Your Friday Bruce Fix

The Wrestler, On Boxing Day, with Mickey Rourke and Bruce Springsteen

'The Wrestler' is a new Darren Aronofsky film starring Mickey Rourke.  The official release date was December 17th, though only on a limited basis, with wider release following on Christmas Day.  Already there is considerable Oscar buzz around Mickey's performance, along with his best actor Golden Globe nomination.  There is also much buzz swirling around for that Springsteen guy who happens to have written a song called 'The Wrestler', which runs over the closing credits. To go with his Golden Globe nominatin for Best Original Song, perhaps Bruce will be in line for another Oscar when all is said and done.

Now, if you happen to be a songwriter who aspires to write for movies and are a more than a little miffed that Bruce seems to get a lot of choice assignments (like he needs the work) and you don't seem to get any, here's what you have to do:

1)  Befriend Mickey Rourke 20 years ago, ideally over drinks at the Stone Pony.

2)  Stay friends with Mickey.

3)  Get Mickey to send you a great screenplay to inspire you.

4)  Write a great song.

It's that easy.  Don't say I never did anything nice for you.

Now that we've got that out of the way, here's 'The Wrestler'.

And here's the trailer to the film.  Looks like it might be a good one.  I already know I'm going to love the closing credits.  Has anyone seen it yet?

And, just because I stumbled upon this, here's a silly little clip featuring what sounds like some backstage patter with a radio DJ at one of Bruce's shows at the Bottom Line in NYC in 1975.  This brief clip is called 'The Boxer'.  If I didn't I give you this clip today, we'd have to wait another six years for Boxing Day to fall on a Friday.  It seemed silly to wait.  Anyway, you may recall Mickey tried his hand at professional boxing, so it all hangs together, in a strange Friday Bruce Fix sort of way.

Happy Boxing Day!

Merry Christmas Mr. Springsteen

Seeing how Christmas is just around the corner, this week's theme was easy to pick.  The blustery, snowy conditions outside my window help, too. 

Just a hunch, but I think our man Bruce Springsteen likes Christmas.  I'm sure most if not all of you are familiar with his recording of Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  The recording we all first heard was from a concert at C.W. Post College in Greenvale, NY, December 12, 1975.  It was well circulated on bootlegs for a few years and was eventually officially released in 1981 on the charity album "In Harmony 2". 

Bruce frequently performs Santa Claus when he's on tour late in the year.  Sometimes, it seems he can't wait for December to roll around and it will show up in some November set lists.  In today's first clip, we see evidence that Bruce can get that Christmas spirit mighty early, in this case September 20th, 1978, at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ.

Our second clip comes from Bruce's appearance on the Conan O'Brien show, in December of 2002, I believe.  Clearly, Bruce's choice of material for this performance is a little more time appropriate than the first clip.  Like that first clip, it's a lot of fun and I doubt many guests of the show ever got the studio audience going the way Bruce did that night.

Our final clip, in keeping with our Christmas theme, is a Christmas story.  I don't know where this clip is from, or whether it was performed time appropriately, but I do know that it is not appropriate for children to hear this story.  For the rest of us, no it's not Festivus, but it is good for a few laughs.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Bruce Springsteen, Just a Prisoner of Rock 'n Roll

I’m not one of those super fanatical fans who have seen Bruce live a couple hundred times.  My condition has been diagnosed as only mildly fanatical.  It can’t be treated, but fortunately it’s not terminal.  I’ve just had to learn to live with it.  I’ve managed to see Bruce maybe 20 or so times.  I’m not really sure.  I envy those super fanaticals, and really anyone who has seen him more than me, but I just can’t do it.

 

If I could have tagged along for one tour, it would have been the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour.  That tour was about Bruce and his E Street Band proving to the world that they were not a flash in the pan propped up by all the hype around Born to Run.   They’d come into your town, and prove to you all night that there was no band anywhere that could be better.  They still play with that same commitment to being the best band you’ve ever seen, but without the full exuberance of their youth and the sheer physical energy that their youth afforded them.

