

ASBURY PARK - Carl "Tinker" West still remembers getting the call.

On the line on that early March day in 1971 was Bob Fischer, then-owner of the Sunshine In, the barn-like club on Kingsley Street. Fischer had just booked the Allman Brothers to play two shows at the In on March 27, 1971.

He needed an opening act for the two Allman Brothers shows and he wanted Bruce Springsteen.

"He said, 'I just booked and I want you to get Bruce to do something,' " West recalled. There was only one problem: Springsteen had just broken up his band, Steel Mill — which West had managed — and was auditioning and rehearsing players for a new, more soul-focused band.

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"They were all out of work," West said. "He'd shut Steel Mill down, there was no cash flow." And Fischer was offering $1,500 if Springsteen put a band together to open the show.

Upstage regular Albee Tellone remembers that Springsteen had been rehearsing for awhile with Steve Van Zandt, David Sancious, Garry Tallent and Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, the core of a new band The Boss was forming, that would also include horn players and female back-up singers Delores Holmes and Barbara Dinkins.

Van Zandt, Tellone said, was a huge Allman Brothers fan, constantly playing the Florida band's albums in the Sewall Avenue apartment he shared with Tellone, Southside Johnny Lyon and John "Hotkeys" Waasdorp.

The Allmans headed to Asbury after recording three shows at the Fillmore East in New York City; those shows would become the legendary live album, "At Filmore East," which soared to No. 13 on Billboard's Top Pop Albums chart.

"Stevie convinced Bruce that we should pool our resources and get a lot of our Upstage friends to fill out the band," Tellone said. So Springsteen added Tellone on saxophone, Lyon on harmonica, and Waasdorp as a second keyboard player, joining Sancious.

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Then there was a second sax player, Bobby Feigenbaum, and a second drummer, Upstage Club veteran Bobby Williams, whose nickname was "Big, Bad" Bobby.

"In light of the fact that The Allman Brothers had two lead guitars and two drummers, we wanted to out-do them in that concept," Tellone recalled. "Bruce said, "let's have two of everything" except bass."

And so they did.

But there was more: Kevin "Bird" Connair, who managed the Green Mermaid Coffeehouse, located one floor below the Upstage, organized a male and female chorus to sing back-up and a baton twirler, who happened to be a waitress at the coffeehouse.

The piece de resistance was a table set up on the stage, complete with a Monopoly board. Tellone said cutthroat Monopoly games were played once or twice a week at his apartment that winter, so it seemed only natural to include the game in the show.

Monopoly players included Asbury bluesman "Big Danny" Gallagher and Upstage bouncer Roger "Black Tiny" Lewis, who played the game while the band played onstage.

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At one point during the show, Springsteen actually sat at the Monopoly table while singing.

The band that appeared that night, which also featured West on congas, would later become known as Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom. Tellone said West or Garry Tallent came up with the name "Friendly Enemies," which is how it appeared on posters for the Sunshine In show.

"We liked the sarcastic ring it had," Tellone said. It may have had a sarcastic-sounding name, but the band rocked the house that night.

"He threw something together, and now it's become legendary," West said of the show.

"It was chaotic at times, but we rocked hard that night," Tellone said. "Bruce even wrote a jam song featuring Southside. He called it The Southside Shuffle."

The band received compliments from the Allman Brothers, who watched the "Friendly Enemies" sets.

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"When it was over, Duane Allman said to me, 'man, that was a cookin' band,' " Tellone said. "The second band on the bill was their touring partners, 'Cowboy.' When we finished, one of their guys said, 'how the hell are we supposed to follow THAT?' We felt like we had accomplished what we set out to do. Rock the house."

Sax player Feigenbaum told Carlin that "Duane Allman was really into Steve's slide playing. I remember him saying that Steve was the best slide player in the country, except for him."

After the show ended, Duane Allman "took Van Zandt aside to show him some more licks," Carlin wrote.

Afterward, Springsteen and his bandmates watched the Allmans' show.

"We settled in the back...where Tinker was running the sound booth to watch the Allman Brothers," Tellone said. "I was amazed at how flawless their performance was. It was a truly great night for me and a great memory."

Tinker's dog, J.D. Woofer, had an even better view of the show. Woofer, who West said was used to loud music, frequently hanging out at shows and at the surf board factory where Springsteen's bands rehearsed, had sprawled out on the stage during the "Friendly Enemies" set.

And there he still was when the Allmans performed.

"He just laid there and watched them," West said. "He just laid there the whole show."

The Allman Brothers were expected to return to Asbury Park in November 1971, with Springsteen's band again slated to open.

But that show never happened. Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle crash in Macon, Georgia, on Oct. 29, 1971. He was only 24 years old.

Jean Mikle: 732-643-4050, @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com