“My luck and that of Bruce is that we have always put our friendship in front of everything. We had this dream in common, we realized it together. We like it. Bruce is the only person that he knew to have the same way of conceiving the rock'n'roll. We are similar in the way of working, in ethics, in the tastes. For us it was not show business, it was not a job to make money, it was not a hobby. That you call me on the phone, and I am always ready to leave with him for some new projects “, so, Steven Van Zandt, for everyone Little Steven, told us in an exclusive interview his relationship with Bruce Springsteen. I iconic figure of American rock, the right arm of the boss and unforgettable face in the role of Silvio Dante in “I soprano”, Little Steven is at the center of a new HBO documentary that celebrates its extraordinary career. “Stevie Van Zandt” is the Sky Exclusive documentary on air on July 5 on Sky Arte and streaming only on Now. Track the portrait of a total artist: musician, author, actor, producer, activist and tireless promoter of rock culture.
Through unpublished archive materials and testimonies of big names such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, Darlene Love, Peter Gabriel and Bono, the film retraces Little Steven's journey from the Clubs of Asbury Park, in New Jersey, up to the great stadiums of the rock, passing through the legendary Bada Bing Club (the Tony Soprano club in the historic Series) And the Underground Garage, the radio station founded by Van Zandt himself.
Look below the trailer of the documentary on Stevie Van Zandt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejivd-zdtei
The documentary returns the intensity and passion of an artist who has made music an instrument of social change. From the Jersey Shore scene of the 70s, with the historic performances together with Springsteen and SouthSide Johnny at Stone Pony, to the solo productions with the Disciples of Soul, Van Zandt has been able to merge rock with soul, winds and political commitment.
Among the central episodes, the film also tells its sensational abandonment of the and street band at the height of success, the creation of the “Sun City” in 1985 – which brought together 50 artists of different genres against the apartheid in South Africa – and success as an actor in the cult series “I soprano”.
But Van Zandt's journey has never stopped: he returned to tour with Springsteen, he directed a TV series, produced Broadway shows, promoted musical education and continues to be an influential voice through his radio channels. The documentary thus returns the image of an artist who, for over fifty years, has remained on the crest of the wave, carrying out his personal battle for social justice and for rock'n'roll, with passion, consistency and unmistakable style.
In recent days, Little Steven held fans suspended with an appendicitis, who forced him to an emergency surgery, which put his participation in the Italian dates of the Bruce Springsteen tour at risk. Admitted to San Sebastián, Spain, after a concert, Van Zandt praised the local hospital for the promptness and effectiveness of the care, defining the intervention “a total success”.
And in Milan he was on stage next to the boss, in a double concert that once again inflamed the sixty thousand of San Siro. 40 years after the historic first live in Milan, Springsteen staged not only a show, but a real rock rally, a frontal prosecutor to Trump's America, defined as “corrupt, traitor and incompetent” (here the story of the show and the lineup).
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
