Welcome to day 11, and we've got ourselves a weird one. A song from my favorite band? I mean, I could just pick any Springsteen and the E Street Band song and call it a day. But, I'll not phone it in that much:
Here we've got "The E Street Shuffle", from The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle. So, I'm not just picking any song with the E Street Band, I'm picking a song that identifies itself as my favorite band. Impressive? Just 19 more to go.
What's your favorite band that Bruce Springsteen is in? Let us know in the comments.
After a month dedicated to breaking down one of Springsteen's most famous albums, I needed a bit of a breather. With that in mind, I went back to the E Street Band, and dug out the debut album from Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul: Men Without Women. I had some trepidation going into this album: I was disappointed by Clarence's solo album, the promotional music video was incredibly goofy, and, I mean, just look at that cover. Little Stevie looks like a nerdy kid who just moved to a new school and decided to adopt a "tough guy" personality. Plus, the title Men Without Women invokes a feeling that this album will be an angered-fuel tirade against women who have done Steven Van Zandt wrong. In actuality, the title is a Hemingway reference, and the title track talks about how men act foolish without women. But the "Rory was wrong" theme doesn't end with simply the title. My doubt going into the album was immediately erased by the first song.
"Lyin' In A Bed Of Fire" is the perfect song to kick off the album. We are immediately blasted with powerful drums, followed by a catchy guitar riff, and topped off by a blast of the horns section - all within the first 20 seconds. It's sets the template for what to expect from the rest of the album, as the guitar, horns, and percussion create the signature sound of Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul. The lyrics tumble out of Little Steven one after another, reminding me of the Boss in his debut album. The album is full of passionate, catchy, horn-driven rock songs to the point where they do start to blend together a bit. However, Little Steven has frequently credited R&B and soul musicians from the 60s as big influences in his music, and that shines through in several songs, such as "Until The Good Is Gone".
"Until The Good Is Gone" mixes both rock and soul, sounding like a mix of Springsteen's "Factory" and the Temptations' "I Wish It Would Rain". With Springsteen's raspy voice backing up Little Steven in the chorus, this song becomes an instant classic that I would love to see live. "I've Been Waiting", the last track on this album, is another attempt at blending the two genres, but is just too close to "Until The Good Is Gone" to really stand out.
The true gem of this album is "Angel Eyes". Like "Lyin' In A Bed Of Fire", it is another uptempo rocker, but with catchier riff, a fantastic build right before the chorus, simpler lyrics, and backing vocals from Springsteen. It is easily the most memorable song on the album, and one that will stick with you from the first listen.
After the first few listens, the tracks do blend together a bit, as there isn't that much range and experimentation. However, that's to be expected in many albums, especially a debut album. It all depends on how you digest music. If you are listening to the whole album, a song like "Save Me" might get lost in the mix; when pulled individually, you can better appreciate its strong lyrics ("As the things we need get closer, I feel the things we want slipping away.").
I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars, and would highly recommend it to all Springsteen fans. If you are jones-ing for an E Street Band fix, and have been disappointed by the last three albums, go out and give this a listen. The only difficult part is actually finding this album. It is not available for a digital download as far as I can see. I purchased the Men Without Women/Voices of America two-pack (and yes, I plan to review Voices of America some time in the future). However, if you are really cheap and need this album, please reach out to us via Twitter or GMail and we'll try to help you out.
When this blog first began, I considered myself a very passionate and knowledgeable Springsteen fan. However, over two years later, I have absorbed a disturbing amount of Bruce information, including twobiographies, two comicbooks, and countless strange Youtube videos. Recently, after seeing the E Street Band get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I figured it was time to step up my game and learn more about the backing band that created Springsteen's signature sound. Having been amused by Clarence's 80s-tastic video for "You're a Friend of Mine", I decided to dive into the album that spawned it: Hero.
