In the case of honorary Jersey boy Gary U.S. Bonds, legend once had it—thanks to a manager—that The Beatles opened for him on a 1963 tour of Europe. But alas, the 83-year-old is pretty sure that the biggest band in the world never actually warmed his crowds up, mainly because no one can remember who it was.
“Hopefully it wasn’t them, because we fired them the first week we were out there,” Bonds told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay during a recent phone call.
One thing that Bonds can confirm, though, is that while his pals Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are on the road in the coming months, he’ll be finalizing not one, but three new studio albums, all created during COVID-19. He absolutely refused to leave his house in New York during the lockdowns, and he used the hell out of his basement studio to record new material, including a few videos, even having sent some material to E Street’s Steven Van Zandt for musical approval.
Now that restrictions have loosened up and touring is safe again, he’s joining Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, Joey Dee, and Dennis Tufano of The Buckinghams for an annual holiday-themed shindig hosted by Jon “Bowzer” Bauman of Sha Na Na. And if we were four hours north, this weekend’s gig would be considered a homecoming of sorts for Gary, having been born in Jacksonville.
Get our full Q&A with Gary U.S. Bonds below, and go get your Grease on at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Saturday, Dec. 17. Your upcoming appearance in Clearwater is a Christmas gig that Bowzer from Sha Na Na does every year, and this is not the first time that you’re performing at one of these shows. How far back do you two go?
Yeah, oh, God. I met John [Bowzer] back when they had the TV show. That was when I first met him. I don’t know if you remember them having a TV show back in the day.
Oh man, so before “Grease” came out, huh?
Oh, hell yeah. That was before bacon!
Haha, that’s awesome. Do you think you’ll play any songs from your Christmas Is On album, or are you gonna stick to the hits?
I’m not quite sure. I think we’re just gonna stick with the hits, mainly because I think Bowzer wants me to pick a set of minutes to do, and I got quite a few hits, so I have to fit in as much as I can. You know, “New Orleans,” and “Quarter To Three,” and “School Is Out” as much as I can.
Definitely, and it’s such a fun show. I mean, you’ve got a lineup featuring Peter Noone and Joey Dee, too.
Oh yeah, it’s a real, real fun show. I mean, Bowzer always have a fun show, man. He’s one of the fun guys out here, and now, there ain’t too many of us left, but we’re working on it! *laughs*
How did you spend your time during the COVID lockdowns?
I stayed right here in the house. I wouldn’t leave for anything. I really enjoyed the house, and had a lot of things I had to do in here. I spent most of my time down in the basement in the studio. In fact, we recorded…oh, God, we must recorded at least three albums down there. And none of the band came here, we did it all via digital, you know? They had all their setups at their houses, and I had the main setup here. I’d send them a track, they’d play on it, and then they’d send it back, I’d mix it down here, and voila.
When you say that you’ve recorded three albums down there, do you mean over time or during the pandemic?
During the pandemic!
Wow! No kidding…
Yeah! Three albums, a couple videos…*laughs*
That answers my next question, I guess. I was gonna ask if we’d ever hear another album from you, because it’s been almost 20 years since Back In 20 came out, which marked your resurgence in popularity every 20 years.
Yeah! In fact, I just sent some songs over to [Steven] Van Zandt. I just told him “give it a listen, man. Tell me what I’m doing wrong,” because he will tell you what you’re doing wrong! *laughs* But if we’re doing it right, he’ll come back and say “no, no, thumbs up! Go for it!”
Yeah, I just sent him about 10 songs over time, so I’ll see what happens.
Hopefully, he’ll get to it soon since he’s going on the road Springsteen next year.
Yeah, he’s gotta do that, but he’s not on any of these songs. This is just me and me and my guys, the Roadhouse Rockers.
Gotcha, gotcha. So, before I ask this next question, I just want to emphasize to you that I’m in my early-20s, still kind of a fresh face to journalism, and I’m pretty confident that you are the only person I’ll ever be able to talk about with this.
