“I Don’t Want to Go Home: An Oral History of the Stone Pony” is a new book written by Nick Corasaniti with a foreword by Bruce Springsteen. When he’s not writing about the ponies, Nick covers politics for The New York Times. He lives in both Asbury Park and Brooklyn and spoke to me about the book.
Was it fun to write this book?
“It was amazing! It was the epitome of what a passion project is. My dad took me on a book tour in the late ’90s and it was in the back lot of the Stone Pony that I saw my first concert, and I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s a mesmerizing place to see a show, no matter what genre of music it is. I had a lot of fun talking to so many of the musicians I admire, some of whom I didn’t even know had set foot inside the Pony.”
Stone Pony Travel Greetings from Asbury Park
File photo from Sept. 18, 1998. (AP Photo/Mike Derer, File)
How did the Stone Pony get its name?
“So this has been a myth and a legend for a long time, and nobody knows the real story. I talked to the founder, Jacques Roig, and he said it’s simple: He was having a little affair with a woman in Asbury Park, and, you know, one morning he woke up and turned over, and she was wearing a pony necklace. So he came up with the idea. He doesn’t know where the ‘stone’ in Stone Pony comes from, but that’s OK.”
Obituary Clarence Clemons
A woman wipes away tears as people gather next to a memorial service for saxophonist Clarence Clemons at rock bar The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., Sunday, June 19, 2011. Clemons, a noted performer who played with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the rock bar, died of complications from a stroke on June 18. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
What were those early days like?
“So those early days were precarious, to say the least. One year the roof collapsed, our insurance money ran out and we were just scraping by. We didn’t even know if we were destined to be a rock club.”
“Then one night the Blackberry Booze Band (which would later become the Asbury Jukes) came by, consisting of Southside Johnny, Stevie Van Zandt and a guy named Dave Myers. They said, ‘Hey, do a damn night. We’ll run the door and you run the bar. It’s a great deal for the bar owner, but we get to play whatever we want.'”
“It wasn’t Top 40 that they wanted to play. It was their own music, and sometimes covers – Sam and Dave. It was different music than you’d hear on a weekend night in a bar on the Jersey shore. That was the start of a scene that brought together people from all over the state who craved a Jersey bar band scene.”
“It was rock ‘n’ roll mixed with horns, R&B and soul. A lot of Springsteen songs, of course, but also Southside Johnny songs. And the Jukes became the house band at the Pony, and it became kind of a permanent place for people to hang out. Blues started coming, playing with other bands, people in the same genre started to gather, and it became a very passionate music scene. It was kind of like Motown in Detroit, but it was happening 40 miles from New York City in a rundown town on the Jersey Shore.”
President Obama visits Jersey Shore
Both U.S. President Barack Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are welcomed on the famous Stone Pony sign in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on May 28, 2013. S (Photo by Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
How did Bruce become involved?
“Bruce grew up with Stevie and Southside, you know, and played with them at the Upstage. The Upstage created a collaborative spirit, like Asbury Park in New Orleans, with Springsteen, Southside, Stevie and company.”
“That meant that anybody could show up anytime and play with anybody and know the songs and what they had. And if they were good enough, they could play. So that’s where the Pony opened, and they wanted to do it. And Bruce really liked the Blackberry Booze (which later became the Jukes), which Stevie and Southside were doing at the time, so he started showing up.”
“He didn’t bring his guitar because he wasn’t necessarily going to play, but because of who he was and Pony’s place in the music scene, he was more than happy to play a song or two. And that’s what ultimately built the legend.”
US venues light up red as part of #RedAlertRESTART campaign in support of the RESTART Act
(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
What is your best blues story?
“My favorite was their 2019 Summer Stage show, Southside Johnny. He came on stage, performed, and was there for nearly an hour. You could see that they were having fun as they performed ‘Talk to Me’ and other classics. It was something I’d always admired ever since I first saw Less Than Jake and Pennywise in the parking lot behind the Stone Pony, so I kept going there. So to finally see it culminate live in 2019 was pretty special.”
Kenny Chesney performs a private concert for SiriusXM at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. The performance will be broadcast live on Chesney’s SiriusXM channel, No Shoes Radio.
Country superstar Kenny Chesney performs a private concert celebrating the release of “No Shoes Raido” on SiriusXM at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey on May 12, 2016. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images, courtesy of SiriusXM)
Talk about the other genres of music that play through Pony.
“The Stone Pony has had a huge impact on music history, even if it’s not immediately obvious. I’ve always been a big supporter of New Jersey’s impact on music history. With Bruce, Sinatra, Whitney Houston and Bon Jovi, I’d say New Jersey’s Mount Rushmore is as strong as any state’s.”
“Tuesday nights at the Pony in the ’80s — Springsteen still went there on Sundays — he’d draw the blues fans. Tuesdays were metal nights with a band called TT Quick, so they’d draw a big crowd. It wasn’t blues fans, but a certain kind of people would come to see them play.”
“There was this guy called Zakk Wylde, who would go on to be one of the most influential rock guitarists in the history of Osborne Black Label Society. He started going to TT Quik shows a lot. He was in a band called Virus before he was even 18.”
“The only way to get into the Pony was to play with or join TT Quick. He said my friend went to Berkeley to learn guitar, but I went to the Stone Pony. He was a huge influence on the metal and heavy rock side of things. Without the Stone Pony, it wouldn’t have happened, and that’s not what blues is about.”
MTV VMA remote performance
The Jonas Brothers, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas perform at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey as part of the 2019 MTV VMAs in Asbury Park, New Jersey on August 25, 2019. (Photo by Brian Ack/Getty Images, Courtesy of MTV)
And punk music took hold there. In the late ’90s, the Bouncing Souls opened up shop, there were lots of gigs in basements around New Brunswick, and as this genre of music became more popular, bands started to grow. All of these bands came to Pony and made it their home base.
Not just soul, but the Gaslight Anthem. They were filling out the PNC Bank Arts Center and these huge venues. They had a foothold there. Arena-filling bands like My Chemical Romance were playing there. So the Pumpkins, they were kind of emo, they really found a home on the Pony stage. It’s a little bit different from blues music obviously.
20 Unforgettable Concerts at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park
Gallery credit: Jimmy G
