Raw Cuts: Volume IV

As we wait for Director Fulvio Cecere's upcoming The Jersey Sound documentary, here's snippets of four "Raw Cuts" of interviews Fu conducted with Billy Hector, Bobby Blitz, Vini Lopez, and Stormin’ Norman Seldin.

Billy Hector

There’s not too many Jersey blues legends but Billy Hector is one. Heard here with his wife/manager/back-up singer, Suzan Lastovica, the 65-year old originally hails from Orange. That was him shredding with Bonnie Raitt at the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame’s Muddy Waters tribute. Hector has played with BB King, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy and Dr. John. He was in two movies and crowned a “Living Legend” at The Asbury Park Music Awards.

 

Vini Lopez

They call him Mad Dog. Vini Lopez, from Neptune, was Bruce’s drummer in Steel Mill and was the original drummer in the E Street band, appearing on the band’s first two albums.

 

Bobby Blitz

When you talk thrash-metal, you’re talkin’ Overkill. Although most think of San Francisco when it comes to the zip-bang speed of pure thrash, Bobby Blitz has fronted Overkill—from Old Bridge Township—for a staggering 19 albums in 41 years. With his good friend bassist DD Verni, the two have weathered innumerable lineup changes and have long resisted any impulse whatsoever to change with the times.

 

Stormin’ Norman Seldin

A 1960s pioneer of the Asbury Park sound, Stormin’ Norman Seldin fuses R’n’B, Blues, Pop, Doo-Wop, rock’n’roll and jazz into one good-timey smorgasbord of soul. Long before Clarence Clemons met Bruce, it was Seldin who gave The Big Man his start. His 2008 Asbury Park Now & Then album features some 1980 tracks with The E Street Band. Look outside Asbury Park Convention Hall and his name is etched on a “Sounds Of Asbury Park” plaque with 34 others.

Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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Raw Cuts: Volume V

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Raw Cuts: Volume III