*laughs*
In 1963, on a tour of Europe, The Beatles opened for you. How in the world did that happen?
You know, that’s a funny thing, because I don’t know if that’s true. I think my ex-manager put that story out, who is no longer with us. But I don’t think they were the Beatles, I really don’t. I think they were a group called the Flec-Tones or something like that. Because I came back, and I didn’t know who it was. They asked us “who backed you up,” and my manager told me “tell them it was the Beatles.” I thought “OK,” I didn’t know who it was, it was just a band.
But I think that’s how that story got started. Anyway, hopefully it wasn’t them, because we fired them the first week we were out there. *laughs*
Ooh. Kinda reminds you of when Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees, huh?
Yeah, right? Yeah, we fired them, but I think, who was it? I think Brian Hyland was with me, and Gene McDaniels was on that tour. It was the three of us. So, when we got back to London, we decided “man, this band is terrible.” So, we got rid of them, they gave us another band, and we took them out for a week. They were worse than the first guys, so we had to fire them and rehire the first band again!
It was a mess for a while. But what was happening was that that type of rock or roll just hadn’t been out long, and it really hadn’t gotten into Europe, you know? So they really didn’t know what they were trying to do. They didn’t have a clue because they had never done it before. So I’ll don’t hold that against them now, but during the days when were there, we were like “nah, these guys are no good.” I think they made it out OK, though.
Oh yeah. Now, one guy I know for sure that you worked with was Sam Cooke. Got any stories about that?
Sam turned out to be one of my dearest friends, and kind of taught me a lot about the music business, when I had a chance to just ride in a tour bus with him. He told me what was going on, because he had been out for years with the Soul Stirrers, the gospel group. He kinda knew the ropes around, so he really helped me out and pushed some information into my brain that helps me a lot today.
Another one that I knew you almost worked with a few years ago was Jack White, but I guess beyond that tribute album with your cover of “Salute Your Solution,” that didn’t work out?
Well, I thought we were gonna do some other thing, but that I guess it didn’t work out. But that was the only thing we did. And I never really got a chance to meet him.
Are there any artists that you would like to work with, outside that Springsteen-Southside Johnny circle?
They’re young guys, and I don’t know that many of them, but I love Bruno Mars. I think he’s a super talented guy, sings his butt off, you knows? He does everything good!
Yeah, he won Grammys galore last year.
Oh, yeah, he sure did. Well deserved.
You know, I don’t know! I haven’t been doing anything. It must be the vodka, I don’t know! *laughs*
There you go. I know we’re running out of time here, so just a few more questions for you. Do you keep in touch with Gene “Daddy G” Barge?
I sure do, man. I sure do. I talk to Gene at least once or twice a month. And he’s in Chicago now. I’ve talked to his daughter a lot, she keeps in touch. And this guy’s a workhorse! I mean, he’s what? 95 years old now. And he’s fronting five bands in Chicago! *laughs*
Five bands?! Geez!
Yeah! Talk about somebody who’s gonna quit. I don’t think he is!
He should get fired up for a tour.
I don’t think he’s gonna go out, because his daughter tells me that he’s having breathing problems now. That’s not good for a saxophone player, but I guess he’s learned how to manage it, you know?
Yeah. And when you’re a saxophone player, I guess that can be inevitable.
Yeah, I guess so, too.
One more thing, and I like to ask this to all the musicians that I talk to. What advice do you have to offer to young, up-and-coming musicians?
My main advice to them is before you do anything, get a lawyer, because you’re gonna need it. It’s a rough business out here, and they will take advantage of you. Once they find out you don’t know what you’re talking about or you don’t know what you’re doing…they got you. So the first thing you do is find somebody that you know you can trust that has a background in law that’ll help you make sure you sign the right things.
Gary, this has been great. Thanks so much for talking to me, and I can’t wait to see you in Clearwater.
You bet, my friend. We’ll have a good time.
Take care, sir.
You bet, buddy. Bye-bye.
*This interview has been edited for clarity
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2022.