Back In the Day, 1977

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

This Time It's For Real

(Epic)

My 17th summer was underway when this New Jersey-spawned LP hit racks. My vinyl attentions were on the CBGB's class and burgeoning master Robert Gordon. But thanks to my older brother Rick, Southside Johnny's records frequently resounded through the party house I shared with a revolving cast of (slightly older) beery colluders.

The finger-popping R&B that bopped from those grooves was wonderfully reflective of time-honored genre inclinations. Songs were full-bodied and sprawling. Changes unspooled with the naturalness only humanity can conjure. Lush ivory sweeps, surging Miami Horns brass, and resplendent strings confederated with ever-decisive guitars and a rhythm section of knockout capabilty, producing sounds at once majestic and as real-world familiar as the blinking lights of a Seeburg. It strutted its pride.

Onto that grand hipness, Southside Johnny ladled characteristic imprint. His singing rang with confidence and a complexion that bespoke Jersey seasoning. He was in command each moment, despite given songs' various leanings. Bold attitude was tempered by street wisdom. No one else could have imbued these sparkling tracks with the same forceful-yet-sensitive manner. 

His broke from customary boulevard-toughened stance in soulful slow-dance ballad "First Night," whose poignancy stuck home with anyone who had a pumping heart.

Magnificent harmonies lent by illustrious guests the Drifters, Clovers, and Satins were an embrace of genre classicism, a statement that this music respected no chronological stricture. Aside from a pair of covers, songs flowed from the pens of Bruce Springsteen and former Asbury juke Steve Van Zandt.

While I appreciated This Time It's For Real when it was crisp, it wasn't until further years had transpired that I fully recognized it for the masterwork it was - only partly because of my misty party house remembrances.

Recommended: "This Time It's For Real," "Without Love," "Check Mr. Popeye," "First Night," "She Got Me Where She Wants Me," "Little Girl So Fine," "Love On the Wrong Side Of Town"

Videos: "First Night" , "She Got Me Where She Wants Me"

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