Your Friday Bruce Fix

Bruce Springsteen, Who'll Stop the Rain, Fire, 4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)

I had such a good time reliving a special Bruce Springsteen concert through last week's Friday Bruce Fix that I thought I'd keep rolling with it this week. So, today I'll feature 3 more songs from Bruce's Montreal stop on The River tour, from January 23, 1981.

Bruce dedicated his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Who'll Stop The Rain' to "everyone in the back seats". I'm pretty sure he meant the seats behind the stage rather than the back seat of the car because, at the moment he said it, he was not in a car. It features a simple but tasty solo from Clarence Clemons, exactly the kind of solo we'll be missing on the next tour, and beyond.

'Fire' was a big highlight for me, largely because I'm pretty sure I've never laughed as much at a rock concert as I did during 'Fire'. I don't usually associate rock music with comedy and laughter, but on this night, I laughed. The video from this night is not exactly crystal clear, but I think you'll get a good sense of what Bruce and his sidekick Clarence were doing to make me laugh. Missing C just a little more after watching this one.

Always a fan favourite, Bruce pulled out 'Sandy' two songs later, maybe to help take a little chill out of a Montreal winter night with a little Jersey shore boardwalk ambience.  Of course, we miss Danny Federici and his accordion a little bit after listening to this one.

Happy Friday!

 

 

Bruce Springsteen, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, Badlands, Sherry Darling, I'm a Rocker

Last night I was out for drinks and some live music with my friend Sunny, who also happens to love Bruce Springsteen. Naturally, at some point in the evening, the topic turned to Bruce and each of our favourite gigs that we had seen in person.

For any of you who've seen Bruce more than a handful of times, that becomes a very tough question to answer because his shows are so consistently outstanding. When asked this question, I often lean to the Devils and Dust tour show I saw in Toronto, which I cited last night. I love Bruce as a solo artist and that show was pretty magical.

As I thought about it some more, I drifted back to the Darkness and River tours, and settled on the River tour show I saw in Montreal at the historic Forum on January 23, 1981. I had front row seats and was thoroughly entertained, and by the end of the night, completely drained.

I remember going out after the show with my friends who attended the show with me. We wandered over to a favourite bar on Crescent Street, quietly had one beer, and all went home.  We were spent.

I told Sunny that I recalled Bruce being very energetic that night and dancing up a storm. He discovered Bruce a little later than me and hadn't seen all that much dancing out of Bruce. So, I thought I'd see if I could dig up some proof. Luckily, there just happens to be video evidence of that night, just a few days more than 31 years ago. Concert footage like this should be required viewing for any aspiring rock musician. This is how it's done.

Also, please take note of this particularly ferocious rendition of 'Badlands'. I very clearly recall the intense roar of the crowd after the song ended, and the wall of energy that seemed to push Bruce back from the microphone as he attempted to start the next song. This video clip cuts part of that roar short and the audio doesn't do it justice. I was lucky enough to have seen a number of exciting and emotional hockey games at the Forum from the mid-60s through the 70s, but I don't remember hearing a roar quite like that one for Bruce.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, that dancing fool, Bruce Springsteen!

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Drive All Night

This rendition of “Drive All Night” is from Bruce’s solo tour in support of Devils and Dust, with a little help from a couple of friends, Stevie Van Zandt and Clarence Clemons, who may be familiar to you.  This video comes from the November 19, 2005 tour stop in Hollywood, Florida, at the Hard Rock Live Arena.

I caught this tour when it came through Toronto and I have to say it was one of my favourites. Seeing Bruce in a solo format really let the songs themselves shine, and highlighted the strength of Bruce's song writing.

There is a lot of poor quality video from this tour, but this one's not too bad. I wonder if there might be some pro shot video from this tour lurking somewhere in a vault, hopefully a complete show that will someday be made available for purchase. In the meantime, we must enjoy what we have!

Happy Friday!

 

Bruce Springsteen, The Wish, My Hometown, Real World, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

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!

Bruce Springsteen, Reason to Believe, My Father's House, Atlantic City

How are you? I hope you’ve had a great week. I for one have had a difficult time letting go of the greatness of those Christic Benefit video clips from last week.  So, in the hopes you enjoyed them as much as I did, and to help us all ease ourselves into the weekend, I’m going to give you three more Christic videos this week.

As Bruce Springsteen says in his spoken intro to ‘Reason to Believe’, “this song is about the price that blind faith and refusing to give up your illusions extracts from you”.

Bruce’s into to ‘My Father’s House’ is much too long for me to transcribe, so you’ll just have to listen to it yourself.  It’s a good one.

No intro whatsoever on this one, just a great opening line “Well, they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night”.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Red Headed Woman, Wild Billy's Circus Story, Nebraska

I know, you read the title of this week's Friday Bruce Fix and you wondered what the hell these three Bruce Springsteen songs have in common other than the fact that they are all Springsteen compositions.  Well, read on my friend, although it really isn't all that exciting or complicated of a connection.

You see, last week when I was searching for interesting versions of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' for you, I discovered a fine acoustic guitar rendition from Bruce's performance on November 16, 1990 at the Christic Benefit held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.  After digging around a bit, I discovered there were several clips posted from that show, and so I thought I'd share three with you today.

