Danny Federici - Everybody Has One

Everybody has one.Everybody, every company, every organization has the person you don't always notice. The person that blends into the background when the main event occurs but who is nonetheless totally essential for getting the job done. While all the craziness is happening in the front room, Mr Dependable is in the back, making sure the lights stay on and when things get messed up he is there with the fix. Danny Federici was this person in the East Street Band. From the very beginning when he and Vini Lopez asked the young NJ Shore guitar slinger to join him in the band Child, his organ playing was an essential part of the background of almost everything Bruce Springsteen did. From that moment on, a friendship was formed that would last until his untimely death yesterday afternoon.

Everybody has one. Every quarterback has that front line that must hold the hounds out bay in order to be successful. Bruce has the ESB and part of the core sound of the band was the keyboard (mainly organ) playing of Danny. His swirling Hammond sounds, played in conjunction with Roy Bittan's (and previously David Sancious's) piano playing laid the foundation for music. Listen to the introductions of songs like Spirit In The Night or Darkness On The Edge Of Town. It it Danny's organ that starts things off, even if only for a brief moment until Roy or the rest of the band come in. And it is in other songs, like the organ solo in the Darkness tour version of Prove It All Night, or the organ coming in during that critical moment of Jungleland when Bruce sings "....from the churches to the jails tonight all is silence in the world" and when you really think about how the song it structured it may be one of the most important parts of the song because it provides the transition point to the song starting to rock out and it is Danny's organ that provides the musical spark, the ignition, that allows the song to achieve the next level, one of greatness.

Everybody has one. Every band has the guy that hangs out in the back, plays his music and does his job, and while things may be out of control at the front of the stage that person plays their music and keeps everything grounded. In subtle ways Danny's contribution to the ESB sound is as important as Steve's guitar solos and Max's drumming. He didn't solo much, but when he did it was memorable. Think about Kitty's Back and the keyboard solos, and his call and response with Roy, or his amazing organ coda played at the end of Your Missing on The Rising tour. I know people who were in tears during that song, tears that came gushing out DURING the coda and not before, because the beauty of the coda brought out the meaning of the song. And then there is the coda of Racing In The Street, a true tribute to the entire East Street Band. But, it is Danny's organ that starts it before Roy's piano takes over, and while it IS Roy's piano that is the lead instrument what is arguably one of the 5-10 most beautiful pieces of music the ESB has ever performed, it is Danny's organ underneath it all that builds and swirls and allows the band to get to that music crescendo at the very end.

Everybody has one. Now you see him, now you don't. Bruce nicknamed him The Phantom, and while the rumor is that it had to do with an incident in Asbury Park and something to do with a police chase, Bruce often referred to him this way because he was always there but nobody could find him. He was such a big part of the background sound of the band that it was always assumed he would be there. He never took the spotlight. He never left his little corner of the stage except when he took out the accordion for songs such as Sandy or most recently, American Land. He didn't have to, he didn't want to. He did his job, just like a good soldier does. He never complained and always marched forward. I remember one show on the Reunion tour. We were off to the side of the stage with a great view of Danny. He was having some problems with some pedals and some of the tech guys were crawling all over the place around him, plugging things in and out, replacing equipment, while the band played on and Danny continued to do his job like nothing was wrong. Finally, the techs got the pedals fixed and Danny shifted his feet and we could see him play a few things with the pedals and give the techs a nod and kept on going. That was him, Mr Reliable.

Danny will be missed more than people realize. He was more than just the organ player. He was the organ player that kept his job for over 30 years, and that says a lot. Bruce and the ESB will carry on, albeit with a little mixed emotion in the beginning. As a unit, it is a remarkable feat that this is their first loss EVER in the history of the band. They are more than a band, but one large extended family of band mates, spouses, kids, etc. It will be hard for them at first, but they are professionals and they know that they have a job to do, a job that they do as well or better than anybody in the business today. The show will go on as they say, but this band will always have a hole in their heart when they think of their blood brother that is no longer with them on that stage. Be will Danny. Rest in peace.

May his memory be for a blessing.