Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

I'm listening to the new LP on spotify; goodness, it's terrific!

Oh man, one of my favorite performances anywhere has made it to YouTube. These versions of "Seeds" and "Born in the U.S.A." are the definitive ones for me, never been better. I think this is one of the first times he played these songs acoustic and live.

Are those performances available officially on DVD anywhere?

For any skeptics out there, please let this video answer the question for you.

I've seen it a hundred times and it still gives me chills.

Prove It All Night - Passaic, NJ 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3vUKBOJ5sU

I came in here to post this picture but after reading all the hate, I had to post what converted me. Anyway, here he is with some other guys:

http://www.brucespringsteen.net/photos/miscphotos/gallery-whitehousedec16.jpg

ok so

i'm watching bruce's "storytellers" right now and like

he's breaking his own songs down like an english professor it's weird and cool

he like sings a line and then does exegesis

"la la laaa la la la la la laaaa....once again, there is an unspoken subtext about the power of rock n roll here. what do the la la las say? they say 'sing with me,' they also say 'stand by me and we will stand together in this'"

^^^^^ actual quote

"did i think of all this before i wrote it? no, of course not, but i felt it as i wrote it. after years of storytelling you internalize the mechanics of your craft and the song itself becomes a second language, and communicating through it becomes second nature"

^^^^^^^ as concise an explanation of how that kinda thing works as anything i've ever heard

Yeah, Springsteen puts a heck of a lot more thought into what he does than many give him credit for. He's a real craftsman. That "Songs" coffee table book is full of illuminating self-analysis.

Haha ok in the credits it just listed after like DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY and shit

INSPIRATION
Ray Davies

brooce probably saw the ray davies storyteller episode, which is worth yr time as well.

i don't actually know any kinks songs tbh

Springsteen puts a heck of a lot more thought into what he does than many give him credit for. He's a real craftsman.

YEP. those who reflexively assume otherwise are not paying nearly enough attention to his interviews, or to the work itself, for that matter.

i bet you would dig 'em hoos

Yeah, Springsteen puts a heck of a lot more thought into what he does than many give him credit for. He's a real craftsman. That "Songs" coffee table book is full of illuminating self-analysis.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, October 7, 2010 1:39 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

really cuz i see him as almost too much of a studied guy really, he seems like he really came out packaged as a concept...i really loved bruce but now i almost see the "wires" too much...as compared to like van morrison who i really can't even comphrehend as a human being or artist...

or maybe a better way to put it is that the whole thing can seem overly labored over

(not that i don't love some of his albums and songs still, tho more and more the ones i love most are the earlier less "mature" ones cuz they seem messier and with more of a real spark of life to them)

yeah, the "craft" element of bruce kind of bugs me too, on occasion. it's like, each song has a "point" and once you get that point, the song loses something. (don't get me wrong, i love the guy, but i don't put him up there with dylan/young, etc.).

and yeah hoos, you should check the kinks out, they are a true joy. here's a suggestion: http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=3524

Haha ok in the credits it just listed after like DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY and shit

INSPIRATION
Ray Davies

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, October 7, 2010 2:53 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

Davies was the inspiration for the whole "Storytellers" series. He did a tour in 1995/96 called, oddly enough, "Ray Davies: Storyteller," and I *think* one such show was shown on VH1.

huh interesting

thx for the link tyler, lookin now

oh, right. so is davies listed on every storytellers episode?
i guess that "making of darkness on the edge of town" doc is on hbo tonight? wish i had hbo.

oh shit is it

I saw that Ray Davies "Storyteller" tour. It was fascinating I thought(I didn't know alot about him)--his tales of growing up and making music with his brother and the solo material he sang.

yeah tonight at 8 central

kind of a terrible poster but
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9xo1kzEKT1qzjvwlo1_400.jpg

Didn't someone suggest that Springsteen never did all this self-analysis of his songs before he met Jon Landau and Dave Marsh? I read that somewhere.

I like that poster. One Bruce goes one way, the other Bruce goes the other way, and this guy's sayin', Whaddya want from me?

xpost i'm sure that having those rock crits whispering in his ear made him think differently about his songwriting.

speaking of da boss did we talk about this?
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/09/28/_MG_87402copy_370x278.jpg
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20017938-10391698.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CBSNewsPCAnswer+(PC+Answer%3A+CBSNews.com)
Bruce Springsteen Makes Cameo in Couple's Engagement Photos

dave marsh always seems like such a creeeep

The doc is great. Lots of Springsteen admitting his control freakery was hard on everyone else, intercut with old home video footage of said control freakery. I watched it while reading the boxset's reproduction of his notebook from the Darkness sessions, so I felt very much immersed in the craft aspect. Lots of lists of potential song titles (some of which sound like someone playing with Springsteen fridge magnets) and to-do lists ("Rent Badlands movie" made me laugh). It supports the comments above about how he's into explaining the mechanics and doesn't have any of the mystery or ambiguity of Dylan or Young but as a long-time Springsteen sceptic (or, as I'm beginning to suspect, just a Clarence Clemons sceptic) who's currently obsessed with Darkness I was happy with that.

