All language subtitles for Stevie Van Zandt Disciple

I must be
in heaven, man.

'Cause I get to introduce

Little Steven
and the Disciples of Soul!

Little Steven
and the Disciples of Soul.

♪ Can you hear me? ♪

♪ Wake up ♪

♪ Where's the voice
Of America? ♪

♪ Can you hear me? ♪

♪ Wake up ♪

♪ Where's the voice
Of America? ♪

Listen!

♪ I know that we knew ♪

♪ Right from wrong
Once upon a time ♪

♪ Everything we stood for
Has been compromised ♪

♪ I been quiet ♪

♪ Too quiet ♪

♪ While across
Our borderline ♪

♪ My people lie ♪

♪ Can you hear me? ♪

♪ I said wake up ♪

♪ We are the voice
Of America ♪

♪ Can you hear me? ♪

♪ Wake up ♪

♪ We're the voice
Of America ♪

♪ We're the voice
Of America ♪

♪ We're the voice
Of America ♪

♪ We're the voice
Of America ♪

All right.

♪ After the wind
Dried my eyes ♪

It was a time
when there were clubs

all over for teenagers.

On a Friday
or Saturday night,

you had your choice

of a dozen places to go

to hear live music.

We just had
a million places to play.

Beach clubs and VFW halls

and-and-and
high school dances,

and there were clubs
built for teenagers.

♪ And jump for joy
And Xanadu ♪

♪ It's Hullabaloo ♪

The Hullabaloo clubs
were a franchise

from the television show.

For one reason or another,

I was going to the one
in Middletown one weekend.

I walk in, and...

uh, there was,
uh, a band playing,

sounded really good.
Stevie was fronting.

My recollection is,
I always say

he had on a huge paisley tie

that caught my attention,

- and it was funny.
- Bruce had a band,

The Castiles,
it was one of those bands.

My band was the Source.

Our two bands were the only
bands that had managers.

He had this crazy character
named Tex, you know,

and I had Big Mama McEvilly,

who was the drummer's,
my drummer's mother.

And I don't know if we
exchanged some information.

I didn't have a phone.

There was just some
mystical thing in the air

that happens when
you meet somebody

who feels about
something the same way

with the kind of intensity
that you feel about it.

So he just became

my rock and roll brother
instantly, you know?

Now tonight, the whole country

is waiting to hear
England's Beatles.

February 8th, 1964,

there were no bands
in America.

February 9th they play
The Ed Sullivan Show,

February 10th, everybody
had a band in their garage.

It was revealing this
extraordinary new world,

especially for those of us

who were misfits, freaks,
and outcasts, you know.

We're not relating to anything
that society was offering us.

But they were so good,

you couldn't
picture doing it.

What nobody knew

is that we'd been
rehearsing and practicing

in Britain, in Europe,
in Hamburg,

and we'd put in
a lot of hours, you know.

It's Malcolm Gladwell's
10,000 hours.

Um, so by the time
we reached America,

we were a fully formed beast.

But you couldn't imagine

how you get into
that world, you know?

Four months later,

lucky for us,
the Rolling Stones come.

You know, they made it look
easier than it was.

They wore different things,
they had no harmony,

you know, it was
the first punk band.

You've gotta
keep things simple.

That's the great thing.

If you listen
to any great records,

they're so simple.

The fact that Mick Jagger

did not smile.

That to me meant this is not

show business anymore,
this is a lifestyle.

I was like,
"I want to do that."

We would put together
one band after another,

and we couldn't
get work, really.

Nobody wanted to hire bands

that were playing
any original music.

I go see Bruce,

he said there's
this new place called

Upstage at Asbury Park.

There was this
crazy idea for a club,

just for kids, no booze,

open from 8:00 at night
till 5:00 in the morning.

And if you were good,
you would lead the jams.

Stevie Van Zandt,
he's my baby,

you know?

The fact that he
played bass, keyboard.

Of course, Steven excels

with his guitar
and his voice.

He and Bruce made
a great combination.

Totally different
guitar players,

and constantly
on the stage together.

They would sweep the floor,

they loaded soda machines,
they did everything.

And Upstage
became the place

where we met everybody.
Southside Johnny,

Garry Tallent, Vini Lopez,

uh, Danny Federici, everybody.

And one day I came,
and there's this guy

with long bushy hair
on stage,

he was doing
a Yardbirds song,

and he was killing it.

I mean, the passion
was so much there.

The guitar playing was great.

He was killing the singing,
I just, I went,

"Who's this guy?

I don't need the competition.
I'm the singer here."

But I figured I could either
make friends or kill him,

so I went back
and made friends.

And it was really the start
of a great friendship.

You'd be in
one guy's band one week,

another guy's band
another week,

'cause they're putting
bands together, trying things.

We did a duet thing one time,

just guitar and harmonica.

It was very fluid back then.

And we were
rooting for each other,

you know, we were
mildly competitive.

But I think the love
we had for each other

overwhelmed everything.

He was one of those
guys I met, like Bruce,

who said flat out at 17,

"I'm gonna be a musician."

We didn't think
"I should prepare to be...

maybe I should
study up and do," no.

It was all or nothing
at all, you know?

Bruce was the first
really to get out.

I mean, he-he actually
got an album made,

and was playing around
the country a little bit.

Bruce and I had a bunch

of different bands together,

but he actually got signed
as a folk singer.

Unfortunately,
Bruce had to say, uh,

you know, "Now that
I'm signed as a folk singer,

I'm not a folk singer,"
you know.

"I got a band."

And so the record
company's pissed.

I was one guitar too many.

At that point, you know,

I said, "You know what?

I think we missed
the boat anyway."

So I quit entirely,

and, um, I started
working construction.

Steven lived
with my wife and I.

He was working a jackhammer
on the parkway.

He would come home
literally covered in tar,

his hands would be like this.

I'm saying, "You're a guitar
player, you can't do this,"

and finally he got a gig
with The Dovells,

uh, and did
the oldies circuit.

Uh, the Dovells made a couple
fantastic records,

"Bristol Stomp"
and "You Can't Sit Down,"

and along the oldies circuit,
you're also gonna play Vegas.

Now, I'm a big...

gambler as a kid
at that point.

I'm also a bit of a Mob
aficionado, you know?

So I'm all in, okay,
um, you know,

and, um, and that begins

a very big chapter
in my education.

Back in the '50s,
we were really segregated.

The white DJs were supposed
to play their white artists

for their white audiences,

the Black DJs were supposed
to do the same thing.

There was Little Richard,
Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry.

When courageous DJs
like Alan Freed

started playing
those Black records

for their white audiences,

that's when rock and roll
went to another dimension.

Popular music became

an instrument
for social change,

and launched
a cultural phenomenon

known as
the British Invasion.

Ironically,
the British Invasion

had the unintended
consequence

of putting all those
pioneers out of work.

If you had two hits
when the Beatles came,

you were gonna
play those two hits

the rest of your life.

I get on this oldies tour,

and all of these guys
have been put out to pasture

in their thirties
and early forties.

I mean, they are in
the prime of their lives.

So they're all pissed off.

All of 'em.

They hate being
called oldies.

They're not old.

I'm the only one
having a great time.

You know, I'm meeting
all these amazing people.

Stevie would hang with us
on the tours we were doing.

He always had a little hat,

a little cap or beanie
or something on.

And he always wore, like,
a purple jacket, brown pants.

You never knew where
the style was going to go.

The first time I met Steven,

I was doing a show
for Dick Clark

at the Flamingo Hotel.

So I guess he's
up in the balcony,

I'm doing a sound check,
and I start doing...

Robert Johnson songs.

He was a great
blues writer and singer.

A lot of people
don't know who he is.

And I'm like,
"Am I hallucinating or what?"

It turns out he's into,
you know, Robert Johnson,

he's into Hank Williams,
he's into things, you know,

that were just
fascinating to me.

After we met at the Flamingo
Hotel, he joined my band.

He says,
"We got a couple gigs left,"

this oldies circuit thing

was gonna end in Miami,

and I come back to
Asbury Park January 2nd,

and I'm still wearing
a flowered short-sleeved shirt,

and the Frank Sinatra,
Sam Snead hat,

and I'm like,
"Fuck winter, okay? I'm done.

I'm tropical from now on."

I'm carrying it with me, okay?

And that's how Bruce starts
calling me "Miami Steve."

♪ You're sweeter
Than the honey ♪

♪ That the bees make ♪

♪ Soul sister... ♪

I got back,
me, Johnny, Bruce,

and I think Gary,
went to see Sam and Dave,

and they inspired us to start

Southside Johnny
& the Asbury Jukes,

combining rock and soul.

I was
not only leading the band,

you know,
but also managing it

and doing all the business.

We just kind of organically
built a band to do

lots of different
types of music.

I always wanted horns.

'Cause Count Basie
and Duke Ellington,

that's what I grew up
listening to, but more.

The horns are on those old
Atlantic records, Stax-Volt.

Steven really wanted them too.

That's where
we had a mutuality.

We both wanted to hear
this horn section go "Ba-da!"

The scene revitalized

when, uh, we put
the Jukes together.

We just went into a bar

that was about
to go out of business.

There had been
a hurricane or something,

the roof was falling in.

It was called The Stone Pony.

We said, "Look,
we'll play for the door,

you have nothing to lose,
we play what we want."

They started
lining up in the rain

outside The Stone Pony
in Asbury Park

six hours before
the 10:00 p.m. kickoff

of the biggest night
in the lives

of Southside Johnny
& the Asbury Jukes.

You hear that?
Say that louder.

That's the greatest.

I've come to see
them 120 times.

120 times!

Who goes to see
anyone 120 times?

Kids would
huddle on the boardwalk

with transistor radios,

listening along
with their friends at home,

and in bars along
the Jersey Shore,

to the first live
concert broadcast

in the history
of Asbury Park.

Tonight may be Memorial Day
in the rest of America,

but it's New Year's Eve
in Asbury Park.

- All we wanna know...
- Yeah?

...is what are you people
doing in my town?

I... I consider myself
very fortunate

that I got to see
a bit of that part

of Asbury Park.

The boardwalk,
the club scene,

Steven trying to create
an original sound

out of classic dirt, grit,

mud, heart, soul.

Seeing them in this bar,

you know, they were
just so powerful, you know?

But you know, I always joke

that we were probably
Southside fans

before we were E Street Band
and Bruce fans.

I don't know about you...

♪ We're having a party ♪

♪ Everybody's swinging ♪

♪ Dancing to the music... ♪

So Bruce had done
the showcase clubs.

You know, each stage,
the rules change.

Once you're in that stage,

and the records
weren't selling,

and you know, he wasn't
gonna graduate

to, uh, anywhere past that,

so you know, he's coming down,
hanging out with us.

♪ Dancing with my baby ♪

♪ We're having a party ♪

♪ Everybody's swinging ♪

♪ Dancing to the music ♪

♪ On the radio ♪

♪ Oh yeah ♪

♪ So listen, Mr. DJ... ♪

He created extra interest.

People started coming

from North Jersey
and Philadelphia,

and we started to really
build up an audience,

and we go to a second night,
and a third.

One more time!

♪ We're having a party... ♪

That is what made

that scene become
even more special.

♪ Dancing to the music ♪

♪ On the radio ♪

♪ So listen, Mr. DJ ♪

♪ Keep those
Records playing ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm having
Such a good time ♪

♪ Dancing ♪

♪ With my ♪

♪ Baby ♪

I think I really met
Steve for the first time

when he came in
and saved our asses

on "Tenth Avenue
Freeze-Out."

We just knew
we hadn't fully realized

the potential of the song.

So Bruce calls Steve,

who comes barreling in.

And I have no knowledge,

or particular diplomacy,

or, you know, sophistication

about the music business
at that point,

and these guys are fucking up
my friend's record.

And Bruce, you know,

says, "Hey,
what do you think?"

You know.

Big mistake.

And I was like...

"This sucks."

He kind of laughs it away,
and says, "All right,

then go in there
and fix it then."

Then he says, "Everybody,

take that paper you're
looking at, throw it away."

"You, this is
what you're playing.

You, play this.

Now I want it
to sound real guttural,

I want it to sound funky.

Okay? I don't want
it to sound smooth.

I want it to sound like soul."

♪ I was standing
In the jungle ♪

♪ Trying to take in all
The heat that was given... ♪

All of a sudden,
it was electric.

You know, it was great.

It only took 20 minutes.

This guy is somebody
to deal with.

It was just a grand slam.

I had met another character,

which I should mention...

...uh, named Jimmy Iovine,

who was the engineer
on Born to Run.

Uh, Jimmy says, um, "I know
you got this band, the Jukes,

I got the key to the studio.

We'll sneak them in after
hours and do a demo."

I don't remember
the exact hustle,

but I'm sure there
was a hustle involved.

I got busy inside.
You got me doing this shit.

Get Steve Van Zandt out here.

He'll talk to you
all you want.

He's better looking.

