On a morning that begins the new year, a song that looks forward with hope feels like the right fit. I believe that with the new year comes new opportunities. As we transition into the new year, it is a time to look forward to realizing our goals and fulfilling our dreams.
I first heard 'Land of Hope and Dreams' on the reunion tour in 1999. I still remember my reaction. I was astounded that Bruce could close a show with a song no one had ever heard, and still blow everyone away. While I couldn't quite make out all the lyrics, I grasped their optimism and inclusiveness, and the music was entirely uplifting. When I think about my long list of favorite Bruce tunes, this is one that doesn't always come to mind, yet when it does, I always end up thinking it's one of his best.
So, here are two renditions of what I feel is one of Bruce's most overlooked and underrated songs. The first is an acoustic version that comes from the Flood Aid concert in Pittsburg on December 2, 2004.
The second version comes from the reunion tour on its stop in Washington, DC on September 3, 1999. This was actually the second to last song of the night, with 'Ramrod' closing the proceedings on this night.
I'm going to keep this short and sweet, after all, it's Christmas morning and I've got presents to give out, and hopefully even a couple to receive. I also have to prepare myself for all the overindulgences of the day that will surely follow last night's overindulgences. It won't be easy, but I'm sure if I stay focused, I will somehow get through it all.
So, here you go. If Santa hasn't yet arrived, then maybe this will tide you over until he does.
If that wasn't enough, how about this from the Max Weinberg Seven, with support from key members of New Jersey rock royalty, including Bruce, Little Steven, Jon Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny, and Bobby Bandiera, with Nils Lofgren, Gary US Bonds and Willie Nile thrown in for good measure.
I didn't plan it this way, but over the past month I have featured four cuts from Bruce Springsteen's second album, 'The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle'. The catalyst for this flurry of classic tunes was Bruce's November 7th first ever top to bottom performance of the seven cuts off that album. This week I'm featuring a song that might have been cut number eight were it not for the fact that there simply wasn't enough room left on the disc for another long song.
Bruce's sophomore effort yielded some of his most beloved concert pieces, including 'Kitty's Back', 'Incident On 57th Street' and 'Rosalita'. 'New York City Serenade' is one of Bruce's most rarely played in concert songs, and yet judging by its performance and the crowd reaction on November 7th in Madison Square Gardens (see the November 13, 2009 fix), I think we'd all love to be in the audience some night for a reappearance, with strings of course.
Now this is an educated guess, but I think 'Rosalita' was Bruce's pre-encore show closer for every full length concert from the beginning of the 'Born to Run' tour in 1975 (and many shows in 1974) until midway through the 'Born In The USA' tour towards the end of 1984, (and perhaps several times thereafter, and also as an encore). I doubt that there are official records anywhere on this, but perhaps that makes 'Rosalita' the Cal Ripken of show closers.
Before 'Rosalita', a common closer was the song that opened the great aforementioned November 7th show, 'Thundercrack'. I was fortunate enough to be in the pit (about 10 feet back, slightly on the Steve side of Bruce) in Toronto on the 'Magic' tour and caught my only ever 'Thundercrack'. To this day, it is still my clearest memory from a night of many great ones.
Here's the first of two of the many ways to do 'Thurdercrack', acoustically on piano from the great 'Devils and Dust' tour.
Way number two is from a May 1, 1973 performance at Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, with the inimitable Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez on drums. By the way, on this night, Bruce opened for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show and headliners New Riders of the Purple Sage. I hope the marquee was big enough for all those names.
One wintery Friday morning in the first week of December 2007, I emailed a video clip of Bruce Springsteen to four friends. Without giving it much thought, in the subject line I wrote "Your Friday Bruce Fix". In the body of the email, all I wrote was "Admit it, you need it.", and provided a link to a clip on YouTube.
I had no thoughts of sending more clips in the future, certainly not every Friday, and I could have guaranteed you that it would never become a blog. I'm not sure I even knew what a blog was. A year later, and a year ago this week, after 52 Fridays of emails to a growing list of friends and assorted Friday Bruce Fixees, Your Friday Bruce Fix became a blog.
Last week I featured what I feel is the definitive performance of 'Incident On 57th Street'. This week, I give you another definitive version of a song from Bruce's second album 'The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle'. This performance of 'Kitty's Back' comes from Bruce's appearance on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien', on December 11, 2002, aligning nicely with the anniversary date of the launch of Your Friday Bruce Fix. I suppose one could make the argument that Bruce was the original Bruce Fixer, but December 11 fell on a Wednesday that year, and "Your Wednesday Bruce Fix" just isn't sticky enough to catch on.
