HANDWRITTEN SETLIST JOHN EDDIE MUSICIAN NEW JERSEY ROCK LEGEND SPRINGSTEEN BRUCE

Description: John Eddie (born 1959, Richmond, Virginia) is an American rock singer. a HANDWRITTEN UNSIGNED SETLIST ON HIS OFFICIAL JOHN EDDIE MAILING LIST PAPER. Eddie moved to New Jersey in the 1970s and became a popular club circuit musician there, occasionally performing with Bruce Springsteen. Jersey rock favorite John Eddie hasn't given up his place in Monmouth County. But Nashville has been awfully good to him lately. The roots rocker, who is best known for his 1986 hit “Jungle Boy,” has rediscovered himself as a songwriter in Music City. In the past few years, he’s sold many of his songs to Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, James Otto and other country-pop and Southern-rock singers. The swaggering, tongue-in-cheek “Lowlife (Living the Highlife),” which closed Kid Rock’s chart-topping 2007 album “Rock n Roll Jesus” like a slamming car door, is a version of an Eddie number first cut in 2003. “After Kid Rock did my song,” says Eddie, 52, “I made more money than I did in the whole 30 years before that. I thought to myself: ‘Hey, maybe I should start writing for other singers.’ ” These days, a rejuvenated Eddie commutes between Tennessee and the Jersey Shore. On Saturday, he’ll be at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, a room he’s played many times before. It’s an appropriate place for the release party for the pointedly titled “Same Old Brand New Me,” his first album of new material in eight years — cut in Nashville, where his blue-collar storytelling, quick wit and everyman persona have been welcomed. “It’s a song town, not an image town,” says Eddie, who does not consider himself a country artist. “I’m a lyricist — I think that’s my strong point. Especially if you aren’t from that world, they’re really interested in listening to what you’ve got to offer.” Eddie enlisted some of the most respected musicians in Nashville to play on “Same Old Brand New Me,” including Adam Shoenfeld, a Jersey-raised guitarist who has accompanied Faith Hill and Jason Aldean. The Virginia-born Eddie cut “Brand New Me” in an intimate Nashville studio, and it’s apparent: The new material is instantly accessible, warm and friendly, and the narratives are well-framed by the arrangements. There’s barely an overdub, and almost all the songs were captured on the first take. “In my early career,” says Eddie, “everything was overproduced. I didn’t have a sense of who I was as an artist. I’m a guy with an acoustic guitar. “I thought I was a decent writer when I first got to Nashville, and then I’d go to a songwriter’s circle and there’d be a 60-year-old guy on a bar stool and every song he plays is better than anything you’ve done. It’s like the Brill Building used to be. They really concentrate on craft. It makes you want to be better.” Eddie’s background was certainly no impediment to his acceptance in Nashville. Members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band backed him on his first disc for Columbia, and the Boss frequently jumped onstage to sing with him. In a town where one of the most popular new songs is Eric Church’s “Springsteen,” an ode to the Garden State rocker, that’s something to put on a résumé. “Bruce is revered in Nashville,” says Eddie. “He was a big storyteller himself, and so many of his songs are heartland music.” Contrary to rumors, Eddie does not appear on the upcoming Springsteen album, “Wrecking Ball.” But he will be in the video for the album’s lead single, “We Take Care of Our Own.” Springsteen walks down a deserted street in Asbury Park; Eddie walks behind him. While it’s almost certain to look like a planned reunion of old friends, Eddie says there was nothing scripted about the cameo. Hardworking Springsteen may be one of the cornerstones of the contemporary Nashville sound and attitude, but laid-back Jimmy Buffett is another. From the Zac Brown Band to Kenny Chesney, Music City stars are obsessed with the Caribbean lifestyle. Eddie is doing these artists one better. He’s opening his own beach bar and music venue in St. Croix and calling it the Lowlife Bar and Grill. “St. Croix is a little rougher and more undeveloped than the other Virgin Islands,” says Eddie. “It’s got an outlaw quality, and I like that. There’s a country music station, too, and I’ve gone down there to play a few times. I decided it would be great to have a real music venue, right on the water.” While Eddie is heavily involved in the development of Lowlife — he’s even courting a head chef from one of his favorite Nashville eateries — he won’t let the restaurant business take him away from his first