Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes – Hearts of Stone

A strong New York sound with a song written by Bruce Springsteen. Southside Johnny did some incredible vocals on this one. The album songs were written by Southside Johnny (Johnny Lyon), Bruce Springsteen, and Steven Van Zandt.

Southside Johnny - Hearts of Stone

It’s a downright beautiful ballad and the vocals are about as good as it gets. This song is off his third studio album Hearts Of Stone released in 1978. Critics have called it “the best album that Bruce Springsteen never recorded.” Some also have compared it to Exile On Main Street. Steven Van Zandt produced and arranged this album.

Springsteen recorded this song during his Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions in 1977. He gave this song and Talk To Me it to Southside Johnny and Bruce didn’t end up releasing it until 1998. Springsteen also shares writing credits with Southside Johnny and Steven Van Zandt on Trapped Again which was co-written in early 1978 during the Hearts Of Stone recording sessions.

Van Zandt tapped photographer Frank Stefanko to shoot the album cover art, after meeting Stefanko when they worked together with Springsteen on Darkness On The Edge Of Town.

This album could have been huge because his record company Epic got fully behind it but then the tour got cut short. Southside Johnny: “I had cut my arm on a glass during a show in Sacramento. I was supposed to be off the road for three months at least and we were back on the road in two weeks. We had a huge tour booked. We were going to be gone for a year. The record company had actually started to get into it, but as soon as I got hurt and was off the road, they kind of said ‘That’s that’ and moved on to other things. It was bitter for me then, but over time you learn that’s just the way this business is.”

The album peaked at #112 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1978. E Street drummer Max Weinberg played on this album along with The Miami Horns.

Hearts of Stone

You stare in the mirror at the lines in your faceAnd you try so hard to see, girlThe way things were when we were at your placeEveryday was just you and me, girlAnd you cry because things ain’t like beforeWell, don’t you know it can’t be that way anymore?But don’t worry baby

I can’t talk now, I’m not aloneSo put your ear close to the phoneCause this is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone

If there was something, baby, that I could doSomething that would last, honey, I wouldBut you should know better than to think that youCan return to the pastSo close your eyes and I’ll be thereHold you once more, not go anywhereI wish I could, babe

But I can’t talk now, I’m not aloneSo put your ear close to the phoneCause this is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone

And you cry because things get so strange so fastAnd you cry because nothing good ever lastsWell, I know babeYes, I know, babe

But I can’t talk now, I’m not aloneSo put your ear close to the phone‘Cause this is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone

This is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

68 thoughts on “Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes – Hearts of Stone”

  1. The first three Jukes’ LP are all great and you made the right pick as to their best song. I spent many late nights seeing these guys live in the Garden State when I was a younger man!

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  2. Beautiful song! And also a good reminder for me to take a closer look at Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. I literally know next to nothing about their music, which should be right up my alley. It looks like “Hearts of Stone” would be a great album to start an explorative journey!

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      3. I have a transistor radio in my fishing grip so I’m reeling them in listening to one of my favorite music makers. The members of the Asbury Jukes and the E Street Band were inter changeable in the early years. Like Mike up above said, those early records are stone cold killers. A taste of what was happening down in Asbury. When I heard Johnny do ‘Fever’ I was hooked. (Fishing reference). I dessert Island tune for me.

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      4. I didn’t know Van Zandt worked with them that much and also Weinberg.
        CB I do like those clips from Jersey in 1978…what a lot of fun they had with the audience.

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      5. Lopez, Sancious, were a couple of the floating members. I was up on it at one time. The bottom line is Geils, Bruce, Johnny and the like were bar bands to the core. It was all about the party and like I said “celebrating” the music they loved. Bruce’s latest album draws on that vibe. Three of the best live performers Ive caught were the above mentioned. Plus they hung out and crashed bars with local bands . It could have been you and your mates Max. Great take on a deserving dude.

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      6. Thanks CB…they are bar bands at heart…all of those.
        Yea man…I read stories about many of those bands coming to Nashville to hang out at the Exit Inn with the smaller bands…very cool. I wish it would have been us.

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  3. Pretty good song for sure. I’ve heard the name Southside Johnny a lot through the years, but not much (if any ) of his music . If this was 1978, Springsteen himself was only a mid-level star but you might think a few years later, being associated with ‘The Boss’ would have been a big career boost for him.

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    1. I agree that the Springsteen connection and as Max said Epic got behind them, why they didn’t do better is strange. I think many might feel their to close to Springsteens style and the fans are just a subset of Bruce’s.

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      1. listening to this particular song, on second run-through, it is good and sounds Springsteen-esque, but didn’t have that instant hook perhaps needed to launch it on radio. Or else maybe his voice sounded a wee bit too ‘rock’ for the ballad-kind of song (which of course became de rigeour in the ’80s). Hard to know, sometimes talent just doesn’t get you as far as it should.

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      2. So true and not the first group to have a star connection that didn’t seem to take them to the next level. I’m this case is was not for want of trying with Bruce and Stevie and I think the whole EStreet Band helped them out. As you said sometimes talent is not enough.