Later.

We were doing
everything we could

to help Steve and Southside
get the record done.

Bruce suggests I see this guy
Steve Popovich,

I give Steve the demo,
he loves it,

and starts the process
of signing the band.

And Steve Popovich,
in his insanity,

sends the demo to Kid Leo,

the most popular DJ

at the most popular station,

uh, in Cleveland.

So Popovich is like...

"We better start
making this record.

It's already getting airplay."

♪ Baby ♪

♪ This time
It's for real... ♪

You have the bootleg
Southside Johnny?

We started
paying for the record,

we happened
to have a good year

at the track that summer.

And, uh, which, uh...

makes me curious as to

why we've never received

one single penny in royalties.

He gave me my first
royalty point on an album,

which was Southside Johnny
& the Asbury Jukes.

I'm not sure if
I ever got the royalty,

but he gave it to me.

I ought to call him
about that.

♪ Baby ♪

♪ This time
It's for real... ♪

We still owe
money probably too.

And that's kind of
how it went, you know?

Uh, we'd had a handshake
agreement with Steve Popovich.

I can safely say
nobody in the record industry

would have, uh,
the same personality,

uh, and been so encouraging,

because we had a lot of
crazy ideas for the Jukes.

I wanted to bring
Ronnie Spector

and Lee Dorsey in
on the first record.

We wanted to bring in
the Drifters and Coasters,

and the Five Satins
on the second record,

uh, reuniting them.

Uh, these were not
commercial ideas.

I remember
doing Southside Johnny,

he brought in Lee Dorsey.

I was like,
"What are you talking about?"

He said, "Shut up,
you don't understand."

I said, "You're
right, I don't understand."

I don't understand
how it all went together.

I learned a lot from Steve
and Bruce both on soul music.

I don't wanna go home.

He knew what he wanted

that band to sound like.
His arrangement power,

his commitment
to authentic music.

♪ I know that
It's getting late ♪

♪ But I don't
Want to go home ♪

♪ I am in no hurry
Baby, time can wait ♪

♪ I don't want
To go home... ♪

You know, I had been
writing for years, really,

and I never liked
anything I wrote.

I just couldn't relate to it.

I decide, "You know what?
I gotta go to school.

I'm gonna go to school
my own way."

Well, I decide it begins
with Leiber and Stoller.

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

were the first
songwriter-producers

that set the template
for everybody who followed.

I decide,
"Okay, I'm gonna write

a Leiber and Stoller song

for Ben E. King
and the Drifters.

That's gonna be my mission."

And I write
"I Don't Want to Go Home,"

which was the first song
I ever liked that I wrote.

I didn't have the courage
to give it to Ben E. King.

♪ Look at all
The people staying ♪

♪ I don't want to go home ♪

That's because...

♪ In their minds
They've all been there ♪

♪ And I don't wanna go home ♪

♪ I know the words ♪

♪ I know
They've got to be real ♪

♪ Because
I don't wanna go home ♪

♪ Baby, it's talking about
The way I feel ♪

♪ And I don't wanna go home ♪

♪ Baby, I know
We had to try ♪

♪ To reach up
And touch the sky... ♪

It was perfect.

The arrangement,
and the chart,

the whole thing sounded
pretty much in the bag

that, of the stuff
that we were doing.

The song itself
I thought was wonderful,

because it's so insistent.

When he's like,
"I don't wanna go home,"

it lends itself
to being repeated,

and it's very touching.

I think Ben E. King
would have loved it.

♪ Sweeter than honey ♪

♪ Believe it... ♪

Back then,
everybody had a turntable,

they brought their vinyl,
everybody's listening.

I walked into a friend's room,

and the first Southside
Johnny album was playing

"I Don't Want to Go Home,"

I'm like, "What's this?"

"This is great. I've never
heard anything like this."

And I looked, and it was
Steven Van Zandt.

♪ Or a picture book ♪

♪ I'm talking about
Love, love, love ♪

♪ Ain't nothing
But love, love, love... ♪

When you're a kid and have
a record in your hand,

you're always reading who did
what, who wrote what,

who produced what,
this and that,

so Steve was that.

♪ And that kind of love
Don't come easy ♪

♪ Baby, ain't much of it
In the world around you... ♪

Steve and Southside were
a very powerful team together,

and they made
really good records.

I used to say, "Steven,

maybe you should
sing your stuff yourself."

He wasn't ready to be
the front man at the time,

which was the right decision
for him at that moment,

because the records
he made with Southside's,

uh, fabulous voice, and,

and did great justice
to Stevie's material.

What's gonna happen with
Steven? He gonna come out?

Steven had already thought
he was gonna go with Bruce,

even at the beginning
of the first record.

We convinced
the record company

it would be okay without me

and I'd still
be there producing.

And I was basically
gonna join up

with Bruce for a minute.

I went for seven gigs,
and I stayed seven years.

♪ Rosalita
Jump a little higher ♪

♪ Señorita
Come sit by my fire... ♪

The friendship
was so intense,

and I needed
another sounding board,

and somebody
with Stevie's creativity,

and things were going good.

It was just a no-brainer.

You know, we were so close

that I just wanted
him near me,

I wanted him at my side.

I heard that
when he was

in the E Street Band
on those great tours,

that he was managing
Southside Johnny,

making payphone calls
before cell phones,

and dealing with the Southside
Johnny Asbury Jukes stuff.

I know that.

Don't you think I know that?

I know that.

On the piano,

Professor Roy Bittan!

On the bass guitar,
Garry W. Tallent.

The names,
the nicknames, you know,

the Big Mick,
Miami Steve,

the Mighty Maxim, it's like...

On the guitar, Miami Steve.

It was
traditional rock and roll

done in a very powerful
and new way.

On the drums, the Mighty Max.

It was new, but it was old.
It was both.

On the organ, Dan Federici.

On the saxophone,
Clarence Clemons.

The E Street Band,

you know, you got
guys from Jersey.

Loads of things
make a good band.

I think one of
the important things

is if you're all from
the kind of same area,

if you all relate
to the same sort of stuff.

Everyone working
toward the exact same goal,

in the same direction,

from the same neighborhood,

at the same time in history,

with the same
record collections,

that's what makes
a band great.

People talk about
the Liverpool sound.

"Oh, The Beatles
put that on the map."

It's the same thing that
these guys did for Jersey.

Bruce, Steven, Southside

put Asbury Park on the map.

You know, back in the day,
there wasn't, um,

there wasn't really videos.

You didn't see too many clips.
You saw pictures.

When I saw pictures
of these guys,

or even pictures
of them playing live,

Little Steven had these
three-piece suits and hats,

and he'd come and sing

these crazy
background vocals,

and play guitar,

and they were such a gang,

a group of men
to be reckoned with.

They scared me.

Most groups, whether
it was the Sex Pistols,

or early
Red Hot Chili Peppers,

they scared you.

Ramones, they were scary.

The E Street Band
was the same.

Some pictures from The River,
all dressed in black,

looked like they
maybe dressed up

for a wedding, but...

the way they were dressed,
maybe gonna be a funeral.

You couldn't tell
who was playing

what guitar on the records.

You'd try to figure that
out when you were listening.

But you could hear those
distinctive background vocals.

He's just all over it.

♪ Ooh, girl
I got a crush on you ♪

♪ I said ooh, girl
I got a crush on you... ♪

I was like,
"Wow, this is rock and roll."

This is that camaraderie

that, like, gang thing
that I look for,

and seeing that these guys
had this connection.

They could be
running down the street,

a certain kind of
brotherhood,

and I spotted
that right away,

that Mick and Keith
thing with him and Bruce.

All right.

♪ I got some beer ♪

♪ And the highway's free ♪

♪ And I got you ♪

♪ And baby you got me ♪

Get down, chico.

Of course, Barry.

Born to Run and
Darkness on the Edge of Town

were two very tough
records to make.

When it came time for
The River, I was like,

Bruce, I love you, but I can't
go through this again.

It's too much torture.

He was like, "No, you gotta
produce this one with me."

Bruce, he says, "You know,

we got this amazing
reputation live,

but you know, we can't get it
on record, you know?

So you're a band guy,
I want you

to produce
the record with me,

and let's get the band sound
on the record, you know?"

The River
is a classic example

of Steve's influence
on my music,

and him bringing
his best to the table,

and creating something
that really was

a creation
of the two of us, you know?

I had two strong
sounding boards.

I had Jon and I had Steve,

and they did not have
the same vision

for the music
we were making.

It sounds great.

Their visions were
not incompatible,

but significantly off-center
with each other.

Steve and I would agree
about many things

in the studio.

We also disagreed
about many things.

That was good for me,

because I was
trying to suss out

where I wanted to go,

and I got the benefit
of all those different ideas,

and was able to decide
on which way to go

on any particular project.

We were there
for the same reason,

which was to make
what we were working on

the best it could be.

It was a lot of fun

some of the time.

♪ Well I wish that
I could have myself ♪

♪ A seven day weekend ♪

You know, I was
a huge Gary U.S. Bonds fan,

so I came
and saw him at a club

here in New Jersey one night,

ended up talking to him,

I said, "Gee, I don't know,

I'd love to produce something
for you, you know?

It'd be fun if Stevie and I
did it together."

He came in
and said, "Look, let's, uh...

why don't we
record some stuff?"

And I said, "Sure."

And unbelievably,
we have a hit single.

You're on the top
of the charts.

Yeah, I like it, man.

Bruce Springsteen,
did he produce this album?

Yep, and Miami Steve.

- Miami Steve Van Zandt.
- That's it.

I-I don't know
how Bruce knew it,

but as one song
led to the other,

I started to realize

Gary is one of great
soul singers of all time.

We'd like to do a song for you

that was written
by Miami Steve Van Zandt.

♪ It's been a long
Long time for us ♪

♪ I need to talk ♪

♪ But I'm not
Strong enough... ♪

"Daddy's Come Home,"

which is still
my favorite song,

and it's a ballad.

He likes to get into
all the goody-goody,

the kissy-kissy,
the huggy-huggy stuff too.

Steven writes
emotional songs.

He writes songs
from the heart.

He's got a way
of turning a phrase,

like Richard Thompson does,

uh, Tom Waits, Bruce,
they all have that way of...

You always go, "God damn,

I wish I had
written that line."

♪ Daddy's come home ♪

♪ Daddy's come home ♪

♪ Back where he belongs... ♪

He hears
a lot of stuff. It's amazing.

He can hear horn lines,

and he can hear guitar lines.

You know, there are a lot
of cats, they don't hear it.

♪ Daddy's come home ♪

This is one of my favorite
songs of Steve's,

called "Love Again."

♪ I've been to
The Statue of Liberty ♪

♪ So fine and full of grace ♪

♪ Lately every girl I meet ♪

♪ Has that lady's look
On their face ♪

♪ I'm not a man
For one night stands ♪

♪ That's never been
Where it's at ♪

♪ Maybe I'm
A little old fashioned ♪

♪ But what's
So wrong with that? ♪

Being in the studio
with Stevie Van Zandt

was mind-blowing,
the things he came up with.

The music that's in his head,

different things he tried.

Steve was
an incredible arranger.

It's knowing how to take
a particular piece of music

and get the best out of it.

Arrangement to me
is all about that,

enhancing the song.

The track in general
is there to support

that song being sung
by that artist.

The key, really,
to a successful arrangement

is nothing conflicting.

Everything's adding.

Here's the horns.

- The backing vocals.

See how they
go back and forth?

They answer each other.

♪ Ah ah ah ♪

♪ Ah ah ah ♪

See, the backing vocals
just doing "ah's,"

but the horns are actually
playing a lick.

And then they...
then they all got kind of...

do a, like, a pad together.

That's one of the kinds
of things he does.

And the piano is just doing
part of the rhythm section.

Steve is very specific
about balances.

The fifth bar,
the second trumpet

sticking out too much,

he hears all
that in his head.

He's a pretty formidable
talent, I'd have to say.

- Hello?

I was completely
taken and enamored

by everything
that Steven touched.

Finally, I said to him,

when we started this record
company, EMI America,

I said, you know,
"You need to make a record."

Nobody's gonna need a love
song sung by a side man.

I'm like, "No, no,
you need to do this."

You're one of the greatest
songwriters of our day.

You're as good a producer
as anybody I know,

and, um, you need
to make a record.

Steven, I'm going to kill you
if you don't do this.

If I'm gonna do
a solo record at that point,

um, I needed
to find an identity.

You know, Miami Steve,

the fun guy in the band,

we were like
the rock and roll Rat Pack,

and I was
the Dean Martin character.

Uh, Bruce is Frank,

and Clarence
is Sammy on steroids.

I was the first guy you call
if you're gonna have a party.

I thought, "I better kind of
introduce myself

or reintroduce myself,"
you know?

As this new character,
Little Steven.

When I first
became aware of you,

you were, uh,
Miami Steve Van Zandt.

Yeah, that's right!

