Bruce Springsteen poses for photo shoot in Asbury Park on eve of tour

Bruce Springsteen hit the West Side of Asbury Park on Sunday, Jan 22.

The Boss did a photo shoot with photographer Danny Clinch on the site of the former Turf Club on Springwood Avenue. The Turf Club is the last of the great Springwood Avenue clubs on the West Side of the city that still stands. Lenny Welch, the Broadways, a pre-E Street Band Clarence Clemons, and others played the spot in the '50 and '60s.

Tom Parr, a photographer himself, was driving by when he first noticed the vintage Chevy Nova SS, and then Springsteen and Clinch.

“I took them through the driver's window,” said Parr of his snaps. “I saw people with cameras and I said 'Oh (blank), that's Bruce.' I didn't want to get in trouble so I slowed down, rolled down the window and just fired off a whole bunch of shots.”

Parr, who lives in Asbury Park, was on his way to Wegman's in Ocean Township.

“I saw a couple of assistant photographers handing cameras over and what caught my eye was the car,” Parr said. “Bruce looks great. He looks like he works out.”

Parr is an award-winning photographer who has worked with GM, Coca-Cola, FedEx, Doritos, Visa, AT&T, Apple and more. He's also an Asbury Park music scene vet who played with Tony Romeo and the Sinners.

While the Turf Club presently doesn't have a roof, shows are presented there by the Asbury Park African-American Music Project, aka Asbury-AMP — and they're part of the group's drive to raise awareness about, and restore, the venue.

Clinch had contacted the group prior to the shoot, but didn't say it was for a Springsteen project.

More:How Black music history of forgotten West Side of Asbury Park is being rediscovered

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“Initially I think they planned on doing it on the outside, but then (Springsteen) wanted to take a look inside, which we were very glad,” said Jennifer Ward Souder, president of Asbury-AMP. “It was pretty amazing. I don't know what it was for but we're happy Bruce was here.”

Souder told Springsteen of the group's mission.

“I think him being able to see what's happening is a pretty big deal,” Souder said.

The once vibrant music and cultural scene on Springwood came to an abrupt end in the summer of 1970, when a civil disturbance tore apart Asbury Park. Blocks of Springwood that were not burned down during the riots were later bulldozed in a failed attempt at revitalization.

In recent years the history is being rediscovered and the music is starting to come back. A mural by city artist Larry Walker was painted on the club in 2020 and the Springwood Avenue Park, located across the street, hosts weekly concerts in the summertime.

“People forget in the ’60s, Springwood Avenue was a thriving, thriving, thriving community with lots of music, lots of good music that came through and it was a very, very thriving Black community filled with Black culture,” Springsteen previously told the USA Today Network New Jersey. “So some attention on who was there and who came out of there, it’s about time.”

Springsteen and the E Street Band are currently preparing for their upcoming world tour, which begins Wednesday, Feb. 1, in Tampa. Rehearsals recently took place for about a week and a half at the Vogel, part of the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.

Area shows for the upcoming Springsteen and E Street Band tour include the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday, March 16; Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Saturday, April 1; the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Monday, April 3; two at the new USB Arena in Belmont Park, N.Y., on Sunday, April 9, and Tuesday, April 11; and the Prudential Center in Newark on Friday, April 14, to close the run.

The band then heads to Europe to play stadium shows. It's the E Street Band's first tour since “The River Tour,” which ended in early 2017.

To learn more about photographer Tom Parr, visit www.exit98films.com.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen does photo shoot in Asbury Park