Based solely on the timing of the album's release (November 1985), this album could be easily categorized as a shameless cash grab at the apex of Springsteen-mania. Unfortunately, there's nothing on this album that disproves this hypothesis. The sound here is classic 1980s, as you can hear bits and pieces from the decade's iconic bands throughout the album, such as Duran Duran ("Temptation"), Prince ("Kissin On U"), Journey ("Christina"), and Hall & Oates ("You're a Friend of Mine"). You could easily imagine many of these songs being played during a montage in Beverly Hills Cop or Rocky IV. The lyrics here are very simplistic and literal, lending credence to the thought that this album was hastily put together post-Born In The USA. However, what helps make this manageable is that Clarence is self-aware of the nature of the project, often referring to himself as his "Big Man" persona, describing himself with Boss-esque cartoonish hyperbole.
There isn't too much to say about this album. There are some lyrics and music choices that have aged like milk, but let's be honest: Clarence was not aiming to make Born To Run here. Hero was made for a specific moment in time and for a very niche audience (people who loved Bruce Springsteen and wondered what it would sound like if the saxophonist sang). That being said, there are a few songs that were worth noting, such as his surprisingly effective love ballads like "Cross the Line" and "Christina". Other tracks are fairly strong musically, but are dragged down by surface-deep lyrics. I feel that if Bruce had a once over look "It's Alright With Me Girl", he could have come up with something stronger than: "It's alright with me girl, if you tell me the truth. It's alright with me girl, do what your heart tells you to." However, my main complaints with this album mirror my complaints about Clarence's biography: while it is funny and light-hearted, it ultimately feels phoned in and unsatisfying. I'd rate this a 2 out of 5 stars: if you are an E Street die-hard, feel free to check it out if you are curious, but it is not essential listening.
Last night, I was fortunate enough to make it out to the Barclays Center to witness the legendary E Street Band get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was a ceremony honoring a wide arrange of musicians: from Cat Stevens to KISS, from Hall and Oates to Nirvana. This eclectic group brought with them an equally diverse set of fans to Brooklyn; however, the loudest cheers of the night were easily in favor of the mighty E Street Band.
From the start of the show, over two hours had passed, as several musicians were honored and performed their various hits. Like many award shows, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was plagued by long speeches in between the performances, and, after a medley of Linda Ronstadt songs, the energy in the arena was starting to fade. Then, at roughly 9:30PM, the video tribute to the E Street Band started to play, and the crowd jolted right back up.
Bruce made a short speech honoring the band, summing up how each member joined, what their contributions were, and how each individual's presence made the entire group stronger. Bruce's speech was not marked with his trademark humor (save for a short aside about meeting Clarence); his words were marked with both pride, for the honor being bestowed on his friends, and regret, for the times he had let them down. His main point was that a good band accomplishes things that no individual in the group could have accomplished alone, and the results clearly prove his point (Note: click here to read the entire transcript of Bruce's speech).
What followed were a series of acceptance speeches from all members being inducted: David Sancious, Vini Lopez, Garry Tallent, Roy Bittan, Nils Lofgren, Max Weinberg, Patti Scialfa, Steven Van Zandt, and family members honoring Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons (Federici's son and Clemons's most recent wife). While I believe all the members should get their moment to speak their mind, hearing 11 speeches in a row got tiring, as the audience was itching for the performance to begin. Perhaps the best strategy would have been to do a couple speeches, then play a song to break it up. Sancious, Lopez, and Clemons's wife were perhaps the longest, as they probably do not often get the chance to deliver a speech. Little Stevie kept his short and sweet, and was the most charming of them all (not only does he thank Bruce for getting ridiculously better each year, but he also thanks his wife for doing the same). The speeches conclude roughly 25-30 minutes after the beginning introduction, and it is finally showtime.
The opening number is so obvious that I cannot believe I was surprised by it: "The E Street Shuffle". The band immediately gets into full swing, spotlighted by Vini Lopez and Max Weinberg smiling and playfully battling on the drums. The energy of the band is so strong that Bruce actually seemed exhausted after one song! It was followed up by "The River", which was an odd choice: it is more somber, and doesn't quite feature the E Street Band as much (in fact, the camera stayed mostly on Bruce's face throughout the performance). Personally, I think "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" would have been better for the occasion. However, the band managed to top "The E Street Shuffle" with their final song: "Kitty's Back". Normally, when listening to the album versions, I'd prefer "E Street Shuffle", however, that night, "Kitty's Back" blew me away. I was highly impressed with David Sancious's organ playing, as this was the first time I'd seen him perform with the band. "Kitty's Back" ended up being perfect for the occasion. The band was proving Bruce's thesis, working together perfectly to create a fantastic moment.