Now, uh,
and now you're Little Steven.

I'm still
gonna keep a nickname,

because nicknames suggest

not taking
yourself too seriously,

but I wanted to be able
to take the work seriously.

I said I'm gonna
open the first album

with a song that's gonna
explain the rest of my career.

You know, very political.

Ask the question,

"What happened
to all our '60s ideals?

Where did they go?"

♪ Come on, baby ♪

♪ Come on, sing with me now ♪

If there
is any such thing

as an Asbury Park sound,

then one of the guys
most responsible

is Steve Van Zandt.

Miami Steve is best known

as Bruce Springsteen's
guitarist,

but he's also
a respected songwriter,

arranger, and producer.

Now he's taking
that one final step.

He's fronting his own band,

Little Steven
and the Disciples of Soul.

When he made
the first album,

that was his
step away from Bruce.

Those guys love one another.

It's not the big brother

that you're
stepping away from.

It's trying to not feel like

the little brother anymore.

And when Steve made
Men Without Women...

...that's not
a little brother's record.

♪ We always stood
On the same block ♪

♪ Way back then ♪

♪ Waiting to find out ♪

♪ Where in the world
We fit in ♪

♪ Then something
On the radio ♪

♪ Changed everything
We'd been ♪

♪ And now I need it, baby ♪

♪ Over and over again ♪

♪ Where it comes from
Baby, I don't know ♪

♪ That same old something
Just won't let me go ♪

♪ Oh it's too late, baby ♪

♪ It's been too long ♪

♪ Don't try to stop me ♪

♪ Till the good is gone ♪

♪ It seems like
Only yesterday ♪

♪ I could hear
Big Mama call... ♪

Men Without Women came out.

It was basically
the Southside sound,

but taken to another level.

♪ One more time
Say yeah ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah... ♪

I was coming into it

with quite
a lot of knowledge,

but also a lot of expectation.

It feels very organic,

and personal.

I fell in love
with those songs.

I met Steven
when I was an intern

at Power Station studios.

And this was at a time

when he was
starting his solo album,

but he was looking
for a specific sound

on a song.

And, uh, Ben Newberry,

his guitar tech,
said, "Zoe plays oboe,

is that the sound
you're looking for?"

He said, "Yes."

When we finished the record,

he said, "Do you
wanna go on tour?"

When he was working
on his albums in New York,

we'd meet every Friday

at this little
Mexican restaurant,

and then go see a movie.

It was like being a teenager

when you'd get off early
on Friday. It was so much fun.

I think I met Jay Cocks

through Marty Scorsese.

And because Marty and Jay
were very close,

um, Marty had shown me
and Bruce Mean Streets.

We were talking about

making a film
about the songs.

That's when I introduced
him to John Cassavetes,

who could light
anybody up with the idea,

"You can do this,
you can make a movie."

These two guys
were kindred spirits.

I see at some
Santa Monica cinema

that doesn't exist anymore

there's a one week
run of the film,

Men Without Women.

I'm like, "I gotta see
this fucking thing.

Steve made a movie?"

Uh, so I go,

and it's a rough cut,
it's like a lost movie.

I've spoken to Steven since,
and I think it's gone.

Let's ask him for the great
undiscovered secret,

like the lost footage from
The Magnificent Ambersons.

I remember it.

I remember it from...
I saw it when it came out.

I haven't seen it since,
so that's, I don't know,

30 or 35 years ago,

or whenever it was, you know?

Van Zandt says the film
is not a documentary,

although the storyline does
parallel his own life.

That's Maureen
"Knuckles" Santoro,

who married Van Zandt
earlier this year.

Back in '75,
at one of those showcase gigs

I was playing with Bruce
and the E Street Band,

it is at that Bottom Line gig

where I first met Maureen.

And I see this girl,

and I just go nuts, you know?

I'm like, "Wow,

this is the Brigitte Bardot
of New Jersey."

And we talked
a little bit afterwards,

and-and that was it.

I talked her
into going out with me

like a year later.
It took me, like, a year.

Once Steve met Maureen,
that was it, you know?

Simple as that, that was it.

I was
one of those guys,

never gonna get married.

She was just into
all kinds of things,

literature and ballet.

She was way above
my level of sophistication.

She turned me
on to all of that,

expanded my consciousness
tremendously.

She really just, you know,
rocked my world, as they say.

You know, I'm very
grateful to her for that.

Men Without Women
was written when we met.

You feel like someone
is opening a window

onto a private thing,
your relationship.

On the other hand,
it's a really beautiful thing,

and it's what any rock
and roll girl would dream of.

He says
he's getting married, great,

I'm his best man.

Little Richard's
gonna marry him.

Why not?

I don't know who came up
with the Little Richard idea.

I know I was completely
in agreement with it.

Didn't think it would happen,
and it did happen.

We sat down
with Little Richard,

tried to explain to him

the kind of service
we wanted.

We don't want too much
of the Jesus thing.

"Oh, yes, absolutely,
absolutely."

At the ceremony,
he disregarded

everything we said.

First thing, he's going
"Jesus!"

But together
you can daily offer

your prayers to God,

and as your love for him grows
stronger and stronger,

your love for each other will
be purified and strengthened.

It was a classic
Steven production.

He had Percy Sledge singing
"When a Man Loves a Woman."

Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr. and Mrs. Van Zandt.
Meet them.

♪ When a man loves a woman ♪

It was way out there.

I was an usher.
I'm glad to see that my job,

I did a good job
and it worked, right?

That had something
to do with it.

I remember
when we were kids,

and we heard
Little Steven got married,

and Bruce was the best man.

My best man right here.

And it was the wedding band
from The Godfather.

♪ But it really isn't
What I need... ♪

And, uh, I heard
it was really great.

I don't remember a thing,

but that's what I heard.

Do you feel like
Steven Van Zandt is

living out your fantasy
or your dream?

Absolutely.

Seems like yesterday,
listening to the radio,

and saying,
"Jeez, I'd like to do that."

And then you are,

and that's-that's great.

I feel very lucky about that.

Little Steven
and the Disciples of Soul,

- how are you doing?
- Hello, Peter, how are you?

What are you doing
in your show now?

It's basically
rock and roll, um...

with horns, you know?

♪ Ain't it hard
To see through it ♪

♪ Don't it hurt your eyes
To try ♪

♪ It was so much easier
Yesterday ♪

♪ When all we had to do
Was survive ♪

In my so-called career,

I met the coolest,
most important cats.

Frankie Barsalona,

he was the last
of the great agents.

The old, uh, promoters
were all basically thieves,

and he decided to put
his own people in place

the same way that Maranzano

and then Luciano divided
the Mob up into regions,

introducing the concept
of longevity.

By telling these promoters,
"Look, you're gonna lose money

the first-first tour,
maybe the second,

you break even on the third,
maybe fourth.

From then on, you make money
the rest of your life."

This was a radical concept.

He created an industry

that, you know,
now could relax

and people could develop.

Because greatness
is not born,

greatness is developed,

and I want Bruce
to be with Frank.

Frank's the best.

I want Bruce
to be with the best.

It was important
for Steven that

the E Street Band
followed the plan

that Frank had
worked out for them.

So from 1975 to 1980,

the E Street Band
basically followed

that Frank Barsalona formula.

You know, they went from
small clubs, then theaters,

then to bigger
places like arenas,

and eventually to stadiums.

By the time they went in
to record Born in the USA,

they were poised to become

the biggest band
in the world.

On Born in the USA,

Bruce started turning a little
more in my direction,

and Stevie wanted to be heard,

and if anything, he wanted
to be heard more.

And so that arrangement

that worked well on The River

started to become a little
dysfunctional for Stevie.

He just was not happy.

Part of the rationalization

and satisfaction
of being a boss

working for another boss

was the ability to offer
suggestions and advice.

I liked being the underboss

in the E Street Band,
the consigliere.

Kept me out of the spotlight,
but allowed me to make

a significant enough
contribution

to justify my own existence
in my own mind.

And there was a balance
between me, Bruce, and Jon.

But somewhere in '83,

it started to feel like
Bruce had stopped listening.

Fifteen years,

we finally made it,
and I quit...

the night before payday.

It was fucking with
destiny big time.

Or was it fulfilling it?

I think the initial intent

was not to leave
the E Street Band,

but to just
do his own project,

but then I think
it became apparent

that he needed to...

to go out and do this.

We had heard he was
going back and forth

in and out of the studio,
and got tunes,

and some of them are done,
some of them aren't.

And maybe there'll
be four or five more,

and you're not gonna
be playing on them?

We talked about it,

and-and Bruce may have to

finish it without me,
you know?

At the time,
I thought he was nuts.

I didn't understand it
one bit.

Uh, I told him so.

He felt he had to give it
his whole 100%,

do it, you know.

But, um... hey,

you gotta follow your dream,
your conviction.

If you don't,
what are you following?

I thought, you know,
"You're in a band that's...

doing phenomenally well,

having a great time,

you know, you're working
with your best friend.

Do you wanna
risk losing that?"

Though I started
recording solo albums,

technically I was still
producer on the album,

and still involved in it.

"Dancing in the Dark"
was way till the end.

They had the record together,

Jon Landau, the manager,
was saying,

"We're missing one more song,

we need one more
verifiable hit," or something,

and so Bruce kept trying

and kept trying,
until Steven said,

"I think I put out
two solo records

in the time it took you
to write that one song."

"You're right. I remember."

He plays me
"Dancing in the Dark"

and "No Surrender."

Says, "'Dancing in the Dark'
is gonna be on the record,

and 'No Surrender' is gonna be
an outtake, like a B-side."

And I'm like,
"Uh, Bruce, I gotta tell ya,

you got it backwards.

I don't know about
'Dancing in the Dark,'

but this 'No Surrender,'

this is what it's all about."

This is for, uh...

This is for
Little Steven. He's...

- He's got...

He's got a record out
called Voice of America now.

"No Surrender" was something
I was going to take off,

but he said, "No,
you've got to keep it on."

And I was afraid it was
too one-dimensional,

or-or... but he-he really...

when he came in at the end
and said, "No, that's...

that's gotta be
on the record,

man, that's what it's
all about, you know?"

It's funny he did that,
'cause it's a song

that speaks
more to who Stevie is

than maybe to who I am,

but it said something
about us also together.

Making a decision to leave

an iconic band
like the E Street Band

had to be...

probably one
of the most significant

decisions in his life.

That album featured two songs

that seemed to be about Bruce
and Steven's relationship.

"Bobby Jean,"

where one of the friends
goes out on their own,

and "No Surrender,"
which seems to be about

their promises
to each other over time.

Only Bruce and Steven
know if those songs

reveal something
they could never

bring themselves to say
to each other in person.

♪ Then we busted
Out of class ♪

♪ Had to get away
From those fools ♪

♪ We learned more from
A three-minute record, baby ♪

♪ Than we ever
Learned in school... ♪

He did need
to take a shot at that point.

The night we talked
about him leaving was,

we talked,
"Let's not throw the baby out

with the bath water.

You know, I think that,

all I know is you're
one of my deepest friends.

I need that relationship.

I don't want
that to disappear."

♪ Well we made a promise ♪

♪ We swore
We'd always remember ♪

♪ No retreat, baby ♪

♪ No surrender ♪

I think he just needed
his independence,

and, uh, um...

so I was as
supportive as I could be,

but I felt badly about him
not being in the band.

It was difficult and painful,

and, uh, not
my favorite chapter

in what we've done,
you know?

Politics in rock began

with the first two sentences

of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean
Homesick Blues."

"Johnny's in the basement
mixing up the medicine,

I'm on the pavement

thinking about
the government."

Thinking about the government?

Well, why would you do that?

We're on our first
European tour, man,

we're breaking,
we've broken through.

He and I went
to East Berlin in 1980,

just the two of us,
one afternoon.

You know, they confiscated
your reading material.

You could go over there,

but it was a very, very
oppressed society.

And I believe that that was
part of the beginning

of his awakening to...

political ideas,

and wanting to
include it in his music.

♪ Checkpoint Charlie ♪

♪ Walls so wide,
Can't get around it ♪

I'm just walking to a park,

in Munich, I think it was,
somewhere in Germany.

Some kid asked me,

why am I putting
missiles in his country?

"No, there's a guitar
in that case, kid.

There's no missiles.

What are you talking about?"

And it just would not
leave my head.

It finally occurred to me,
"Oh my God,

this kid isn't looking at me
like a rock star,

or a Democrat, or Republican,
or anything else.

He's looking at me
as an American."

And I'm like...

"I never thought of myself
as an American.

I'm from New Jersey."

What part of New
Jersey did you grow up in?

Did I grow up? I guess I did.

Middletown, New Jersey.

Right in the middle.

So Middletown was
a very conservative town.

All the dads went to work,
the moms stayed home.

It was that
Leave it to Beaver existence.

But it was the '60s,

so the kids
were not like that,

and perfect example
was Steven.