love. “This is a place I can retire to, and have a drink and sandwich where they don’t charge me. I’m a songwriter for life.” hen it comes to records, John Eddie is not one who believes in "DIY." "DIY" is the "Do-It-Yourself" method of becoming a pop star. Basically, you finance a single yourself, hope it gets radio airplay, sells thousands of copies and generates enough of a following to create a "buzz" among record labels. The goal is getting a record company contract. John Eddie, the New Jersey singer-songwriter who will present a free concert tonight at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, didn't see it happening that way for him. "I always believed in the whole Lana Turner story about sitting on a bar stool and being discovered. It's kind of like vanity publishing. If you have to do it yourself, it's probably not good enough. I wanted to be on a real label." Eddie's debut is as real as you can get in rock 'n' roll. It's on Columbia, the home of the Hooters, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. The album is a bristling collection of 12 original John Eddie songs. The album features highly acclaimed rock musicians Max Weinberg, Springsteen's drummer; Ian MacLagan, who played piano and organ for Rod Stewart; Nils Lofgren, Springsteen's guitarist; David Lindley, a guitarist who has worked with Jackson Browne, among others, and Greg Phillinganes, a respected session pianist. Putting the album together required some tough decisions on Eddie's part. He dropped the Front Street Runners appellation, and his regular backup band, with the exception of guitarist Joe Sweeney. Eddie admitted there were hard feelings between himself and the Runners. "But I had to serve the songs the way I think they should be served. I didn't think everyone was as serious as I was, to get to a certain level that I needed. The musicians on the album added new fire into the songs." Currently, Eddie is on a national club tour. His current lineup includes Sweeney, guitar; Stuart Ziff, guitar; Jeff Levine, keyboards; Paul Osola, bass, and Gary Gold, drummer. Several record labels were interested in signing Eddie after a successful May 1984 showcase at Trax in New York City. One of his earliest partisans was Columbia artist and repertoire man Joe McEwen. But it took more than a year, until early '85, for Eddie to sign a contract, and about two years until the album was released. What took so long? It might be only rock 'n' roll, but in the '80s that means negotiations, detailed contracts and lawyers. His contract guarantees him at least one more album released by Columbia which, he said, "is pretty good these days. "Columbia has been very supportive. They've put so much into the record and they haven't gotten it back yet. They see me as a long-term artist." Columbia also is underwriting his current tour. The album's first single and video was "Jungle Boy," which went to No. 52 on Billboard's Top 100 singles chart. The video has been on MTV. Ever the optimist, Eddie said, "I never thought it would get that high. There were only 51 records more popular." His next single will be "Stranded," with a video to follow. The LP has sold more than 100,000 copies. In October, Eddie will tour Japan. Next, he may open for a major touring act. He's managed by Tommy Mottola's Champion Entertainment. He described the album as being "like a movie where you see the ending first. "It's all personal stuff, in all honesty. The record is about my life, about relationships that you have after high school, the one you think you're going to be with," said Eddie, who said he's single but "desperately seeking Susan." "Stranded" is about two married people, friends of Eddie's. "Buster" is about a different girl. "Dream House" was about an incident in his life. "You use composites of people who have been in your life. When Iwrite, I see a picture in my head. It's about real things that happen to me. I get it out of my system. " 'Jungle Boy' had a lot to do with my parents. The spark to do that song was that I needed a new song because I had to be on TV, on 'Dancin' on Air,' in two weeks." His album has a dozen cuts, where most current releases have eight, because "My sister's records always had 12 songs on it . . . the Rolling Stone, the Beatles had 12 . . . And my limitless ego said, 'I want to do what they did.' Plus, I want to give people their money's worth. And I write a lot of songs. I want them to be out there." When signed to Columbia, Eddie had a backlog of 50 songs. The album cover shows Eddie dancing against the clouds in a blue-tinted photograph. "I wanted it to look like a scene from the movie, 'East of Eden.' It looks like the