Danny Gallagher, 59, part of E Street scene
by JAY LUSTIG
STAR-LEDGER STAFF 02/01/07
COPYRIGHT © The Star-Ledger 2007

In his many years on the Asbury Park music scene, "Big" Danny Gallagher was many things: musician, songwriter, bandleader, bouncer and friend to the stars, including Bruce Springsteen.

"He always presented the music as a form of good times and celebration," said Robert Santelli, a longtime friend of Mr. Gallagher's who has written many books about music, including last year's "Greetings From E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band."

Mr. Gallagher, who was 6-foot-5 and weighed nearly 400 pounds, died Jan. 25 in Nederland, Colo. The cause of death was heart failure, according to his son, Edward.

"Danny didn't have many enemies," said Santelli. "Most people thought of him as a big teddy bear, which he was."

"He was a gentle man, he always had good things to say," said original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez. "He didn't like getting riled up, but he wasn't afraid to get riled up if you really needed him to."

Mr. Gallagher, who played dobro and guitar in addition to singing, was 59, and had been living in Tomball, Texas, with his daughter, Amanda. An Asbury Park native, he spent much of his life on the Shore, but also resided, at various points, in Colorado, Washington state and Ireland. In addition to his musical endeavors, he was an iron worker until suffering an on-the-job back injury in the '70s.

Mr. Gallagher worked as a bouncer at the legendary late-`60s-early-'70s Asbury Park nightclub, The Upstage, where Springsteen, Southside Johnny and various future E Street Band members often jammed the night away. Mr. Gallagher occasionally took the stage, too.

"I had no considerations about playing prime time in those days," he said in the 1989 book "Springsteen: The Man and His Music," compiled by the editors of Backstreets magazine. "I wasn't no great musician. But I took part when I was able to. I enjoyed myself. I contributed. I have good memories of those days that nobody can take away from me."

In 1971, he was a member of Springsteen's short-lived Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom band, featuring a large, rotating ensemble of Shore luminaries. He didn't play an instrument in the band, but added a surreal touch by participating in an onstage Monopoly game.

That's how it's usually described, at least. Mr. Gallagher once said that they were actually playing craps on a Monopoly board.

In subsequent years, he remained active in music, no matter where he was living, and was a member of many different bands, including his own blues-oriented groups, Big Danny & the Boppers and Big Danny & the Lost Leader Band.

"Danny had a unique sense of the blues, and also an understanding that Irish music always played a major part in the foundations of rock `n' roll," said Santelli. "He brought those two things, routinely, to the Jersey Shore music scene."

He sang on 2005's "Dead Sea Chronicles" album, by the Lopez-led Steel Mill Retro band. The group performs songs written by Springsteen for his 1970-71 Steel Mill band, which featured Lopez.

"(Mr. Gallagher) and I always sang good together, so I brought him in," said Lopez. "He knew the songs because he knew Steel Mill — the real Steel Mill."

In 1996, Mr. Gallagher appeared at a Springsteen concert at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, helping his old friend perform the songs "Spirit in the Night" and "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)."

Springsteen said, at that show, that he wrote most of his classic "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." album while living with Mr. Gallagher in Asbury Park, and sleeping on his floor.

He had been "evicted" from his apartment, he said, "and I walked past (Mr. Gallagher's) house and he was sitting out on the porch and I said, `Man, I just got thrown out of my place.' `Well, you can sleep here.' So it was me and my sleeping bag, over on Webb (Street)."

In addition to his daughter, Amanda, and his son, Edward, of Moscow Mills, Mo., Mr. Gallagher is survived by another daughter, Kim, of Houston, and another son, Finn, of North Carolina. t know what town Finn lives in He is also survived by a brother, Patrick, of St. Petersburg, Fla., a sister, Anne, of Cleveland, and nine grandchildren.

Lopez and other musicians will honor Mr. Gallagher with a tribute concert Feb. 11 at the Red Fusion nightclub in Asbury Park. A private ceremony will be held Feb. 12 at Monmouth Memorial Park in Tinton Falls.