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Max Weinberg won't follow Conan O'Brien to New Show
September 28th, 2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
Musician Max Weinberg won't be going with Conan O'Brien to Conan's new show on TBS. The announcement came after months of rumors. Guitarist Jimmy Vivino will be leading the house musicians, in the same manner when Weinberg took breaks from the show to tour with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. James Wormworth, Weinberg's long-time on-air substitute, will be the group's new full-time drummer.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Vivino announced the breakup in an interview with the St. Louis Riverfront Times. "Max has his big band out there that has been his dream all his life," Vivino said. "And there's a kid in Jersey that works with him occasionally."
E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt tells Rolling Stone that he's not sure what caused the split.
"I don't know why Max and Conan aren't together anymore," he says. "But whatever, they had some good years, and Conan gave Max credit for keeping the show on the air for the first two years. That was nice. He was a big fan of the band and he didn't want to mess around with that too much. He was quite good to us over the years."
Weinberg was Conan's bandleader from the very beginning of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" in 1993. Weinberg would take frequent breaks after Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band in 1999. Weinberg continued the role during Conan's ill-fated stint as the host of "The Tonight Show."
Weinberg formed the Max Weinberg Big Band and went on his own tour. When Rolling Stone asked about his future with Conan in June, he played coy. "I literally have not thought about it," he said. "There have been no discussions. It's kind of an open question."
Weinberg's powerful but controlled playing on albums such as "Born to Run" and "Born in the U.S.A." stabilized the E Street Band sound and Weinberg became a mainstay of Springsteen's long concert performances. Springsteen dissolved the band in 1989 and Weinberg spent several years considering a law career and trying the business end of the music industry before deciding he wanted to continue with drumming.