picture to an album Bridget Bardot would have in her bedroom." The sound is basic rock 'n' roll - guitars, bass and drums. Eddie's not enamored of the British synth-pop sound adopted by some Philadelphia area bands. "I'm not really a big synthesizer fan. I'm proud of my influences of Bruce Springsteen and basic rock 'n' roll people. Prince uses synths like a rock 'n' roller, whereas most English bands use it like Kraftwerk would. I'm not a trendsetter musically, but lyrically, I put my own stamp on it." He said he doesn't mind getting lumped in with the Philadelphia rock bands, "but Philly was always a place we went to. We had to cross the bridge to get there. When I went to Philly, I wanted to hear the Philly sound, not the English sound." Eddie, 27, whose given name is John Edward Cummings Jr., is a native of Richmond, Va., and was raised in Maple Shade, N.J. He left home at 15 and joined the Navy a few years later. He started his first band at 20. His father died three years ago, after everything had been patched up. "My Mom is a big supporter. For the longest time, she didn't understand it. Everybody treats her real nice. She's a cutie. Everybody likes her. At least, they better." Born in Richmond, VA, in 1959, John Eddie relocated to New Jersey as an adult to pursue his musical career. A popular live draw on the club scene, he was joined on-stage on occasion by Bruce Springsteen. Signing a record deal with CBS/Sony, his self-titled debut was well-received in 1986 with its blend of bar-room swagger and heartland rock. The infectious single "Jungle Boy" climbed to the middle portion of the Top 100 chart, but his sophomore effort failed to ignite, despite the attention he received on such high-profile gigs as opening for Bob Seger and the Kinks. Released by Sony, Eddie signed with Elektra, but his third album for the label was never released, leading to several years of legal battles. Starting his own label, Lost American Thrill Show Records, Eddie issued Seven Songs Since My Last Confession and Happily Never After, both produced by T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates, Elvis Costello). Eddie continued to tour extensively and inked a distribution deal through Lost Highway Records. We’ve said it before in this space, but if there ever was such a thing as a Mount Rushmore of Honorary Shorecats… those “veteran rockers whose wall-of-sound work ethic has allowed them to make themselves entirely at home among the stars and bars of the Jersey Shore, despite being rooted in other states/ other scenes”…then surely the chiseled features of Mr. John Eddie would be right up there alongside the likes of Pittsburgh pirate Joe Grushecky, New England patriot John Cafferty, and New York giant Willie Nile. Of course, the singer, songwriter, bandleader, ace live entertainer and self-described apostle of “Dad humor” is much too humble to be “taken for granite” as some sort of living-legend local monument — but when John Eddie returns once more with his Dirty Ol’ Band to the stage of the Wonder Bar this Friday, September 14, he’ll be coming up the coast in direct and defiant competition with a front of potentially wild weather; the unspoken challenge being who can best blow the roof off the joint. “I commute just about every weekend to Jersey, and I’ve got the routine pretty much down,” says the native Virginian who’s made his home base in Nashville for much of the new century — and whose ownership of a house in Highlands keeps him keenly aware of the more delicate points of life on the coastal frontline. “I have very rarely missed a gig; maybe once or twice with a snowstorm…I pride myself in making sure the show goes on, but when you come up against the power of nature, everything else takes a back seat!” To say that the Grand Ole Opry-to-Garden State route is a well-trodden one is hardly an exaggeration for the “Front Street Runner” who emerged out of South Jersey in the early 80s; quickly staking a claim to fervent fanbases up and down the NJ Turnpike corridor — and getting himself signed to Bruce Springsteen’s record label in the process. While the 1986 John Eddie album (and its Gary Glitter-ish stomper of a single, “Jungle Boy”) won him some decent airplay, MTV exposure, and prime opening spots for Bob Seger and The Bangles, the follow-up Columbia LP saw a set of potentially strong songs thwarted by 80s-era production values — and a move to Elektra Records yielded little more than an unreleased third album and a lot of litigation; a fate that might have dispatched a less focused musician to a bitter post-stardom career as that “mean old cop in the Burger King lot.” “The Elektra debacle just hit me at