This rock and roll autobiography is an unusual one, in part because it is told by someone who is not the “front man” for a band, or a major solo act himself. This is a “sideman’s” story.
For those who don’t know, Van Zandt, also known as “Little Stevie”, is a close friend and confidante of Bruce Springsteen. He became a founding member, guitarist and backup singer of Springsteen’s E Street Band, and Springsteen’s right-hand man in the early years, only to quit in the 1980s, just as the band was reaching its peak years of popularity.
As he recounts, he returned to the band many years later, but only after building his own separate life and identity as a musician, political activist, actor, script-writer and producer, as well as a celebrity gadfly, solo artist, band-leader, project organizer and friend to many other stars.
His style of story-telling seemed to verge at times on the bombastic, self-admiring and grandiose, and might have been intolerable except for the fact that all the outrageous claims he makes and the crazy stories he tells are apparently true, and are often very funny. It also helps make it more bearable that he openly shares his failures and insecurities too.
But yes, he did play a huge part in organizing financial, political and celebrity support in the U.S. against South African apartheid, and in support of Nelson Mandela. He did become an actor, and a major star in The Sopranos, one of the top TV series of all time. He did star in and help produce another improbable but popular gangster-related Netflix show set in Norway, Lilyhammer. And he does seem to know just about everyone in the celebrity world, and has wild stories and gossip to share about his interactions with many of them.
If
you’re looking for a fun read, and lots of tall tales from the life of a
high-powered Forrest Gump of the entertainment world, this book might fill the
bill. Recommended.
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