Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

I wouldn't want a 1992 LP without 'Man's Job' - which includes one of my favourite of his instrumental breaks.

For sure 'Sad Eyes' is superb, but I don't know the background of TRACKS material enough to say which of it should go on which LP / period.

I wouldn't want THE PROMISE without 'Breakaway' or indeed the hidden 'The Way'.

He seems like a good bloke, and I really enjoyed his autobiography, lots of things to take away there.

Didn't make me want to dash out and buy any of his records though.

I used to say I never owned any Bruce, but thanks to Discogs logging, I find he's on one of the NME cassettes doing 'Viva las vegas', and I admit I was tempted by his version of "Dream baby dream" on 10” but the price was/is ridiculous.

It's also on the High Hopes album.

But then you have the High Hopes album, which is quite a burden.

His cover of that song is not that good anyway. Feel like I recently revived another thread about this.

Oh, here: Covers of Elvis Presley tunes

FWIW, IIRC the "Dream Baby Dream" 10" single uses a live performance from his 2005 tour that hasn't been officially released elsewhere (not even on nugs.net)

I have a couple of his 2005 shows from nugs and his performance of that song was pretty consistent night after night, so I never felt the need to buy it elsewhere.

High Hopes is disposable, but it does have a couple of tracks I really like: "Hunter of Invisible Game" and "The Wall"

"41 Shots" is a great song, but you're better off with the live version from 1999, either on record/CD or DVD.

Bruce Springsteen's cover of "Dream Baby Dream" reminds me of this bit in The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt:

I would say But he is like a man who plays Yesterday on the piano with Brahmsian amplitude & lushness and so casually kicks aside the very thing which is the essence of the song he is like the Percy Faith Orchestra playing Satisfaction

I've gone back to ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps8s-wQStgU

That was really really good.

Bruce Springsteen paid a visit to Shane MacGowan ahead of the E Street Band's shows in Dublin this week.

Credit: @victoriamary pic.twitter.com/OzyKYHaI3M

— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) May 3, 2023

Bruce Springsteen holds court at Irish town pub, leads patrons in song: https://t.co/7ZqmQxI4Iv pic.twitter.com/BSzczfFuhQ

— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) May 4, 2023

The Darkness Tour '78 , a selection of 20 tracks from previously released full shows:

https://open.spotify.com/album/09rNh6weVS43LVc4sRt5WV

https://brucespringsteen.net/news/2023/celebrating-45-years-of-darkness/

I return to LETTER TO YOU, having been disappointed by it.

I actually enjoy it. I'm liking how often it does a thing I like which is "guitar solo plays the melody". And I'm at last just hearing much of it as "pastiche of the E Street Band".

Just this week I noticed how many live albums, singles, and all sorts of stuff Spotify (and everywhere else) has for Springsteen.

Really enjoyed this solo electric-piano “Tunnel of Love”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92yhQNYpMCw

I continue to play LETTER TO YOU, and to be somewhat confounded by it.

The oddest thing about it is the way that fairly standard new material is mixed with revived old material. The sound is similar, but the lyrical approach is patently different. The older songs might actually be better, but the LP lacks coherence as a result.

>>> It features three tracks originally written prior to Springsteen's 1973 debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N. J.: "If I Was the Priest," "Janey Needs a Shooter" and "Song for Orphans." Springsteen came across earlier recordings of these songs with John Hammond while assembling a compilation album.

All 3 of these old songs are quite puzzling to me. I cannot quite understand what these lines mean:

'Janey needs a shooter now'
'If Jesus was the sherriff and I were the priest'
'The Confederacy's in my name now, the hounds are held at bay'

which are in their choruses. I think I see that the first might mean 'Janey, a vulnerable woman, needs me, a man with a gun, to kill these 3 other bad men who harass her' - though 'shooter' is still an odd way to put that.

Reading on wiki that the LP was recorded live in studio surprises me. It does not sound to me more organic, more live, less processed or compressed than his other work; on the contrary.

The new songs I still find to be of mixed quality. The title track is among the better ones.

Fwiw I think Bruce has admitted "Priest" is gibberish.

I can believe the album was recorded more or less "live," but Ron Aniello still sucks.

If Springsteen gets someone else to produce, who would be right for him? It's hard for me to say because he had such a long and fruitful relationship with a producer who was an anomaly. I can picture producers who could create a sound that would be great for his next record, but that's more on the engineering side - who would be a great fit in terms of picking, re-shaping and editing the material?

