My 5 Favorite Stories From Nick Corasaniti’s Stone Pony Book
The Stone Pony has long been one of my favorite New Jersey clubs, with an aura that at times can take on a nearly spiritual quality.
Whether performing on stage (that’s my band Dead Äire performing at the Pony last November in the photo above), or being in the audience to watch a show, there’s a sense of being part of something far bigger than just another Jersey Shore club.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Chatham NJ native Nick Corasaniti about his brand-new book I Don’t Want To Go Home – the Oral History of the Stone Pony (if you missed that interview you can find it here).
Full of first-person stories from musicians, bartenders, owners, politicians, and more, the book takes you on a journey through the history of both Asbury Park and the club.
Nick will be in his hometown of Chatham Tuesday evening June 11 at the Library of the Chathams from 7-8 PM to talk about the book.
Of all the wonderful anecdotes in the book, here are my 5 favorite stories from Nick’s book.
My 5 Favorite Stories From Nick Corasaniti’s Stone Pony Book
The Governor With the Fake ID At the Stone Pony
Everyone in New Jersey knows about former Governor Chris Christie’s love of Bruce Springsteen’s music (even if they are both at completely different ends of the political spectrum).
What you probably didn’t know is that as a 16-year old, he snuck into the Pony with a fake ID.
I was sixteen when I first went. Had a fake ID. And I went with a friend, like most of us went the first time, on a rumor that Bruce was going to be there that night.
Locking Jon Bon Jovi In A Refrigerator
Erick W. Hendricks was one of the long-time bouncers at the Stone Pony. Standing well over 6 feet tall, he was not someone you wanted to mess with. He probably had close to a foot in height and probably 100 pounds over a teenage John Bongiovi (as he was then known) who would often show up at both the Fastlane and the Stone Pony.
I watched out for Jon and told his folks, “Don’t worry. He’s sixteen, I’ll watch him. The kid won’t go wild here.” Saw him drinking a Heineken he had snuck in one night. I punished him by locking him in a cold box for a while.
Patti Smith’s Mom and the Stone Pony
New Jersey punk legend Patti Smith may be most-associated with CBGB’s and the New York scene, but she said on more than one occasion that the Stone Pony was her mom’s favorite place for her daughter Patricia (as she called her) to play.
She was treated like a queen. She had her little table…. One time, we were doing the concert, and I was talking about something. Sometimes I start telling a story in between songs and my mother yelled, “Cut out the yap, and get to the rock and roll.” I laughed, but of course we started playing. We do what Mama says.
Mike McCready On the Aura of Playing the Stone Pony
As a member of Pearl Jam, guitarist Mike McCready has played all over the world, But nothing he experienced was like that first time at the Pony.
Danny (Clinch) offered for us to play at the tent where he has pictures for sale and we’re into it. So that was my first experience going out there. And right when I got (to Asbury Park), I went right out to the beach and I put on “Thunder Road” and I just listened to it with my headphones. And just to get into the significance of it and to Bruce’s land and where he came up. I like to do those things and I like to feel that kind of music and his music and where he came up and whatever the legend of all that is, buy into that. So part of that is me listening to “Thunder Road” and then “Badlands” and a couple other of his tunes.
Southside Johnny Pranks Bruce Springsteen
I have had the thrilling pleasure to play onstage with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes countless times over the years.
The first time was at the beloved Capitol Theater in Passaic NJ on New Year’s Eve 1981.
The idea was that I was going to join the band and play acoustic guitar on “Little Girl So Fine” from their second album.
So I show up, we run through the song a couple of times during soundcheck, and I think I’m good to go.
Five songs into the Jukes’ set, Johnny introduces me and away we go.
We get one verse into the song and the next thing I know, Johnny is singing the lyrics to an old Arthur Alexander song, “You Better Move On.” As you can see from this setlist, a couple of Ben E. King songs followed before Johnny says to the band “BRIDGE IN FIVE!”
Luckily, I knew what he meant and we finished the song we started.
At the end of the night, Johnny said to me, “Did you have a good time?” “I had a GREAT time, but I have one question – why did we only do about a third of the one song we actually rehearsed?”
“It’s New Year’s Eve, kid,” Johnny replied. “Anything goes.”
Every subsequent time I’ve had the opportunity to play on stage with that Jukes, I’ve kept that “anything goes” line in mind.
Jeff Kazee is the keyboardist and longtime musical director for the Asbury Jukes. In the book, he tells a great story about Johnny and Bruce Springsteen backstage.
(The Jukes) had learned “Kitty’s Back” for some reason. Bruce didn’t know we knew it. Johnny says, “After sound check, come back to the room. You and I will go over the set list.” I go in there and by the time I get back there, it’s just Johnny and Bruce. There’s not much talking going on. Johnny’s going through set lists. “All right. We got ‘I Don’t Want To Go Home.’ ‘Love On the Wrong Side of Town’ just throwing out songs that he knows Bruce knows or wrote. And then Johnny goes, “Hey, Bruce, we do ‘Kitty’s Back.’ It sounds incredible. The horns. We’ve got an arrangement.” (Bruce) is like, “You got a teleprompter?” (Johnny) said, “We don’t have a fucking teleprompter. It’s the Jukes, man.” Bruce is like, “I don’t really feel comfortable doing it. The words, you know?” (After agreeing on the set list) Bruce walks out. I hear a door shut and Johnny goes, “Fuck ‘im. We’re going to do it. Put it on the list.”
What ultimately happened is that both Bruce and Johnny couldn’t remember the lyrics, turning the entire song into yet another memorable Stone Pony story.
I feel your pain, Bruce. I feel your pain.
