March 4 – Tuesday – Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes – Live – Reach Up and Touch the Sky – Pt 2

Just so you know, the picture has nothing to do with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. So not to bore you with the same album cover as yesterday, here’s one of my great grandmother on my father’s father’s side. I sure didn’t want to put up another picture of Max, who was nothing but a lump tonight.

But, this was fun. I’d totally forgotten most of the songs on this live set, so when side three started with “I Don’t Want To Go Home,” I was immediately lifted out of the bit of a funk I found myself in today. Then when the second song began, I recognized the sound but couldn’t place it. What was it? It was crawling from the base of my memory, I knew it, I liked it, but could I remember before the introduction was done? Then I heard the piano and I not only remembered the song, I remembered why I bought this album – for Southside Johnny’s live version of Bruce’s “The Fever.” So I played both songs again. I need the extra exercise anyway.

And you know, since the third and last song on the aerobic side is that old standard “Stagger Lee,” and it all kept me moving even through the floor exercises, which is not necessary, just a bonus (side four has a lot of Sam Cooke including “We’re Having a Party”), I hereby dub the second record of the Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes double set live album a Ram alternative. To think, I never even took it out of the cellophane.