He produced the Seeger Sessions himself, and it sounds great. He needs someone either pretty hands-off, or someone who can trick him into thinking he is hands-off. I don't think it's that complicated. Literally anyone would say yes. Maybe not Dylan, but Dylan too has been doing a great job producing himself for the last couple decades.

Maybe a country ish guy, like Dave Cobb, or Frank Liddell?

xp That's interesting because Landau definitely was not hands off, and his role was kind of what I had in mind when I qualified my question with the remark about "the engineering side." IIRC engineers had more sway with the sound of Springsteen's records (e.g. Jimmy Iovine on Darkness when he made them spend two whole days on the drum sound alone, a practice Iovine was notorious for on his own productions). Probably for the better because after the MC5's Back in the USA was universally criticized for its thin mix, Landau probably realized that wasn't something he did well. Landau locked horns with Springsteen on other issues and I remember him saying he was able to do that because once he became Springsteen's producer, he rarely produced anyone else - there wasn't another record for him, or as he put it to Springsteen, "this is MY life too" or "this is all I have to show for the last 2-3 years of my life" so he really pushed when he thought Springsteen should do something a certain way.

Jason Isbell's too much of an established artist to take the job, but I could see him being great.

That reminds me, one thing O'Brien wanted to do was pare down The Rising because he thought it was too long and didn't think all 15 songs should've been on the album, but Springsteen said he wanted the sprawl and O'Brien conceded to that point. I also remember Springsteen making the point that back in the day, Landau would never let him put a "pop" song like "Waiting on a Sunny Day" on an album.

If we’re looking for someone who can get the sound of guys playing in a room and record it really well, the answer is Albini. If Bruce wants and editor and someone to hold his hand, then maybe not. The Seeger sessions is probably the best sounding album he’s made since Tunnel of Love (which had a dated production that somehow works really well).

Who actually produces Dylan’s stuff these days? I know it says Jack Frost (Dylan), but I doubt he’s actually twiddling the knobs. But that’s the sound Springsteen needs. Brendan O’brien suuuuuuuuuucks and puts Bruce at a distance from the listener. I hate his dramatic echo shit that he busts out periodically.

But O’brien was right about the Rising. It’s too long. A shorter album with a follow-up ep would have been sweet.

Albini would be an absolutely terrible fit.

xxp Dylan's engineer Chris Shaw pretty much handles all the sound - Dylan handles everything that isn't technical.

What do you think is bad about the production of LETTER TO YOU?

T-Bone Burnett

Sylvia Massey producing Springsteen could create a miracle. Hell, get Dave Jerden in

Kinda surprised (and relieved) he hasn’t hit up Rick Rubin yet.

xpost

I would if I needed to but Sylvia Massy don’t miss https://t.co/GxG3rxZNRn

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) June 12, 2023

I always thought Richard Hawley eoulbeen a good fit, especially for the high and lonesome ’Western Stars’ type of material.

The answer's hiding in plain sight – Roy Bittan, who together with Steve Earle sprinkled magic dust on Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

At this point I'm tempted to say any producer other than the ones he's been choosing would be better, but also at this point I think it's too late for Bruce to change direction. I mean, he could get practically anybody he wanted, many of whom would probably work for free, so the fact that he hasn't indicates he just won't.

The follow-up to Tracks is supposedly coming this fall, according to an article in Uncut magazine.

the final paragraph here on the Tracks wikipedia page also teases possible complete unreleased albums maybe

I think this is the exact quote in Uncut? (still reading, it's a long article)

"He's been dropping hints that later this year he'll release a massive compilation of five unreleased albums he recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s."

I'm torn between being excited about Tracks II and wondering why he seems to have decided against releasing anything from the Born in the USA era.

I ended up going to Hamburg to see Springsteen there - well, mostly to visit Hamburg and then see friends in Paris and Rouen, but I had this ticket for Springsteen and thought why not?

It ended up being a great decision! He was much better than he was in Seattle in February, for one thing; it was all still the same scripted show, with a few ad libs, but he seemed to have relaxed into it, and he was feeding off the energy of the Hamburg audience, which was bigger and more joyful than the Seattle audience. His voice even sounded stronger. And I thought it was strong in Seattle, apart from some creaky moments on the songs from Letter to You, but here he sounded great all through. The middle-aged German woman next to me was losing her mind with excitement - except when he started "Nightshift" and she was like, "This is a great song but not the way he does it," and went off to get a beer.