haaaa "Rent Badlands movie"

"read Grapes of Wrath"

i'm kinda of a captain-save-a-ghost-of-tom-joad

i heard glory days in CVS yesterday and realized i never want to hear it again

"downbound train" is the jam off of born in the usa

There's something really disarming about how bluntly he channelled his influences. Landau gets him into movie adaptations of Steinbeck, Bruce goes off and writes Adam Raised a Cain, bosh.

"I'm Goin' Down."

"Bobby Jean" gets me every time, for some reason.
Darkness is my favorite album, though.

Springteen's one of those guys who thinks "darkness" denotes seriousness of intention.

i never really got into darkness tbh, will have to watch this doc tonight to see if it clicks for me

"la la laaa la la la la la laaaa....once again, there is an unspoken subtext about the power of rock n roll here. what do the la la las say? they say 'sing with me,' they also say 'stand by me and we will stand together in this'"

i like bruce a lot and i think he's an incredibly thoughtful guy. but i remember seeing this when his storytellers originally aired and thinking he needed an intervention, ideally one that would consist of bob dylan, chuck berry and the surviving members of the cramps running onto the set and beating the crap out of him.

Yes. I'm a huge Springsteen fan (it's hard not to be in NJ) but the Storytellers thing could be his low point, surpassing even his LA studio musician phase. It was tough to watch because Bruce is always likable, but there he comes off as a pretentious gasbag.

darkness is a pretty uneven album, but the high points are indeed high. points, i mean.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9xo1kzEKT1qzjvwlo1_400.jpg

this is like one of those movie posters where, like, christian bale is in the middle looking angsty and the two supporting players are on either side doing what they do. EXCEPT THEY ARE ALL BRUCE.

i think it's helpful to remember bruce's first two albums, esp. the first, where he is clearly struggling to be the next dylan. his more laconic, less wordy writing style that he arrived at later was clearly a deliberate choice. and yes he can be a huge gasbag.

yeah the first two can be borderline goofy but i kinda like the quirkiness and fun of them, they seem more lively

yeah, i like the first two as well but they put the lie to the "brooce-as-salt-of-the-earth" persona.

"la la laaa la la la la la laaaa....once again, there is an unspoken subtext about the power of rock n roll here. what do the la la las say? they say 'sing with me,' they also say 'stand by me and we will stand together in this'"

this reminds me of christgau's review of "born to run":

Just how much American myth can be crammed into one song, or a dozen, about asking your girl to come take a ride? A lot, but not as much as romanticists of the doomed outsider believe. Springsteen needs to learn that operettic pomposity insults the Ronettes and that pseudotragic beautiful-loser fatalism insults us all. And around now I'd better add that the man avoids these quibbles at his best and simply runs them over the rest of the time. If "She's the One" fails the memory of Phil Spector's innocent grandeur, well, the title cut is the fulfillment of everything "Be My Baby" was about and lots more. Springsteen may well turn out to be one of those rare self-conscious primitives who gets away with it. In closing, two comments from my friends the Marcuses. Jenny: "Who does he think he is, Howard Keel?" (That's a put-down.) Greil: "That is as good as `I Think We're Alone Now.'" (That's not.) A

i just noticed that xgau doesn't even write "operatic"--he writes "operretic." ouch.

yeah, the pre-born to run stuff tries REALLY HARD, and kinda fails to be as epic/awesome as bruce wants it to be, but the overall enthusiasm/vibe is pretty charming.

shit like this makes me grin totally:

Wizard imps and sweat sock pimps
Interstellar mongrel nymphs
Rex said that lady left him limp
Love's like that (sure it is)

the way he throws out (sure it is) is pretty dope

btw i heard the manfred mann cover of "blinded by the light" on the radio the other day. that rarely gets revived, but it was a minor hit and was probably the first time a lot of people heard anything by springsteen. funny to think about that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2-GqYkwjTM

actually the station played this and then a live version of the same song by springsteen himself. which is, like, 15 minutes of "blinded by the light." that might be too much.

actually it was a bit more than a minor hit. even though born to run came out two years before the manfred mann single topped the charts, i suspect that more people heard the latter.

despite time and newsweek covers, etc.