He’s been called Miami Steve, Little Steven, and just plain Stevie (though he’s probably also known as Silvio from The Sopranos). He’s been a part of not one, not two, but three great bands (only one of which you probably know). With the E Street Band, he’s served as musical consigliere to Bruce Springsteen for most of his musical life. And although he stands next to the Boss onstage, guitar in hand.
Van Zandt has reached a stage of reflection in his career. Besides the Grammy-nominated HBO film, “Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple”, which came out in 2024, he recently wrote and published his autobiography, “Unrequited Infatuations” (2021), a rollicking read in which he pulls no punches and makes clear he still strives to do meaningful things in music and life.
The Disciples of Soul leader, E Street Band member, Asbury Jukes co-founder, Underground Garage impresario and disc jockey, social-justice activist, “Sopranos” and “Lilyhammer” actor, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, New Jersey Hall of Famer, educational visionary, record company head, Broadway producer, feisty presence on social media and all-around musical and acting renaissance man . In the E Street Band, Van Zandt has participated in arguably the most incredible live group in rock ’n’ roll history. And don’t forget Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes or Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. He created both the Underground Garage and Outlaw Country radio channels on Sirius/XM.
In the early 1970s, Steve Van Zandt essentially split his time between playing with Springsteen and Southside Johnny Lyon. Lyon and Van Zandt formed the Asbury Jukes in 1975, at roughly the same time that Van Zandt officially joined the E Street Band following the release of “Born to Run”. He played lead and rhythm guitar in the band, wrote the bulk of their songs, and produced their first three albums: “I Don’t Want to Go Home” (1976), “This Time It’s for Real” (1977), and “Hearts of Stone” (1978). He left the Jukes in 1980 to focus solely on his work with Springsteen, but those three albums are some of the best you’ll hear anywhere; his (and occasionally Springsteen’s) songwriting combined with Southside Johnny’s voice yields something quite amazing.
In his honour, here are 20 songs he wrote or co-wrote. I’m not necessarily declaring these are the “best,” but just sharing them as a way to celebrate someone who has accomplished so much over the years (and who may not be appreciated as much as a song-writer as he should be because he’s so good at so many other things).
The Asbury Jukes – “I Don’t Want to Go Home”
Arguably Van Zandt’s greatest song writing accomplishment is “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” the title track of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes’ 1976 debut album and a much loved staple of their repertoire. Here, Van Zandt performs the song with The Jukes at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic in 1985.
There aren’t many examples out there of Steve actually singing those great songs he wrote for the Jukes, but let’s start off with one from the album that he played with Southside in 1985:
“This Time It’s for Real”
Here are the songs, in chronological order (by release date for studio tracks, performance date for concert clips): “This Time It’s for Real” also featured the masterful Springsteen/Van Zandt co-write, “Love on the Wrong Side of Town.”
“Hearts of Stone”
Many consider 1978’s “Hearts of Stone” to be the high point of the Van Zandt and the Jukes’ work together. Here’s “Trapped Again,” co-written by Van Zandt, Southside and Springsteen.
The Disciples of Soul – “Men Without Women”
Few artists will jump off a bullet train just as it’s leaving the station, but following the recording of “Born in the USA” in 1984, that’s exactly what Little Steven did next: he left the E Street Band to go solo with his band The Disciples of Soul (Nils Lofgren took over guitar duties from him with the E Street Band). Their first album, “Men Without Women”, was released in 1982 and was nothing short of brilliant, fusing that original Asbury Jukes sound with a much harder edge.
“Until the Good Is Gone” was one of the highlights of Van Zandt’s first Disciples of Soul album, Men Without Women (1982).
Van Zandt was the writer and producer of the all-star 1985 anti-apartheid anthem “Sun City,” whose incredible cast of contributors included Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Bono, Miles Davis, Run-DMC, George Clinton, Ringo Starr and countless others.
Around this time Van Zandt co-produced Lone Justice’s second album, in 1986 and co-wrote three of its songs, including the title track, “Shelter.” Van Zandt also co-produced Gary U.S. Bonds’ 1981 comeback album “Dedication” and also wrote the powerful ballad “Daddy’s Come Home.”
“Voice of America”
Proving that his timing was not always perfect, The Disciples of Soul released their second album, “Voice of America”, less than a month before Springsteen released Born in the USA; I don’t need to ask which one you remember. It was a solid album, though not as good as Men Without Women if only because Van Zandt had begun an extended foray into overtly political songs, and I mean overtly. Some of the song titles include “Checkpoint Charlie,” “Solidarity,” and “I am a Patriot (And the River Opens for the Righteous).”
The album’s best track, “Out of the Darkness,” was more subtle; it could be taken as political or as a commentary on a relationship.
The more political songs may not have risen to the level of Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction,” Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son,” or Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” as classic protest songs, but his activism did make a difference.
His stand against apartheid in South Africa, especially his refusal to play the Sun City resort and the campaign to get other artists to boycott the whites-only resort, significantly raised world awareness and helped play a part, however small, in the end of that horrific system.
Van Zandt has released a few albums since the late 1990s, but his time was more focused on his acting roles in The Sopranos and Lillyhammer and his excellent radio show, Little Steven’s Underground Garage. He briefly formed a band called Little Steven and the Lost Boys, and though they recorded one album, it was never released. We did, however, get to hear one of the songs during a Sopranos episode, and it remains one of my favorites of his.
“Born Again Savage“
With the E Street Band reuniting and “The Sopranos” debuting in 1999, that year’s “Born Again Savage” — which featured Van Zandt in a power trio format with bassist Adam Clayton (of U2) and drummer Jason Bonham — got lost in the shuffle. But it found him in good, snarling form, on “Camouflage of Righteousness” and other tracks.
Van Zandt re-teamed with Darlene Love in 2015, producing her “Introducing Darlene Love” album and writing two of its songs, including the fiery “Among the Believers.”
Van Zandt’s first single as a solo artist, “Forever,” was a minor hit in 1982 and has sounded great on his recent Disciples of Soul tours. The Disciples of Soul returned to recording, after 18 years, in 2017, with leadoff track “Soulfire” setting the perfect tone for the entire album of that name.
“Summer of Sorcery”,
Van Zandt’s 2019 album with the Disciples of Soul, “Summer of Sorcery”, was both stylistically adventurous and rooted in the garage-rock style he has come to be associated with.
Van Zandt has been a mainstay in the E Street Band since Springsteen reformed the group in 1999, and since the passing of Clarence Clemons in 2011 he has assumed the position of prominence onstage (after Bruce, of course). In 2021, he released a memoir titled “Unrequited Infatuations”.
Let me end this brief taste of the music of Little Steven with a song from the 1991 Southside Johnny album Better Days (another album for which Van Zandt wrote most of the songs). It brings together three iconic Asbury Park voices that have been together for more than five decades and will forever be linked.
Steven’s radio show on SiriusXM has gathered a cult following in recent years, as any average rock fan might appreciate listening to a good old-fashioned radio podcast now and then. “This ain’t just radio, baby,” exclaimed the guitarist, and pointed out that the show is worth every penny. Steven said, “This is Little Steven’s Motherf*cking Underground Garage! SXM is $1 for three months, then $5 a week for raising your quality of life by about 1000%. You can’t afford to not have us in your life.”
The Fat Angel Sings 