My very Catholic
mother divorced my father

when I was two
or three years old,

which was quite
unusual in the '50s.

Virtually unheard of
in the Catholic religion.

I spent most of my time
with Nana Lento,

the matriarch of the family,

who, if there is any trace
of show business in my DNA,

it all would have had
to have come from her.

One of my earliest memories
is her dancing around

to Elvis Presley records.

Until my mother remarried
when I was around seven,

I was brought up
by two very strong women.

How old are you?

Eight years old.

You have any other relatives?

Yeah,
I have over 80 of them.

Steven always talks about
being a band guy,

and I-I think that comes from

the big family he grew up in.

We're a very close
Italian family,

and first five years
of his life,

he was living
with Nana and Grandpa

and the aunts and uncles.

So he's used to having that.

My grandparents
lived five minutes away,

so we would
go there every Sunday,

and everybody would be there,

all the cousins,
aunts, and uncles.

My grandfather spoke
with a heavy accent.

He spent a lot of time
with the grandkids.

He taught Steven how to play
the mandolin and guitar.

And I think
he started the whole...

the whole love
of music for Steven.

Steven Van Zandt
is your real name?

Yes.

Do you have
Dutch ancestors, or...

No, I was adopted
when I was young.

I'm a-I actually
have Italian blood.

How about singing
a little song for us?

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Goodbye, my Coney Island ♪

♪ Baby... ♪

My brother and sister are

much younger
than me, you know,

seven years younger
and 11 years younger.

And unfortunately, I feel
really bad about it now.

I never spent
much time with them.

I have one fabulous memory,

um, with my brother...

that I, among all
the other gratitude

I have for the Beatles.

We had, um,

these transistor radios.

At night, you go to bed,

and under the covers,
you know,

you put the radio on
and listen to it.

My brother
was in the next bed,

and so he could hear,

and, uh, on comes,
uh, the Beatles,

finally getting
airplay in America

on their fifth single,

with "I Wanna
Hold Your Hand,"

and, um...

when they get
to the high part...

"I wanna hold your hand,"

uh, me and my brother

just spontaneously
burst out laughing.

You know?

We didn't have
much in common,

but we had that in common.

That's how profound

and how amazing
the Beatles music was,

to cover that big a gap

with what they were
communicating at that moment,

which you have to define

as simply unbridled joy.

When I get this thing going,

what do you
want me to talk about?

The Beatles.

Which one
do you like best?

Paul and George.

Paul and George?
Yeah.

You like Ringo?
Yes.

What song you like best?

"I Saw
Her Standing There."

How does that go?

I don't know.

Well,
you're the Beatle expert.

We were all raised
in the Baptist church,

but it was
a pretty serious church.

Like, your job was to go out

and witness to other people,

meaning to bring
them into the church.

I think Steven is as fervent

and passionate
about rock and roll

as those people in the church
were about their religion.

Out in the darkness...

there's a voice
trying to make sense

out of a world
that's losing its soul.

A voice that's been
silent too long.

Can't miss out.
Best show of the year.

Ace show.

♪ There's a sadness
All around us ♪

♪ There are words
We're too afraid to say ♪

♪ The things that I thought
Would last forever ♪

♪ Are changing every day ♪

There were great
moments we played Italy,

he was like a superstar there.

We played this one show,

and the girls are trying
to rip our clothes off,

and we played in Verona,

and as we're pulling up
in the cars to the gig,

the kids are piling on

and banging our windows
and all this stuff,

so he was getting
some of that love too,

and realized
this is what it could be.

- Okay, you're great.

At the time we were touring

on Voice of America,

Born in the USA had exploded.

- ♪ The years gone by... ♪
Bruce hit the road,

it was a slightly different
E Street Band.

Patti Scialfa was
on background vocals,

Nils Lofgren handled guitar.

I fucking love Nils Lofgren,

but when Little Steven
wasn't there,

and Nils was, that was
like having a stepdad.

Took me a while
to get used to him

being in the house and...

fucking my mom.

And that record
Steven co-produced

had seven Top Ten singles,

and at that time,
I believe it was tied

for the most of all time.

Woo!

Well, that was a tough period.

It was very strange,
because on one hand,

it was kind of...
we were having

all of this
tremendous success,

and at the time,

I couldn't share it with
Steve, he wasn't there.

So I think it... I think
that would have been...

It would have been nice
at that moment.

I can imagine that affected
Steven somewhat,

but I can say he was super
focused on what he was doing.

It was a crazy tour.
It changed the band a bit.

What was the reason
for dropping the horns?

As I began
to write for the new album,

I realized I wasn't really
writing for horns anymore.

And you know,
I may change every year.

♪ What people need
What people want ♪

♪ When are we gonna start
Talking about that? ♪

At the point
I was touring with him,

it was about
full-on rock stuff.

♪ No more party ♪

♪ No more party ♪

♪ No more party ♪

♪ No more party ♪

♪ Got my own
Party right here ♪

Have you found it a problem

that to be in radio,

radio locked up because
of rock music being white,

and your band
is not exactly white,

it's in between
the soul, the Black,

where do you fit in?

- We don't.
Yeah.

Uh, so far.

Has that
been a problem?

It is, yeah, it's a problem
for everybody

who cannot be
categorized exactly.

You know, that's been
a problem in radio.

The look of that band
obviously is his creation,

but not many bands had

multiracial men
and women in it.

To have brought together
a drummer from the Rascals,

and a bass player
from the Plasmatics.

They should have never met,
those two guys.

I think Steven's philosophy
about a band is it's a club.

And, you know,
we had these long coats

that he made for
everyone in the band,

and those were
like our colors.

I mean, I remember
running around Liverpool

with Maureen
with our dusters.

I mean, we had to represent.

Steven brought them
on David Letterman

and had the Late Night
band wearing them.

Did you actually
bring the clothes

for the gentlemen
in the band?

- No, I'll tell you the truth.

I went in the dressing room,
brought extra things,

I go in there, they're gone.

This is our third trip back
to Europe in a year,

which is unusual, especially
for an American band.

I like it in Europe,

because I can see
America's place

in the world more clearly.

We're like ambassadors
over here.

We represent America.

I feel it's necessary to...

apologize

for my government's arrogance,

- and my people's ignorance...

...and I hope you don't
judge us too harshly.

There's voices that do not

wanna put missiles
in your country.

We need solidarity
right now, uh...

before, uh, it's too late.

♪ Where have you gone
Desaparecido ♪

♪ I taste your blood
In the roots of this land ♪

♪ Where have you gone
Desaparecido ♪

♪ Mi querido ♪

♪ Only yesterday
I held your hand... ♪

Stevie is an
all-or-nothing person.

He's all in,
or he's not in.

And when we first started out,

Stevie was,
"No politics, no politics.

That's not the way to go
about it, that's wrong."

Then he became all politics.

It's all politics.

♪ Where have you gone
Desaparecido ♪

♪ How can they just turn
Their backs to our shame ♪

♪ Where have you gone
Desaparecido... ♪

I felt
if I could shine a light

on some of these things,

maybe I could,
you know, stimulate

some thought,

which would stimulate
some conversation,

which would
stimulate some action.

We're supposed to be heroes
of democracy and freedom,

and we weren't.

♪ I was standing in Pretoria ♪

♪ Waiting for the sky to fall ♪

♪ Impilo Geyethu
Thina Sigidela Phambili ♪

Overseas, the violence
in South Africa

is becoming even
more commonplace.

It has returned to Soweto,

the giant Black township
outside Johannesburg.

Last night in South Africa,
three Blacks were killed

while they were protesting
the country's race laws.

We don't believe,
for instance, in the so-called

guarantees
for minority rights,

because guaranteeing
minority rights

implies the recognition

of portions of the community
on a race basis.

We believe in our country,
there shall be no minority,

no majorities, just be people.

I didn't know what
was going on in South Africa.

I hear this song "Biko,"
by a guy named Peter Gabriel.

♪ Biko, because Biko ♪

But man,
the song was amazing.

It really led
to my engagement

with activism in general,

and specifically,
the apartheid regime

of South Africa.

Political songs
were not my genre,

but in South Africa,

which had racism enshrined

in its constitution,
in apartheid,

that was a struggle
that connected with me.

And with Biko's arrest,

I'm not sure they
meant to kill him.

I'm sure they meant to torture
the hell out of him.

So it was a shock
when his death was announced.

Sunday, September 25th,

20,000 Black South Africans

came to mourn Steve Biko,

the non-violent
but militant

Black radical leader

who died mysteriously
in police custody.

I couldn't find out
much about South Africa,

it was just
very, very mysterious,

and I had to
see it firsthand.

I think on my second trip,

I'm in a taxi,
I'm going down the street,

and-and a Black guy
steps off the curb,

and the cab driver swerved
to try and hit him.

I was literally in shock.

I was like, "Man, let me out
the next corner," you know.

I gotta think about
what I just witnessed.

And at that moment, really,

um, I went from artist
to activist.

So I'm meeting now with the
Azanian People's Organization

in Soweto and had to sneak in
in the back seat of a car,

because there was a military
blockade at the time.

So they're burning,
like, coal fires,

and there's, uh, like,
three feet of, like, fog

as far as the eye could see.

And we get to this house,

and, um, a cat comes out,

you know, they got machetes,

and they're
the tough guys.

They're on the front lines,

they're blowing up
radio stations,

they're killing people,
they're the real thing.

And they're very,
very adversarial.

They don't
like that I'm there.

As far as they're concerned,
I'm violating the boycott

by being there, you know?

I have to explain to him,
I say, "Listen,

I'm on your side."

I don't think
they were pretending.

They were thinking
about killing me.

But at that point,
I was completely fearless.

I had lost all-all of, uh,
my fear of everything

on the flight
down to South Africa.

Uh, it occurred to me that
I had blown my life, you know?

Um, 15 years of work
with the E Street Band,

and I quit, and you know,

I didn't care about anything,

you know, at that point.

Uh, so that helped me, uh,
you know, stand up to them,

'cause they were really,
you know, you know...

fingering their machetes

as they're talking to me,
you know?

I said to them,
"You're not gonna win this war

blowing shit up, okay?
And shooting people."

And they were like,

"We're not gonna
win the war that way?

How are we gonna win?"

I said, "I'm gonna
win the war on TV."

I got home and started
spreading the word.

I needed help.

Steven called and said
"I gotta get this idea down,

so he came to Ben
and my apartment

and we recorded
the "Sun City," uh, demo

on a four-track recorder.

This is, uh, Danny Schechter

of GlobalVision
and the Media Channel.

There was four of us,
equally important.

Danny Schechter,
who had been a real, um,

rabble-rouser from way back,

came from Boston,
and had been involved

with that issue
years before me.

He was the reason why
it was publicized at all.

Arthur Baker
offered his studio,

and his engineers,
and his musicians,

and the record
as his phone book.

When Steve told me
about the record,

I decided I wanted
to get involved.

Hart Perry filmed it.

If he hadn't filmed, no one
would have heard of it,

because American
radio wouldn't play it.

It was too Black
for white radio,

too white for Black radio.

Any one of those four guys
were not involved,

it wouldn't have happened.

I said, "Steven,
we should do something."

He said,
"I've already written a song."

The track was really catchy.

And then we started
just sort of brainstorming

who could be on the record.

And we get together
at this, uh, Sunrise Diner

right on 57th Street.

We go in there,
we'd make a list,

and we'd draw it
on the placemat.

Sun City is
a resort like Las Vegas

in the middle of what
they call homelands.

The homelands are where
the South African government

is relocating all
the South African Blacks

against their will.

So what happens is
they pay a lot of money

for people to come down.

Every time somebody
goes down and plays,

they are justifying

South Africa's
relocation policy.

♪ We're rockers and rappers
United and strong ♪

♪ We're here to talk
About South Africa ♪

♪ We don't like
What's going on ♪

- ♪ Tell it ♪
- ♪ Time for some justice ♪

- ♪ It's time for the truth ♪
- ♪ Speak it ♪

♪ We've realized ♪

♪ There's only one thing
We can do ♪

♪ We gotta say I... ♪

There was nothing like it.

Steven got together

with different
genres of music.

Rockers, punk rockers,

rappers, R&B stars.

And the amount of artists
that were involved.

I was an early
Midnight Oil fan.

You know, Peter Garrett
to Peter Gabriel to Bono.

God almighty, you got
two of the Temptations,

Eddie Kendricks,
David Ruffin.

I was always big
on the Temptations,

so just seeing them
is like seeing God.

I remembered
Lou Reed's in the thing.

People will get
the word eventually, but...

It seeps in like osmosis.

You could tell it was gonna be
something monumental,

because of who was there,

and the main thing,
why they was there,

and everybody's passion

for what the project
stood for.

We should impose sanctions.

The only sanction
a rock performer can impose

is to say, "We're not
gonna come and play

until you do things right."

This country prides itself
in being the land of the free.

We should
be able to understand

most people who
want to be free,

and support them.

