Vini Lopez
Vorlage:Refimprove Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez is an American drummer, best known as the original drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
Lopez had begun drumming with Springsteen in 1969, playing in the bands Child, Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom, and The Bruce Springsteen Band,[1] before what would become known as The E Street Band came together in 1972. He played drums on Springsteen's first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. He then left the band in 1974 after being asked to resign. The reasons for his dismissal are unclear; some reports claim that Springsteen was unhappy with his playing style, others say Lopez was involved in an altercation with Mike Appel. He was replaced by Ernest "Boom" Carter, who subsequently left and was replaced by Max Weinberg.
In the 2000s, Lopez and his new band Steel Mill Retro have performed songs originally written by Springsteen for the original Steel Mill. Steel Mill Retro has released a CD with some of the early, never-recorded songs written by Bruce Springsteen along with fellow New Jersey shore musicians John Luraschi, Ricky DeSarno, and Bill Kacerek, and is working on a second release. Lopez has written a memoir concerning his time with Springsteen and the E Street Band. He joined Springsteen and the band on stage at Giants Stadium in 2003 during The Rising Tour, guest drumming on "Spirit in the Night" after being introduced as having come "straight from the 18th green at Deal Country Club," a reference to Lopez' former job as caddymaster of Deal Golf Club in Deal, New Jersey.
In September 2008, Lopez and Steel Mill Retro made their debut European performances at a Springsteen fan convention in Rotterdam, Holland, organised by the Dutch fan club Roulette. Carl 'Tinker' West, an early manager of Springsteen's, accompanied them, taking part in a question-and-answer session with Lopez, and working tirelessly on the sound mixing not only for Steel Mill Retro's sets but throughout the other musicians' live sessions during the convention.