Your Friday Bruce Fix

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, This Hard Land

This week I'm going to play it pretty straight and give a great song plenty of room to breathe. I will say that if I ever decide to torture myself and make my definitive top 10 Bruce songs list, I might have a hard time keeping this one off the list, and it never even made it onto one of his regular releases of new material.

Bruce Springsteen wrote 'This Hard Land' in the early '80s and first recorded it in 1982 as part of the 'Born In The USA' sessions.  It didn't make the cut for that album but the recording ended up on the 'Tracks' box set.  Bruce re-recorded 'This Hard Land' in 1995 for its inclusion on 'Greatest Hits'. 

In the liner notes to the 'Greatest Hits' booklet, Bruce referred to this song as one of the ones that got away, and as featuring one of his favorite final verses.

Hey, Frank, won't you pack your bags
And meet me tonight down at Liberty Hall
Just one kiss from you, my brother
And we'll ride until we fall
Well sleep in the fields
We'll sleep by the rivers
And in the morning we'll make a plan
Well if you can't make it stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can
And meet me in a dream of this hard land

This first performance comes from the Spanish television program 'Musica Si', recorded in Madrid on December 14, 1998. Hard not to like the introduction!

This full band performance was recorded at Sony Studios in New York City on April 5, 1995 for a television broadcast seen around the world.

Happy Friday!

 

Bruce Springsteen, Jersey Girl, Tom Waits, The Piano Has Been Drinking, Tom Traubert's Blues

A few weeks back, on March 14th to be precise, Tom Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I should have marked the occasion at that time though a Friday Bruce Fix, but over the last three Fridays I allowed myself to be distracted by St. Patrick's Day, the word that Bruce's next release may be a solo album, followed by a little April Fools prank. :)

So, better late than never, let's pay a bit of a tribute to Tom Waits. The link between Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits for most people goes straight to Bruce's live covers of Tom's 'Jersey Girl'.  I have to confess that the first time I heard it, I think from a bootleg, I thought it was Bruce's song. He started playing it on the River tour and a recording from that tour from the Meadowlands in New Jersey in 1981 would eventually be released as the "B" side to 'Cover Me' in 1984, and then on the "Live 1975-1985" box set, in 1986.

Here's a more recent recording, through a pretty good quality video shot by someone standing down in the pit.  Bruce chose it as the final song at the final show at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, before they brought on that wrecking ball and knocked it down.

There's good news and bad news about this next version of 'Jersey Girl'.  The bad news is that there's no video.  The good news is that this one is a Bruce and Tom Waits duet!  I believe this is from Bruce’s August 24, 1981 appearance at the LA Sports Arena.  When Bruce introduced the song, he apparently said something like “when I first heard this song, I couldn’t believe I didn’t write it.”

Finally, I can't let this fix finish without a classic piece of video from the mid '70s when Tom Waits dropped by the set of 'Fernwood Tonight', hosted by Martin Mull and Fred Willard.

I decided I needed more of a Tom fix.  Here's his classic 'Tom Traubert's Blues'.

Congratulations, Tom and Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Whip My Hair, Because The Night, Save My Love, Jimmy Fallon

This past Tuesday, November 16th, marked two events that I'll cover briefly in words and let the clips tell the story.  During the day, the long awaited 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' box set finally hit the store shelves.  Later that day, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt and Roy Bittan appeared on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'.

I thought it might be good idea to put all these clips together in one fix for all to view, this week, or sometime in the future, at least until those clips get removed!  Here you go, in the order in which I think things transpired.

 

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road

If you've followed the Friday Bruce Fix for any length of time, you know that I like to dig up rare and obscure clips to share with you.  When I can, I also like to share whatever background or inside stories I can find that hopefully help give you a little extra enjoyment. 

Then there are weeks like this one, when all I really want to do is take a great song, and serve it up to you in a few different renditions, and just let the great song speak for itself.  This time around, it's 'Thunder Road'.

Let's launch this little 'Thunder Road' festival with an acoustic version from October of 2004 and the Vote For Change tour in the run up to the US Presidential Elections.

Here is a beautiful version from the 'Born to Run' tour stop in Los Angeles in October of 1975, at The Roxy, with Roy Bittan on piano supporting Bruce's vocal and harmonica. 