This clip of 'Kitty's Back' is the one that I sent to the original four Bruce Fixees two years ago. This amazing performance is the source of my inspiration and motivation to share the gift of Bruce with my friends. The band on stage that night was a hybrid of the E Street Band and the Max Weinberg 7, and on the second and final song of the night, they were joined by "the man himself", Conan O'Brien, on guitar. Ordinarily, I would rather wait until later in the month to feature 'Merry Christmas Baby', but it comes bundled with 'Kitty's Back' in this clip. I guess it's not too early to start spreading some Christmas cheer.
So, happy Friday Bruce Fix anniversary to us, to the original four fixees, and to every other Bruce Fixee that has come along for the ride ever since. In fact, today would be a great day for everybody to spread the gift of Bruce. Wish your friends, family and colleagues a Happy Friday Bruce Fix by sending them the link to this blog. It's a great way to mark the day, and to begin the holiday gift giving season. Here's my gift of Bruce to you, and yours to them, and theirs to whoever. Here's 'Kitty's Back'. Crank up the volume and watch repeatedly until you no longer tap your toes. It could be a while....
As the 'Working On A Dream' tour comes to a close this Sunday night in Buffalo, I can't help but wonder how many more tours Bruce and his E Street Band have left in them. They're going to take a break now, and maybe they'll settle in and get comfortable, happy to be home with family and friends. Maybe they'll reflect on how important that is too, and how they need more of that in their lives, after so many years and so many miles on the road.
Yet, I suspect they'll be back. I can't imagine Bruce ever stopping. Maybe he'll write his memoirs, as has been suggested. Maybe he has another solo project and tour in mind, maybe another Seeger Sessions CD and tour, or maybe both. If he does some combination of, or maybe all of these things, how many years will pass... three.... five.... seven....? How would a 70 something Clarence Clemons with bad Knees, hips and back feel about hitting the road again? I have no doubt his heart would be willing, but could he do it? I can't imagine an E Street Band without Clarence, and speaking of essential band members, with all due respect to Nils, it never felt right to me when Steve was away.
Here's good news. It looks like Bruce has been listening to me (I knew you were reading, Bruce, why didn't you just say something?) and that we're finally going to get that Darkness box set I've been asking for. Jon Landau says it's "93 percent done" and that a 'Working On A Dream' tour DVD will be out "fairly soon, post-Christmas". Here's a link to the full report in yesterday's Rolling Stone Rock & Roll Daily blog. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/19/whats-next-for-springsteen-darkness-on-the-edge-of-town-box-set-dream-tour-dvd/
We've been blessed these last 10 years. If I have my facts straight, Bruce has done four tours with the E Streeters, plus a Seeger Sessions and a solo tour, oh and maybe another half tour if we count 2004's Vote For Change mini tour, totaling maybe five or six hundred shows. (hmmm.... let's see, 500 shows, 20,000 people per show, paying $100 each... ooh boy, that's a big number!) It has been quite an extraordinary run for a bunch of middle aged musicians outworking others half their age.
With two shows left in this tour, one tonight in Baltimore before Sunday's finale in Buffalo, I recall watching Bruce turn up one night on Conan O'Brien's show. It was February 26, 1999, and he was there to pick up Max, to take him on the road, to go 'Working On The Highway' for the Reunion Tour, and begin a very hard working decade. Have you had enough, Max?
Here's a fun clip of the same song from 1992, with that other band, at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. The best part of the clip comes towards the end when Bruce is joined on stage by that dancing machine mother of his. You'll see where Bruce got all his moves.
I'll close off this week with the one song from the "Working On A Dream' CD that was played at almost every stop on the current tour. Here's the title track from Bruce's appearance at the Pinkpop Festival in Holland on May 30, 2009.
If you've caught Bruce Springsteen live, chances are you've learned he has a pretty good sense of humor. It certainly came through in those early years in small clubs during the stories he used to tell in the introduction to or the middle of a song. As he moved into the larger venues, into arenas and stadiums, the long rambling stories didn't work as well, and so the stories got shorter and Bruce evolved into doing more physical comedy. You really see this now, as he and the band mug for the camera, fully aware their faces are being projected up on the big screen. As always, this is all about connecting with the audience, and having fun.