The set lasted roughly 20 minutes, and, with that, the E Street Band were officially Hall of Famers. They were immediately followed by Hall and Oates, who had technically difficulties when beginning their set, joking that Bruce has broken all the monitors. Given both the time constraints and the format, the E Street Band did a solid job this night, and hopefully won over some KISS fans in the process.
Loyal readers of this blog must be getting a sense of deja vu. "Didn't you guys already review this book a couple months ago?" Indeed, your memory is not playing tricks on you. However, I received this book as a gift for my birthday shortly (perhaps based on Steve's review), and have just spent the past two weeks plowing through this book. As a loyal reader, you obviously know that Steve and I tackle Springsteen from different angles, so I would be remiss if I didn't add my two cents on this recent biography.
While I am a fan of non-fiction, I find the biography format can often be too formulaic - you go in a straight line from the past to the present, and make sure you make all the appropriate stops along the way. As a Springsteen aficionado, I've already amassed a solid amount of information regarding Bruce's timeline. So, when the book opened up with Doug and Adele meeting, I rolled my eyes and thought I was in for another standard tome. However, once Bruce picked up the guitar, the book, too, got rocking and rolling.
Like Steve pointed out, this book doesn't aim to present Bruce as a mythical being, nor doesn't it purposely try to be iconoclastic. (Sidenote: in rereading my overly-harsh review of Chris Sanford's book, I can't help but think of the two ways the authors presented the infamous fight with Lynn Goldsmith on Bruce's 30th birthday. While both portray it as an embarrassing moment in Bruce's career, Ames presents it in the context of Bruce's timeline, with frustration mounting from intense River recording sessions. Sanford throws it at you in the opening chapter, immediately tainting your view of the incident and of Bruce for the entire book.) This book presents Bruce's triumphs and tragedies in the most human light I've seen in my year of being a Springsteen blogger. While Springsteen's 20s were a roller-coaster unlike anything my friends or I could even imagine, Ames captures Bruce's emotions in an immensely relatable way. As someone who just turned 28, I found myself easily understanding Bruce's thought process and justifications for his antics with his career, friendships, and women.
Another classic moment in the book is Bruce pointing out that Elvis and James Brown seem like superstars who don't have any friends, and vowing never to be like them. Appropriately, this book does a very good job covering the E Street Band. Quotes from Tallent and Weinberg are all over the place, and the madcap personalities of Vini Lopez and Danny Federici are entertainingly presented. However, Clarence Clemons does come off very tragically - the last quote he has before he dies is about not being in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, while Scialfa is barely covered.
Like many other biographies, the book also gets a bit thin when it comes to covering the last 10 years. While Born To Run and Born In The USA will be analyzed for years to come, I can't help but hold a soft-spot in my heart for Bruce's work from 1998 to 2008. This was the period of time where all under-30 Bruce fans found his work, and not much here is dedicated to it - a blink of an eye and you'll miss The Seeger Sessions. But, admittedly, this is a selfish complaint.
Overall, this book is an entertaining guideline to the history of Bruce, and I definitely foresee me going back and consulting it when writing future posts here. I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5, and completely worth reading.
Technically this isn't a Springsteen video but it does feature the E Street Band, along with Darlene Love... and Macaulay Culkin?!
Released in 1992 as part of the Home Alone 2 soundtrack, this is my favorite Christmas pop song of all time. Even though I must have heard it in Home Alone 2, I wasn't aware of it until I heard it in Love Actually and even then, had no idea the E Street Band was involved until I found the music video last year.