I learned that German audiences go nuts for "The River" - that was the moment when everyone who was still sitting got to their feet - and Springsteen rewarded their faith by doing some really gorgeous wordless "oooh-oooh-oooh" crooning at the very end - the kind of thing he can only sometimes pull off depending on how strong his voice is on a given night. Here he sounded wonderful.

The thing that made me feel insanely lucky, though, was that he played "Darlington County" followed directly by "Working on the Highway." Neither is on his standard setlist, as far as I know, and "Working on the Highway" wasn't even planned for that night; it was supposed to be "My Hometown." Given how much time I've spent on here talking about the structure of Born in the USA and the way it's made up of pairs like a DNA helix, to get one of those pairs together in a show felt like an amazing gift just for me.

It was a much shorter show than the one in Seattle, so I was glad I hadn't missed the Seattle show - there we got Rosalita during the encore, and I was sad for the Germans that he left that one off. But here we got "Bobby Jean," which was wonderful. Overall it was a big night for Born in the USA.

I will never stop being amazed by the miracle that transforms songs you are only kind of okay with into a song that you absolutely love at the moment he's playing it. I've always found "The Rising" sort of overcooked, and when I hear it on the album I start thinking grumbly thoughts about how the Kipling poem "Gethsemane" does the same thing but sparer and better. But let Springsteen play it in concert and I turn into a Yvonne in Casablanca when the Marseillaise is playing.

It helped that I had a much better seat here than in Seattle; there I could barely afford the most distant nosebleed seat; here, it was much cheaper and my seat was not only better but actually good. And overall it was just an amazing energy - walking to the concert from my hostel fifteen minutes away in this massive stream of people moving like a zombie horde toward the stadium, hanging out outside the stadium before the concert eating a cheap bratwurst and drinking expensive water while "My Hometown" blasted over the speakers, and then walking back in the same stream of people at the end.

My hostel, chosen for proximity to the arena, was so awful that I got literally zero sleep that night, and I had to get up at 4:45 in the morning anyway because the only way I could get out of Hamburg was to take the 5:45 train to Köln. And now I'm in Paris with a migraine, and I might be sick? But the concert was amazing.

Setlist differences: More than I expected! I had been prepared for it to be exactly the same, but the Seattle show had "Trapped,""Burnin' Train," "Candy's Room," "The E. Street Shuffle," "Johnny 99," and "Rosalita," while this show had "Darlington County," "Workin' on the Highway," "Bobby Jean," "The River," "Nightshift," and "Mary's Place." Looking at it now, that adds up to a lot of songs! So glad I got to see both shows.

*"I turn into Yvonne in Casablanca," I meant to say - not "a Yvonne," although I supposed that works too.

I wish I'd known about Bruce Springsteen's UK concerts, and been able to attend one. I only find out about things after they happen.

Lily: I enjoy 'working on the highway' a lot, can't take 'darlington county' very seriously. What did you get out of hearing them together?

I'm not really a fan - admire more than love his work, with a few exceptions - but a friend messaged me a few days before the Saturday Hyde Park concert & said he had a spare & did I want it (no cost) & I thought I'd be an idiot not to. Didn't know 3/4 of the songs, felt a bit of a fraud pressed among the real fans but it was amazing, completely sucked me in and I am largely converted (tho going back to his albums afterwards I'm still a little disengaged, like I struggle to keep my attention switched on through any of them really. He seems to be a small doses artist for me).

I will never stop being amazed by the miracle that transforms songs you are only kind of okay with into a song that you absolutely love at the moment he's playing it.

From the perspective of a casual, otm. I would have said I didn't like GLory Days. Now I love Glory Days.

Love conversation stories like yours!

at

My text messages to a friend literally go from "all these songs are the same song and everybody knows all the words. Luckily, I am high" about an hour in to "i love it i love all of it" about an hour later.

oh I should also say thank you to the Springsteen crew on here - over the years various threads (the poll especially) made me appreciate him more and then in the couple of days before the gig reading through ilx chat about him gave me context/pointers/places to start. So much thoughtful and loving discussion!

I enjoy 'working on the highway' a lot, can't take 'darlington county' very seriously. What did you get out of hearing them together?