a time that knocked me for a loop,” says Eddie of what would become a prolonged absence from the recording studio — an interval during which the graduate of the music-biz mangler machine hunkered down and honed his room-rocking craft to a diamond-stylus point inside the working-dude clubs, casino lounges, and blues-brews-BBQs bars of an ever-expanding territory. “I figured out pretty early on…and this was way before things like GoFundMe and Kickstarter…that my entire career could be fan-funded,” he explains. “I found people, fans, musicians who believed in me, and who really gave me the confidence to keep it going.” One of those people was the late T-Bone Wolk, the session bass ace (and core component of the hitmaking Hall and Oates band of the 1980s, as well as the SNL house band) who expressed an interest in working with the young veteran after catching his crowd-pleasing live act several times. As Eddie recalls, “T-Bone really reinforced the idea that I was a decent writer…he brought my songs up to the level where I felt confident enough to make a new album again.” Following a live album, an EP, and a full-length release on his Lost American Thrill Show imprint, Eddie forged another crucial connection to music history when he enlisted Jim Dickinson — the late Memphis-based session sorcerer and producer whose long career saw him work with everyone from Sun Records’ Sam Phillips, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones, to Alex Chilton, Mojo Nixon, The Replacements and The Cramps — as producer of what would become his critically acclaimed “comeback” album, Who the Hell Is John Eddie? Issued by the major-distributed Lost Highway label, the 2003 effort showcased a maturing Jungle Boy whose perspectives on mid-life (“Forty”), gig life (“Play Some Skynyrd,” “Shithole Bar”) and “Low Life” were delivered with a wry humor that ran counter to the hard knocks lurking behind the lines. “Working with Jim was such a cool experience…it was the most enjoyable big-budget project I ever did,” says Eddie. “He had some weird voodoo that just gave me such a boost of confidence…we did ‘Low Life’ in one take, and with ‘Jesus Is Coming’ the words just came pouring out.” Having relocated to Nashville by that time, Eddie and his new calling-card album also began to capture the attention of his fellow recording artists; helping to place his songs with Sammy Hagar (“Loud”), Brantley Gilbert (the Top Ten country hit “More Than Miles”) — and number-one-customer Kid Rock, whose own take on “Low Life” led to encore Eddie explorations “Forty” and “Happy New Year” (as well as some much-appreciated checks in Mr. Eddie’s mailbox). “I’ve been writing a lot for other people, and my last album (the 2012 contemporary country-rock set Same Old Brand New Me) was made up of things that I wanted to shop around to record labels and recording artists,” he explains. “But I’m looking to do a new record…I’ve got hundreds of songs lying around, and I’m trying to figure out which of those songs best represent where I’m at right now.” “Who knows, I might wind up doing two new records,” he adds. “Maybe one with band favorites that people like…songs that I’ve done live for years but never recorded, because to me they’re ‘old’ songs.” “My old guitar player Joe Sweeney has been coming out to join us at a lot of recent shows, and we’ve been revisiting songs from the first two records for the first time in years,” he adds. “I haven’t done ‘Jungle Boy’…haven’t done it SERIOUSLY…in a long time.” Those live gigs with the Dirty Ol’ Band — a relatively recent rebranding of a combo whose core includes longtime colleagues PK Lavengood (with Eddie since 1989) and Kenny Aaronson (since 1995) — have also racked up many miles with drummer Dave Halpern and pedal steel player Ted Russell, both of whom came aboard around the time of Same Old Brand New Me. Eddie and company are just now coming off a busy summer whose New Jersey activities included a high visibility in such Long Beach Island locales as Ship Bottom and Surf City (where there are “two girls for every creepy ol’ man”), and a run of beach-bar sets at the new Hard Rock in AC, where Eddie’s first roadie now serves as the entertainment booker (and where, on September 23, John and the band will be performing as part of a special Springsteen birthday edition of Tom Cunningham’s Bruce Brunch radio show). Then there’s the rather unlikely rock and roll crossroads of the Volume Live Café in Turnersville, NJ — a stripmall storefront located behind an Arby’s, where John has played a series of intimate “Flying Solo” engagements in a room that he describes as “state of the art, with a great stage and great