Bruce Springsteen addressed the rumors during his SiriusXM ‘From My Home to Yours’ show, putting an end to speculations and confirming that he was indeed kicked out of his first band, The Rogues. The singer said:
“I was unceremoniously thrown out because my guitar was too cheap. We’re going to talk about that right now. I’m sure Donnie [Powell] voted to keep me in, but Jay Gibson, wherever you are, I know you voice was against it.”
Powell had shared with fans that he was on Springsteen’s side back in 1965. He expressed:
“Actually, I wanted to straighten that out today. Craig [Caprioni] and I had nothing to do with it. Now, if you think back in the day, if you had good equipment, took some lessons, and could really play a chord, you were the leader of a band and you [Springsteen] brought Jay in and he was our main guy.”
After getting kicked out from The Rogues, Bruce joined the Castiles. The band r rehearsed at the residence of Tex and Marion Vinyard in Freehold. Reflecting on those formative days, Springsteen expressed:
“They were childless so they welcomed us as teenagers into a house the size of your thumb and we set up our equipment and we jammed there every day from 3 to 6 p.m. That was the hive of our earliest rock ‘n’ roll activity. They gave us their home, they gave us their support, gave us their money to buy … microphones and amps when Tex would get paid on the weekend. They were essential, essential to the development of young bands in Freehold.”
It turns out Freehold was also the place where Springsteen and Powell initially connected. Bruce shared that it was the first time he ever interacted with another musician. He continued:
“The same with me! We were a two-piece band like the White Stripes except we sucked! This first night I came over the thing I remember the most was you, who’s the drummer, you taught me ‘Honky Tonk’ [by Bill Doggett] on the guitar. It was the first thing every guitar player learned to play.”