For this great duet performance, Bruce joined Melissa Etheridge as a surprise guest during her MTV Unplugged episode on February 15, 1995.

 

 

 

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, One Way Street, Preacher's Daughter

I suppose I do go on about the much anticipated 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' box set, which seems slated for a pre-Christmas release, but I just can't help myself.  I'm quite excited to see Thom Zimny's film on the making of that great album.  The buzz around it continues to build ahead of its world premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, and its television premiere on HBO in October. 

I love the idea of going behind the curtain and getting a look at the creative and collaborative process involved in turning one of Bruce Springsteen's visions for a song into a great recording.  I expect it will stand up well to repeated viewings over the years and I hope we'll see how some songs evolved to become the recordings we know so well.

The other element that excites me is the possibility of finally obtaining high quality recordings of long ago discarded tracks that didn't make it onto 'Darkness', or 'Tracks', or '18 Tracks', or 'Essentials'.  From what I've read, it seems that the upcoming box set will include a disc of previously unreleased songs culled from the 'Darkness' recording sessions.  Bruce didn't call to discuss with me which songs to include on that disc, so I thought I'd speak to him through this blog, as we know he is an avid reader (as are Steve and Clarence, of course...).

I'm suggesting two songs that I haven't yet featured on Your Friday Bruce Fix.  The first is called 'One Way Street', which he recorded in June of 1977.  This recording sounds as though it may have been a first take and as such is a bit loose.  Perhaps a more complete recording was made later.

The second is called 'Preacher's Daughter'.  Musically, it has some elements that remind me of 'She's the One', and apparently Bruce occasionally worked bits of 'Preacher's Daughter' into his live performances of 'She's the One' during the 'Darkness' tour.  Some of the lyrics would later evolve into 'Ramrod'.

For two other 'Darkness' outtakes that I think Bruce should include on this disc, check out my January 29, 2010 post.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Trapped, Jimmy Cliff

The week's heat wave in Canada's east and the northeastern USA brings with it inspiration for Your Friday Bruce Fix in the form of a little reggae.

Even brilliant and prolific songwriters like Bruce Springsteen enjoy covering songs written by other artists, sometimes to great effect.  The best covers are often not note for note covers but are instead interpretations, and very best can become something new. 

The first time I heard Bruce's interpretation of reggae artist Jimmy Cliff's 'Trapped' I thought "Well, Bruce has done it again, another brilliant original composition.  How does he do it??!!"  Given his songwriting track record, I suppose my reaction was understandable, although I would later learn that I was wrong.

On June 29th, 1985, in Paris while on the European leg of the massive Born in the USA tour, Bruce and the E Street Band delivered this fine performance of 'Trapped'.

Now, for comparison's sake, here's Jimmy Cliff's performance of 'Trapped' on 'Late Night with David Letterman'.  A little different, don't you think?  I'd like to see Bruce try on some of Jimmy's moves next time he covers 'Trapped'.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Pretty Flamingo, Factory, Paul Jones, Manfred Mann, Come Tomorrow

One of Bruce Springsteen's many early influences was Paul Jones.  In 1962, Paul was one of the vocalists featured in the rotating lineup of musicians in Alexis Korner's band Blues Incorporated.  You may have heard of some of the other vocalists such as Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart and some guy named Mick Jagger.  I guess Alexis had a pretty fine ear for vocal talent.  

Paul went on to become the "One In The Middle" handling lead vocals for Manfred Mann on his early albums and on most of the Manfreds' big hits.  Paul left to pursue a solo career, which was followed by some acting work.  I caught his "Blues Band" in a club in Montreal in the early '80s and he was still sounding great.  A friend tells me Paul is now doing a fine job on BBC Radio 2 with his rhythm & blues program.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006wrpd  

One of the Manfred Mann tunes that Bruce loved was 'Pretty Flamingo'.  He covered this song in concert with some regularity on the 'Born to Run' tour and occasionally on the 'Darkness' tour.  It has made a few rare appearances since.  It's definitely a favourite of mine and I love the story Bruce told in this performance from October 17, 1975 at The Roxy in Los Angeles.

