I know who the coolest man in America is.  I realized it the other day.  I understand that my choice is purely subjective and has no scientific facts to back it up.  But just as you can always depend on Paula Abdul to let society at large down, and just as sure as there is nothing more boring than the third period of any NBA game, my gut tells me I have to be right.

The coolest man in America is Steven Van Zandt.  Yes, Steven Van Zandt.  Who is this newly dubbed “Coolest Man in America”?  Why does this man get to wear this crown?  He wears this crown, not because of one singular thing he did, he wears it because of the stunning and enviable efforts he’s accomplished in his life.  

Somewhere near the Jersey shore, Steven Van Zandt picked up a guitar, and it was good.   In his early years, he hung out with a singer named John Lyon, later known as Southside Johnny.  His partnership with Southside Johnny gave the world Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, one of the most influential horn bands in popular music. The music of the Jukes was a hybrid of  Soul legends to 50’s hitmaker Ronnie Spector, and many other rock and R&B influences. What made them different from other horn bands of that time period like Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, or Average White Band, was that The Jukes were truly a product of a Jersey state of mind.  Along with an up and coming songwriter named Bruce Springsteen, the original songwriting and producing load for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes was Little Steven Van Zandt. 

The first three records of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are authentic and passionate statements. Songs like I DON’T WANT TO GO HOME, THE FEVER, THIS TIME ITS FOR REAL and their most critically acclaimed record HEARTS OF STONE, were truly a partnership between Southside and Little Steven.  Listen to any of those songs and you hear the sheer joy of what they were doing, at least from my perspective.

During that time, Little Steven was asked by Bruce Springsteen to play on his new recording project called BORN TO RUN.  He proceeded to join the E Street Band and toured the world.  I saw him play with Bruce at the St. Paul Civic Center on the DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN tour.  Seeing Bruce, Little Steven and the E Street Band that night was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  We paid to see Bruce, but Little Steven was so strong on that stage. The connection with him and Bruce was so obvious. And even though they may have been sick of the songs, they never showed it.  They took the St. Paul Civic Center and raised it up. 

A few years later, Little Steven started his own band. Once again, he proved how cool he truly was.  The name of the band was LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL.  I rest my case.   

This band was similar to the Jukes, but rocked harder. It also had elements of Reggae, Dub, and the obvious Soul and R&B influence.  The crew was motley. The bass player was a large black man with a white Mohawk who played for the Plasmatics.  With songs like LYING IN A BED OF FIRE, I AM A PATRIOT and PRINCESS OF LITTLE ITALY, Little Steven stood alone this time and the result was powerful.

Little Steven played Silvio in The Soprano’s.  Tony  Soprano’s right hand man.  The character is original.  His humor is there. I’ve heard he walked in to the audition with the character all laid out.  The power of The Soprano’s was undeniable.  The hip factor of the show was off the chart.  They actually made us wait until they were good and ready for each season.  They make us dance because they know the chase is always more satisfying than the conquest.  That principle is what makes Steve Van Zandt so interesting to me.  That’s what makes him so cool.  He makes us catch up to him.

He has found a great combination of knowing what influences to borrow and how to use those influences to create something new.  There have been plenty of horn bands on the national scene and the local scene, but none matched the power of the early days of the Asbury Jukes and the Disciples of Soul.  Steve Van Zandt was the architect of that sound.  When he shares the vocals with Springsteen, the sound the create together is as beautiful to me as any Everly Brothers harmony, but the delivery and the passion behind it comes from a meaner and more sweeter,  desperate place.  You know the notes he hits are right, but they’re just on the border of being wrong,  That’s what makes his sound so sweet to me.

 The way he phrases, the notes he chooses to play on his solos, the tone of his guitar sound, his influences,  the people he calls friends,  the roles he chooses to play, and many other things, is why Steven Van Zandt is the coolest man in America.  Ask any musician or actor and they would kill to work with him. It’s just a fact.  People want to hang with the cool people.  That will never change.  My vote is cast for the coolest.