Under the Influence - Bruce Springsteen!

The music world has been rocked by recent "rip-off" scandals, such as Sam Smith/Tom Petty, Robin Thicke/Marvin Gaye, and (after 30 years) Guns N Roses/Australian Crawl.  We here at Legends of Springsteen have previously chided artists for trying their best at aping Springsteen, too.  However, it is in this author's personal opinion that we shouldn't judge music "rip-offs" that harshly, as artists generally wear their influences on their sleeves.

So, today, instead of spotlighting an artist that Springsteen has influenced, we'll spotlight a few artists that have influenced the Boss.  There are obvious ones like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, but this time, we'll take a look at some Springsteen songs that sound suspiciously like previous hits.  First up, let's take a look at some classics from Born To Run.

Bo Diddley Beat / "She's The One"





In "She's The One", Bruce uses the classic Bo Diddley beat.  This beat has been used in a ton of pop songs, but the ones I hear the most with just the beat are Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and George Michael's "Faith".  It's an iconic beat, so it's no shame in Bruce stealing from the best (you can also sorta hear this beat on "High Hopes" as well).

"Tiny Dancer" / "Jungleland"





Specifically, we are talking about the piano introductions on both songs.  I guess I kinda see this one, but it is fleeting.  The songs are just four years apart, so I'll leave it up to you to make the call.

"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" / "Badlands"



The video above is just a small excerpt from Bruce's 2012 keynote speech at SXSW.  The first five minutes is dedicated to his love of The Animals, pointing exactly how they inspired him.  At the end of the video, however, Bruce clearly illustrates how "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" directly influenced "Badlands".  As Bruce says at the end, "Listen up youngsters!  This is how successful theft is accomplished!"

Now, you may be saying, "Hey goober, all these examples are from Bruce's early career!  Of course a young artist is going to rely a lot on his influences."  Fairly noted.  So, let's take a look at some examples from later on down the line.

"867-5309 (Jenny)" / "Radio Nowhere"



Hard to argue with this one - it's one of the more blatant offenders I've heard in the last ten years.  But kudos to Mr. Tutone for letting it go and not lawyer-ing it up.

"I Was Made For Lovin' You" / "Outlaw Pete"



We here at Legends of Springsteen are no fans of "Outlaw Pete", which has come up with a disturbing amount of frequency on this blog.  However, we have previously noted that KISS has taken from the Boss, so turnabout is fair play, I say.

"Small Town" / "Just Like Fire Would"





Ok, let's see if you can follow this one.  You have Bruce Springsteen, who inspired John Mellencamp.  Then, years later, Bruce Springsteen is inspired by a punk band called The Saints.  He covers the band, using an arrangement similar to John Mellencamp.  Can you really rip someone off who has been ripping you off?  Like the KISS example above, turnabout is still fair play.

So, there we have it.  In this humble author's opinion, I believe we need to relax whenever one song sounds somewhat similar to another song.  Often in these scenarios, people like to get on a very high horse.  Sometimes they'll criticize a particular artist mainly because they have an axe to grind against them (which happened a lot with Lady Gaga's "Born This Way").  More often, I've seen this old chestnut - "There's no original music anymore!"  Well, next time you hear some fuddy-duddy complaining about originality in music, please direct them to this post.  As you can see, every artist is guilty of being, let's say, "overly-inspired" by their predecessors.

Ain't No One Can Fake It - Best of the Bruce Rip-Offs

When a musician breaks through, the money starts piling in.  And, as in any industry, once people start to see there is money to be made, they all start thinking "How can I get me a piece of that?"  So, they examine the successful musician, and see how they can replicate that formula.

This may sound cynical, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing.  For example, the success of The Beatles led to the "British Invasion", which paved the way for acts like The Rolling Stones and The Who to find their audiences.  As the saying goes, a rising tide floats all boats.  However, The Beatles phenomenon also created The Monkees, a campy cash grab assembled for the sole purpose of getting in on the scene.  

So, with the appropriate amount of respect a minor blog can offer these rich musicians, I'm going to take a look at some of the Springsteen-inspired knock-offs throughout the years.

John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band - Specifically, the above hit "On The Dark Side", which was written for the movie Eddie and the Cruisers.  Yes, the band is from New Jersey in the movie.  Yes, the band has a charming black saxophonist.   Yes, you are seeing the word "Spring" over Tom Berenger's head as he lip-syncs this song.  It is a catchy song, but clearly borrows a lot from "She's the One".

John Mellencamp - Before writing this entry, I tossed out the idea to the other Legends of Springsteen editors, to get their opinion on other artists who rip-off the Boss.  OB immediately responded, "Anything and everything John Mellencamp has said or done."  Fair enough.  Personally, I don't see him as a total Springsteen copycat, but rather as an exaggeration of one specific aspect of Springsteen's personality.  It is like someone took Springsteen and dialed up his working man roots to 11, and then removed the rest of the politics, anger, and sadness.  

Bon Jovi's "Joey" - Another suggestion from editor OB.  While a lot of people associate Bruce and Bon Jovi due to their Jersey roots, they don't really share many similarities artistically.  However, this song owes a lot to the Born to Run album, as the piano sounds like a mix between "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland". 

The Killer's Sam's Town album - More and more young artists are getting influenced by the Boss.  Springsteen's name has been frequently dropped in interviews with Brian Fallon of Gaslight Anthem and Win Butler of Arcade Fire.  However, there's a fine line between drawing inspiration from and going out of your way to mimic your heroes.  In the Killer's sophomore effort, Brandon Flowers did his best Bruce impersonation, telling stories about rivers and being wild.  I highly enjoy the album, but do often wonder what it would be like to hear the E Street Band play some of the songs.

Let us know what other artists you think owe a bit of their paychecks to the Boss in the comments!