The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed
Would you like some music to go with your story? Alex Austin hopes you will. He’s integrated the work of 20 contemporary bands and 40 songs into The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed.
It’s the late Sixties, the Beatles intact, Jimi Hendrix exploding and the Doors demanding the world. And on the East Coast, famed resort Asbury Park, New Jersey, will become the epicenter of a new brand of rock and roll.
But in January 1968, a boardwalk Liverpool lies in the future. Escalating crime and a fading reputation have shaken the City by the Sea. Asbury is at tipping point,
Cast down into the fading resort on a bleak winter night, 22-year-old musician Sam Nesbitt wants to be big—Jimi Hendrix/Eric Clapton big—but he has to survive Asbury first. Witnessing the tail-end of a murder on his first night in town, Sam keeps his distance from the crime’s investigation. But the murder will crash back into Sam’s life.
As Sam pursues his dream of glory, he rides a roller coaster of triumphs and defeats. He’s the outsider who can’t break in, he’s the guitarist that every band wants. He’s a working class hero, he’s a pawn in their game. He’s a dream lover, he’s breaking hearts.
The Asbury music scene is the Wild Wild West: Shootouts on Main Street and rock and roll showdowns on Ocean Boulevard. In this increasingly surreal town, the Atlantic seems to be casting off a new band each day. They wash up on the boardwalk feet flocked with sand, water dripping from their guitars, looking for the stage, looking to face down the local talent.
So Welcome to The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed, where Madam Marie’s not talking, Mr. Peanut’s not pushing Planters, and if you’re out after midnight you better be carrying a six-string.
As in the novels of Richard Ford, Tobias Wolff and Jayne Anne Phillips, The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed uses a matter-of-fact tone, blunt, realistic dialogue, and graphic descriptions of violence to reflect Sam’s world. Woven into the story are songs of contemporary Asbury Park musicians. Songs of passion, struggle, chaos, longing, love and dreams.
- Update frequency
- every 4 days
- Average duration
- 21 minutes
- Episodes
- 29
- Years Active
- 2010 - 2011
Red Album 30
In the aftermath of Tom's death, Sam seeks solace in the changeless sea, swimming past the jetties and the boardwalk, past the Ferris wheel and carousel, past the music rising from the beachfront bar…
Red Album 29
Despite the consequences, Sam stops dealing. Awaiting Tillie's lieutenants, Sam gets an unexpected visit from his father, who brings some startling news.
Theme Song: "Suddenly Saturday" by Outside th…
Red Album 28
In the aftermath of his brother's death, Sam learns the truth about the botched robbery, the murder of Lebetz and the fate of the diving horse. Tom's friend Brandon reveals his part in the prison mu…
Red Album 27
Pressured into dealing drugs, Sam hopes that his music will eventually break him out of the trap that he set for himself. When Julie loses faith in Sam, he is shaken and doubtful. On a rainy spring n…
Red Album 26
Against the backdrop of a warehouse music scene, Cassidy (AKA Tillie) reveals his plans for Sam. For the trouble Sam has caused in his efforts to free his brother, Sam will deal drugs for Cassidy. Th…
Red Album 25
Sam finishes recounting his two years in Asbury to his friend Glen. With Glen's help, Sam learns the source of the gun that killed Lebetz. Only Glen and Sam know where the gun came from and how it ca…
Red Album 24
His brother remains in jail, but Sam struggles to keep the music going in a bleak Asbury winter. He moves into an apartment above a Cookman Avenue tavern, whose barmaid slips into Sam’s bed when the …
Red Album 23
Sam vainly searches Wesley Lake for the murder weapon that will clear his brother in the murder of Lebetz. Trying to track down Mr. Peanut, a witness to the murder, Sam contacts Peanut's girlfriend S…
Red Album 22
In an effort to get his brother a good lawyer, Sam looks to his biological father for help. With his mother in tow, Sam drives to Stephen Walczak's office in Jersey City, only to be turned away for t…
Red Album 20
Sam's brother Tom and his friend Brandon are arrested for the murder of Lebetz, the owner of the diving horse. Sam is certain of his brother's innocence, but Tom seems bent on self-destruction.
The…
Red Album 19
Sam rescues the mysterious Mr. Peanut from some punks, which begins a Magical Mystery Tour of Asbury. In the bowels of the abandoned Boardwalk Heating Plant, Sam meets Mr. Peanut's girlfriend, the …
Red Album 18
Sam forms a new band called Pan. As a local band its success is instantaneous. Pan fills the clubs and stirs talk of a record contract. But the competition is intense. New bands arrive daily to try a…
Red Album 17
Sam's first band, The Neons, breaks up. Sam's relationship with Julie deepens, but Sam is still troubled by Julie's attitude toward the music. In seeking out a new band, Sam runs into Leo, a hardcase…
Red Album 16
Wanting his band to get out on the road, Sam quits his job as the Antenna Man of Asbury Park. His boss isn't happy. When he gets home that evening, Sam discovers that all the band's equipment has van…
Red Album 15
Sam and Julie spend the night and then the morning together in Asbury. They wander the beach and boardwalk as the town awakens. Everything is perfect, until Julia voices her doubts about Sam's ambiti…
Red Album 14
On the last night of summer, Sam is playing at a beachfront bar when Julie, the girl that he loved and lost, walks in with some friends. It's been six years since last they met, and Julie is surpris…
Red Album 13
Sam and Jillian meet in the Wonder Bar, where Jillian's reveals that her band has signed a record contract. Jillian offers Sam the position of second guitarist in the Decisive Moment, but determined …
Red Album 12
Like many cities in the nation, Asbury is a powder keg after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Sam is sent on a job to a mansion in Deal. Sam discovers that the mansion's owner is no other tha…
Red Album 11
Sam gets in a band and thinks he's on his way. Heady with success, he attends a concert by Jillian's band, The Decisive Moment. He is blown away by Jillian's talent. After a put-down by Jillian's ban…
Red Album 10
With his hand repaired, Sam looks to get in a band and launch his career. He runs into the musician Peter, who gives him the brush off, but a short time later meets Jillian, who is just as alluring a…