Springsteen drummer coming out with his memoirs

Fresh on the heels of Steven Van Zandt coming out with his memoir "Unrequited Infatuations" comes news that E Street founder and first drummer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez is coming out with his own memoir.

Vini's my longtime friend who I asked to call into my show to talk about the Van Zandt memoirs coming out and then dropped the news about his own memoirs.

"Just let me say that by I'm coming out with my own memoirs too. By the end of the summer we're having the whole manuscript done. We're working pretty hard on it right now me and Ray Lombard who is the guy writing it."

So what will the Vini Lopez story entail?

"No bashing will be going on. No personal stuff about anyone. Bruce, of course, will be in it but it’s about my life. I don’t get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without knowing and playing with all of the characters that have the privilege of working with. Good stories about traveling the road that I’m still traveling on and the people that I have traveled with. I’m not looking for praise! It will be about many facets of my life from a young kid till now."

Vini's memoirs would make an incredible read. If there was a renaissance rocker it would be Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez.

Born in Neptune, a fixture at the Upstage Club where he founded and was the original drummer for the E Street Band, Vinie played on the first 2 albums; "Greeting from Asbury Park" and "The Wild The Innocent, "The E Street Shuffle." He was later inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

He's also played in the Lord Gunner Group, and Steel Mill.  Lopez has played and continues to play with several bands throughout New Jersey. He's as much a part of the Jersey music scene as the instruments themselves.

Along with the music, Lopez also became a disc jockey playing classic rock on our sister station 105.7 THE HAWK.

Outside of music Lopez has also spent over 25 years caddying for golfer Mark McCormick, In 2012 they played in the US Open and in 2017, the Senior Open.

Vinie's life will make a great story when it comes out. As for Steven Van Zandt Lopez tells this story about how they started playing together.

"When we were out in California Steel Mill 1970, we played a show at Bill Graham's 'Carousel Ballroom' and there were all these groupies there," Lopez told me in an email exchange. "I didn't know nothing about groupies, nobody knew nothing about groupies, but I was getting off stage and taking my drums off the stage and this girl comes up to me and i said I can't talk to you right now I'm doing something."

But Lopez says, "Our bass player went off with two of them and we didn't see him again for two weeks."

Now Lopez says, "We rehearsed every day and Bruce says to be, we gotta get a new bass player and I said What about your friend Steve? Bruce says He's a guitar player" and I said yeah, but the same four strings are on the bass. So Bruce gave me his number, I called him up and he became bass player in Steel Mill."

Two great Jersey Icons coming out with two great books which will make for some great beach reading at the Jersey shore.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise. Any opinions expressed are Steve's own. Steve Trevelise is on New Jersey 101.5 Monday-Thursday from 7pm-11pm. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.