Your Friday Bruce Fix

Bruce Springsteen, Steel Mill, The Train Song, Goin' Back To Georgia

Do you remember where you were on February 22nd, 1970?  Perhaps some of you may not have even been born by then, while others may have been indulging in too many illegal substances in 1970 to have retained any memories from all those years ago.  I can't be any more certain about where I was than to say that I was likely in school and likely not liking it.

What I can tell you with some certainly is that on February 22nd, 1970, Bruce Springsteen was in the Pacific Recording Studio in San Mateo, CA, along with his band, Steel Mill.  The band had played at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, Graham wanted to record the band and offered to sign Steel Mill to his just formed Fillmore Records.

Steel Mill consisted of Bruce, Danny Federici, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez and Vinnie Roslin.  To this day, I believe Steel Mill holds the record for the most Vini/Vinnies in one band, both in absolute terms and also expressed as a percentage of the total number of band members.  ("Man, you should've seen us back then, we were half Vini/Vinnie in those days....").

Steel Mill turned down Bill Graham's offer, returned to the east coast, and Vinnie Roslin left the band.  When no suitable Vini/Vinnie could be found, he was replaced by Steve Van Zandt.  I suppose Steve could have changed his name to Vinnie, but he didn't capitalize on that glorious opportunity, and Steel Mill was never quite as Vini/Vinnie again, and Steve never became Vinnie Van Zandt (nor Miami Vinnie, or Little Vincent).

Today's first clip features one of the three songs recorded on that early 1970 day in San Mateo.  It is called 'The Train Song', also known as "Long Time Riding'.

That nice little country rock tune was rather uncharacteristic of Steel Mill, which Bruce has referred to as "a Humble Pie type band". Have a listen to this tune called 'Goin' Back to Georgia'. Hard to believe it's the same band.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Remember When The Music, Harry Chapin, Cats In The Cradle, Mail Order Annie

Harry Chapin died July 16, 1981, 28 years ago yesterday, in a fiery car crash on the Long Island Expressway.  The official cause of death was cardiac arrest, though it was unclear whether his heart failed him before or after the crash. Whichever happened first, it led to the other.

In life, Harry's heart along with his passion for living and giving, motivated him to do something to make a difference in his world.  Harry earned a substantial amount of money over his career and gave much of it away, with an emphasis on causes related to battling hunger in America.  It was estimated he donated a third of the proceeds from his paid concerts to charitable causes.  The following two paragraphs are directly from Wikipedia.

One report quotes his widow saying soon after his death — "only with slight exaggeration" — that "Harry was supporting 17 relatives, 14 associations, seven foundations and 82 charities. Harry wasn't interested in saving money. He always said, 'Money is for people,' so he gave it away." Despite his success as a musician, he left little money and it was difficult to maintain the causes for which he raised more than $3 million in the last six years of his life. The Harry Chapin Foundation was the result.

Chapin was interred in the Huntington Rural Cemetery, Huntington, New York. His epitaph is taken from his song "I Wonder What Would Happen to this World." It is:

Oh if a man tried

To take his time on Earth

And prove before he died

What one man's life could be worth

I wonder what would happen

to this world

This week's first clip features a very fine solo acoustic performance by Bruce Springsteen at the Carnegie Hall Tribute show in December of 1987 honoring Harry Chapin's life, and includes a great little story about how Bruce met and got to know Harry.

Harry's big hit was 'Cats in the Cradle', a song based on a poem his wife Sandy wrote about her first husband's relationship with his father.   The birth of his son Josh inspired Harry to turn Sandy's poem into a song, and it became his only #1 hit.

Here's Harry at his story-telling best.

Thanks Harry. Happy Friday.