This is a continuation

of what I've preached
all my life about Apartheid.

It fills me full
of joy to participate.

I had a call from
Steven, he said,

"This is how I heard about

what was going on
in South Africa."

It wasn't "Let's all
hold hands, drink Coca-Cola

and say the word peace."

It was about actually
there's something wrong

that we need to fix.

Rage is at the heart
of rock and roll,

and you can
direct it at the people

who are oppressing you,

or you can direct it at people

who are oppressing
other people,

who can live in far-off lands.

As a Black South African,
I cannot vote.

And as a Black South African,
I cannot own land.

As a Black South African,

I am not allowed
to get married

to someone from another city.

So, you know,
from the cradle to the grave,

if you're Black
in South Africa,

you need government
permission to exist.

I think
people will sit and listen.

Nobody is really aware

of everything that's
going on in South Africa,

and I think this will make
people really aware.

It wasn't about
egos or anything.

We were just
all happy to do it.

With everybody on that album,

it's completely
different voices,

and different temperaments,
and everybody fit in.

♪ Relocation ♪

♪ To phony homelands ♪

♪ Separation of families
I can't understand ♪

♪ 23 million can't vote
Because they're Black ♪

♪ We're stabbing our brothers
And sisters in the back ♪

♪ We're gonna say I ♪

♪ I, I, I, I ♪

♪ Ain't gonna play
Sun City... ♪

I'll try and cue you.

There's a part
where there's na-na's.

Na-na.

♪ Na-na na-na-na na ♪

♪ Na-na-na, yeah ♪

♪ Well this quiet diplomacy ♪

♪ Ain't nothing but a joke
I'm gonna say ♪

The ability to get
all those artists on board,

something that was political,

was quite a feat of,
amongst many other things,

salesmanship.

Which Steve
is pretty good at.

- All this...
- Thank you.

...is a Little Steven
production.

I'm still impressed
how he gathered

all of these different
people together,

and everybody at that time
was in their prime.

On the day that
we recorded Miles Davis,

we were not sure
that he was even coming.

And we were all
on pins and needles,

and then I get the call.

One of those
magical times in the studio

that become part of your life.

This, I'm jumping
at the chance

to do this, this one.

South Africa makes me ill,

sick all over, everything.

When I think about it,
I can't do nothing.

I can't even play.

There will be a lot
of different versions

on the, uh, on the record.

It could be either
five or six versions.

The more great
performances we get,

the more versions.

And it turned out

that six versions
of "Sun City"

were produced simply
out of the creative process.

And then Bono
flew in from Africa,

and Keith Richards
was around, Ron Wood,

and their last song,

called "Silver and Gold,"
was created.

You know, the dirty
little secret here

is none of us wants
to get that call,

where the other artist
is going to ask you

to put down
what you were doing

to take up their cross,

to follow them
on some mission.

He corralled all of us.

Steven understood
that perhaps

that rock 'n' roll owed a debt
to the continent of Africa.

The Malopoets,

uh, have some members

that still live
in South Africa,

and I asked them, uh...

It could be dangerous
to be on this record.

Who knows what
reprisals may happen.

They told me, "We have
to be on this record."

Somebody tells you
they're ready to die

to be on a record, you know...

that's commitment.

Though the Black South African
suffering is horrifying,

they do not
ask us for our pity.

All they ask us is that we
look at them and see them,

because by seeing them,
we see ourselves.

Okay, well you should
come in on the first "I."

Jonathan Demme,
who shot the thing,

was just the A-1 cat.

Shooting on
the video is happening

in two countries at once,

um, England and America,
and on two coasts,

New York and California.

It was planned to bring

this huge number
of artists into town,

and to gather them together
some way or other

to, um, do a-a unity,

a unified image
of everybody singing together.

And, um, the night
before we had to shoot,

Little Steven had
the great idea

of doing it
in Washington Square.

All this was happening
at once. On one day,

Godley and Creme
were shooting

Ringo and Zak Starr
in London,

while we were
shooting Eddie Kendrick,

and Lou Reed, and Rubén
Blades, in New York.

And then the next day,

Hart Perry went out
to Los Angeles

to get Bob Dylan
and Jackson Browne.

- ♪ Relocation ♪
- ♪ Relocation ♪

- ♪ To phony homelands ♪
- ♪ Phony homelands... ♪

George Clinton,

who's incredible
in the piece.

I'm glad it's
becoming more clear

what's going on over there.

So maybe
the awareness will help

make a change there,
I'm quite sure it will.

Actually, I was making
music videos at the time,

and I figured,
"Wow, you know, uh,

this is like
a music documentary.

I'll take my camera
and just start shooting."

Steve says,
"Here comes Bruce now."

So now
I'm expecting to see

like, a whole entourage,

and bodyguards,

and he came around the corner

by himself,
hands in his pocket.

I was like, "Wow,
that's big right there."

And he was hot as
a firecracker, you know?

It wasn't glossy,
it wasn't showbiz-y.

He really consciously kept it

with "We don't need
this to go to Hollywood,"

'cause we go Hollywood,
you miss the point.

So when you edit
like Harlem streets,

and then you go and edit
some of the African streets,

it almost match, you know,
with that same type of vibe

and that grittiness.

You know, back in the days,
like, if you go to school,

and somebody
call you an African,

you would be ready
to fight them.

Because what
they had put in all

the history books and stuff,

they made all Africans
look like savages.

So if somebody say,
"Yo, you an African,"

it was like somebody
talking about your mother.

That's the race thing.

It's like a con job,
but they made Black people

the main focus of what
the con is, you know?

'Cause for me,
I believe in my heart

there's really only one race,
it's the human race.

Everything else
is like a con game,

and they,
and it works perfectly.

But, uh, if you're-if you're
at the bottom of the con,

I mean...
It's not all that great.

MTV was pretty segregated.

You didn't see
R&B artists on there.

You didn't see
rap artists on there.

And when Steven
pulled this together,

it was really
ahead of the curve.

He was just
including everyone.

Hip hop would be over here,

you know, rock and roll
would be over there.

Hip hop was more this
like the bastard music

of all the genres.

We all know what
each other's doing,

but we looking
at each other,

'cause we come from
different walks of life.

Whenever
they do these things,

and this happens
unfortunately very frequently,

they're doing a project that
has an international impact,

they don't call
Latin artists.

"We Are the World."

You know, "We are
the world, except you."

We all have
to be represented.

Whatever problem exists,

it's not just one
nationality's problem.

It's everyone's problem.

It's a good moment for us

to look at the racism

and the prejudice
that still exists

in our own backyard.

It's a moment
we should reinvestigate

our own racial problems.

People try to put it across
as propaganda,

that it's the left or right.
This is apolitical.

Doesn't matter what side.
It's common sense.

It was like the whole music
industry came together.

It was almost like
you felt you belonged.

♪ Oh whoa whoa whoa ♪

♪ Na-na na-na-na ♪

♪ Na-na-na yeah ♪

The whole band, you know,
the E Street Band,

he felt that all these people

would be on the right
side of history.

What separated Little Steven

was some kind of
righteous anger.

Steven was
really informed

and very outspoken
about apartheid.

He spoke
at the United Nations,

and I remember him going
on the Donahue show.

We're in New York City
talking about "Sun City,"

the most politically
aggressive maneuver

in the history
of rock 'n' roll.

That video is totally
misrepresentative

of the true facts.

Why should Sun City
then be linked

with what you saw up there?

Let's get to the truth now.
We wanna talk about truth.

Uh, this is the truth.

It's not Sun City itself,

the entertainment complex
that's the problem.

It's where it is,
and where it is

is where people are not free

to go where they want to go.

They're there because

they have been
relocated forcibly.

They've been put on a truck,

and taken hundreds
of miles from their home,

and dropped in this area,
and they cannot leave.

They cannot get
visas or passports,

their citizenship
has been stripped.

And no one in the world

recognizes this as
an independent country,

except for the South African
government.

The single has sold well

since its release yesterday,

and is getting
a lot of radio play.

We asked the people
at Tower Records

to play "Sun City."
Customers listen to lyrics

such as "23 million can't
vote because they're Black,

we're stabbing our brothers
and sisters in the back."

Some of the lyrics
are a little critical,

and when you're
dealing with the public,

you have to be careful.

- Would you buy this song?
- Yes, I would.

♪ Quiet diplomacy
Ain't nothing but a joke ♪

- ♪ We're gonna say ♪
- ♪ I, I, I, I ♪

♪ Ain't gonna play Sun City ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, I... ♪

The system of apartheid,
it's not recognized

by any government
in the world,

except South Africa.

It's like Nazism.

The song, "Sun City"

is an affirmation
of the resolve

of the community of artists

to contribute to awakening

the public's
social consciousness,

to put an end to this inhuman

and totally
unacceptable policy.

It was an incredible creation.

In my opinion, it's a very
historic piece of music

that really, I think,
had an effect on apartheid,

and the way it was seen
around the world.

We have Band Aid,
we've had USA For Africa,

we had Live Aid,

Artists United
Against Apartheid,

Farm Aid, Fashion Aid.

You think there might be

too many aid records?

No, I think-I think, um,

as long as there's injustice

and problems in the world,
we should talk about them,

and rock and roll is the best
communication we have.

Ronnie Reagan
can't hear that, come on.

There's a political element

in rock and roll anyway.

It is you saying,

"I'm doing this

no matter what people think."

But when he started
to actually do things,

and say things
about politics,

he politicized rock and roll.

We've been quiet too long.

We've been patient too long.

We the people
will no longer tolerate

the terrorism

of the government
of South Africa.

Tell 'em, Steve.

We'll no longer do business

with those who do business

with the terrorist government
of South Africa.

The fact he's
partially responsible for

bringing down a government
is extraordinary.

I don't know if anybody
talks about that anymore.

We the people demand

the unconditional release
of Nelson Mandela.

We always knew
he had a kind of feistiness.

The surprise was
how organized he was.

♪ Na-na na-na-na ♪

♪ Na-na-na yeah ♪

♪ Yeah yeah yeah ♪

♪ Na-na na-na-na ♪

♪ Na-na-na yeah ♪

Keep the pressure on!

And I didn't know about
apartheid, I was 12, 13,

and I learned about it
because I saw that video.

There was a bill passed

um, in the Congress,

the Anti-Apartheid Act,

and it was essentially
economic sanctions

against South Africa,

until they ended apartheid,

and it was vetoed
by Ronald Reagan.

Steve called me,

and he knew
what the situation was.

The Congress
was now gonna vote

to override the veto, or not.

To override
one of his vetoes was,

uh, quite a,
quite a challenge.

He stepped forward, said,

"I'm gonna be part
of that process,"

and he came down,
and made persuasive cases

to a number of senators,

and it's very impressive
we succeeded.

We overrode
the president's veto.

And that was the end.
Once the banks cut them off,

they had to let
Mandela out of jail.

There's Mr. Nelson Mandela,

a free man,
taking his first steps

into a new South Africa.

It was the most
thrilling moment of my life.

Mandela came here.

There was a whole celebration
for Nelson Mandela

at the Tribeca Grill.

So Robert De Niro was there,
like everybody was there.

Steven is really
the-the, uh...

the person who started this,
the whole thing here,

and I thank him,
and we all thank him.

And we can tell

the movie companies
we work for

we do not want our films to be
distributed in South Africa.

We can... we can tell
the record companies

we don't want
our records to be sold.

We have power, and we
have to take advantage of it.

Little Steven,
ladies and gentlemen.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Deputy President

of the African
National Congress,

Nelson Mandela.

I never felt that before.

You know, like, he had,
like, an aura, you know?

Of-of a... of spirituality.

My mother and I got
to meet him. Wonderful man,

who said, "You must be
very proud of your brother."

And now I'm gonna cry.

That's impressive.
Politicians can't do that,

presidents can't do that.

But he did pull
all those people together

and made a change
in the world.

That is the way to go.

Indeed, years later, that's
exactly the way I went.

I followed him right down
those marbled halls

and through those oak doors,

and made my own case,

um, against extreme poverty.

But I followed his example.

A lot of people,
especially once we did

the "Sun City" thing,

you know, started to connect,

you know, the whole
rock music to politics.

It was starting
to reach people

in the way I was
hoping to reach them.

The song itself
was an irrefutable jam

that featured perhaps the most

revolutionary gathering
of musicians

ever heard on a recording.

It was an inspired song,

an inspired video,

and it inspired American youth

who were part
of the global movement,

which eventually pressured
apartheid out of existence.

For me and most people I know,

music did that.

You know, we came up in a time

of the Live Aid concerts,
the Amnesty International,

and I know there were
predecessors to that.

Whether it be George Harrison
or Pete Seeger,

this was a formative time,

and it had
a huge impact on me.

We got something
going on in America

that they're calling...

"New Patriotism," you know?

But, uh...

It don't look like
no new patriotism to me.

It looks like blind
nationalism, you know?

