SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY

singer with the rhythm & blues group Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

“The first album? Gee, I don’t think I remember the first album I personally ever purchased.

“I remember the first 45 I got was an Elvis Presley 45 with a picture sleeve that my mother bought because she wanted it for Christmas. So I got it, but then she took it.

“Probably the first album I ever bought was at a place called CJ’s in Asbury Park, which was about a half a mile from my house in Ocean Grove. And I walked over there when I was 13 probably. They used to have cut-outs, and they were 39 cents to 89 cents. I bought two or three John Lee Hooker albums and a Jimmy Reed album for 89 cents apiece. I was always interested in that kind of music. That’s what my parents used to listen to -- blues and jazz and rhythm & blues.”