 

I was fortunate enough to see one show on that tour.  It was my first Bruce show.  I’ve often told myself that was the best of all the shows I’ve seen, but while they were all pretty great, there’s really no way to be sure.  It was so long ago, I was young and impressionable, I had never seen anything quite like this band, and I suppose I might have been distracted by the young woman who accompanied me that night.  But, I clearly recall the immense energy and fire that Bruce and the band played with that night, and any time I see a clip from that tour, I have a hard time believing anything else could be better.

 

This week’s Fix comes from that tour, on August 15, 1978 at the Capital Center in Largo, Maryland.  His frequent show closer that tour was Gary US Bonds’ ‘Quarter to Three’.  Like last week, this one is so long it’s in two parts.  Watch the energy both Bruce and Clarence expend, and keep in mind that this is the last song at the end of a roughly 3 hour show.  Notice how sweat soaked Bruce’s jacket is by the end of the song.  It’s this tour where the legend of his performances really grew.

 

Oh yes, for some reason these sound best if you crank up the volume.  Happy Friday.

 

Part 1

Part 2

Kitty's Back and Your Friday Bruce Fix

One fine Friday morning, 52 weeks ago today, I was taking a break from my consulting work.  It had been a tough week and I was worn out.  I had no energy, I couldn't focus on the task at hand; I was terribly unproductive.  I had to stop what I was doing, clear my head and get my energy level back up so that I could be productive again.  I realized I needed some sort of diversion, something appropriate for a Friday. 

I remembered that a few days previously I had enjoyed a video clip of Bruce Springsteen on YouTube.  So, I found it and watched it again and was thoroughly energized by it.  I was back in the groove, had tons of energy and was very much in a Friday frame of mind.  I was ready to deal with the rest of my day, and then to bring on the weekend.

I thought to myself, "This is just too good not to share.... I've got to send this to someone."  So, I composed a quick little email.  In the subject line I wrote "Your Friday Bruce Fix".  In the email itself, I simply said "Admit it, you need it." and added the link to the clip on YouTube.  I sent it to four good friends that I knew were into Bruce. 

They loved the clip so I sent them another the next Friday and slowly over the next weeks and months I added a friend here and there to the list.  Occasionally, someone asks me to add one of their friends to my mailing list.  Several people on the list have told me that they forward my emails to other Bruce fans.  Who knows how far those emails travel? 

That's how it all started, and now it starts again.  On the one year anniversary of that first email, I decided it is now time to take this to the next level and in the spirit of sharing, bring Your Friday Bruce Fix to the blogging world.

To my loyal Bruce Fixees who've been along for the ride so far, thanks for your support.  As a marketing guy, the move to blogging is a fun way for me to learn more about it.  Maybe one day I'll be able to speak intelligently about blogs.  If you aren't familiar with blogs, I encourage you to subscribe and see how it all works.  If you have lots of blogging experience, please feel free to send along your suggestions for improvement.  My meager computer skills might limit my ability to implement your suggestions, but I'll see what I can do.

To anyone discovering Your Friday Bruce Fix for the first time, welcome, enjoy and I hope you'll join us.   And now, to this week's fix.

That first Bruce Fix one year ago featured a clip of a rousing performance of Kitty's Back by Bruce and the E Streeters on the Conan O'Brien show.  That clip is no longer available on YouTube, but in honour of the inspiration provided by that performance, I thought we should revisit Kitty's Back, this time from a performance at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1975.

In those early years, this was the song that allowed the members of the E Street Band to take turns improvising on their solos, much in the tradition of jazz musicians.  The solos would change a little from night to night, keeping it fresh for everyone.  The original 1973 recording was just over 7 minutes long but in concert it would frequently more than double in length.  Kitty's Back remains a fan favourite in concert to this day, though it is more of a special treat than a mainstay.

In case you're puzzled by the lyrics, as I certainly was, here's the opening verse (thanks to springsteenlyrics.com), so you can sing along.

Catlong sighs holding Kitty's black tooth
She left to marry some top cat, ain't it the cold truth
And there hasn't been a tally since Sally left the alley
Since Kitty left with Big Pretty things have got pretty thin yeah yeah
It's tight on this fence since them young dudes are musclin' in

It's in two parts, as it's such a long performance.  I'd suggest watching part 1 first and part 2 second.  That's just my personal preference.  Watch them back to back.  Kitty's Back, is back.  Admit it, you need it.

Part 1

Part 2

Happy Friday!