well, mostly dote on.

"They know what I'm doing," Lyon says. "If they don't like it, they'll say they don't like it. I did a reggae version of 'I Don't Want to Go Home' one time, and this guy called out, 'No — do it straight!' So we had to do it straight.

"Hey, he paid his buck; he gets to call out what he wants."

Email: beckerman@northjersey.com

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

Originally Posted by Jukebox_Graduate:

It must have had an incredibly small production run...

I'll say, it's not even listed on Discogs.  But I'm working on it. 

 

Are you a big collector of his music?  I'm seeking a big fan with knowledge of his music, especially back in the day.

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

Originally Posted by Oats:
Originally Posted by Jukebox_Graduate:

It must have had an incredibly small production run...

I'll say, it's not even listed on Discogs.  But I'm working on it. 

 

Are you a big collector of his music?  I'm seeking a big fan with knowledge of his music, especially back in the day.

Ok, i have an answer for you.

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

Oh, to answer your question that I missed before. I'm a fan of his music, but nowhere near what I'd call an expert or even super knowledgeable other than collecting his music.

I'd heard of bootlegs back in the day with Epic era outtakes, but I have never heard them or seen them. Not sure if the best of that material was presented on the "Jukebox" box set.

I'm always up for hearing "new" outtakes...

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