Southside Johnny, What Was the First Album You Ever Bought?
“The first album? Gee, I don’t think I remember the first album I personally ever purchased.
I remember the first 45 I got was an Elvis Presley 45 with a picture sleeve that my mother bought because she wanted it for Christmas. So I got it, but then she took it.
Probably the first album I ever bought was at a place called CJ’s in Asbury Park, which was about a half a mile from my house in Ocean Grove. And I walked over there when I was 13 probably. They used to have cut-outs, and they were 39 cents to 89 cents. I bought two or three John Lee Hooker albums and a Jimmy Reed album for 89 cents apiece. I was always interested in that kind of music. That’s what my parents used to listen to – blues, jazz and rhythm & blues.”
Southside Johnny leads the Asbury Jukes into the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield at 7:30pm on Thursday (August 25). Tix are $15, $35, $55; VIP $60.
The only concert I ever walked out on: Southside Johnny in 1981 at the Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse. Mr. Johnny was an intolerable ass who made it clear that he’d rather be anywhere in the world than Plattsburgh, NY that evening. I suppose he had a point, but still…