Ricky Byrd, Ex-Asbury Juke Lead Guitarist, Makes The Rock’n’Roll Album Of The Year
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Ricky Byrd
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UP CLOSE ⭐️ Ricky Byrd ⭐️
Ricky Byrd by Cristina Arrigoni
You gotta hand it to Rock’n’Roll Hall of Famer Ricky Byrd. He’s in the Hall as the lead guitarist of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts but he’s so much more. Roger Daltrey, Ian Hunter and Southside Johnny have all benefitted from his Keith Richards style of rhythmic thump and shred-light. He’s even mastered that odd-angle of Keith’s onstage movements. But Byrd is no clone to anyone. The Bronx Yankee fan has made some of the best rock’n’roll albums of 2013 (Lifer), 2015 (Clean Getaway), 2021 (Sobering Times) and now NYC Made (2025). NYC Made includes the first instrumental Bryd has ever released. It’s a tribute to the fallen Jeff Beck. Byrd admits he was “crushed” when Beck died in 2023 at 78.
This is a guy who, truth be told, was on the balls of his ass when he descended into addiction. He’s been straight now for decades and is a Recovery Warrior helping others with his music and his insights. (Visit www.rickybyrd.com and click “Recovery” for more information.)
TJS: You were the lead guitarist for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes for over a year.
RB: Yeah, I was in that band for a “cup of coffee” as they say in baseball.
TJS: You toured with them and you wrote with Southside. One song you wrote with him is on your fabulous new NYC Made album.
RB: We wrote “Anna Lee” in 2007 between gigs with the Jukes. For this record, I said to [longtime co-producer] Bob Stander, “do we have stuff left over?” There’s 12 songs on NYC Made. We recorded 15. So three will be on whatever’s next. He reminded me we never used “Anna Lee.” It was supposed to go on my Lifer debut. And I’ve always played it live when I do acoustic shows. It just didn’t fit on Lifer. There’s no soul stuff on that record. It’s just straight-up rock’n’roll. So I played it for [Wicked Cool Records head Stevie] Van Zandt and he said, “this goes on the record.” I asked him if maybe we should take the doo-wop stuff off of it. He said, “no, because it’s sorta like a theme on the record, that street-corner doo-wop stuff.” He wanted more drums, though. No problem! We had Spin Doctor drummer Aaron Comess. We also wound up adding Asbury Juke keyboardist Jeff Kazee on accordion. Van Zandt played some mandolin. Add some fiddle and it’s the first single off the album.
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Byrd onstage with Southside Johnny
TJS: How was it being an Asbury Juke that year?
RB: South taught me to relax onstage. He also used to drive out here to Howard Beach in New York all the way from Jersey to write with me because he knew I was doing a solo record. What a guy! I learned so much from him. I was used to playing in bands—be it with Roger, Ian or Joan—where we knew what the set was every night going in. There was no deviation. The set was the set! Period! I mean, sure, we may change a song here and there but the set was written in stone. No so with the Jukes! South would write a set list out before every concert and it was always different. We’d play the first two songs and he’d change the whole thing! Then he’d start singing stuff I never even heard and we were obliged to fall in with him. Oftentimes, he wouldn’t even say what song it is. He’d just start singing. That right there taught me, hey, it’s only rock’n’roll, it’s show biz, it’s fun, just relax and go with it. He’s the ultimate song and dance man. We went to England and across Europe. As much as I love the horn section and we’d go out to do stuff together, when I toured with the Jukes, those horns were blowing right behind my head and blew my ears out every night. There’s a reason that nowadays I have to turn the TV up to 12! I made lasting friends from that band. Kazee is always with me now. And those horns! I heard South has retired from live performances and I don’t know exactly what that means but I wish him well. He’s a great bandleader. I loved being in that band.
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Byrd with pop legend Tommy James
TJS: Talk about another feather in your cap!
RB: I think he knows every song ever written! And he was always very generous with me on stage. He’d turn and say, “Ricky, do a song!” He called me Boid. Ricky Boid. And when Van Zandt introduced my song “Transistor Radio Childhood” on the radio, he said, “and here’s the new single from Ricky Boid.”