I was deep into it - worldwide liberation politics as well as domestic - but by the end of the '80s, I had decided it all comes down to one single issue: campaign-finance elimination.
— Steven Van Zandt
I was a gambler when I was a kid, so when we got to Las Vegas, it was like Mecca.
I am Italian. Springsteen's mostly Italian, too. We're both Italians with Dutch names, one of the many things we have in common.
I had the wonderful good luck of having Jimmy Gandolfini as my mentor and David Chase as my godfather, two of the most talented guys in the history of television.
You want everybody to like your work, but when you look at what's fashionable or trendy, it's pretty obvious that I don't exactly fit.
I've always been very thematic with my work, very conceptual.
I just love that whole Brill Building era. I will always regret not being there. That's where I belong.
I'm always surprised when a sequel is not as good or better than the first one. I never understand that. You've already set your own bar. You've already done the hard work. It should be easier to make the second one, but a lot of the times, it's not.
Reach for greatness, nothing less. And make sure you have some fun along the way.
I played around with the idea of touring with a soul revue, with Smokey Robinson, Sam Moore, Darlene Love, people like that.
Rock n' roll is our religion, and we will continue to lose disciples as we go, but we pick up the fallen flag and keep moving forward, bringing forth the good news that our heroes have helped create, their bodies lost, but their spirits and their good work everlasting.
Half of the modern world goes back as far as Pearl Jam. The real historians go back to U2. But they need to go back further. They have to go back to the '50s and '60s, where things started. That's how you get to be your own personality, by studying the masters. Rock and roll was white kids trying to make black music and failing, gloriously!
It's become uncool to play other people's songs, and that's absurd. It has got to change. It's the reason why everything's so mediocre.
The British invasion was the most important event of my life. I was in New Jersey and the night I saw the Beatles changed everything. I had seen Elvis before and he had done nothing for me, but these guys were in a band.
I am interested in the interaction of a group of people who have a common goal, or a common obsession, each contributing something unique to make something greater than the sum of its parts. I don't know why, but from day one, that has interested me.
As most of the population suffers through life, barely surviving, disappointed and confused day after day, hopeless, wondering what happened to their strong and beautiful country, it is in the media's power to restore, if not some of our quality of life, at least a bit of our peace of mind.
Let the wealthier countries and corporations of the world fund an Emergency Organization.
The only reason why I made solo records was because I got so obsessed with politics, and that is quite personal. I don't really philosophically believe in solo records.
I met all my heroes on the oldies circuit: Gary U.S. Bonds, Lloyd Price, Little Richard.
'Sopranos' was a fascinating moment, just catching our whole culture by surprise, a fun ride to be on while I'm learning the craft.
I did 10 years on 'Sopranos,' but the whole craft of acting is relatively new to me. I'm still learning that, and I'll be learning that forever.
I don't wake up every day and just write to write. I only write with purpose.
I grew up in a renaissance period, a very lucky time when the greatest music ever made was also the most commercial. We'll never see that again, so for me, there's only one criteria, which is greatness. That's all I care about. Is what I'm doing reaching for greatness? Whether I achieve it or not, that is one hundred percent of my criteria.
For me, making a record is a vacation. I'd like to do it more often. Just, chances are impossible... It's a very expensive hobby, you know?
In my mind, it's always easier to do a sequel than an original.
Life should never be boring.
A lot of the idealism of the Sixties was spot on, from the environmentalism to the war to the Civil Rights movement, the women's rights movement, you name it.
The quality of our lives is diminished every time we lose a great artist. It's a different world without Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Curtis Mayfield, Brian Jones and the rest.
The energy that comes when you compel people to dance stays with you your whole career - whether you are playing to 100,000 people at Glastonbury or 1,000 kids in a club.
Young fans want to know about the past and older fans also want to find new music.
Timing really is nearly everything. And what it isn't, circumstance makes up for.
I know what it takes to make a band, how they should interact, what makes a record sound like it's a band - everything having to do with a band, I happen to be into.
I've always considered the government taking one out of every two dollars I earn absolute tyranny.
Within three hours of a disaster event there should be a recon damage assessment of the infrastructure and an educated guess as to the casualties and degree of imminent human peril. Then make the airdrops of supplies and personnel. Simultaneously, Seabees would be dropped in, with lights and generators, to begin rescue efforts.
To walk into a studio, for me, is just like walking onto a beach or something.
My mother remarried when I was young, and my stepfather adopted me.
As an actor just learning the craft, you literally do a scene with Jimmy Gandolfini, and you walk away a better actor.
I didn't care about anything expect rock & roll. So it's nice that it turned out to be something that you find a way to make a living from.
I need a big picture. I can't just do a collection of songs; that doesn't work for me.
I have very little interest in the modern world, and I'm not in any way conflicted about that.
There are... certainly more innovations on 'Revolver'... but the truth of the matter is 'Sgt. Pepper' has something that was just completely different and unique at that moment.
Where do I begin with 'The Godfather?' It's like explaining why the 'Bible' is so popular. I'll always remember seeing the first one because it was the only time I went to the movies with my grandfather.
Once Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings are not cool on country radio, it's time for a new format.
You can trace the E Street Band directly back to the Rascals.
Band members have a special bond. A great band is more than just some people working together. It's like a highly specialized army unit, or a winning sports team. A unique combination of elements that becomes stronger together than apart.
The first rule of rock and roll is it's all about live. Then you have to learn a second craft, which is making records. It should go in that order.
Rock n' roll as a genre is different from pop and hip hop: it is about bands, and that for me suggests brotherhood, family, friendship and community.
My lifelong friend and mentor Frank Barsalona is gone. And the music business as we knew it went with him.
I'm a real band guy, you know? I'm really good at certain things, and the band stuff is one of them.
First of all, just because the Tea Party people appear to be generally uneducated, ignorant about the political process, ignorant about economics, confused about their own platform from the beginning, and indelicate when it comes to the craft of diplomacy, doesn't mean they're wrong.
