The Mixtape Underground Garage

So my post this week is Jersey Shore oriented. Not Snookie. Not Pauly D, although apparently they're in Guelph this weekend, which is stupid (probably about the furthest place from a GTL population around the GTA). I guess the cast of Jersey Shore produced that shirtless No Americano video. That must count for... something?

Actually, nahh. Onto rock n' roll.

Stevie Van Zandt! I love this guy. You might recognize him as Silvio Dante on the Sopranos, but he's also Springsteen's BFF. Literally. Little Stevie moved to New Jersey when he was 7 and the two were inseparable throughout their teenage years**. Here's a testament to their friendship and Van Zandt's (sort of) undercover role, true statements according to both:

Stevie: "Born to Run is a piece of shit."
Springsteen: "Well go fucking fix it then."
Stevie: "Fine."
... he re-arranged the horns in Tenth Avenue Freeze Out and fiddled with several other songs on the album. Good thing he was "just hanging around in the studio." So I'm posting two more Springsteen songs. Can't help myself this week. The first is a tribute to Little Stevie written around the time he was quitting the E Street Band. The second is awesome. Keep your eyes peeled for the pirate-looking dude on mandolin. That's my boy.



**Side note: I bet they skipped "the awkward years." Springsteen's a babe and Stevie's wicked. Also, he chose Bobby Jean as a gender-ambiguous title to suggest a semi-love song. Little Stevie + Springsteen = the original Bromance.



Next supporting actor: Nils Lofgren. Another wicked dude. Neil Young took the kid under his wing when he was only 17 and eventually led him to join Crazy Horse. He and David Briggs also produced a couple albums for Lofgren's band Grin, so I guess their relationship was symbiotic. Either way you don't hear about Nils too often. Here are three crazy things about him:
1. Young asked him to play piano on After the Goldrush. He hadn't ever played before.
2. He flips on a trampoline when he's playing in concert.
3. He's also in Springsteen's E Street Band! Cooooooool. He plays guitar on both videos above.

Here is one of my favourite songs ever, featuring Neil and Nils. He doesn't suck at piano.



Pinkie swear this is my last musician for the week. John Frusciante. He jumped in with the Chili Peppers when he was 18 and stuck around for awhile before succumbing to overwhelming fame and... heroin. He intended to audition for Frank Zappa's band but refused after finding out they outlawed illegal drugs.
"I realized that I wanted to be a rockstar, do drugs and get girls." At least the dude's honest.

He played guitar on the Chili Pepper's Blood, Sugar, Sex Magic album (I LOVE that thing) and also did a bunch of solo stuff. Here's a song from him. Shout out to T for introducing me to this song on the bus during first year. We were en route to U of T for a track meet and I distinctly remember getting goosebumps. The solo that starts at 2:43 is mind blowing.



Love,

Tara

p.s you should listen to T's blog. Ghost Man, it's linked on the sidebar. He listens to great music.