Steven Van Zandt picks his 10 favourite songs of all time
When looking for an icon of true multi-talent, look no further than the inimitable Steven Van Zandt. Not only is he an acclaimed musician best known for his role in Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street band, but he is also an excellent actor, beloved for his role as Silvio in arguably the best TV show of all time, The Sopranos.
Earlier this year, Van Zandt sat down with DJ Ken Bruce to walk through the tracks of his years. He devised a list of his ten favourite ever songs, and as it is easy to tell by the list (although it is unsurprising given his profession), he is a rock and roll fanatic.
Van Zandt’s first choice is ‘Little Angel Eyes’ by Curtis Lee Pretty. He said of the track: “It came out of the great doo-wop tradition, which was a very important part of rock and roll in the fifties. Really it was the beginning of what we call rock and roll. An extremely meaningful record to me; it just grabbed me for some reason, you never know why these things grab you, but it was just a fantastic production.”
Anyone with a remote interest in rock music and its history is unlikely to pass up on giving praise to the genre’s biggest and most significant ever group, the Beatles, and Van Zandt’s favourite tune of the Fab Four is ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. When discussing the track, he said: “I could have picked any of those first five singles [from the Beatles]. It was just so new to us [Americans]; they had such a fresh sound, coming to us at a time when we were in a bit of a depression over the death of President John Kennedy. They communicated this incredible, unbridled joy. They had joy in their songs that we desperately needed.”
Following up on the Beatles, Van Zandt paid credence to arguably the second biggest British rock import, the Rolling Stones. Stevie was a fan of both bands at a time when the question was, “aAe you a Beatles fan or a Stones fan?”
Of ‘The Last Time’, Van Zandt said: “It was the beginning of that incredible Rolling Stones attitude. It was a mixture of sensuality, sexuality, and a rather primitive sort of excitement that the Stones captured very early as they made a transition from a blues band into a rock band. And they would cross over, amazingly, onto the pop charts, even though they were never a pop band.”
Check out the complete list of Steven Van Zandt’s favourite songs of all time below.
Steven Van Zandt’s 10 favourite songs:
- Curtis Lee Pretty – ‘Little Angel Eyes’
- The Beatles – ‘I Saw Her Standing There’
- The Rolling Stones – ‘The Last Time’
- Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – ‘Going To A Go-Go’
- Bob Dylan – ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’
- The Who – ‘I Can See For Miles’
- Jeff Beck Group – ‘Shapes of Things’
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘All Along The Watchtower’
- Steven Van Zandt – ‘Salvation’
- Marvin Gaye – ‘What’s Going On’
Stream the playlist in full below.
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