That ain't right. That ain't
what patriotism is all about.

My friend had a copy,
on one of those Beta tapes,

of a performance they did

on a German show
called Rock Palace.

And I remember it

because he did
a great introduction

to the song "I'm a Patriot,"

where he talked about
early onset nationalism

back in the States.

Being a good patriot
means you question

every motherfucker
everywhere every time.

It sure ain't about parties,
you know?

Loyalty to the party instead
of loyalty to the truth.

He understands
the need to utilize

music not just as
a means for escape reality,

but to document it,
and/or confront it.

Especially Steven,
at a time when,

you know, Reagan and all that
stuff was in America,

like to go to that
direction, it's brave.

♪ Listen
I ain't no communist ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ I ain't no capitalist ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ I ain't no socialist ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ I sure ain't
No imperialist ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ I ain't no Democrat ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ I sure ain't no
Fucking Republican ♪

♪ I only know one party ♪

♪ Its name is freedom ♪

♪ Say it, I am ♪

♪ I am, I am ♪

♪ I am a patriot ♪

I used to be part of
little benefits in San Diego,

I was working a midnight
shift security job,

and that was one of the songs
that really could connect.

♪ And the river shall open
For the righteous ♪

♪ And the river shall open
For the righteous... ♪

So I kind of
dissected the song

and made a version of it.

♪ I was walking ♪

♪ With my brother ♪

♪ And he wondered ♪

♪ Oh, how I am ♪

I'm gonna leave
you with this song.

This is about
my favorite song,

written by Little Steven.

I think it was '86,
Amnesty International,

I saw Jackson Browne
play a version,

and that was really exciting.

♪ I am a patriot... ♪

Stevie was
a huge influence on me

at a time when
I was trying to write

songs about
what I cared about.

And that I hadn't
even dared to try

to talk about it in a song.

♪ She said, "I want
To run like the lion ♪

♪ Released
From the cages..." ♪

I would say that probably

most people
who come to my concerts

think that that's my song.

I take the trouble to tell
them whose song it is.

I've told him,
I said, "Steve,

I'm sure a lot of people
think I wrote this, you know."

Usually, as a writer,

you're more concerned with
saying too much, you know?

I was concerned
with not saying enough.

And Jackson Browne doing
one of your songs is wild,

and then Eddie Vedder
also would do it.

Such an endorsement,
you know, such a-such a, uh,

such a wonderful validation

of what you're doing,
you know?

We still play it this day.

We've played it fast,
we've played it slow.

You can take that-that
car of a song,

get in a demolition derby,
and you will win.

♪ And the river shall
Open for the righteous ♪

♪ And the river shall
Open for the righteous ♪

♪ Someday ♪

♪ I'm a patriot... ♪

You know, whatever,
whatever side of the fence,

or if they're
leaning on it, um...

it transmits.

♪ Sanctuary... ♪

♪ Sanctuary... ♪

His solo records
were just filled

with in-depth
political thought.

There's some
kind of adrenaline rush

that takes place
when you start to realize

why you're on this planet.

This combination of artist
and journalist thing

where I'm going places,
doing research,

and checking things out,
turning it into stories.

I'm doing something
that feels important.

♪ America's on trial... ♪

I was terrified, because
he went into situations

that I later found out

were really, really dangerous.

I thought, "What happened?"

You know, I marry
this fun rock and roll guy,

and we're going
all over the world,

we're having a great life,

and all of a sudden,
he's in South Africa

being smuggled

into some dangerous area
under a blanket.

I didn't know that then.

While I admired
what he was doing,

I think I really resented it,

because I felt it was putting
everything at risk.

His life, our relationship,

even his musical life.

Out of all the disturbing...

situations around
the world, um...

the single most disturbing
was right here,

with the treatment
of Native Americans.

♪ Love's been sacrificed ♪

♪ Promises buried beneath ♪

♪ The trail
Of broken treaties ♪

We celebrated 200 years...

of our Constitution
the other day.

That's something we should
be happy about,

but until we start honoring
Indian treaties,

the Constitution is a lie.

♪ Sing it, I ♪

♪ I am Native American... ♪

On the Freedom -
No Compromise album,

the concept was the state.

Uh, I decided
to do three sub-themes.

There's South Africa,
Native America,

and Latin America.

Stevie was
like a bow and arrow,

a very well dressed,
you know, archer,

and was shooting those arrows
exactly where he aimed them.

Now, if they
hit the right target,

you're in trouble.
He shook people up.

If you have that in you,

you were a threat
to corporate structures.

He's such
a galvanic humanist,

that you kind of
have to make

that kind of progression
into politics.

It was political,
but it was more

generally humanistic
than that.

No party line, all compassion,

all empathy.

I went to Nicaragua once,

and then Steve
decided to come.

I mean, he was
amazing on this trip.

He brought nothing but, like,
Gatorade and Marlboros.

And here's this guy
who is so well-read,

and so politically astute,

but dressed like, you know,
like a rock and roll,

you know, like
a dervish or a pirate.

♪ Someday we'll reap
What we have sown ♪

♪ I don't look east
I don't look west ♪

♪ I don't understand
Their accents ♪

♪ I will gather no more
Of your bitter fruit... ♪

What Stevie
did meant something.

This particular song

had to do with an injustice,

and that's a good thing that
Stevie is teaching people.

They don't know
these stories,

and it was built
with integrity.

I have the honor
and the privilege

to introduce somebody

who is not only
one of the greatest forces

in rock and roll
on this planet,

but one of the greatest forces

for justice and human rights
on this planet,

and that's Little Steven!

The whole '80s
for me,

I was completely
obsessed with politics,

against all rational
thought, you know,

beginning with leaving
the E Street Band.

But it was more than that.

Every album had
a different theme,

a different soundtrack,

which was part of my,
uh, problem commercially,

and part of my
artistic, uh, success.

♪ Keep the people divided ♪

♪ Keep the energy spent ♪

♪ Keep the people divided ♪

♪ So they don't think
About the government ♪

♪ Look at all
The pretty children ♪

♪ They all look the same ♪

♪ They don't want
Your anger ♪

♪ They don't
Share your pain... ♪

I'm writing this in 1989.

The alienation between
the workforce and labor

started to now
become contagious,

and I thought
the alienation had now

moved into the institutions.

No longer trusted the Church,
the government,

no longer trusted
our schools,

and as now,
spreading to the alienation

from our very life support
systems, the environment.

It's a bit more powerful,
more beefy with the sounds

than a typical
dance record, but, um,

it wasn't anything
to do with rock.

Anyway, uh, that, that...

uh, confused people

pretty, pretty, uh, consistently.

He had the most
resolute agenda.

He had it kind of mapped out

where he was gonna go
with these songs,

three or four albums deep,

because he is nothing
less than revolutionary.

This is for, uh, Leonard...

in Leavenworth Prison.

I was focused on
the international situation.

But of course,
as it turns out,

in a way, the Native American
situation is international,

because they are
sovereign nations.

I read
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse.

It was very striking to me

that Steven would
write this song,

"Justice for Leonard Peltier,"

and try to give him
the kind of attention

and regard that he did.

♪ He should say
What he wants to say ♪

♪ It's time we listen ♪

♪ He should pray
Where he wants to pray ♪

♪ Without asking permission ♪

♪ Leonard Peltier ♪

Everything
that he's gone after

has been a really noble
or meaningful thing,

so in the end, how could
you not support that?

It might scare you,
make you upset,

but you cannot say,
"You shouldn't do this."

We dedicate this show today

to the students in China.

Solidarity with them.

Finally, I peaked,

you know, in Rome, 1989.

We did a concert
for Tiananmen Square.

I couldn't see the end
of the crowd, like Woodstock.

This is where my political
trip has been leading,

and I realized

I don't wanna
be a politician.

I said what I wanted to say,

learned what
I wanted to learn.

I said, "Man, that's it.

I'm done. I'm done."

♪ The war stopped
For a moment ♪

♪ We held our breaths,
My brothers and I ♪

♪ The poisoned sky
Stopped crying ♪

♪ The red sun tried to shine ♪

♪ We looked down
From the mountain top ♪

♪ And felt so alone ♪

♪ This once was paradise ♪

♪ This wasteland
Once was home ♪

♪ Oh... ♪

I had a trip planned
for my next album,

to do research in Algeria,

and so I came home from that,

I recorded my fifth album,
Born Again Savage,

but I wasn't
gonna tour with it.

No record company
wanted to sign me anymore.

I was done.

The weight, I think,
began to put the brakes

on Steve's freedom

to let his imagination
go where he wanted.

And the outlets seemed
like they had been

turned off like water taps.

I was
spiritually exhausted,

mentally, physically.

I went out to the wilderness,
man, you know?

And walked my dog
for seven years.

♪ Don't ever say
it was all in vain ♪

♪ Yeah, don't tell me... ♪

So there I was, uh...

no more record deal,
no more job opportunities,

no more offers, really,

and, uh, no particular
ambition either.

♪ Yeah, I know
It still remains ♪

♪ Because
I'm still the same... ♪

Certainly, it mystified me,

why someone of his caliber

would have trouble
getting record deals,

or holding onto one,

but knowing what I do

about record companies,

you know, it was...
it wasn't hard to see why.

The idea of writing directly,

addressing directly an issue,

is not commercially kosher.

Promoters don't
wanna hire you.

The radios will not play you.

When you're
dealing with issues

that have to do with feeding
yourself and your family,

then the question is

how far are you willing to go

to support your idea?

You could feed
people in Africa,

they're okay with that,

but start bringing down
governments,

they start getting
a little nervous.

You know, like, uh...

"Maybe we're next," you know?

I met him at a time
when he was

not having success.

He couldn't get good music

released by anybody.

Painful as it is, you know,

I think it's a quite
good experience

for artists, you know.

You learn more
from failures in life

than you do from
successes, I think.

They're better teachers.

Bruce had disbanded
the E Street Band,

and was moving on
to other things.

During the time that Bruce
had disbanded the band,

was also a time
for reflection for Steven.

I thought about being
a professional producer.

You know, I liked
producing records,

but I only did it
for my friends, really.

I ended up producing
a couple records.

I did the Arc Angels,
and, uh,

a Nigerian cat named
Majek Fashek, Lone Justice,

and then I did
a reunion record

with Southside Johnny
& the Asbury Jukes.

♪ It's been a long time ♪

♪ Since we've
Laughed together ♪

♪ It's been a long time
Since we cried... ♪

Greetings from Asbury Park.

On the stage
of the fabled Stone Pony,

the three guys who put
the place on the rock map,

Little Steven Van Zandt,
Bruce Springsteen,

and Southside Johnny Lyon.

It felt like we should

be working together again.

We laugh, have fun,
tell lots of stories,

we had-we listened
to a lot of music.

We sat down and wrote things,

it felt like it did
when we first started out.

The forthcoming LP

by Southside Johnny
& the Asbury Jukes,

entitled Better Days,

resurrects the horn-enriched sound

that was a musical trademark
of the band in the late '70s.

The album is produced
and arranged

by former Juke and good
friend, Little Steven.

I just try to keep it human,
and simple, and...

live as possible.

That's the way we always
did it, the way I still do.

I haven't really changed
since I started, really.

Do the same
thing long enough,

eventually it becomes
fashionable.

I don't remember it
was any much that different,

but when we got into
the studio for Better Days,

we both were relaxed enough

that we could let things
happen, it was great.

You go back to Asbury,
there's Southside,

there's Steve, there's me.

Just those three guys.

That's not gonna
happen again.

Those are the people
you were there with.

Those times are gone,

but those feelings,
the feeling remains.

The soul,

and the love,
and the feelings,

we still keep
a great faith with.

♪ We lived in a time ♪

♪ In a world of our own ♪

♪ Making up the rules
As we went along ♪

♪ Just one coat between us ♪

♪ And we never felt cold ♪

♪ We were never
Gonna get old ♪

♪ It's been a long time ♪

♪ Since we laughed together ♪

♪ It's been a long time
Since we cried... ♪

Luckily, Lance Freed,

a music publisher
who happened to be

the son of the legendary
DJ Alan Freed,

heard the Southside
Johnny album.

Said, "I haven't heard writing
like this in a long time,"

and offered me
a publishing deal,

which saved my life.

There were decades of success

in the past.

I didn't feel
that his-his writing

had-had diminished at all.

I felt like it was every bit
as good as it had ever been.

And eventually, you know,
things come around.

At the time it was
a lot of money,

and paid my bills for years.

Lance, if you're out there,

I love you, baby.

My relationship with Steven
started with Home Alone 2.

We were looking for a song

that would cover a montage.

I said, "Let's think
about this.

What you need to do
is call Stevie Van Zandt."

♪ The cold wind's blowing ♪

♪ And the streets
Are getting dark ♪

♪ I'm writing you a letter ♪

♪ And I don't know
Where to start ♪

♪ The bells will be ringing ♪

♪ Saint John, the Divine ♪

♪ I get a little lonely ♪

♪ Every year
Around this time... ♪

I said, "I don't know
what the song exactly is,

but it has to feel
like some of the stuff

you had just done on
the latest Southside album,"

which was Better Days.