sound.” And of course there’s Asbury Park, a frequent-flyer destination to which each return trip brings “something new and exciting; new restaurants and places for music” — and Lance and Debbie’s circuit landmark Wonder Bar, a home-away-from-home that Eddie praises for its “open, beachy vibe and that great Yappy Hour patio.” “Honestly, my favorite gigs have always been the larger theater-size shows, where they’ve got 1,500 seats…and I actually love the earlier start times,” says the eternally youthful 59 year old. “But I’ve been lucky to keep working consistently, even when we’re playing to ten people…our home is a smaller, sweaty space, and that’s all right by me.” On the roller coaster of his career so far, John Eddie has had enough big breaks, hard luck, newbeginnings, false starts, serious adventure and big fun to inspire a boxed set's worth of countrysongs. He's had the sort of life - often hard-scrabble, occasionally charmed -- that other artistsonly imagine, or have someone else write about for them. John has managed to document a lotof this on Who The Hell Is John Eddie?, his debut disc for Lost Highway, along with details ofassorted dreams, wishes, romances, and regrets. He really has spent endless days and nightson the road, playing the "shit-hole bars" he so hilariously and accurately recalls. And he'sendured the heckling of alcohol-fueled patrons wanting to hear Skynyrd and Petty anddemanding to know, Who The Hell Is John Eddie?.The funny thing is, his career first took at a time when everybody, in the music biz at least,wanted to know who the hell John Eddie was. It was the mid-eighties and the Virginia native,who'd recently relocated to New Jersey, was playing a showcase club in Manhattan called Trax.A busload of supporters had come to cheer him on. A few A&R guys caught the show, in whichJohn wowed everyone in the house. By the next morning he found himself on the brink of anintense major-label bidding war that soon attracted the interest of the press as well as theindustry. It didn't hurt that Bruce Springsteen, was, and still is, a fan and would sometimessurprise John by hopping onstage during his weekly gig at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ.Though lots of comparisons to the Boss were made, especially after John signed a two-albumdeal with CBS/Sony, John's approach was always more Memphis than Asbury Park. He had alot of country in him, plus elements of soul music, folk, and rockabilly. There was boyishswagger in his voice, but it was the vulnerability lurking behind it that could really get to you.John had an easy-going rapport with his very loyal audience, and a self-deprecating sense ofhumor that has only sharpened over the years.It's fitting then that he would wind up in Memphis, at the fabled Ardent Studios, to make themost-self assured record of his career, an album that's smart, funny, tender, and that rocks ashard as his sweat-drenched live shows. Who the Hell Is John Eddie? features Kenny Vaughanand PK Lavengood on guitar, Kenny Aaronson on bass, and Kenny Aronoff on drums. Thealbum was produced by Jim Dickinson, a guy as legendary as the studio he helped makefamous, and who knows his way around authentic. Dickinson's credits include producing BigStar's Third/Sister Lovers and the Replacements Pleased To Meet Me at Ardent, as well asplaying with the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan, just to name a few. Jim's aproducer who likes to cut to the chase: to capture, not merely reproduce, an artist's mostincandescent moments. He found a lot of those with John."Jim taught me a lot about letting the whole thing just happen," John explains. "Don't over-thinkit and if it doesn't feel real, lose it. We didn't do any pre-production. We just set the band up, Iwould play the band a song, we would run through it a few times, record something, then look toJim to see if we were doing anything worthwhile. Jim brought some Memphis voodoo to thesessions. On 'Jesus Is Coming,' I had one verse and half a chorus when we started runningthrough the song. I hadn't even played it for Jim before. He told me I'd been holding out on him.And as I looked at him through the glass, the words finished themselves. I believe God works inmysterious ways. So does Jim Dickinson."John's always been a great songwriter; now he's an even better one. During his tenure at Sony,and later Elektra, his perennial Next Big Thing status got in the way of the truth of the matter hehad already arrived. All you had to do was tune out the din of hype and listen. His material wasunfailingly clever, often funny, alternately foot-stomping and heartbreaking. After John went onhis own and launched Thrill