With all this talk about Paul Jones, I thought I should include some for comparison.  Here are two for you.  First, the original Manfred Mann recording of 'Pretty Flamingo', followed by a great lip synched performance of 'Come Tomorrow' by Paul, despite the obviously annoying attempts to distract him.

Finally, back to Bruce with a one of his vocal performances that I think has a little Paul Jones in it, a live version of 'Factory' from the 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' tour.  Apparently, Bruce wrote this one in a mere 20 minutes. I'd love to hear any thoughts about other Bruce vocals you feel may have been influenced by Paul Jones.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, Crush On You, San Franciscan Nights

After featuring an underrated song from 'The River' last week, I thought I'd feature an underplayed song from the same album.  'Crush on You' doesn't generally get a lot of respect.  'The River' was a double album for which Bruce Springsteen recorded around 50 songs written during what was arguably his most fertile and productive period.  That 'Crush On You' made the cut to be on 'The River' is sometimes a subject of debate. 

With any double album, you can wonder how great a single album of the very best tracks might have been.  In Bruce's case, with 50 songs to choose from, we can wonder how that double album might have sounded had a few of the songs that didn't make the cut been kept in favour of some that did.  In any such discussion, 'Crush on You' is almost guaranteed to be nominated as one that might have been dropped.  I seem to recall reading a quote from Bruce himself stating something to the effect that 'Crush on You' was one of his weakest songs.

Well, I would be happy to claim this mindless, straight-ahead, garage rocking tune as one of my own.  Sure, it's not terribly sophisticated (maybe not at all) and it's not jammed with clever, mind blowing lyrics, and it really doesn't do all that much exceptionally well, except that it rocks.   'Crush on You' has fun, and is fun.  Watch Bruce's performances from the River tour.  He was out there having fun. These are both from late 1980, first in November from Landover, Maryland, and second in December from Providence, Rhode Island.

Check out the 'Dragnet' intro, which Eric Burdon borrowed from to introduce 'San Franciscan Nights'.

OK, you forced me into it.  Here's Eric Burdon and The Animals, with 'San Franciscan Nights'.

OK, you forced me into it, here's a Dragnet intro for you.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Springsteen, London Calling, Born To Run

Two things happened recently that, while quite independent of each other, converged quite nicely to bring me to this week's theme for Your Friday Bruce Fix.  Firstly, Columbia Records announced that on June 22nd it will be releasing a new Bruce Springsteen concert DVD.  No, it's not the much anticipated Darkness on the Edge of Town box set, which I may have mentioned once or twice in previous posts.  The new release will be a full length concert film in HD on Blu-Ray and DVD called 'London Calling:  Live in Hyde Park'. 

The second item is the fact that I finally got to watch Bruce's appearance on 'Spectacle: Elvis Costello with.....' as over the last two weekends it was finally brodcast here on a channel I could access.  How do these two things converge? Allow me to explain.

At some point during Bruce's chat with Elvis, they spoke briefly about the time they appeared on stage together during the 2003 Grammy Awards, on February 23rd at Madison Square Gardens.  Bruce and Elvis were joined by Steve Van Zandt and the Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters.  Their scorching version of 'London Calling' was in tribute to Joe Strummer who had died shortly before, on December 22, 2002.

Fast forward six years and a few months to June 28, 2009.  Bruce and his E Street Band were appearing in London at the Hard Rock Calling Festival.  With his usual sense of occassion, and rising to meet the energy of the 50,000 gathered in Hyde Park, Bruce and the band took to the stage and stormed out of the gates with a fine cover of 'London Calling'.  Note a very determined looking Bruce sinking his teeth into this one.

That should give you a very good sense of what to expect from this concert film, but just in case you need another taste, 20 songs and maybe 2 hours later, here's a tune you may know called 'Born to Run'. 

By the way, I'm thinking with this concert film coming out in June, we won't also be seeing the Darkness box set that I and others have speculated we'd see on June 2nd, the anniversary of the original release date in 1978.  I think we're now looking at the Darkness box set under a lot of Christmas trees in December.  No, I'm not upset....  grrrrrr

Happy Friday!   grrrrr...