When I first discovered the video, it felt like I'd drifted into some eggnog induced haze. The E Street Band intercut with clips from Home Alone 2? Macaulay Culkin sitting atop Clarence Clemons' shoulders? Max Weinberg in what may or may not be a Christmas-themed pajama shit? The fact that this video existed, let alone that it apparently used to be played on VH1, felt like a Christmas miracle in itself.
The most distinctly E Street element is Clarence's powerful saxophone work. But listening closer you can hear Max's fierce drumming around the 2:50 mark. On top of that, it's written by Steve Van Zandt. This incredibly catchy, emotional song is an example of Van Zandt's brilliant grasp of pop music. The following lyrics also feel very E Street to me:
The music plays all night in Little Italy,
The lights will be going up on old Rockefeller's tree
Also featured on the track are Patti Scialfa, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici and the Miami Horns.
Sorry to our faithful readers for this not being up earlier today But better late than never, right? To make up for it here's a double video for this week.
and
This was a great performance for so many reasons. First and foremost, it's Bruce Springsteen. That can never be a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. Secondly, after the whole "Tonight Show" debacle after Johnny Carson retired, and a war broke out between Jay Leno and David Letterman over who got to host, which Letterman lost and had to take his talent over to CBS to have a rival show, Letterman seemed kind of bitter towards show business. But not that night, Letterman is having a blast, riffing with his band, Bruce and The E Street Band, and the audience. He's off the cuff, and truly enjoying himself. Dave has always been a Bruce fan, and treated him well. Something Bruce has shown his appreciation by, by never doing "The Tonight Show" and staying loyal to Letterman. Very admirable. Thirdly, this was the reunion for the E Street Band after Bruce had broken away in the late 1980's. This was Stevie Van Zandnt's first performance in I believe 10 years with the E Street Band. And finally... It's just a damn good performance. Bruce and the band were on that night, and the fans in the Ed Sullivan theater got a great performance out of it. It would take another 4 years before the band would fully reunite and tour together, but this definitely laid the groundwork, and shown them that the world had not forgotten the legendary E Street Band.
This was a strange time for Bruce and Bruce fans. It’s almost as if he was trying too hard to be “Bruce Springsteen”. I know it was the early 90’s and grunge was in, but between the ripped jeans, the incredibly gravely voice, and Bruce playing with a “non E Street Band” band I can’t say I’m a huge fan of this video. Oddly enough, I like “Lucky Town”, one of the few I like from his “Other Band” era, but watching him play it here is just odd.
I came across this video when I was looking for Bruce’s 2002 Saturday Night Live performance with the E Street Band. I believe Matt Damon was the host. But this was all I could find. I did not even know Bruce performed on this show. To my knowledge those were Bruce’s only two SNL performances. However I can confirm that this is Tom Hanks' first, but hopefully not last, appearance on Legends of Springsteen.
Last week I counted down my favorite songs that Bruce re-did acoustically. This week I will be doing the exact opposite and counting down my favorite songs that Bruce did originally did acoustically but now plays a full electic version with the E Street Band.
5. State Trooper-
This particular version is recorded with the Arcade Fire, for all you hipsters out there. Originally on the Nebraska album, I first noticed this song on the season finale of the first season, of the HBO hit show "The Sopranos". I like this song, don’t love it, but it’s definitely worth a listen The song doesn’t change much too much with the E Street Band, just adds a drum beat and an electric guitar with a pretty cool slide effect. That isn’t the case with the other songs on the list. I definitely prefer the original version, the single voice and acoustic guitar definitely give the song a more frantic feeling when it gets to the chorus of “Mr. State Trooper, please don’t stop me.” That is definitely lost with the E Street version, and is probably why Bruce doesn’t play it all that often.
4. Reason to Believe-
Oh hell yeah! This blues-rock version rocks just kicks all kind of ass! Seriously this song was the highlight of the night when I saw Bruce on March 7th, 2008 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY. From the awesome harmonica intro, the pounding drums, to the Doors-esque guitar work this song. Another Nebraska song, Bruce played this pretty regularly in the 80’s(albeit in a much tamer version, see the Live 1975-1985 box set for an example) and on his solo tours. This version of the song was played pretty regularly on the first leg of the Magic Tour, and then got inexplicably cut, and rarely played since. That’s a shame, and something I would love to see changed on this tour.
