Director Bill Teck reveals the many sides to Stevie Van Zandt in new doc, 'Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple'
Music fans know Stevie Van Zandt as the legendary guitarist in Bruce Springsteen‘s E Street Band, but heโs a lot more than that, as theyโll learn watching the new documentary Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple.
Director Bill Teck tells ABC Audio heโs been a Van Zandt fan since his teens and wanted to make the film to show people all sides of the rocker.
โI felt like people knew some of the story, but not all the story,โ Teck says. โSome of the work, but not all the work.โ
The film covers Van Zandtโs early days starting out with Springsteen in Asbury Park, his solo career, his acting career and his role as a rock historian. It also focuses on his activism, including his 1985 all-star charity single โSun City,โ which helped end apartheid in South Africa.
The doc features previously unseen footage, including long-lost video of Stevieโs wedding to his wife of over 40 years, Maureen, in which Springsteen was best man and Little Richard performed the service. Thereโs also very early footage of Stevieโs days with Springsteen and Southside Johnny.
Teck notes, โFor me, as a lifelong fan, to be able to show other fans this great stuff was very fulfilling.โ
Of course covering everything about Van Zandt wasnโt easy, and Teck says the original cut of the doc was quite long.
โThereโs all the many lives of Stevie. Heโs Miami Steve, heโs Little Steven, heโs the activist, the entrepreneur. There’s the friendship with Springsteen. There’s the love for rock ‘n’ roll,โ Teck notes. โThere’s so many different threads, so it was challenging to get all that in.โ
You can see how he does it when Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple premieres June 22 on HBO and streams on Max.
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