For today’s classic song of the day, let’s head to New Jersey in the ’70s, with the local music scene riding the wave of a rock ‘n’ roll revolution started by some guy named Springsteen. The song is “I Don’t Want to Go Home” and it’s by a group called Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.
“I Don’t Want to Go Home” was the opening track (side one, track one) of the Jukes’ debut album of the same name, which was released in June of 1976. This song and that album have to be one of the most self-assured debuts ever recorded; it just plants the flag for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes as a major force in the musical landscape.
The Asbury Jukes were and continue to be a New Jersey-based band, co-founded in the early 1970s by John Lyons (AKA Southside Johnny) and Steve Van Zandt (AKA Miami Steve, AKA Little Steven). While the composition of the group evolved over time (often with members of the E Street Band sitting in), at time of their debut album the group consisted of Southside Johnny on lead vocals, Billy Rush on guitar (with Little Steven helping out on most tracks), Kevin Kavanaugh on keyboards, Carlo Novi on tenor sax, Alan Berger on bass, and Kenny “Popeye” Pentifallo on drums. The Jukes were ably assisted by the Miami Horns—Rick Gazda and Deacon Earl Gardner on trumpet, Louie “The Lover” Parenti on trombone, Bob Malach on tenor sax, and Bill Zacagni on bari sax.
“I Don’t Want to Go Home” was written and produced by Miami Steve and engineered by the legendary Jimmy Iovine. (Great drum sounds, BTW.) It is a powerful, gut punch of a song that I can’t stop playing, even today. Man, what a way to announce you’re here—and don’t want to go home.
The Jukes were and continue to be a dynamic live band, kind of a local bar band writ large. So here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes performing “I Don’t Want to Go Home” live on the November 26, 1977, episode of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Man, I love this stuff.
