By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
SUE M. MORGAN Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, former drummer with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, at the St. Ambrose Catholic Church carnival in June with Debbie Sinowell, vice chairwoman of the Old Bridge Cultural Arts Committee.
OLD BRIDGE — The man who created the drum beats behind none other than Bruce Springsteen’s earliest hits will give area residents a taste of his techniques when he appears with B Streets in Geick Park next week.
The July 23 event will culminate a series of events in Old Bridge featuring Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez this summer.
On June 21, the original E Street Band drummer judged seven local acts during the Old Bridge Idol finals at St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church. The contest, patented after the American Idol television show, was won by local rock band How ’Bout Tomorrow.
The personable Lopez, one of three contest judges, sat to one side of the rain-soaked platform stage set up on the Throckmorton Lane church grounds.
Keeping a relatively low profile throughout the hour-long competition, Lopez, a musician, disc jockey and author, closely scrutinized How ’Bout Tomorrow’s act as well as those of the singers and dancers who strutted their stuff on the boards.
After the competition ended, Lopez, his wife, Laurel, and a few family members joined fellow judge Debbie Sinowell and a Greater Media Newspapers reporter to tour the carnival grounds.
Sinowell, a member of the township’s Cultural Arts Committee, had recently interviewed Lopez on the local cable television show, Old Bridge Unplugged, and mentioned the upcoming Old Bridge Idol contest to Lopez during the taping. Much to Sinowell’s surprise and delight, Lopez, 54, offered to come back to Old Bridge to judge the contest.
A native of Neptune, Monmouth County, Lopez recalled inventing the drum beats for early Springsteen hits "Rosalita," "Blinded by the Light," "For You," "Spirit in the Night" and "(It’s Hard to Be a) Saint in the City." He was the drummer on Springsteen’s first two albums, Greetings From Asbury Park and The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, both recorded in the early 1970s.
Lopez recalled how he and longtime E Street Band organist Danny Federici were actually searching for a guitarist when they first met Springsteen in 1968.
Lopez and Federici had put together a band called Steel Mill and first jammed with Freehold Borough native Springsteen at The Upstage, one of many Asbury Park rock venues.
"Once we jammed, we knew we were a unit," Lopez recalled. "That was the beginning of Steel Mill."
Present-day E Street guitarist and co-star of HBO’s The Sopranos, Steven Van Zandt eventually joined Steel Mill as well.
The Student Prince, Hullabaloo and Sunshine Inn, all Asbury Park night spots "that aren’t there anymore," showcased Steel Mill from 1968 to the early ’70s, Lopez remembered.
Nowadays, the resident of the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold gives walking tours to tourists visiting Asbury Park and shares his firsthand stories of the time when it was a rock ’n’ roll mecca.
"I show them where [nightclubs] used to be," Lopez said. "Those walks are fun."
A year ago, this reporter joined other music fans when Lopez wowed the crowd playing disc jockey at the famed Stone Pony. Lopez appeared there to greet Springsteen fans who had gathered to celebrate the release of the Boss’s Sept. 11-themed album, The Rising.
Ironically, Lopez never played the Stone Pony, which opened in 1974, as an E Streeter. He has played that venue as a member of Steel Mill and another band, Cold Blast of Steel.
Lopez left what had evolved into the E Street Band in early 1974.
When asked why he left the band, he only smiles and says that it was time to move on.
Lopez does, however, consider himself in good company, given that his name is included as one of "the 100 best drummers" in The Book of Lists.
Joining the "Mad Dog" on that list is the first Beatles drummer, Pete Best, who was later let go by the band and replaced with Ringo Starr.
"Every drummer has their own way of doing things," Lopez said.
As for Lopez, he plans to detail his drumming career from his first gig inside the basement of the Belmar Methodist Church, located at E Street and 13th Avenue in Belmar, up to his performances at the Stone Pony in his upcoming autobiography.
The book is appropriately titled The First Beat From E Street in recognition of the Belmar address.
"In the book, I’ll tell how I learned to play drums," Lopez said. "I never really took a lesson."
Listening and imitating the beats on musical recordings and later playing in a local drum and bugle corps turned out to be all the lessons he needed.
"I just made up my own way of doing it," Lopez said.
On July 23, Lopez will drum with the B Streets, a Springsteen tribute band, during a free concert sponsored by Old Bridge’s Cultural Arts Committee at Geick Park.
Lopez occasionally jams with the Neptune-based musicians as they emulate the E Street Band’s distinctive style and sound.
At times, the other musicians test Lopez to see if he can still recall the beats to certain songs.
"Sometimes they try to stump me," Lopez said. "But they can’t. I invented those beats."