Dave Edmunds sings “Johnny B. Goode” at the Capitol Theatre in 1984.
In 1984, MTV had a short-lived concert series called “Rock Influences,” featuring contemporary stars and the musicians who influenced them. In November of that year, the music video channel taped an episode at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic that featured a mind-boggling array of guitar masters: Link Wray, Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the MG’s, Johnny Winter, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers Band, Dave Edmunds, Brian Setzer, Neal Schon of Journey, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, and Lita Ford.
For the last song, Edmunds sang Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” everyone except for Iommi and Ford played, and sparks flew; all the jammers seemed to be having a great time on this once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
Supporting musicians include an all-Jersey horn section: Richie “La Bamba,” Ed Manion, Mike Spengler and Stan Harrison.
Check it out here:
New Jersey celebrated its 350th birthday in 2014. And in the 350 Jersey Songs series, we marked the occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, from September 2014 to September 2015 — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. To see the entire list, click here.
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