Bobby Bandiera, playing guitar with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, in 1985.
Dennis P. Laverty — who has previously made documentaries devoted to the careers of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Clarence Clemons, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band and others — has just released a new one, a three-hour-plus look at the life and music of Bobby Bandiera. You can watch it below.
Like Laverty’s other works, “The Bobby Bandiera Story” tells its story with performance clips, interview segments, photos and newspaper clippings. So it’s a compilation of things that were previously available, on YouTube or elsewhere, but now are assembled in one place, in a way that gives an overview of Bandiera’s remarkable career.
It starts with Bandiera’s childhood, in Orange, with him discussing his parents, his early attempts at music and, most surprisingly, his contact with another Jersey music legend, Nick Massi of The Four Seasons. It continues with looks at his early Shore-based bands (Holme, Cats on a Smooth Surface); his work with Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and Dave Edmunds; his solo albums and concerts; and the many high-profile charity concerts he has organized in New Jersey, over the years.
Laverty has unearthed great performance clips from nearly every stage of Bandiera’s career, ranging from Springsteen with Cats on a Smooth Surface at The Stone Pony, to Bandiera with Jon Bon Jovi at the White House. Many, honestly, I had never seen before.
Bandiera — who turned 70 on Oct. 19 — also discusses his involvement with Springsteen’s Rising Tour, which I had previously been vaguely aware of, but now know about in much greater detail.
Here is the documentary. Enjoy!
The Bobby Bandiera Story from Dennis P Laverty on Vimeo.
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