Bruce Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and humanitarian. He is best known for his work with his E Street Band. Nicknamed “The Boss”, Springsteen is widely known for his brand of poetic lyrics, Americana working class, sometimes political sentiments centered on his native New Jersey, and his lengthy and energetic stage performances, with concerts from the 1970’s to the present decade running over three hours in length. Springsteen’s recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more somber folk-oriented works. He has sold more than 64 million albums in the United States (making him the fifteenth highest selling artist of all-time) and more than 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. (More from Wikipedia)
When Link Wray died in 2005, both Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen played “Rumble” live in tribute.
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As it happens, I have a live album by Link Wray from the same time period as the original Link Protrudi and the Jaymen, called Live in ’85. It is a little sad to hear all of the chatter by the audience in the background, and seeing him having to resort to covering Bruce Springsteen (“Fire”) and Steppenwolf (“Born to be Wild”).
(February 2013)
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In 1978, Bruce Springsteen told Dave Marsh in an interview published in Rolling Stone: “I play Buddy Holly every night before I go on; that keeps me honest.”
(June 20131/1)
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While recording their third and most successful album, Easter, Patti Smith Group encountered Bruce Springsteen who was recording his fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town in the adjoining studio. The Boss had recorded “Because the Night” but was unsatisfied with it and did not include it on the album. Jimmy Iovine was the producer and engineer on both albums; he passed along a copy of the tape of the song to Patti Smith, who recast the song and included it on her album. The first performance of “Because the Night” was at a Patti Smith Group concert on December 30, 1977 at New York’s CBGB club, with Bruce Springsteen joining in on guitar and vocals. Bruce and Patti share songwriting credits on “Because the Night”, which is probably Patti Smith’s best known song. Easter also includes several songs about Patti Smith’s feelings on organized religion; and her debut album, Horses includes her version of Van Morrison’s “Gloria” that had the spoken-word introduction, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine”.
(February 2014)
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The best-known and probably best album by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band is The Roaring Silence (1976); the Wikipedia article comments: “Like other Earth Band albums, this includes material by other composers. ‘Blinded by the Light’, which reached Number One in Billboard’s Hot 100, is a cover version of a track by Bruce Springsteen; ‘Questions’ is based on the main theme of Franz Schubert’s Impromptu in G Flat Major; [and] ‘Starbird’ takes its theme from Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird.”
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When Bruce Springsteen was putting together his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973), Columbia Records President Clive Davis said that the album needed a hit single. In response, Bruce wrote “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night”; the two songs, particularly “Blinded by the Light” feature a host of characters and cryptic lyrics whose meaning is hard to follow.
Quoting Bruce Springsteen about “Blinded by the Light” in Wikipedia (it is not hard to understand how these meanings would escape nearly all listeners): “According to Springsteen, the song came about from going through a rhyming dictionary and looking for rhymes. The first line of the song, ‘Madman drummers, bummers, and Indians in the summers with a teenage diplomat’ is autobiographical – ‘Madman drummers’ is a reference to drummer Vini Lopez, known as ‘Mad Man’ (later changed to ‘Mad Dog’); ‘Indians in the summers’ refers to the name of Springsteen’s old Little League team; ‘teenage diplomat’ refers to himself. The remainder of the song tells of many unrelated events, with the refrain of ‘Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night’.”
(June 2014)
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Major and minor artists alike often have spiritually themed songs or overtly Christian songs on their albums. The first cut on Simon and Garfunkel’s debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. is a gospel song called “You Can Tell the World” that was written by Gibson & Camp (Bob Gibson and Bob Camp – later known as Hamilton Camp). Peter, Paul and Mary had numerous gospel songs on their albums, including “This Train” on their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary. Also on this album, under the name “If I Had My Way”, is a traditional song also called “Samson and Delilah” that is based on the Biblical account. Many other rock musicians have recorded this song, notably the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Ike and Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, and Garbage front woman Shirley Manson.
(July 2014)
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Wikipedia states: “Such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Jay Farrar, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, Bob Childers, and Tom Paxton have acknowledged [Woody] Guthrie as a major influence.”
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As to the stance that Phil Gammage takes on Cry of the City, other rockers have taken this tack, but it usually doesn’t sound that bad. In Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days”, ballplayers and good lookers from schoolboy days are mentioned; in Phil Gammage’s “The Glory Years”, he is talking about happier times in an oil town that has gone bust. (To be sure, Springsteen has talked about hard times in many of his other songs).
(March 2015)
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