Remembering Carl ‘Tinker’ West: The unlikely friendship that shaped Springsteen’s early career

Carl “Tinker” West passed away this week at the age of 89. He was instrumental and successful in four major facets of life.

Tinker was a UCLA graduate who went on to be a rocket scientist working on defense contracts. He had a brilliant mind. He could build anything, hence the nickname “Tinker.”

He was a huge surf enthusiast riding the waves of Los Angeles and San Diego beaches and building the premier surfboard company Challenger Surfboards.

Word got out about his unique and popular surfboards and sales were strong with close to 80% of sales coming from surf shops on the East Coast. Carl Tinker West took his Challenger Factory and headed east, landing him smack in the middle of the east coast surfing mecca, New Jersey.

He had a small Challenger “factory” in the Wanamassa section of Ocean Township. Tinker also had a passion for music and would enjoy the music circuit around Asbury Park and Long Branch.

In 1970, he met a broke and close-to-homeless, talented musician named Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce, looking for a place to stay, grabbed a mattress on one side of Tinker’s factory and there they loosely plotted their future. Tinker was into original music; he was not a fan back then of cover bands. Bruce had original music.

It was Tinker’s plan to take Bruce’s then four-member band Steel Mill to the West Coast. Bruce climbed into Tinker’s 1940s Chevy truck and west they headed. On that fateful trip, Tinker drove straight through from New Jersey to Memphis and was exhausted. He told Bruce, “Your turn.”

Without a license or general driving knowledge, Bruce got behind the wheel of Tinker’s truck. It was a manual transmission, and Bruce had no idea he had to drive a stick. With an impromptu on-the-road lesson as they continued their trip west, Bruce picked up the art of driving.

The band was a success in California, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Tinker knew so many people. I was privileged to have known him. A fascinating man who told you how he felt and never had time for nonsense. He had a BS radar that worked well.

Tinker had an annual St. Paddy's Day Party at his purple garage in Highlands. When the Highlands St. Paddy’s Day Parade was in its infancy, it seemed more people attended Tinker’s garage party than the parade. He would try to twiddle down the list each year, but it became friends of friends and a big deal to be invited.

I enjoyed every fascinating conversation I had with Tinker. I had the privilege of making a filmed piece for a TV show pilot I was making with my friend, Tom Jones. Tom produced, directed, and wrote the show and he has very generously allowed me to share this with you.

Tinker made New Jersey a more interesting and certainly more entertaining place to live. Rest in peace my friend Tinker.

Episode of Jersey with Big Joe Featuring Carl "Tinker" West: Jersey With Big Joe Henry - Tinker