Little Steven

Rock N Roll Rebel: The Early Work

WICKED COOL/UME

Consummate motherlode, with juicy extras.

Right-hand men don’t come more indispensable than Steve Van Zandt, aka Miami Steve and Little Steven, Springsteen’s on-off lieutenant since joining the E Street Band in 1975 (and that other Boss’s consigliere in The Sopranos). Coming up on the 70s Jersey Shore scene, he also co-founded Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes, and once said he joined the E Street Band to help Springsteen achieve success.

Mission accomplished by 1984, Van Zandt concentrated on leading his Disciples Of Soul on the solo career he started two years earlier with Men Without Women.

Blending classic rock and soul tropes with muscularly melodic songs, his mushrooming political activism led to him starting Artists United Against Apartheid, bringing in Bruce, Dylan, U2 and more than 40 more star guests for 1985’s Sun City protest against the South African resort, and railing further on 1987’s Freedom – No Compromise and ‘89’s Revolution. Without a record label, 1994’s Born Again Savage waited five years for release.

All five LPs are included on wax in this lavish, 1,000-pressing box set, along with four bonus CDs containing 51 previously unreleased tracks including outtakes (the set’s title comes from an unreleased 1983 song), demos, alternative versions, live performances, rehearsals, even pre-Jukes recordings by Southside Johnny And The Kid (Van Zandt).

A fascinating overview of this fearlessly outspoken force of nature, oozing soul from every pore, it’s available to pre-order from uDiscover Music, plus prerelease downloads of each expanded album and selfwritten standalone book. ■■■■■■■■■■