FEVER--THE REMASTERED EPIC RECORDINGS

Personnel: Miami Steve Van Zandt (vocals, guitar); Southside Johnny (vocals, harmonica); Carlo Novi (vocals, tenor saxophone); Tony Palligrosi (vocals, trumpet); Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (vocals, trombone); Kevin Kavanaugh (vocals, keyboards); Kenny Pentifallo (vocals, drums); Rick Gazda, Eddie Manion (vocals); Billy Rush (guitar); Robert Zelnick, Cathy Tait, Chuck Parker, Marion Head, Naomi Anner, Barbara Sonies, David Madison, Diane Barnett, Charles Parker , Florence Rosensweig (violin); Pete Rosato, Nardo Poy, Davis Barnett, Karen Dreyfus (viola); Bob Malach (tenor saxophone); Bob Muckin, Earl Gardner (trumpet); Lou Parente (trombone). Liner Note Author: Chris Morris . Recording information: Columbia Recording Studios, NYC (10/16/1976/10/17/1976); Secret Sound Studios, NY (10/16/1976/10/17/1976); The Botton Line, NYC (10/16/1976/10/17/1976). While they were often looked on as the little brother band of Asbury Park icons Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt, the truth is that Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes were their peers on the Jersey Shore music scene, not followers. The Jukes came together as part of the after-hours scene at Asbury Park's Upstage Club, where Springsteen cut his teeth as a performer and Van Zandt began working out his formula of R&B and hard rock. And as a live act, the Asbury Jukes in their prime could give Springsteen & the E-Street Band a serious run for their money (it didn't hurt that some musicians did double duty in both groups). While the Jukes had a long and impressive career as a show band, they did their finest work as a recording act on their first three albums, cut when the group signed to Epic. The Fever: The Remastered Epic Recordings collects Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes' three albums for Epic -- 1976's I Don't Want to Go Home, 1977's This Time It's for Real, and 1978's Hearts of Stone -- in newly remastered form, along with the rare promo-only LP Jukes Live at the Bottom Line. The overlap between the Springsteen and Southside camps informs the three studio albums, all of which feature material written by the Boss and produced by Van Zandt. But on I Don't Want to Go Home and This Time It's for Real, Southside & the Jukes showed they could play streetwise rock & roll with the heart of a soul revue, embracing blues and R&B influences in a way Springsteen could never pull off. Jukes Live sounds like a set that was recorded for radio broadcast and not with commercial release in mind, but despite the flat audio, it captures the fire the band could generate on-stage, as well as the skill with which they worked the crowd. And Hearts of Stone was the Asbury Jukes' masterpiece, a tough-as-iron set of soul-infused rock that cut deeper than anything the band had done before (or would do again). While Johnny Lyon would continue to make great music with and without the Jukes, these albums are his true creative testament, and the new mastering by Mark Wilder serves this music well (and slightly clarifies the mushy sound that always dogged This Time It's for Real). Even longtime Jukes fans will want to give this a listen for the improved audio and the elusive Jukes Live at the Bottom Line, while someone looking for a way into the band's catalog could hardly do better than to start here. ~ Mark Deming