Federici was one of those musicians whose name people don't know but whose contributions to a special sound were unique.
My husband grew up on the Jersey Shore and I grew up in and around NYC where the Jersey Shore, along with Rockaway beach, was sometimes referred to as "The Irish Riviera". Having been born in 1964, I'm a bit too young to have fully appreciated the pre-Born To Run albums while they were new but once I latched onto Born To Run in the 6th grade, I quickly looked back to them.
Of course, the albums that preceeded BTR are nothing like it and more a testament to a mythical shore I barely got to experience. Even so, as I grew older, it was songs like "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" that meant the most to me. In fact, the new CD, Magic, which I don't like much, has a song on it that was released as the second single which echos so much of that earlier song I love so well. it's called 'Girls In their Summer Clothes" and it has a few of those distinct Federici touches on it.
There are some side-men who add so much to a band and whose presence you can always here and you miss it when it's not there or not proprerly exploited. For me Federici is right up there with David Lindley and James Burton in terms of the unique nature of their contribution to a band or singer's sound that they are known for.