Steve says, "I'm gonna
get the E Street Band

to come in to be
backing musicians."

Wow! Okay, all right.

I'm coming to that recording
session.

And I thought, "My world
has finally connected

with my dream world."

I think Steven,
with that particular song,

wrote one of the great
Christmas songs.

In my mind, I felt that
if there was ever a situation

where I needed
a song in a film,

I would call Steven.

♪ This is the time
Of your life ♪

♪ Whatcha gonna do with it ♪

♪ Don't fool with it... ♪

I needed a song
for the end credits

that celebrated
the way I was feeling

about being a young father
for the first time,

and he comes back
with "Time of Your Life."

♪ Don't think
About the future ♪

♪ Don't think
About the past ♪

♪ There's just this moment ♪

♪ You better
Make it last... ♪

It's an intensely
personal song.

I don't really...

think he's written a song
quite like it since.

Well, most people
who get into a band,

you don't do it
to-to win accolades.

You do it because
you love music,

you wanna be
on stage and share it.

Gold records, winning awards,

those things definitely
are meaningful,

but they're definitely
not the reason you do it.

♪ Whatcha gonna do with it ♪

He was trying
to get the Rascals

up and running again,

and they had been
feuding for decades,

and they were a personal
favorite of Stevie's.

And to induct them
into the Hall of Fame,

he came out wearing those
outfits they used to wear

in the very beginning,
like little schoolboy outfits.

Some people
may not realize it,

but the Rascals were the first
rock band in the world.

In the center of the universe,
New Jersey,

the Rascals
were the first band.

And who knew
that sitting in New Jersey,

watching on TV,
was this guy David Chase,

saying, "You know, that guy

could be good
for my new TV show."

You know, their stage garb
was a little, uh, bizarre.

Uh, what I'm trying to say

is people think
they dress funny.

Now, this is a subject
I know something about.

And I just, you know,
for the record tonight,

I wanna say that there was
absolutely nothing

unusual about the way
the Rascals dressed.

I...

Nothing strange about that.

I used to buy
Springsteen albums,

back to the days of vinyl.

I used to read the album
over and over,

stare at it.

And I saw this guy,

every album, there he was.

And he looked Italian to me.
I'm Italian.

So you know,
it-it pricked my attention.

And he was very funny,

glued me to the TV,
just really charismatic,

and I said, "That guy's
gotta be in the show."

We were
having dinner one night,

he goes, "You know,
this guy, David Chase,

he saw me speak

at the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame induction dinner,

and he wants me
to try a part for HBO."

And I said, "Steven,
you can't fucking do that.

You can't be in television.

I mean,
think of Donny & Marie.

Are you
the Partridge Family? No.

You're Stevie Van Zandt,

you're a fucking
rock and roll idol.

You can't do this.

You're gonna
ruin everything."

And he goes,
"Well, I'm also broke."

Steven goes, "I did
this pilot for this TV show,

about a Mob family
in New Jersey,

I don't know if it's
the right thing."

I said, "What do you mean?"

He goes, "Rock 'n' rollers
shouldn't be on TV."

I said, "Well, look, Steven,
TV has no memory."

He goes, "What do you mean,
has no memory?"

I said, "Do you know

that Henry Fonda
had a TV series?"

He goes, "He did?"

I said, "Yeah.

Do you know Jimmy Stewart
had a TV series?"

He goes, "He did?"

I says, "Yeah."

He said, "I don't remember."
I said, "That's my point.

If the thing is great, great.

If the thing is bad,
they'll forget about it."

If he's right, he's right.

What the fuck are you doing?

Sil, take it easy.

I'm losing my balls over here!

This fucking moron
is playing Hazel?

Get the fuck outta here!

I was trying
to sweep the cheese--

Why? Why now?

Leave it there.

- I don't know, I was just--
- What?

Where do you get
these fucking idiots? Where?

He's sweeping the cheese
while I'm trying to get...

Leave the fucking
cheese there!

I love cheese on my feet.

I stick mother fucking
provolone in my socks at night

so they smell like
your sister's crotch.

All right? So leave
the cock sucking cheese

where it is!

What stunned people

was the breadth and range

and authenticity of this cast,

the surprise of this cast.

And Steve Van Zandt was
the personification

of that surprise,

because he wasn't
a professional actor.

And you could see that
he was made to do this.

He was built to do this.

He said
he didn't wanna take

a job from an actor.

We were auditioning
all kinds of actors.

So I said, "Well, we'll
create a character for you,"

which we did.

And it was based
on a character

that he had invented,
named Silvio Dante.

His club was gonna
be traditional,

with maybe '40s music,

and I said, "That'd be great
for the show."

Well, what it wound up as
was a strip club.

I wrote a whole
biography about him.

He grew up with Tony Soprano,
he was his best friend,

and I kind of used
my relationship with Bruce.

We were driving
on the North End,

which is kind of like
Mulberry Street, New York.

It's a real old school
Italian district.

"Silvio's here
on the North End!"

Owners of the restaurant
come out,

they're bringing him
out meatballs.

We gotta keep him in the van
because it's Beatlemania.

From the Sopranos soundtrack,
our thanks to Little Steven.

♪ Even if it's all over ♪

♪ Don't ever say it was
All in vain... ♪

What was interesting

in the music that David Chase
chose for the show

was that it was exposing
Little Steven songs,

and even unreleased
Little Steven songs,

to a brand new audience.

I loved
picking out the music,

and thinking about songs,

and some of them I'd had
in my head for 30 years.

It was my favorite
part of the show.

But it was never me trying
to, like, introduce, um...

the world to any music,

it was just what was right
for that dramatic piece.

When I came in
to open up one morning,

there you were,
your head half in the toilet.

Your hair was in
the toilet water. Disgusting.

I told you I had the flu.

I said my piece, Chrissy.

He was almost unrecognizable.

If you see him in the band,

then when you see him
in The Sopranos.

Uh, I was just deathly afraid
of people saying "Hey,

I just saw you
play in Cleveland.

What are you doing trying
to be a mobster," you know?

I was deathly afraid of that.

That's why I gained,
I went in the gym,

I gained, like,
30, 40, 50 pounds right away.

Uh, and muscle, you know,

I really, you know,
tried to, bulked up,

and I wanted to be
as different as I could be,

thinking I'm never
going back to music.

You know...

I was in one trailer,

and Stevie was
right next to me,

and I used to play
a lot of Bruce and Southside.

Steven comes by,
I had the door open,

and he says, "I figured
you'd be playing Sinatra,"

and I says, "No, man,
this is Southside."

He said, "I know who it is."

"You know I wrote
all those songs?"

I says, "I didn't know that."

and I took the CD out,
said Van Zandt,

I says, "I didn't know that."

He's clearly
fabricating a persona,

but you smell enough
of Steven in the character,

that-that it's totally
believable.

Without Frank, none of youse
would be in this room tonight.

I was talking
to the guitar tech,

and he said,
"Every once in a while,

he'd be waiting too long
for his guitar,

he'd turn around
and turn into Silvio."

"What the fuck, give me my...

My fucking guitar."

It was probably
always in there,

but now it became unleashed.

Hey, Sil.

- What?
-"What?"

I've been gone a long time.
Let me hear it.

Just when they
thought I was out,

they pull me back in.

All right, get
the fuck out of here.

I was not fooling around.
I came out of that trailer

as Silvio Dante,
and I was really him.

You know, I didn't...
I didn't take that lightly.

When you're connected
with Gandolfini,

you just gotta get better,

and Steven and Jimmy
got along so good.

He learned a lot from Jimmy.

He'd always say,
"Look in the mirror.

Look at this face, you know?

You believe they cast me
as the lead in this show?"

He meant it, you know?

Just being in
a scene with him,

you walked away
a better actor.

You just couldn't help it.

He was that good.

What the fuck do you know

what goes on in my head?

I've known you since
you were a kid, Ton'.

Frankly... you've got
a problem with authority.

I knew exactly those dynamics.

I know what it's like
to be the only guy

bringing the bad news.

That's the job.

You wanna be
somebody's best friend?

Be a real friend?

You wanna be a consigliere?

You've gotta take that heat.

And you gotta stand up to it,

because that's the job, man.

'Cause everybody else
is too afraid to do it.

You know, it might cost you
your friendship,

or in this case, in Sopranos,
it might cost your life,

you know, but you gotta do it.

That's the gig.

So I was comfortable
with those dynamics,

and, uh, I think it helped me

as a first-time actor.

All his experience
through his career,

with Bruce, and other ways,

he gave me tips, um,

which were really valuable.

He took on more
thematic responsibility too

as he became a consigliere.

That's what he's like
as a person.

He was always
that way with me.

"Don't do this,
don't do this," you know?

That was the big time.

He'd been in the big time
for a long time.

I'm gonna tell you something
I never told anybody.

Back when Jackie
was at the end,

they floated the idea

of me stepping up
to the big seat.

Not Tony, me.

- Really?
- Yeah.

But I thought,
"It's not for me."

Still, you wouldn't
sneeze at it.

I never saw myself
as that kind of guy.

I'm more behind the scenes.

Advice... strategy.

And here you are, Sil.

The times make the man, honey,

not the other way around.

Come on, Stevie!

Once more.

One, two!

♪ Once I spent my time
Playing tough-guy scenes ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ I was living in a world
Of childish dreams... ♪

Here's two friends

that I'm so happy they're
getting back together again,

and that's how
I felt about that.

Those guys have a connection,
and it's fucking awesome.

They're laughing,
they're like two kids.

That's the relationship.

♪ I believe in the end ♪

♪ Two hearts
Are better than one ♪

♪ Two hearts
Girl, get the job done ♪

♪ Two hearts
Are better than one... ♪

Being in a band is like

being in the priesthood
or the Mob.

These are organizations
you can't leave.

Unless you're dead.

The whole mythology
of the band of brothers.

♪ My special one ♪

♪ Two hearts
Are better than one ♪

♪ Two hearts
Girl, get the job done ♪

♪ Two hearts
Are better than one ♪

- Steve!
- Yeah, Boss?

How the hell
is this guy gonna be doing

a rock show the night before,

and had a 6:00 a.m. call
the next day in New York?

We used to wait and say,
"Is he gonna make it?"

Boom, he shows up,
comes out

looking like Silvio,

- and we go to work.
- Let's go act.

Van Zandt
is creatively restless,

says his wife,
Maureen, who also plays

his TV wife in The Sopranos.

You know, that's
what's interesting about him,

that he's a... he's a real
Renaissance man.

I know that sounds
very cliche, but he is.

People ask me, uh,

"What have you been doing
these last 20 years?"

And I say to them, "I've been
putting all of my energy

into preserving this thing
we call rock and roll."

And they said
it wouldn't last.

The Underground Garage
this week

begins its fifth year.

It started with
his syndicated radio show

Little Steven's
Underground Garage,

now heard on 200 stations.

He said, "I started going,
city by city,

I would get a dinner

with the head
of the radio station,

and then we'd talk
Sopranos for an hour,"

he'd say "What's your
slowest night?"

He wheeled and dealed
to get this golden music

into the people's ears.

I remember being
on the West Coast

listening to
Underground Garage,

like, "These are the coolest
bands I've ever heard."

My only desire was to be
on that station as a band.

Your radio show, Little
Steven's Underground Garage--

Yes, we are the only
radio show with dancers.

Yeah, I noticed.

You know, it goes
from punk rock, to surf,

to doo-wop, to psychedelic,

to, you know, modern garage
stuff to old garage stuff,

and glam, and a bunch
more I'm forgetting.

There's even reggae in there.

You think of all those
bands that got played,

he was the first guy

to turn anybody
on to the White Stripes.

I mean, that was him.

And it just steamrolled
into this monster,

you know,
groundbreaking thing.

Underground Garage
gave Steven his freedom

to play whatever he wanted.

I can't say the name
of the track,

because it's got
a horrible word in it.

It's my station, we can do
whatever the fuck we want.

Well, there you go.

I ask people, "How do
you know my music?"

They say Underground Garage.
I get that all the time.

It wasn't just the past.

It was like, "Here's the past,

and here's the future."

♪ When you're walking in LA ♪

♪ Everybody knows
That you're down... ♪

He thought there
was country music

being unrepresented,

and said
"I got a second idea,

I wanna do this thing
called Outlaw Country.

So Outlaw Country comes.
Guy's got another channel.

You wanna make
those connections.

You wanna connect dots,

like you do in music,

Like, how is Robert Johnson
the same as

the White Stripes, or whoever?

I think he realizes that if

somebody doesn't
keep this going,

it may die.

♪ Who will save
Rock and roll... ♪

From his
New York office, Van Zandt

also books underground
garage concerts.

He was trying
to save CBGB's.

