Jersey Shore sound

The Jersey Shore sound is a genre of rock and roll popularized at the Jersey Shore on the Atlantic Ocean coast of New Jersey, United States.

The Jersey Shore sound evolved from the mixing of pre-Beatles rock and roll, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, and the urban culture of the Mid-Atlantic states, especially Pennsylvania (more specifically Philadelphia), Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and, of course, New Jersey. The form has a strong Italian-American influence, in as much as many of the form's key precursors and artists, from Frankie Valli through Bruce Springsteen, are of Italian ancestry and urban background.

Jersey Shore music shares two thematic elements with its contemporary (and in many respects related) genres of heartland rock and roots rock: a focus on the daily lives of people (in this case, those living in the stereotypically industrial society of Northern and Central Jersey), and a sense of being the underdog (a theme in the genre from The Four Seasons' "Rag Doll", "Walk Like a Man", and "Big Man in Town" and through Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town). The New Jersey sound has also been heavily influenced by Italian accordion music. In the example of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band there are three musicians who are accordion players: organist Danny Federici (now replaced by Charles Giordano), guitarist Nils Lofgren, and pianist Roy Bittan. All three practiced accordion in its classical form and played in their younger years. This music has carried onto the stage and became an integral part of the music that shaped the New Jersey sound. Many piano and keyboard parts have a distinct sound of a call and answer reaction to the lyrics sung. Solidly thrumming guitar lines echo American V-8 engines so beloved by Jersey teenagers of the era. Piano, Hammond organ, and glockenspiel emphasize the melody lines. The glockenspiel sounds were provided by a Jenco Celestette, a unique compact version of the full sized celeste or celesta, that Danny Federici owned. In the E Street Band the keyboard parts are arranged with the glockenspiel and Roy Bittan's top notes on piano being played in unison. This combination is distinctly a New Jersey sound; Bruce Springsteen has said the keyboard parts are an extension of the calliope sounds heard on the carousels located on Jersey Shore boardwalks. Danny Federici was instrumental in creating this sound in Bruce Springsteen's music. Many New Jersey horn sections have used similar phrasing that the keyboards play. This is evident with the Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes sound. There has been influence from Van Morrison in terms of some song structure and with keyboard parts as well.

...
Wikipedia