Soulfire (Little Steven album)

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul returned from an 18-year hiatus by performing at London's Bluesfest at Indigo at The O2 on October 29, 2016.[5] He reformed the Disciples of Soul with members Marc Ribler, Rich Mercurio, Jack Daley, Andy Burton, Lowell "Banana" Levinger, Stan Harrison, Clark Gayton, Ravi Best, Ron Tooley, Anthony Almonte, in addition to longtime member Eddie Manion and a female vocalist section consisting of Jessica Wagner, Sara Devine, and Tania Jones.[6] Van Zandt then decided that since they took the time to learn the songs, they should make an album together. He stated that he "felt a bit guilty about having walked away from Little Steven the artist. I left that part of myself behind and I shouldn't have done that. I let the material down by not continuing to perform it. I betrayed the work and I want to fix that. I didn't give up on the material – there were a lot of other factors – but I do have a sense of wanting some redemption for it." [7]

Van Zandt debuted his new album at the annual Rock and Roll for Children event at the Fillmore Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, on March 18, 2017.[8][9] He debuted a doo-wop song called "The City Weeps Tonight." At the end of the show, he covered "Bye Bye Johnny" as a tribute to the late Chuck Berry.[10]

Van Zandt admitted that it helped keep his songwriting active by writing songs for bands that he signed to his label, Wicked Cool Records. He co-wrote the title track with Anders Bruus for the Danish rock band The Breakers. "I'm Comin' Back" was a track Van Zandt wrote for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes' 1991 release Better Days. Van Zandt said that "it's one of my favorite lyrics that I've ever written." "Blues Is My Business" is a cover of the Etta James song. The band tried it out for their BluesFest performance and Van Zandt decided that he liked his arrangement enough to include it on the album. "I Saw the Light" was a song he started writing for Richie Sambora and Orianthi but did not finish, but rediscovered it while working on Soulfire and decided to finish it for himself. "Some Things Just Don't Change" is another one of Van Zandt's favorite tracks that he wrote for Southside Johnny that was originally released on This Time It's for Real. "Love On the Wrong Side of Town" was also on that album and Van Zandt co-wrote it with Bruce Springsteen. "The City Weeps Tonight" was an outtake from his debut album, 1982's Men Without Women. "It was going to be the first song on my first solo album. I was going to do a chronological history of rock 'n' roll with my own records but the concept changed and I got political. It remained three-quarters finished all these years, but I always liked it. I love doo-wop so this was a great way to get that onto the record." Van Zandt also covered James Brown's "Down and Out in New York City" but incorporated jazz elements into it. Since he never had a blues song on a record, he wanted to experiment with it. "Standing in the Line of Fire" is a song that Little Steven co-wrote with Gary U.S. Bonds for the album of the same name. He thought that he could not do better than the way it turned out on Bonds's album so he challenged himself to make a new arrangement of it.

"Saint Valentine's Day" is a cover of the Cocktail Slippers' 2009 hit, originally titled "St. Valentine's Day Massacre". Van Zandt originally intended for it to be for Nancy Sinatra, but the session never happened, so he did a similar arrangement for the Cocktail Slippers that is similar to how he intended it to be for Sinatra. Sopranos creator David Chase liked the song so much that they decided to do a rock and roll version of it for the soundtrack to the film Not Fade Away.

"I Don't Want to Go Home" is a cover of the Southside Johnny track from album of the same name. It was the first song he ever wrote. While he was performing with The Dovells, he intended to give the song to Ben E. King but did not have the courage to. The last track on the album, "Ride the Night Away," was written for Jimmy Barnes 1985 album For the Working Class Man.[7]

On February 9, 2017, Van Zandt released "Saint Valentine's Day" as a single.[11] The song was repeatedly played on Van Zandt's Underground Garage radio show.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Preorders for Soulfire began on April 7, 2017, through PledgeMusic. Preorder exclusives included signed merchandise such as CDs, 2 LP vinyl, t-shirts, signed test pressings, posters, drumheads, turntable mats, as well as a handwritten lyrics sheet and custom voicemail. Pledgers could also purchase a ticket to an exclusive listening session with Q&A. All preorders included a digital download of the album and instant access to "Saint Valentine's Day."[7][18]

"Soulfire" was released as a single on April 21, 2017,[19] while "Love On the Wrong Side of Town" was released on May 5, 2017,[20] and "The Blues is My Business" on May 12, 2017.[21]

A special vinyl-only single of "Groovin' Is Easy" (an outtake from the album sessions) backed with a live version of the Van Zandt song "The Time of Your Life" was released as part of the VIP ticket package for the 2017 Soulfire Tour.[22]

1. "Soulfire" (Anders Bruus, Stevie Van Zandt) – 4:34
2. "I'm Coming Back" – 4:19
3. "Blues Is My Business" (Kevin Bowe, Todd Cerney) – 6:23
4. "I Saw the Light" – 4:26
5. "Some Things Just Don't Change" – 4:04
6. "Love On the Wrong Side of Town" (Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen) – 3:51
7. "The City Weeps Tonight" – 3:30
8. "Down and Out in New York City" (Bodie Chandler, Barry De Vorzon) – 6:27
9. "Standing in the Line of Fire" (Gary Anderson, Laurie C. Anderson, Van Zandt) – 4:34
10. "Saint Valentine's Day" – 5:22
11. "I Don't Want to Go Home" – 4:21
12. "Ride the Night Away" (Stephen Jordan, Van Zandt) – 5:20

• All tracks written by Steven Van Zandt except where noted[1]