He reunited some great bands

for the Garage Rock Festival.

And for all these events,

he'd bring friends
from E Street and Sopranos.

I hope youse
having a great time

listening to all
this garage trash today.

I know I'm trying.

Steven has this...
sheet of paper

with all of the things

that he wants to do.

I'm pretty sure
he's done them all.

Like, it's just mind-blowing,

but I think he has
kind of checked a box

on every one
of those branches.

Steven's second act,

it's amazing how much
he's accomplished.

Is that the teachers?

All of a sudden,
he's involved in TV, radio,

education, he's building
a record label.

Steven showed up to our gig,

he's like,
"I want that record."

You can have that record.

It's all about music for him.

There's just a lot
of bands these days,

and a lot of the bands
came to us saying

"We need more help."

That was gonna be successful,

because people love rock.

♪ One, two three
Good love ♪

♪ Good love ♪

He was on fire

about this Rascals thing.

The next thing I know,
it's on Broadway,

which is tremendous.

He sees it historically,

'cause he is a historian.

He probably knows more
about my music than I do.

It's every performer's dream
to play Broadway.

That dream came true for me

when I wrote and co-directed
Once Upon a Dream,

reuniting The Rascals.

♪ How can I be sure ♪

♪ I'll be sure ♪

♪ With you ♪

One of the police officers
who was helping us

when we'd come out
of the stage door,

pulls me aside and says,

"I've been working
Broadway for 20 years,

and I have never
seen an audience

come out
of a show like this.

Cheering, singing,

smiles, happiness."

It took people to a place,
in the audience,

that they never thought
in their wildest dreams

they would ever get back to.

Musicians are very theatrical.

They become
different people, you know.

When I stood on the stage
of Carnegie Hall,

and announced Stevie's name,

I just felt so cool.

I mean, I just felt
like my world went...

And I could be...

anything I wanted to be.

Now, this could only happen

to a guy like me.

And only happened
in a town like this.

- Am I right?

♪ This is ♪

♪ My kind of town ♪

♪ Lilyhammer is... ♪

I started a record label,

and I start signing a bunch
of Norwegian bands.

I'm producing one of them
in Bergen, Norway.

The assistant engineer
says, "There's a couple

in the lobby,
they wanna say hello."

It's Eilif Skodvin
and Anne Bjornstad,

and they say to me,
"We're TV writers,

and we wrote
a TV show for you."

Well,

you don't hear that every day.

Kind of out of the blue,

I get a call
from Stevie's agent,

saying, "Will you take a call
with Stevie Van Zandt?"

And I said, "Would I?
Anyone ever say no to that?"

Very excited. No idea what
they're gonna talk about.

I'm thinking "Lilyhammer."

Three episodes were complete,
and I loved it.

Really what that was,
like the first Netflix show.

I think that
that digital world,

for a guy who is as off-beat

as, uh, Steve is,

will create opportunities.

The sheep head,
it's my dinner.

I thought I was gonna
have to give

Johnny Fontaine a movie part.

It's Gary U.S. Bonds!

♪ Should auld acquaintance
Be forgot... ♪

- I'm impressed.
- Yeah!

I got to direct
the final episode,

of Lilyhammer,

and that was one of
my scripts,

uh, and, uh...

you know, I had been talking
to Bruce about, uh...

getting in somewhere.

We had been talking
since Sopranos.

Angelina, Anthony.

What brings you here?

It's our brother, like always.

I was thrilled that he
did it, because, uh,

people have been trying to
get him to act for 30 years.

You know, I'm proud of that.

We've been
friends a long time,

still, you know,
he trusted me.

No Child
Left Behind legislation

had devastated all
the arts classes in America,

So I said how about we do

a music history
curriculum instead.

Teacher asks the kid,
"What are you listening to?"

And whatever they answer,
you trace it back.

And he's not kidding.

He wants rock and roll
taught in school.

You mustn't lose
the history of music,

the history of anything.

Rock and roll is
important, it's great to have

Steven out there
making sure people know

how important it is,
what it means,

and what a lifeline it can be.

He's almost like
John the Baptist.

He's out there screaming
there's a sacredness,

there's a holiness to rock.

This guy is doing
40 things at once,

and they're all complicated.

And they're all good.

He's a writer,
he's a director,

he's a musician,
he's a producer,

he's a businessman,
he's a philanthropist,

and now he wrote
an entire book

in prose, and it's very good.

The book has it all.

Sex, drugs, rock and roll
in unequal measure,

and the true story
behind the bandana.

♪ Could have been
A politician ♪

♪ In a bulletproof
Limousine ♪

♪ Could have made
A lot of promises... ♪

I did invite Stevie
to my 80th.

Bill Wyman invited us
to his 80th birthday party.

Leo Green,
his crazy promoter,

he says, "That's the same
week as my blues festival.

Why don't you
throw a band together

and headline one night?"

It sounded like fun.

I thought maybe
I'll bring the horns back,

I'll do a handful of my own
songs from the old days.

For almost 30 years,

Steven did not
perform his own music.

He acted, he was
performing with Bruce,

he was involved
in a lot of different things,

but he didn't play
any of his own songs

for a very long time.

♪ Could have been a lawyer ♪

♪ But my daddy taught me
Right from wrong ♪

♪ That could have been
The reason ♪

♪ Everything takes too long ♪

♪ I could have hung out
In Hollywood ♪

♪ I could have
Been a millionaire ♪

♪ Could have been big... ♪

As I'm-as I'm going
through my old songs,

I couldn't get through
them at first.

And my-my throat
was tightening up,

I-I... I started to tear up.

And I went to Bruce,
I said, "Bruce,

has anything like this
happened to you?"

And he's like,
"Yeah, I know why,

because you abandoned
your children for 30 years."

It reminded me
these songs have value.

I really shouldn't have
abandoned them.

I was like, "Dude, yeah,

you should be doing this."

But, you know, who knew he was

gonna pile it on top
of everything else he's doing?

I was overjoyed. He should
have been on the road anyway,

'cause he loves the road.

He stays in the fine hotels,

and, you know, drinks
that fine wine and all that.

My first manager over here.

Nobody messes with Big Mama.
You're my baby.

Without you,
I don't know where I'd be.

Oh, Stevie.

♪ Stop the world
For a minute ♪

♪ Is that a tear
I see in your eye? ♪

♪ This is your chance
This is your moment, baby ♪

♪ Spread your wings
It's time to fly... ♪

He's a great performer,

great songwriter,

great producer,
great arranger,

and made a couple
of great records

that ought to be out there.

He had gone
quite a-quite a period

without using some
of his greatest abilities.

Stevie called me up and said,

"I wanna get back
into doing this."

I said, "Of course, man."

That was just one of
the sweet things about Steve.

Is that he
would think, "Can I?"

That he would think
to make that call.

I don't think that would
happen in other bands.

♪ Lighting the soulfire ♪

♪ Lighting the soulfire... ♪

I saw them
in downtown LA.

Mike Stoller was the emcee,

which blew my mind.

Here they are, Little Steven
and the Disciples of Soul.

♪ Ah yeah ♪

When I put on "Soulfire"

for the first time,

I have to be honest,

I had tears running
down my face,

because it picked me up

and threw me back into 1977.

♪ Hey hey hey... ♪

He gets on with it.

Who goes on the road
with 14 musicians?

Steven asked me,

"Can you find out
how big the stage is

at the Cavern Club
in Liverpool?"

And I went, "Uh, yeah, why?"

And he goes,
"I wanna play there."

You are eternally part

of our wall of fame.

- Thank you.

It's your turn.

I love his enthusiasm,

and his passion
for what we both love.

He lives it
and he promotes it,

you know,
with his radio station.

♪ Well, she was just 17 ♪

♪ If you know what I mean ♪

♪ And the way she looked... ♪

The thing
I see with Stevie,

I think he's just
following threads

that he really likes.

♪ So how could I dance ♪

♪ With another ♪

♪ Woo ♪

♪ I saw her
Standing there... ♪

What he's doing, the tradition
he's carrying on,

rock and soul,
from Sam and Dave

to the Dave Clark Five
to the Stones,

he's a witness.

♪ Well, we made a promise ♪

♪ We swore we'd
Always remember ♪

♪ No retreat, baby ♪

♪ No surrender... ♪

It is 20 years now
since we've been back.

It's crazy.

You know, it's, uh,

it feels like it's
the way it ought to be.

♪ Baby, no surrender ♪

Come on, kid!

♪ No retreat, baby ♪

♪ No ♪

♪ Surrender ♪

Whoo!

Things have a way
of coming around,

and working themselves out.

If people
have the faith in...

in each other,
it'll allow that to happen,

and the love, you know?

This is for Maureen.

She's been there

through the thick
and the thin,

and that's pretty darn rare.

♪ I wanna protect you ♪

♪ I wanna connect with you ♪

♪ I wanna affect you ♪

♪ I wanna reflect you ♪

♪ I wanna be your happy end ♪

♪ We start all over again ♪

♪ I wanna feel
The same pain you do ♪

♪ Dancing in the rain
With you ♪

The two of them, they're both
really lucky, you know?

And so is the dog.

And now he's back, there's
no politics.

For the moment, you know?

I mean,
he's still an activist.

It comes through
in the spirit of the music,

and in the way
that he plays it.

♪ Take it easy ♪

♪ Yeah yeah yeah... ♪

You know, Stevie
told me many years ago

rock and roll kept him alive,

and I really do believe
it's his religion.

♪ I don't know
If you realize it or not ♪

♪ Yeah yeah yeah ♪

♪ I don't know if you have
Cable TV or not ♪

♪ But outside
These walls right here ♪

♪ Yeah yeah yeah ♪

♪ The world is going
Fucking crazy... ♪

♪ And we're here tonight ♪

♪ For sanctuary ♪

♪ We're here tonight ♪

♪ For some
Spiritual nourishment ♪

That's right.

We come to this cathedral

for spiritual nourishment.

And there ain't no
spiritual nourishment

like real live music.

He has this passion

for rock and roll,

but Stevie goes beyond.

♪ It makes you
Wanna say yeah ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Yeah... ♪

A whole sort of

encyclopedic knowledge
of music.

You know, um,
I'd say I know quite a bit,

but he knows more.

♪ Something like that
Uh-huh ♪

- ♪ Yeah yeah ♪
- ♪ Uh, huh ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Yeah... ♪

The world
isn't going to get

everything you do.

The success to me is
that you had that vision,

and you followed through on it

and you went
all the way with it.

♪ Yeah give me some drums
Give me some drums ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪

- ♪ Yeah yeah ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪

♪ A little bit louder now ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Oh yeah ♪

♪ Yeah a little bit
Louder, baby ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Oh yeah ♪

- ♪ Oh yeah ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Everybody sing now ♪

♪ Yeah yeah yeah ♪

♪ Everybody sing now ♪

♪ Yeah... ♪

The fact
that he manages

to put these things together,

and then the impact
that they have,

is a credit to his
belief in what he does.

♪ Yeah yeah yeah ♪

♪ Oooh... ♪

At the end of the day,
Steve's a true believer.

♪ Oh yeah ♪

♪ The old men make excuses ♪

♪ While the young men
Bring the noise ♪

♪ And nothing ever changes ♪

♪ ‘Cause boys keep being boys ♪

♪ And the women
Just surrendered ♪

♪ While Cinderella slept ♪

♪ Now they know they've waited
Too long ♪

♪ There's nothing worth
Stealing left ♪

♪ Under the camouflage
Of righteousness ♪

♪ We supply the sins
While you confess ♪

♪ You're seduced by
The vampires' sweet caress ♪

♪ Behind the camouflage
Of righteousness ♪

♪ We give you politicians ♪

♪ And you call it choice ♪

♪ We let you do the voting ♪

♪ And you think
You have a voice ♪

♪ We control the information ♪

♪ And you call yourself
Informed ♪

♪ We give you our religion ♪

♪ And you believe it's yours ♪

♪ Under the camouflage
Of righteousness ♪

♪ We supply the sins
While you confess ♪

♪ You're seduced by
The vampires' sweet caress ♪

♪ Behind the camouflage
Of righteousness ♪

♪ Breathe,
Life is just a dream ♪

♪ Reach out and touch
The screen ♪

♪ We're here to soothe you ♪

♪ Relax ♪

♪ It's better
If you don't fight ♪

♪ Believe in the
Flickering light ♪

♪ We can't afford to lose you ♪

♪ We offer you diversion ♪

♪ On any channel you choose ♪

♪ We give you bread
And circus ♪

♪ And you still call it news ♪

♪ We orchestrate your hatred ♪

♪ It's as clear as white
And black ♪

♪ We select your history ♪

♪ And you believe it's fact ♪

♪ Under the camouflage
Of righteousness ♪

♪ We supply the sins
While you confess ♪

♪ You're seduced by
The vampires' sweet caress ♪

♪ Behind the camouflage
Of righteousness ♪

♪ Behind the camouflage... ♪