It was 54 years ago when music saved Asbury Park
It has been said that music can be a cure-all for many things — a respite from a difficult day, a bad break up or just a conduit to chill out.
Never was music so important and instrumental in helping an entire community rise from the ashes of what would be one of the worst moments in New Jersey history.
By July of 1970 there were racial and civil tensions that had built up and started to strongly divide Asbury Park with train tracks acting as the dividing line of the unrest.
On the long holiday weekend of July 4th, 1970, all hell broke loose, literally.
Asbury Park was engulfed in fire, blood and tensions that would forever leave an indelible mark on the city by the ocean, known by thousands who would flock to the pristine beaches to frolic in the cool ocean that would bring relief on a sweltering summer weekend.
The National Guard was called, the terrible destruction of Asbury Park and race relations was on all the national news broadcasts. So many injured, so many businesses burnt to the ground, so much chaos.
Before the riots of Asbury Park, the city was a welcoming music mecca to the start of the careers of Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt, Southside Johnny, Clarence Clemons, and others who would later make up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bound E-Street Band.
On both sides of the train tracks, music permeated to the delight of aspiring musicians and the patrons who soaked it all in.
The start of the meteoric music careers of Bruce Springsteen and others happened in The Upstage Club on Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park. A place where musicians would jam until early in the morning to the delight of the audience. The long walk up the stairs built with excitement of great music ahead.
The music before and after the unrest in Asbury Park didn’t have any racial barriers, on one side of the tracks you could hear some of he best jazz and blues and the other produced outstanding pure rock and roll.
The desire to get back to the music after the unrest was strong and it happened much quicker than the repair of the infrastructure of a shore city that was very beat up.
This struggle was so famously captured in my friend Tom Jones documentary Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock and Roll.
Tom interviews Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt, and other musicians as well as community leaders who recall the challenging times and break out the reasoning and eventually solution of getting Asbury Park back to its glory.
It is a powerful documentary that I had the pleasure of narrating.
Music was the conduit in bringing Asbury Park back. It is a remarkable story that will soon have a happy conclusion. Look for the documentary Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock and Roll on Apple Tv or Amazon Prime.
LOOK: Which movies were filmed in New Jersey?
Gallery Credit: Stacker
The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.
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