If you see Bruce live with any frequency, you realize that some of these comedic efforts are to some degree scripted or part of the routine, while others are spontaneous in reaction to whatever else is happening at that moment, on stage or in the audience. It isn't easy to think quickly on your feet in front of an arena full of people watching your every move (I know this from personal experience, of course) but I suppose Bruce has had some practice.
While we have seen a lot of Bruce's serioius, political side in the media in recent years, I prefer his more light hearted appearances. Today's Friday Bruce Fix includes one of my favorites. Bruce typically finds his way onto late night television to promote his latest CD release and tour and our first clip features an appearance with David Letterman as 'The Rising' CD had just been released, and that tour was about to begin. Here are Bruce and Dave having a chat.
One of the clips Bruce played that night on Letterman seems rather fitting these days. Dave is now going through some difficult and likely very lonesome days, particularly at home. While I'm guessing that Dave's self-inflicted wounds aren't earning him a great deal of sympathy, he certainly is kicking some serious butt in the ratings, which maybe just says a lot about the general public's fascination with celebrity and scandal. In recognition of David Letterman's lonesome days, here is 'Lonesome Day'.
Back in 1993, Dave left NBC to move over to CBS. Bruce appeared as Dave's musical guest on his last show on NBC. Bruce wasn't hanging with his E Steeters in those days and declined to bring those guys from that other band with him. Instead he joined Paul Shaffer and the 'The World's Most Dangerous Band', who handled their supporting duties quite nicely in this blazing version of 'Glory Days'.
Once every six years, September 11 falls on a Friday. Actually, somewhere in the cycle (every 36 years?) a leap year will cause September 11 to leap from a Thursday one year to a Saturday the next year. Unless there is something that I don't understand about how our calendar works, it has always been that way, and I suppose it always will. With 2009 being a year where it does fall on a Friday, today's clips will focus on Bruce Springsteen's response to the events of that day 8 years ago today.
The first clip really wasn't a response, although for most of the world it seemed as though it was. Bruce pulled this rabbit out of his hat in the days following the attack on the World Trade Center on a national television broadcast called 'America: A Tribute to Heroes'. George Clooney organized this benefit which was done in the style of a telethon to raise money for victims and their families. It aired on all four major US networks on September 21, 2001.
I remember my reaction. I couldn't believe that he could craft, arrange and perform such a powerful song a mere 10 days after 9/11. Silly me, it turned out that he had written 'My City Of Ruins' for the 2000 Asbury Park Christmas show benefit to help promote the revitalization of Asbury Park. Knowing Bruce, I'm sure the Asbury Park performance was as inspiring and compelling as could be, yet the new context and sheer magnitude of the events of 9/11, along with a few choice lyric changes and a great performance, elevated this song to a new level.
The new lyrics to watch for towards the end are "I pray for the loss" and "I pray for this world", which would have been a bit over the top if he was singing about Asbury Park (apologies to the good people of Asbury Park....). This performance still blows me away. I love the way he leaves the last vocal hanging in the air.
The story goes that not long after 9/11 Bruce drove to the beach in Asbury Park. A passenger in the car next to Bruce recognized him, rolled down his window and said "We need you now." Fortunately, Bruce interpreted this cryptic calling from a fan to mean "We need to know what you have to say about this. Please write some great songs." rather than "Hey bud, we're having car problems. Could you give us a ride?".
'The Rising' became the title track and soul of Bruce's first new album of original material since 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' in 1995. Clearly inspired, Bruce was in fine form and it seems his creative juices have been flowing ever since. 'The Rising' routinely opened the shows on his tour in support of that album. It felt like a bit of a call to arms, and a lot like "lets blow the roof off this joint!"
If I'm still writing this blog in 2015, I might have to re-run this one. Hope you'll forgive me.
This week's Bruce Fix features two songs that were written more than 30 years apart, yet seem strangely joined at the hips. In both, the family guy in Bruce Springsteen writes about family and the relationships within. Not surprisingly, the early one is written from the perspective of a son, while the later one is seen through the father's eyes.
First up is 'Family Song', also known as 'California', or 'California, You're A Woman'. It was written in 1971, and two versions were recorded in 1972, but it was never officially released.
