Your Friday Bruce Fix

Bruce Springsteen, Robert De Niro, You Talkin' to Me?, Raise Your Hand, Clarence Clemons

Well, the truth has finally come out.  Robert De Niro owes his fame, fortune and his stellar acting career to none other than Bruce Springsteen.  Why?  He built his career on a line he stole from Bruce.  Without that line De Niro would have been left to eek out a living through his meager acting talent.  That line of course, is "You talkin' to me?" from Martin Scorsese's 1976 film 'Taxi Driver'.

The New York Daily News reported on May 31st that 25 years ago, De Niro told Clarence Clemons this little secret while Clarence was coaching Bob how to play the sax for his role in 'New York, New York'.  Now Clarence is talking and the secret is out.  Apparently, De Niro had attended a Springsteen concert, I'm guessing in 1975.  In response to the audience yelling "Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuce", Bruce responded "Are you talking to me?".  At the time, this was part of Bruce's routine, particularly during frequent encore performances of Eddie Floyd's 'Raise Your Hand', which Bruce started performing on the 'Born to Run' tour in 1975.  I guess it made quite an impression on young Bob.

I would love to tell you that I happen to have the clip of the exact night and the exact moment when Bruce inspired Robert De Niro with the line that would change American movie history, but I don't.  As a reasonable facsimile of that great moment, I do have a clip from 1978 that is likely quite similar to how things unfolded on that fateful night.

Even if you've never seen 'Taxi Driver', there's a good chance you know the line.  Just in case you haven't seen the scene, I dug it up for you.  Apparently, De Niro ad libbed his way through this scene, and according to Clarence, was channeling Bruce for "the line".

Why is this news coming out now?  It's quite a coincidence, but it seems that Clarence has a book coming out this fall called, of all things, 'Big Man'.  I wonder how many other big secrets the Big Man has been keeping.  Maybe he knows the Caramilk secret, the formula for Coca-Cola or whether Lee Harvey Oswald was truly the lone assassin.  Since one short Bruce clip doesn't quite make a fix, here's a little Big Man for you.

Big line, Big Man, Big Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Lift Me Up, I'm On Fire, Johnny Cash

This week's Friday Bruce Fix leads off with something pretty obscure called 'Lift Me Up', which Bruce Springsteen recorded for the soundtrack of John Sayles' 1999 film 'Limbo'.  It ran over the closing credits, I imagine much in the way 'The Wrestler' does at the end of 'The Wrestler' (go figure).  If I remember correctly (a rare event, thus notable), John directed Bruce's video for 'I'm On Fire', as well as 'Born in the USA' and 'Glory Days'.

Bruce had started writing 'Lift Me Up' around the time of 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' album and tour, but never quite finished the song.  In 1998, John needed a song for his upcoming film and asked Bruce for "something that was healing but also something that was about risk".  Bruce dusted this one off, finished up the lyrics and, playing all the instruments himself he recorded and produced the track in his home studio.  (Thanks to www.springsteenlyrics.com for these details.)

Speaking of John Sayles, it seems an easy segue over to the John Sayles directed video for 'I'm On Fire'.

Does anyone know who played the mostly unseen woman in the video in the role as the object of Bruce's burning desire?  I've often thought that it might have been his first wife, Julianne Phillips.  I think Bruce overshadowed her with his acting in this video.  Perhaps that was the catalyst for the breakdown in their marriage....  professional jealousy....  "but Brucie... I'm supposed to be the actor in this family..."

Anyway, I seem to recall some buzz suggesting that Bruce's dramatic turn in this video led to his being approached for some film roles.  I suppose his immense popularity at the time might have also had something to do with that.  To my knowledge, his only film role so far came in a cameo role as some bit player in 'High Fidelity'.  Bruce did a nice job, but generally I think it's good that Bruce wisely stuck to doing what he does best, fixing us when we need it, which is every single Friday.  Here's the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo1npZWR5qk&NR=1

And, what the hell, why not have a listen to Johnny Cash covering 'I'm On Fire'.  This was a bonus track on 'Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska'.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, The Rising, Working on a Dream and My Lucky Day

Well, there is clearly something wrong with this world.  The 6,000 or so idiotic members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have seen fit to snub Bruce Springsteen and NOT select him for his composition and performance of 'The Wrestler', as one of the nominees for the Oscar for Original Song.  Are they insane??!! 

And what's with selecting only three nominees instead of the usual five?  Would it have killed them to add two more, like maybe Bruce and Clint Eastwood?  Their live performances might have given a few more people cause to watch the ceremonies.

Leaving their poor taste in music out of the discussion, are they sure they want to risk pissing off The Boss?  Surely they must have noticed how Bruce single handedly defeated the Republicans and got Barack Obama elected.  Who knows what he might do to the Academy, or maybe the entire motion picture business?  Hmmmm,.... wait a minute, could Bruce's politics have something to do with this?

Anyway, the problem is, this really messes with Bruce's master plan to take over the world.  The world wide television exposure from performing live (and winning...) at the Oscars would have greatly helped Bruce's cause.  Luckily, he had the foresight to line up the Super Bowl as a fall back plan. 

Still, he needed something big to happen this week.  Now, all he's left with is his performance earlier in the week at the Obama Inauguration.  In case you missed it, here it is:

This vicious rejection by the Academy really cuts into Bruce's momentum, mere days from the release of his new CD 'Working On A Dream', due out this coming Tuesday, the 27th.  I don't know how he's going to recover from the Academy's devastating body blow.  Hopefully he'll sell enough copies of the new CD to pay for his flight to Tampa next weekend, otherwise he might have to back out of the Super Bowl.  That would be a shame, a real momentum killer.  Those Academy members really should consider the potential consequences of their actions before voting so recklessly. 

Anyway, in my attempt to be supportive of poor Bruce in his time of need, here are a couple of clips from the new album.  I'm thinking the first tune, the title track, just might make it into the Super Bowl set list.  If you haven't yet voted, go to my post two weeks ago to select the songs you'd play, if you were Bruce.

Get out there next week and buy the new CD so Bruce can get to the Super Bowl.  His career is on the line.  You can make a difference.

Happy Friday!

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!