Show Recordings, the more stripped-down sound of his subsequentalbums made his gifts that much more apparent. Who the Hell Is John Eddie? starts off in agentle, bittersweet vein with "If You're Here When I Get Back, which John calls "wishful thinkingput to music," and "Let Me Down Hard," in which "wishful thinking gets mercilessly crushed."Both feature label-mate Tift Merrit on background vocals. But the album definitely grows moreraucous as it goes along - John describes "Low Life," for example, as "me trying to be RandyNewman fronting the Rolling Stones"-and culminates in what John calls "my bar-band mini-rockopera."It's starts with "Nobody's Happy," a sly nod to a Replacements song of almost the same name,and climaxes with "Play Some Skynyrd." Regarding that very autobiographical song, John says,"I've been playing in bars my whole life. Jim Dickinson made this sound like we were playing inan arena to a sea of upraised cigarette lighters. He made it sound like I heard it in my head. Hemade it sound like an anthem. And he told me it brought tears to his eyes, which is probably thebest compliment I've ever gotten."Although there are two hidden tracks at the end of the disc, it officially concludes with "It Doesn'tGet Better Than This," a simple, folk-like ballad that takes you right back to where everythingstarted, with images of a place to come home to and someone waiting there. Maybe it's morewishful thinking put to music, a happy ending John's envisioned somewhere down the road. Forus, however, it doesn't get better than this: an album as rollicking and as real as Who the Hell IsJohn Eddie? from an artist will make damn sure everyone knows who the hell he is. John Eddie (born 1959, Richmond, Virginia) is an American rock singer. Eddie moved to New Jersey in the 1970s and became a popular club circuit musician there, occasionally performing with Bruce Springsteen.[2] Contents1 Music career2 Discography3 In Popular Culture4 References5 External linksMusic careerJohn's first studio presence was singing backing vocals on Bryan Adams' song "Somebody" on the 1984 album Reckless. John then signed with Columbia Records and released two albums including his 1986 self-titled debut, John Eddie.[1] The first single, "Jungle Boy", from John Eddie peaked on Billboard at #17 Rock and #52 Hot 100.[2] At the label's behest, his long-time band, the Front Street Runners, was replaced for the album by members of Springsteen's E Street Band.[1] He opened for Bob Seger and The Kinks in the late 1980s[2] but was dropped by the label early in the 1990s after the release of his second album, The Hard Cold Truth. He then signed with Elektra Records where he was chosen to represent Elektra on their 40th Anniversary record called Rubaiyat with his version of The Cure's "In Between Days" and recorded a third album, Still in the Same Cage, which, after a lengthy legal dispute, was never released.[2] Since then Eddie has recorded independently and toured extensively; his career saw a resurgence when independent radio promotion person and long-time fan Michele Clark became his manager in 2000. Clark secured a record deal for Eddie with Lost Highway Records and executive produced the 2003 release of Who the Hell is John Eddie? The album subsequently produced three top 10 singles at the Triple-A Radio format. Kid Rock has covered "Lowlife", "Forty" and "Happy New Year" all written by John Eddie. His latest album, entitled Same Old Brand New Me, was released in February 2012, featuring 18 songs. In 2013, the song Eddie co-wrote with Brantley Gilbert, "More Than Miles", became a top country hit for Gilbert, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard country charts.[3] Eddie also had a song featured in the Zac Efron film, At Any Price, entitled "The Man I Am" that was released as a single April 19, 2013.[citation needed] On August 16, 2019, it was announced that he, in conjunction with Priscilla Presley, as well as SONY Pictures will create and produce "Agent King" a Netflix adult animated series focussing on Elvis Presley's nightly incursions as a spy for the US Government, while remaining a musician during the day. DiscographyJohn Eddie (Columbia Records, 1986) US #83[2]The Hard Cold Truth (Columbia Records, 1989)[4]Still in the Same Cage (Elektra Records, 1991) (unreleased)Seven Songs Since My Last Confession (EP) (Lost American Thrill Show, 1997)Happily Never After (Lost American Thrill Show, 1999)Guy Walks Into a Bar... John Eddie Live (Lost American Thrill Show, 2001)Who the Hell is John Eddie? (Lost Highway Records, 2003)Same Old Brand New Me (Play My Records, 2012)

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