If you’ve ever spent more than 20 minutes with me you probably know I’m from New Jersey. I talk about it a lot because I feel like it has a bad reputation and I’ve made it my mission to prove to people how good New Jersey can be.
So here’s some of that;
I was on Instagram and saw the legendary rock photographer Danny Clinch post about a recent shoot with The Boss outside of The Turf in Asbury Park, the last remaining venue on Springwood Ave., the one-time heart of Asbury’s west side music scene.
Luckily, the building is currently in the possession of The Asbury Park African-American Music Project but its struggling. The roof is gone, the brick walls are crumbling and chipped, the steel beams are rusted and exposed.
The majority of the buildings, songs, and musicians of the era have been lost or forgotten along the way, yet music still lives there. In the summers they do Tuesday at The Turf, a live music series that brings the spirit of Springwood Ave back to life.
If you know where more recordings of this music may live, please let me know.
One of the closest things I could find to the relevant music was this Clarence Clemons and the Red Bank Rockers song, in which J.T. Bowen, a legend of the scene and long-time friend of Clarence, sings lead. It’s from well after the prime of Springwood Ave, and even after The Turf Club had already closed down, but I think the sentiment still stands.
I’m not really sure what the point of me writing this is, but it’s sad to see music, scenes, or places disappear or be forgotten, especially when they deserved so much more from the people and institutions around them.
So I guess the least I can do is buy a t-shirt and write some words.
If you’d like to learn some more, go to an event, or give some money, please do.
Thanks for listening,
Will