3. The Ghost of Tom Joad-
This song, minus Tom Morello’s incredibly masterful solo, is very similar to the original acoustic version heard on the album of the same name. It’s almost as if Bruce took the song, turned it up to 11, and it has definitely works as Bruce has played this song with a decent amount of regularity on every tour since it’s release. Named after the main character from John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes Of Wrath”, the song’s lyrics tackle injustice in society. The song was made popular when it was covered by the band Rage Against the Machine (Hence Morello appearing with band on that night, and on multiple other occasions). I personally can’t stand the Rage version, but if it made more people seek out the original then I’m all for it. As excellent as the original version is, I think I prefer the live version as Bruce sounds downright pissed off in it. And the video I included, taken from the 25th anniversary of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden, just might be Bruce’s best performance of the song.
2. Youngstown-
Now this is a song where I prefer the changed version as opposed to the original. Bruce’s 3 folk albums (Nebraska, Ghost of Tom Joad, and Devils & Dust) all have a common theme of struggling working class, even more so than the other albums. “Youngstown” is a song that fits in perfect of on Tom Joad, and does an excellent job of showing the struggles of what happens to factory towns when the factory goes under. But instead of being a song of loss and lament, like on the album, the song turns into a song of bitterness and anger, when performed live with The E Street Band. I love that Bruce still performs the song in this manner to this day. And check out Nils Lofgren’s CRAZY solo at the end. If that doesn’t get you fired up, something’s wrong
1. Atlantic City-
As with most of the lists I do, #1 shouldn’t come as a shock. There’s not much to say about it, just listen for yourself. It’s one of Bruce’s best songs, no matter which version you listen to. Even the completely different version he did with Seeger Sessions Band, is pretty great too. The fact that Bruce plays this song so regularly to this day, in any version, is a testament to what a great song it is. There‘s one story that exemplifies what an incredible song “Atlantic City” is and what emotions it can bring out in you. One time when fellow-blogger Rory and were driving down to Atlantic City, NJ we were listening to Bruce the whole way down. When we hit that last mile of the Atlantic City Expressway, we played the E Street version of “Atlantic City“. We couldn’t help but get excited especially when we heard the song kick in with the full band, with the smell of the ocean air, and the bright lights of the casinos. We were high-fiving each other and singing along in anticipation of a great night in AC. The next day, on the drive home, we played the depressing original acoustic version to commiserate with our hungover, poorer selves as opposed to the night before. Now that’s a powerful song.
“Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last
night now they blew up his house too.
Down on the boardwalk they're getting ready
for a fight gonna see what them racket boys can do”- “Atlantic City”, Nebraska
“Atlantic City” has always been one of my favorite songs. From the emotional studio version, to the rocking electric version he plays with the E Street Band, and even the downright whacky version with the Sessions Band. There’s something about this song that’s always kept it one of my favorites. I even love covers of the song done by The Hold Steady and The Band. You just can't go wrong with whatever version you pick.
But for the longest time I had no idea what those opening lyrics were about. What was a chicken man? And more importantly why would someone want to blow one up? It wasn’t until I was in college that I finally figured it out. I was a Criminal Justice major at Niagara University(Go Purple Eagles!) and took a class on notable cases of the 20th century. And while learning about infamous Philly Mob Boss, Philip Testa, and his involvement in the poultry business. When I went on to read more about him, and how he was killed in a bomb blast, that was ordered by his own underboss, I finally realized what Bruce was singing about!
The mafia references are prevalent throughout the song, and knowing now a little more about the Testa getting whacked, and the 4 year Philadelphia mafia-war that ensued because of it, have made the lyrics that much more meaningful. Not only are there numerous mafia references, but references to death, and the consequences of decisions we make. Something I’m sure Philip Testa would testify too, if he could. Oh well, “Everything dies, that’s a fact.”
