Sometimes I have a plan in mind for these weekly fixes of mine and this was one of those times. If you've been following along, you no doubt noticed that the last two weeks I've featured performances from Bruce Springsteen's appearance at the Christic Benefit in Los Angeles in 1990. I had planned this as the last of 3 weeks of such videos.
Then, late Wednesday I got my first sniff of the fact that Bruce had released the first single off his upcoming album 'Wrecking Ball', which itself is due to be released on March 6th. I started to contemplate changing my Christic Benefit plan to instead feature the new single 'We Take Care of Our Own'.
By Thursday morning, all hell had broken loose on the internet. "Bruce Springsteen" and "Wrecking Ball" were both trending on Twitter, and I realized that by Friday all of this would be old news. So, I've reverted back to my original plan. After all, this blog isn't about me trying to break the latest news on Bruce Springsteen. It's just about getting our Friday Bruce Fix. So, here's hoping this week's fix fixes you up real good. (but, do keep an eye out for that Wrecking Ball...)
I read at Springsteenlyrics.com that at one point Bruce and manager Jon Landau were considering releasing an album culled from the two nights of performances at the Christic Institute Benefit shows. I think it would have made for a great album and who knows, maybe one day we'll have the pleasure of such a release. I especially love the solo piano performances and Bruce is in great voice on these. Today's fix has three such examples for you.
'The Wish' was recorded for 'Tunnel of Love' in 1987, made its debut at the Christic Benefit, and was released as part of the 'Tracks' 4cd box set.
'My Hometown' was released in 1984 on 'Born in the USA'. It seems there may be a 'Wrecking Ball' connection as there will be a song called 'Death to My Hometown'. It will be interesting to hear whether this new song will update or reference the old one. I'm thinking it will.
'Real World' was released on 'Human Touch' in 1992. I believe this standout performance was its debut. I wish he would have released a rendition just like this one on 'Human Touch'.
'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out' from 1975's 'Born to Run' hardly needs an introduction. With a new tour just around the corner, this story of the E Street Band coming together reminds us we've lost a couple of key members in recent years and it will be particularly interesting to see how Bruce fills that Big Void.
Happy Friday!
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