Good question! Neither of them is exactly one of my favorite Bruce songs, though I like them both and I love "Child Bride," the song on the Nebraska tape that turned into "Working on the Highway." I think it has to do with a few things:

1. I love "Born in the USA," but a lot of it is made up of huge hits that it's no surprise to hear in concert. "Working on the Highway" and "Darlington County" are both (to the extent that anything on BitUSA can be minor) more minor songs off it, so hearing them back to back feels like getting a tiny snippet of the Born in the USA tour.

2. They're a pair, and one of the things I think is very cool about BitUSA is the way at least half the songs on it come in pairs: these two songs, then the Nebraska songs "Downbound Train" and "I'm on Fire," then "No Surrender" and "Bobby Jean." Almost everything on Born in the USA is wearing some kind of disguise, but these two have roughly the same disguise: they're both songs from the POV of men who are absolutely not succeeding at life, but who are presenting - maybe even seeing - their lives as a fun-times workin' man's anthem.

You've got Darlington County, which initially sets itself up as a story about a road trip from the POV of someone who doesn't actually know how to tell a story, so it's already sort of intentionally boring in a way I find funny, maybe because I've read so many boring personal essays by college students who went to Disneyland once. "Me and my buddy drove to another county to do union work and pick up hookers, and we listened to rock music on the drive" is very much not a story, but the narrator tells it like it is the most super cool thing that ever happened to anyone. But then the actually interesting part of the story - the part where Wayne disappears, never shows up for work, and then gets arrested for an unknown crime at the very end - happens mostly offstage and is never explained. And yet the narrator never, ever gets that this is actually a strange and potentially disturbing story about his buddy going off the rails; it's shalalas the whole way through.

"Working on the Highway" pairs with "Darlington County" because it's also disguised as a dudes workin' together anthem. What's behind it, of course, is a much more explicitly disturbing story about a guy who's in prison for basically grooming and kidnapping an underage girl. But you have that same sense of denial and the same way of hiding the real story behind a screen of working class masculine community; in both songs there's a feeling of anthemic togetherness, of dudes working together, traveling together, that dissolves, when you look closer at the song, into one dude completely on his own and not wanting to admit it. So the songs match with each other, in a way that they don't quite match with anything else on BiTUSA, though of course most of the songs on that album are wearing some kind of disguise. And I've never been quite sure whether Bruce knows that he structured BitUSA in pairs, so it's cool to get some kind of confirmation that he also sees these two songs as going together.

3. This one is more of a stretch, but... "Child Bride," the song that turned into "Working on the Highway," is obviously not a song I feel much sense of personal identification with, and yet there's a moment at the very end that I did very much identify with during the pandemic. It continues the story past the point where "Working on the Highway" stops, and the last verse is the narrator in prison, thinking about freedom.

There's nights I can't sleep
No matter how hard I try
So from my window I watch the moonlight
Fall on the far hillside
I imagine I put on my jacket
Go down to this little roadside bar
Pick a stranger and spin around the dance floor
To a Mexican guitar

There's something about the smallness of that fantasy, and the way it still feels so completely out of reach, the total impossibility of just putting on your jacket and going to an ordinary bar and hearing some music, that summed up a lot of the feeling of the pandemic for me. And last year, when everyone else was coming out of the pandemic and going back to their normal lives, I was sick in bed almost the entire summer. So hearing "Working on the Highway" sent my brain to "Child Bride," which made me very forcibly aware that after what felt like years of semi-isolation, I was at this exact moment in a foreign city by myself, dancing in a sea of happy strangers.

Amazing. Thank you for all of that!

This reading of the Boss as writing 'unreliable narrators', characters who say something without understanding that they're revealing something, songs that are really about something dark though the voice thinks it's light ... It's a very interesting approach and one that I first saw from ILM poster Dave Q, a remarkable character who posted here over 20 years ago.

Maybe it gains some credence from the genetic approach of hearing earlier versions (like 'child bride' which I don't know) which confirm what a song was really about before it was 'disguised'.

Nonetheless, while enjoying this approach, I'm slightly sceptical about it. I feel that the bar-room cheer of these two songs is more dominant than a dark underside. I don't feel too sure that we're really meant to think that the former is superficial, the latter the truth. In truth I'm not really sure that I think 'Darlington County' is very serious at all. Though it's more interesting if it is, and if you're right.

I strongly agree that 'Darlington County' is a very UN-interesting story on the face of it. I've always found that somewhat a drawback, though you're finding a different way around it, Lily.

FWIW the single thing that has always connected the two songs for me is the character, I think, 'handcuffed to a state trooper's Ford' (?) in the first song and the character being 'put in a black and white' in the second.