This week's Friday Bruce Fix features Bruce Springsteen showing us his folksy, rootsy roots, along with social and political commentary and a little protest thrown in for good measure. These clips feature songs written by some of Bruce's key influences, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty and Woody Guthrie.
We lead off today with a double shot. This clip is from Chateau de Vincennes in Paris, France at the SOS Racism Concert, which was broadcast on French television in June of 1988. Bruce performed just 4 songs, all acoustically. These are the final two songs in the mini-set.
As the 'Born in the USA' tour wound down in late 1985, after being on the road for about a year and a half, Bruce and the band rolled into LA for their final stop. The final night of the tour was filmed and this next clip was from late in the show, sandwiched between 'Rosalita' and 'Born to Run'.
In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote 'This Land is Your Land' as a response to Irving Berlin's 'God Bless America'. Woody felt that the America he knew was a lot different from the one Irving wrote about. Woody's America was suffering from Dust Bowl conditions and the Great Depression, while emigrant and blue collar workers battled racism and classism as they roamed around looking for work. Woody's lyrics addressed liberty, individual rights and property ownership.
I suspect that a song like this has been a source of inspiration for Bruce in taking up the cause in fighting for the disadvantaged and for what he believes is right. His spoken intro provides some insight into how Bruce interprets Woody's lyrics.
Happy Friday!
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