The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Steven Van Zandt: Disciple”

Illustration by Michael DiMilo

A Force of Nature: Review of Steven Van Zandt: Disciple

By Geoff Carter

There are celebrities, there are rock stars, there are music icons, and then there are forces of nature. For one force of nature to exist and work in the shadow of another larger force of nature cannot be easy. Steve Van Zandt, aka Miami Steve, aka Little Steven, singer, guitar player, songwriter, record producer, political activist, author, musical historian, television actor, radio entrepreneur, and lifelong friend and bandmate of the incomparable Bruce Springsteen, has somehow managed to not only exist in Bruce’s shadow but has also somehow managed to become a force of nature on his own. Hurricane Steven. Category six. Plus, he is the just about coolest guy on the planet.

The HBO documentary Steven Van Zandt: Disciple examines the man’s extraordinary and circuitous career as it winds through the worlds of rock and roll, show business, political activism, and social awareness. After a beginning sequence of concert footage featuring Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul playing a wild gig, (which considering the clothes, probably took place in the eighties), the documentary switches gears and moves to his early days playing clubs and high school dances with his friends Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny Lyon to their famed gigs at the Stone Pony to Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band rise to fame. 

The documentary cites dozens of acquaintances and colleagues of Van Zandt, including Bono, Eddie Vedder, Darlene Love, Paul McCartney, and a wide array of producers, manager, record executives, and other sundry musicians. While at the beginning, the barrage of interview material seems overwhelming, Director Bill Teck shrewdly circles around to cite the same sources at different points in Little Steven’s career. Hearing Bruce and Southside Johnny Lyon talk about the formative days playing at the numerous venues in Asbury Park, about how Van Zandt would play guitar, keyboards, percussion, or mandolin and what a genius he was at arranging and recording and then forward to their comments about him as an activist are revealing. Then to hear how artists like Darlene Love and Zoe Yanakis talk about how Steven recruited them because he knew exactly what sort of sound he wanted on his songs and compare that their relationships with him later in their careers reveals manifold aspects of his character.

During this early period, Little Steven worked with Jonny Lyon to form Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and also was credited with helping establish the Jersey Shore Sound. After helping Springsteen with his horn arrangements on “10^th Avenue Freeze Out” and helping come up with the signature guitar lick on “Born to Run”, he became a member of Bruce’s band. He left the E Street Band in 1984 at the cusp of the band’s phenomenal success and turned to producing and writing songs for Southside Johnny and Gary U.S. Bonds. He also helped produce Springsteen’s The River and some tracks from Born in the USA.

From there, the film tracks Van Zandt’s solo career and his budding interest in politics, culminating in his creation of the artists’ activist group Artists United Against Apartheid and the recording of “Sun City”, a protest against the South African resort of the same name. Van Zandt somehow convince forty-nine artists, including Pete Townsend, Bono, Afrika Bambaataa, Springsteen (of course), Peter Gabriel, Joey Ramone, and members of DMC to perform. Needless to say, to corral such a diverse group of musicians and to mold their talents into a great song that was arguably instrumental in ending apartheid is a monumental task. But Steven wasn’t—and isn’t done. 

He rejoined the E Street Band and simultaneously began an acting career as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos after producer David Chase saw him during a presentation ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. From The Sopranoshe moved to the series Lilyhammer and even made an appearance in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. 

The documentary goes on to chronicle Little Steven’s work in education, radio programming, and Wicked Cool, his own record label that features The Cocktail Slippers and The Chesterfield Kings. His syndicated radio show Little Steven’s Underground Garage, featuring The Thousand Coolest Songs Ever, features some of the newest and freshest acts around. Scattered throughout the playlist are Little Steven narratives, inside stories about the history and archetypes of rock and roll. I was fascinated by a story he told about Doris Day’s record producer’s son run-in with none other than Charlie Manson—all delivered with Little Steven’s signature cool and sardonic aplomb.

In short, Steven Van Zandt is a phenom. The guy can, and has, done everything. He’s lived a life—or lives—that most of us would only dream of and yet presents himself as just another guy from Jersey. He constantly proclaims how lucky he’s been to have the opportunities to do the things he’s done. On top of everything he is and he’s done, he’s just a cool guy.

For fans of rock and roll and rock history, Steven Van Zandt: Disciple is a must-see. From South Africa to the Jersey Shore to LA to the South Bronx to London, Little Steven has touched the lives of hundreds in the music industry. He has also helped end one of great social injustices of our time.

Director Bill Teck’s does not begin by proclaiming Little Steven’s greatness. He builds it up, piece by piece, line by line, song by song, and edit by edit until the man’s greatness almost sneaks up on the audience. I was aware of Little Steven as an actor and a member of The E Street Band and for his work South Africa, but I only knew him through these separate pieces. When Mr. Teck stitches them together and creates a comprehensive portrait of this man, his accomplishments and his energy are almost overwhelming.

Little Steven, is, as he says when talking about his work with Bruce and as his role as Silvio Dante, Tony Soprano’s second-in-command, he is a consigliere, a counselor, an underboss. He is as unassuming as a man of his talents can be. 

This documentary is a skilled piece of filmmaking, a cinematic profile of an extraordinary artist and an extraordinary man. It should be seen first as a living document of one of the greatest and most innovative period in our musical history, then as a portrait of a great man, and finally, as a beautifully made film.