So that's the connection, these songs are all from the same show. That's it, nothing else, except I guess each song does to varying degrees make reference to some sort of romantic relationship between two characters within the song. 

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town

As 2011 rolls into 2012, it is a time for reflecting on the year that was and the year to come. Every year presents its challenges and opportunities, and perhaps the trick is to see the opportunities in those challenges, and to fight for what you believe in. Whether you find yourself looking back on 2011 or forward to 2012, I think this holds true.

Music can be a source of inspiration for many of us, and if you're reading this blog, then maybe Bruce Springsteen's music inspires you. In the mid to late 1970's when I was getting into Bruce, some of my friends who didn't like Bruce used to comment that they thought his music was depressing, and they often cited 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' as an example. Despite my best efforts to convince them, they never really got it.

I've always felt that the power of this and many of Bruce's other great songs comes from their acknowledgement of the reality that life isn't always easy, and the need to face your challenges with faith, hope, the strength of your convictions and a belief in yourself and the people around you. I think 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' exemplifies this and can serve to inspire.

So, I leave you at the end of 2011 with a few choice lyrics and a few passionate performances over the years from Bruce to guide you as you take on 2012.

"Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop
I'll be on that hill with everything I got
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town"

Happy Friday and Happy New Year!

Bruce Springsteen, Jingle Bell Rock, Blue Christmas

It's Friday, Dec 23rd and I would imagine that if you're at work this morning, you won't be there very long, as you've probably still got plenty to do before Christmas arrives.  If you don't happen to celebrate Christmas, then you can certainly pretend you do so you can get out of the office early.  Of course, if you're not already in the office today, don't go in there but then, you didn't need me to tell you that, did you?

Since you've got so much left to do, let's dive right in with a December 6, 2001 performance of 'Jingle Bell Rock' from one of five nights of Christmas Concerts at Asbury Park's Convention Hall.

With the news that Bruce and the E Street Band will tour again in 2012, their first tour without Clarence Clemons, it feels quite right to close off with the last song from the last time Clarence performed with Bruce and the band, almost exactly 9 years to the day later, on December 7, 2010.  This rendition of 'Blue Christmas' comes from a performance videotaped just a short walk south along the boardwalk from the Convention Hall, this time at the Carousel. Five songs from this show were later shown via webcast, and were also included as bonus material in 'The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town'.

How fitting, that Bruce sang the words  "I'll have a blue Christmas without you" his last time on stage with his pal Clarence Clemons.

Merry Christmas and Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, You're Missing, My Hometown

On October 5, 2002, Bruce appeared on Saturday Night Live while in the midst of his tour in support of his CD ‘The Rising’.  Like most of SNL’s musical guests, Bruce was given two time slots to fill.  In the first slot, Bruce and the E Street Band performed ‘Lonesome Day’, the opening track from ‘The Rising’. Later in the show, Bruce took the stage by himself, sat at the piano and performed ‘You’re Missing’.  I enjoyed both performances, especially ‘You’re Missing’, which is a song I’ve loved since the first time I heard it.

I’ve occasionally seen video of that performance, and I may actually have it somewhere on VHS, but the odds of my actually finding it are slim at best.  I have seen that performance of ‘You’re Missing’ on YouTube, but any such clips tend to vanish as quickly as they appear, likely due to copyright infringement.  A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon a Bruce Springsteen video I hadn’t yet seen, and that video inspired me to snoop around a bit to see what I could find.

Here’s the video I stumbled upon featuring Bruce rehearsing for the show later that evening.  This clip cuts in towards the end of ‘You’re Missing’ and then follows up with an abridged but lovely ‘My Hometown’.

Then I found this next rehearsal clip which features a full rendition of ‘You’re Missing’.

I thought I was going to be forced to give you an audio only version of his live performance on SNL, and then I found this video:

You're Missing - solo - bruce springsteen by runawaydream

But in case that video somehow disappears, here’s an audio only clip of the same performance.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, The Promise, It's My Life

This week’s Friday Bruce Fix revisits the period of time between the Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town albums when Bruce Springsteen was embroiled in a legal battle with his outgoing manager Mike Appel, which prevented him from recording with his incoming manager, Jon Landau. 

To make ends meet and feed himself and his band mates, Bruce took the band out on a few short tours in 1976 and 1977.  In early 1977, while on what became known as the “Lawsuit Tour”, Bruce often performed ‘The Promise’.  Likely because this song surfaced a year or so earlier during this difficult time in Bruce’s life, it has often been interpreted as being about inspired by if not about his battles with Mike Appel.  Bruce has denied that the song is about the lawsuit, and introduces it in this clip as a return to Thunder Road.  For more about the song, there’s a great description and probably everything you'd ever want to know about 'The Promise' at Springsteenlyrics.com.

On this tour, Bruce also covered 'It's My Life', written by Brill Building writers Roger Atkins and Carl D'Errico, and originally recorded by The Animals. Given the passion and defiance in Bruce's performance of this song, and all that he was going through at the time, I do wonder if his legal battles inspired his decision to perform 'It's My Life'.

Happy Friday.