33 years later, on the Devils and Dust CD, Bruce released a very different family song called 'Long Time Comin'', which was probably written in or around 1996. I'll let Bruce handle the intro.
In last week's fix, I wrote about the wilderness years (aka the Shane and Zach era) which was a difficult period for long time fans of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. We might think of that period as a time when Bruce had a bit of a fling with some other band. Maybe he needed a change, or got bored, or just wondered what it would be like to play with some other musicians. Whatever the case, Bruce returned to his true love, the E Street Band, in January of 1995.
Bruce decided to release a greatest hits anthology in early 1995, and he wanted to include in this release a few new songs that he had written over the previous year and a half. For the first time since March of 1984, Bruce assembled the E Street Band, including Little Steven, to record in the studio for the first time since the 'Born in the USA' recording sessions. One of my favorite songs to come out of those sessions was 'Back in Your Arms'. A version from these sessions would later be released in the 'Tracks' box set.
Today's clip is an alternate take from those recording sessions. This clip was used in the 'Blood Brothers' documentary. I much prefer this version for Bruce's more raw and passionate vocal. I don't know why Bruce chose to release the version with the lamer vocal performance on 'Tracks' instead of this one. I don't know why Bruce doesn't check with me before making such decisions. Bruce, (I know you're reading this), call me next time.
'Blood Brothers' is the story of the E Street Band. '10th Avenue Freeze Out' may have been the story of how they came together, but 'Blood Brothers' tells us a lot more about their relationship and the ties that bind them. This clip is also from the 'Blood Brothers' documentary and is slightly different from the version that Bruce chose to include on 'Greatest Hits'.
The reunion of the E Street Band eventually led to this band of blood brothers hitting the road in April of 1999 and touring until July of 2000 ending with a 10 night stand at Madison Square Gardens. I was fortunate enough to catch on of those great shows in New York. On the entire tour, Bruce chose to play 'Blood Brothers' only once, on the final night of the Reunion Tour, as the last song. He added some great lyrics to the end of the song, which was clearly very emotional for Bruce and his Blood Brothers.
Here are those new lyrics added to the end of the song for this performance:
Now I'm out here on this road Alone on this road tonight [I] close my eyes and feel so many friends around me In the early evening light And the miles we have come And the battles won and lost Are just so many roads traveled So many rivers crossed And I ask God for the strength And faith in one another 'Cause it's a good night for a ride 'Cross this river to the other side My blood brothers
You've probably noticed, Bruce Springsteen is pretty much everywhere you look these days. He is so omnipresent that you can hardly swing a cat without hitting him. (I know that doesn't really make any sense, but it kinda cracks me up and anyway, it illustrates the point, right?)
In case you hadn't noticed, it started with the Christmas release of the movie "The Wrestler" featuring Bruce's original composition of the same name, for which Bruce won a Golden Globe (Best Original Song) earlier this week. I forgot to call Bruce to congratulate him on winning, so I'll congratulate him now, as I'm pretty sure he's a subscriber. Even Bruce needs a fix.
Also this week, Bruce quietly released a single CD greatest hits compilation at Wal-Mart. Lots of people are unhappy with that move, but maybe that's a topic for another time. Next week, on the 18th, Bruce will perform as part of the Obama Inauguration festivities at the Lincoln Memorial, his new CD will be released on the 27th, and he plays the Super Bowl half-time show Feb.1st.
He's up for two Grammy awards (Feb. 8) for 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes', and we await the almost certain announcement that he'll be up for an Oscar (Feb. 22) for 'The Wrestler'. A 50 to 60 date world tour is expected to be announced shortly, as well. I haven't touched on other items such as free downloads of songs off the new album, including two songs for Guitar Hero. I wonder if perhaps this will all just be too much for some people, such as casual fans. Will the new album stand up to all the hype and expectations? People, get ready, there's big Bruce wave of publicity and exposure coming.
Today's Bruce Fix is inspired by the Obama Inauguration performance. Among others, Bono will also be performing at Obamapalooza. I don't know if they will at any point be on the same stage at the same time, but it could happen. It has happened before. Have a look. This first clip is from 2005, in Philadelphia.
This one dates back to 1987, also from Philadelphia.
Oh yes, in case you're curious, Born to Run is leading the vote I launched last Friday regarding the Super Bowl setlist. Two more weeks to go. If you haven't voted, go to last week's blog and vote now! Bruce needs your help.
Recent Comments