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The Kingfish Speaks Out
An Interview with Eddie Manion
by Michelle Paponetti

Eddie Manion, better known by Asbury Jukes fans as "The Kingfish," might come across to people as being a quiet saxophone player in one of the greatest bands to ever come out of the Jersey Shore, and maybe he is. But an hour and a half with him in an Eatontown, NJ diner quickly turns him into a man, not only with quite an impressive resume, but with a lot to say about, among other things, the recent release of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes' "Messin' With the Blues," the first Jukes studio album in 8 years.

Here are some of the things he had to say...

So, Ed, what else have you been doing besides your work with the Asbury Jukes? Do you ever play out with your own band? Do you have any recordings of your own?
I haven't played out with my own band in a very long time. I play regularly with bass player Will Lee in a group called the Fab Faux (www.theFabFaux.com). We'll be at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC Monday, April 16th. I also play a lot with Bob Bandiera. I finished a CD of my own about 3 years ago, and plan torelease it soon. I'm working on a new CD of saxophone instrumentals which I hope to have finished in the next year. You know, I guess this would be a goodopportunity for me to talk about what I've been doing, but I would really like to talk about the new CD we just did called "Messin' With The Blues." I'm really excited about this record and that's where my main focus is right now.

OK, so what are your favorite songs on "Messin' With The Blues"?
One of my favorite songs is "Satan's Shoes" Great song kinda reminds me of Mink Deville (Willy Deville) who I toured Europe with in the early nineties. Also "River's Invitation," "Looks Like Rain," a great song written by Southside Johnny, "Livin' With The Blues" and "Messin' Round With The Blues". Southside really outdid himself with this CD. He sounds at home with this record and he sounds great. Here he is in his true element. His vocals and harp playing are testimony to his passion, understanding, dedication and respect for the blues. I hope this record is the beginning of a long series of blues and R&B recordings by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Garry Tallent did a commendable job producing and Bobby Bandiera's guitar solos are outstanding. The horns aren't too shabby either! I really think this record should be submitted to this year's Grammy Awards and should have a good chance at being nominated for Best New Blues Album (Are you listening, Bill? Send in that CD !) I also urge all Jukes fans to call their local blues radio stations and get this cd played.

(Eddie Manion is no stranger to the blues scene, since he was a member of the Robert Cray Band from 1991-1994, and toured the world with Robert Cray, playing alongside blues greats such as B.B. King, Albert Collins and John Lee Hooker. Ed wrote half the horn arrangements and played tenor and baritone sax on the Robert Cray Band's Mercury release, "Shame + a Sin," which was nominated for a Grammy in 1993.

Most recently, Eddie performed and wrote horn arrangements for a Special Olympics Christmas Show (live at the White House) this past December with Bobby Bandiera being the band leader. Eddie, Bobby, and Joey Stann had a chance to perform with artists such as Stevie Wonder , B.B. King , Tom Petty and Jon Bon Jovi.)

OK, going back in time a little, can you tell me a little bit about how you became a Juke, how you and Johnny met and what the music scene was like back then?
I joined the Jukes in the spring of 1976, before the release of "I Don't Want To Go Home." At the time I had just heard about a bar band, The Jukes, that were looking for a few horn players. So, a friend of mine, Tony Palligrosi, and myself went up and met Johnny at the Stone Pony. At the time, the Jukes were playing there every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. They had just finished a demo of "I Don't Wanna Go Home." The Jukes had one sax player, Carlo Novi. So Johnny auditioned Tony and I, and we joined the band. I was going to school at the time at Stockton State College and I dropped out of school and became a full-time member of the Jukes. Oh my God! Everything happened real fast as the album, "I Don't Want To Go Home" came out. And from that point on, the Jukes were on the road maybe 250 days a year.

I knew Johnny from years ago, from the Upstage Club. When I was in high school, I was playing in bar bands all over New Jersey. I played in a band called Lazarus and another band called Little Joe and the Kokomo's. We were horn bands that played in bars from Seaside to Asbury Park. Then after playing those bars, we would go to this teen coffee house, The Upstage. I was very fortunate to have been there at that time. It was a great learning experience. I was probably the only sax player in the audience and I would get up and jam with anybody who was on the stage at the time which very often included Bruce Springsteen and that's where I first met Johnny.

So did you ever go to school for music?
I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston for a year, but I really have to say that the music school I learned the most from, was the Asbury Jukes School of Music (laughs) because, as the Jukes, we were learning all the time, and it was like a music school in itself. My instructors were Steve Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny . These were people I really learned a lot from in every way not to mention the legends we met on the road and in the studio (Barry Beckett, Junior wells, Lee Dorsey, Ronnie Spector, Graham Parker, etc., etc.). My classes were doing albums like "Hearts of Stone," "This Time It's For Real." When we were on the road, we did a lot of listening. Johnny would bring his tapes of every doo-wop and rhythm and blues band from the 50s and we'd sit on the bus and listen to them all. l learned things from my fellow musicians and we all learned from each other.

What kind of music did you grow up listening to and who would you say inspired you to pick up a saxophone?
My mother has always been my inspiration and she bought me my first saxophone when I was ten. When I was growing up, my family didn't really have an extensive record collection. They didn't listen to much jazz, or much of anything really. I think the only record we had was a Joey Dee and the Starlighters record, "Peppermint Twist" but that was it, and when I was 11 years old, the Beatles came out in 1963 and that just changed everything for me. I was playing in the junior high school band and everybody joined a band, everybody was in a garage band. So I listened to a lot of music that just came out at the time, The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel. Matter of fact, I joined a Columbia Record Club when I was 11 years old and I got 10 records for a dollar. But the thing is, they were some of the best records of all time. "Meet the Beatles," "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan's "Highway 61." And I would play them over and over again. If you play the saxophone it's only a matter of time before your curious about other horn players, and that made me discover jazz and rhythm and blues. But most of the rock bands didn't have saxophones. The Dave Clark 5 was one of the few bands that had sax. So anyway, we were all in bands at the time and, even though there was no saxophone in The Beatles and The Stones, I would play in bands that would play their songs, so I would have to improvise.

Now getting back to "Messin' With the Blues," in an interview Johnny gave recently, he says that the horns were recorded in New Jersey, in Jon Bon Jovi's studio, in just a few days. What was it like pulling a project like that together, so successfully, in such a short amount of time?
Well, it was easy because Johnny knew exactly what he wanted by the time we went in to record the horns. He just hummed the basic horn parts that he wanted on each song, and then we'd arrange it on the spot and make it work for the five horns. Gary and Johnny made it pretty easy. And the way Johnny approached it was absolutely perfect.

You've been with the Jukes for a long time, and you've seen quite a few people come and go over the years. How do you feel about the current line up? Johnny seems to be very pleased with the professionalism and the way this band works together and gets along, both on and off stage. Would you agree?
Yea, definitely. I think the band is solid. Everybody is doing a great job. We just need to get out there and work.

I hear there's a possibility of you guys going to Europe.
I hear that's a good possibility...that would be great. I think you know more than I do! (laughs)

I know Johnny took a few years off from recording. Do you think Johnny will want to get the guys back in the studio anytime in the near future to start working on a new album?
Yes, I think so. I hope so..

Eddie Manion Photos | Eddie Manion Discography | A Letter From Little Steven

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