Bruce Springsteen with Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Oct. 21.
As part of his Oct. 21 appearance on television’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — on which the main topic of conversation was his new movie, “Western Stars” — Bruce Springsteen discussed the “Springsteen: His Hometown” exhibition that is currently at the Monmouth County Historical Association in his original hometown of Freehold. (see video below) Springsteen attended the opening party for it on Sept. 28, and performed “Light of Day” with Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers.
“Did you learn anything about yourself (from the exhibition)?” asked Kimmel on the ABC talk show, which was taped at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
“Actually, I did,” Springsteen responded.
“There’s plenty of people who know more about me than I do,” Springsteen said with a laugh. “So we went down there, and they traced the Springsteens all the way back to the Revolutionary War … and then they traced up to the Civil War. The most interesting thing was they had a small parlor guitar, which was what people played in those days. It was a small guitar … going back to the 1800s, supposedly from one of our relatives. So I’m not the first guitar player in the Springsteens. It was kind of cool.”
Kimmel also asked, among other things, about the time Springsteen opened for the stoner comedy duo Cheech & Chong at West Chester State College in West Chester, Pa., on Oct. 28, 1972.
“The first gig that I ever did when I had my first record out was opening for Cheech & Chong in a small college in Pennsylvania,” remembered Springsteen. (Note: Springsteen had finished recording Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. at that time, though it wasn’t released until January 1973.). “I came out, and we played about five songs. I thought it was going really good. I was sitting at the piano. And somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘That’s enough.’ ”
For more on the “Springsteen: His Hometown,” visit monmouthhistory.org/springsteen.
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