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      3. I’m not sure if I can say this well Randy….Well this Springsteen type of music…if it wasn’t for Born in the USA…Bruce wouldn’t have had a lot of hits….lets take Thunder Road for example from Born to Run…there is nothing really commercial about it but…people love it…and me also!

        I think Bruce started out as a cult thing and grew because of his live shows…more than top 20 songs. The Grateful Dead comes to mind. I think some bands are in that genre…they are album bands or artists.

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      4. I get what you’re saying but I think that those artists that gained popularity by touring and live shows translated into album sales. I guess my point with Southside even without a big hit and didn’t get the album sales either. Bruce had a pretty big following in Canada before he ever played here. I see your point about hit songs, even a couple make a huge difference and certainly sustained Bruce and the Dead for that matter.

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      5. Oh I agree that he didn’t get the album sales…but that is the group that he was in… his popularity didn’t expand like Bruces…but I guess what I am saying (very badly lol) is that he is that TYPE of performer. Ignoring current trends and doing what he does best….there I think I finally got there!

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      7. Well the reason you wasn’t getting it is because of my lame explanations.
        So like Dave said…this one didn’t have that “catchy” hook….but its a very good quality song… but that catchy hook really wasn’t his thing…just the music itself.

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      9. Next time I’m going to post a faster song…I watched their live performances from 1978 In New Jersey…it was really good.

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    2. He is still playing to this day so he does have a good career. If he wouldn’t have hurt his arm/hand…who knows.

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  5. I have always liked these guys, that being mostly Johnny himself. I know they get a lot of airplay on Stevie’s Underground Garage on Sirius XM. I just never liked them enough to buy any records though.

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    1. What impressed me was their live stuff. They seem like a great band to see live…not only very good but they are also having fun and it shows.
      There also could be a little Replacements in him also…doing more of what he wants to do.

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      1. The clips certainly show a high energy show that is for sure. Mind a walk down Broadway Street as you know better than most in any bar and you’ll ask yourself why don’t these guys have a recording contract! Tough business out there eh.

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      2. I like lost causes lol… Big Star was my first that I just didn’t understand…but although they didn’t get rich they sure influenced a lot of people.

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  6. Excellent song and would be perfect for slow dancing. I see he’s got the “ossified heart” in there 🙂 Those vocals are sung with such passion. Wonderful guitar solo in there also.

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      1. Max, I read an article this morning about a current trend of people hurling things at pop stars on stage, and how it has morphed from loving fans throwing things like flowers (and jelly beans in the case of The Beatles) (and in Tom Jones’ case, panties and room keys) to drinks, phones, and other projectiles intended to hurt them. Cardi-B has thrown things back at the audience repeatedly. What is this world coming to?

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      2. I know…personally I think it’s a big part of that 15 minutes of fame. Teens seeing the Kardashians and thinking…oh where is my fame? Where is my money? I can do that.

        Uh…no you have to work for it Pal…so in short…a lot of sick mental jealousy.

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  10. How much of the pain in the live vocal was physical pain every time he lowered the hand and it started to throb? You notice it doesn’t stay down long…or at least I do, because the splint on his hand is what I used make for a living – looks like a flexor tendon injury and a splint to keep him from fully straightening his fingers and tearing the repair. Probably TMI (and I’m holding back 😉

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    1. No I appreciate you saying that. I was wondering how a hand injury would keep you completely off the road but if it was deep enough it would…adn yea now that you mention it…I see that.

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      3. A guy who’s done a couple of YouTubes about this is Ben Minnotte, who runs the Oddity Archive channel. I think his first ever show was on the incident and he did a followup in the last year or so.

        The original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUwt-JFSQx4&t=609s&pp=ygUbb2RkaXR5IGFyY2hpdmUgbWF4IEhlYWRyb29t

        The followup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgbci2Zf7ms&pp=ygUbb2RkaXR5IGFyY2hpdmUgbWF4IEhlYWRyb29t

        A lot of the footage is from the Museum of Classic Chicago Television, which also has a YouTube channel. I support both and recommend them highly.

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      4. Thanks John! When it happened you were in Atlanta…or settling in…in November… I’ll check these out.
        I love this type of stuff…I can’t believe they never caught them…and they never stepped forward.

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      6. LOL…I still find this so interesting…I wonder if they came forward now…would there be any charges. He mentions a 5 year statute of limitations but I’m not sure about this.
        I would think they would be fine…just harrassed to death by the internet.

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      8. You are correct John…with digital they would track them down in a second.
        I agree….they probably had connections with TV

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  14. Reading this yesterday Max, I thought to myself – I’ve written 15 Southside Johnny album reviews and you are the only person who has read them, and you review one song – one damn song – and you get about 20 people reading it! As Springsteen might say “mister, I guess there’s just a meanness in this world” 🙂

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    1. I know man…it isn’t fair…it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. It did take me 6 months to get one comment on here…then someone reblogged me and slowly it started to build.
      I love that line from Nebraska!

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    2. Hey Panther. Ive tried a few times to drop comments on your takes. For some reason they wont publish. Anyone who gives his personal perspective of Southside earns some effort on my part. I agree wit you on the ‘Better Days’ album.

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