BIG DANNY, R.I.P.
Posted on Backstreets.com 01/31/07

The Jersey Shore music scene has lost a founding father and a true character, the larger-than-life blues musician Big Danny Gallagher, who died last week at 58. An Asbury Park native and Upstage fixture, the 6'5" Danny was in the thick of the scene in the late '60s and early '70s, famously playing -- Monopoly! -- in Springsteen's post-Steel Mill band, Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom. Decades later, Danny was back on stage with his old friend Bruce when the Tom Joad tour hit Asbury in late 1996, singing on cuts from those early days like "Spirit in the Night" and "Sandy." Gallagher was living and performing in Ireland for a time, but he recently returned to the U.S.; he passed away in Colorado, in his sleep, on January 25. According to the Asbury Park Press, a musical memorial service is planned for February 11 at Red Fusion in Asbury. For details as they develop, and for a tribute to the man, visit www.bigdannygallagher.com.
-January 31, 2007