Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

At least he'll be able to do a Patron tequila advert for next year's super bowl. Thom Zimny will have a field day with drone shots of Mexican Agave plantations.

Also enjoying the "was he swaying or waving" jokes.

I get that people can sometimes be impaired and not have it show up on a breathalyzer, but cops def abuse their discretion. Another friend of mine got pulled over for driving while Native, blew a .04 (he'd had one drink and was driving friends home from a party), and still had to go to jail for the night because the cop "used his discretion" i.e. jailed him for being Native.

like a river that don't know where it's flowin'
he took a wrong turn and he just kept goin'

In some places not blowing is an automatic failure, though. A friend of mine got a DUI that way; he got pulled over, was pretty sure he was under the limit but not by much, and thought he had the right to ask for a blood test instead of the breathalyzer. He did not have that right, turns out.

yes, you will spend the night in jail in Florida, but your lawyer will have a much stronger case

Conservative tabloid trash paper NY Post first day headline cover story was labeled “Born to Rum” in huge letters.

Doubt they’ll do a follow up re .02 aspect

Hindsight is .02 .02.

They actually did, I think! iirc they were among the first to run the "one shot" addition to the story.

Is Bruce really disliked by conservatives? I thought he sort of bridged the gap; as in even Chris Christie is a big fan.

you can't get elected in NJ w/o at least claiming as much

Chris Christie - "Too Bored to Run"

FWIW, I know someone who had to defend an elderly man for a DWI or DUI (forgot which). I don't know all the details, but this was in a rural part of the Midwest and IIRC he was pulled over for another reason, agreed to a breathalyzer, and to his surprise he was over the limit. The charges were dismissed because they were able to convince the court that the results were tainted by his dentures - there was no definitive answer but they found expert testimony that the adhesive he used could absorb enough alcohol that it would boost the reading (i.e. alcohol that wasn't actually in his blood stream would be detected). It was a low stakes case - no one was hurt and it was implied that the chances of any danger to someone else were very low given the circumstances - so who knows, it's possible that created enough leniency for the court to accept that argument.

Unrelated to current news, I was listening to "The Promise" (the outtakes collection) and it's really amazing how many great or at least solid songs he simply just left behind. I've got to assume he listened to a bunch of these and wondered why they never ended up anywhere. In fact, I could have sworn he made some jokes at the time, like, "huh, I was pretty good!" Or something like that.

The other thing that struck me (even though this is obvious) is how well he captured the Wall of Sound sound with just a five or six member band (plus, fair enough, backing vocals and overdubs). Like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKFREGdtncg

And then of course you have stuff like this that presages "The River" era:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtxR_9j6kLg

Which makes sense, since Little Steven was always cheerleading for the '60s garage/girl group style stuff, and "The River" was iirc when Bruce let him have more of a say in what made it to the album.

Yeah, some people have said it would've been a perfect transitional or hybrid album between Born to Run and Darkness because thematically and even musically it straddles both, but after a three year delay (thanks to his legal battles with Appel), I can understand why he'd go for Darkness rather than an LP that feels more steeped in the previous one. It's too bad, there really should have been another one in 1976 or 1977. I wonder if the lack of a Springsteen LP in some ways helped Seger and Thin Lizzy with their commercial breakthroughs, which both came out in 1976 and sounded heavily inspired by Springsteen?

And Meatloaf!

Yeah, I dunno, Bruce himself has said he wished he released more albums.

I like that collection but I'm glad it never became an actual album, because I think a lot of the songs in it are just ever so slightly missing something - not as songs per se, but just as compared to the rest of Bruce's early work. I like "Breakaway" a lot, despite the kind of blah chorus, and "City of Night," b/c I love plotless vignettes of insomniacs wandering around cities at night (cf Kipling's "City of Dreadful Night" #onethread). And "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)" I might actually like better than both the songs that it split into. But the album overall I find just a tiny bit dull. It's fine, competent, catchy pop imo, but I think a lot of it's missing that characteristic spark of weirdness that makes for a really good Springsteen song.

I think that might be part of the point, though. It's a neat trick, putting together a collection of outtakes that's solid and worth the money but also illustrates that you made the right decision in what to put in and leave off. Bruce is very good at that.

Yeah, even if Appel went quickly and quietly into the night, there's no way everything on The Promise would've become an album for multiple reasons. I think it's reasonable that a single LP could've been drawn from it (i.e. not all 90 minutes of it), and it's likely that Bruce circa 1976/1977 would've developed those tracks to complete fruition, but who knows what that would've been.

It's too bad he didn't write actual lyrics to "Save My Love" and record it at the time, because that video of him playing it in '76 is so great. "Turn up your radio, 'cause I love you the most" is the most adorable placeholder lyric, and the re-recorded version will never measure up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN-ou-JqXqQ

Yeah, even if Appel went quickly and quietly into the night, there's no way everything on The Promise would've become an album for multiple reasons. I think it's reasonable that a single LP could've been drawn from it (i.e. not all 90 minutes of it), and it's likely that Bruce circa 1976/1977 would've developed those tracks to complete fruition, but who knows what that would've been.

I don't think "The Promise" (as released) is itself necessarily a good Bruce album, as such, or whether even pared down it might have made one. But had some of its songs been given just a little extra push ... yeah, maybe! Lot least because of course a lot of stuff Bruce was writing *did* get released, just by someone else. Pointer Sisters, Patti Smith, Gary US Bonds, Southside Johnny, Donna Summer, etc.

I was talking to someone about era-defining artists (which kind of translated into who was the greatest artist of any given stretch of time), and one commonality that rose to the top was how much they supported or contributed to other artists. It was pretty astonishing when you put it under close scrutiny - not only were they madly prolific and churning out great singles and great albums on nearly every outing, they were also writing or producing commendable records for other people, often their best or most popular ones. Bowie (Raw Power, Transfomer, Iggy's first two solo LP's, etc.), Prince ("Manic Monday," "The Glamorous Life," "Nothing Compares 2 U," the Time, etc.), Elvis Costello ("Girls Talk," The Specials, East Side Story, Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, "Shipbuilding," etc.) and Springsteen (as you've mentioned).

And Phil Collins.

I should probably add Stevie Wonder ("Tell Me Something Good," "Tears of a Clown," "I Can't Help It," "Until You Come Back To Me," Perfect Angel, etc.), maybe Public Enemy, especially if the Bomb Squad counts as an extension during their prime, and of course Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.

Boy, the lyrics of "Tunnel of Love" (the song, not the album, but of course the album, too) are so good.

Not just the content but rhythmically too - I love how each verse flows, especially the first:

Fat man sitting on a little stool
Takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me two tickets, smiles and whispers good luck
Well cuddle up angel, cuddle up my little dove
We'll ride down baby into this tunnel of love

Seeing it on paper (or rather a screen) won't do it justice, you have to hear it

That actually might be the one Springsteen song where, much as I like the lyrics, I like the way it sounds even more. I just love the sha-na-na-na-ohs and the creepy overlapping backing vocals that feel like they're coming at you from all sides. I once managed to startle myself into jumping at my own shadow, walking along listening to it on a sunny day.

xp Yeah, I think about that opening verse a lot.

Turning to a different track – I thought this was kind of interesting:

Bruce Springsteen – Walk Like A Man

A true sleep-cry masterpiece built on almost nothing besides Linn 9000 and M1. A jarringly morose and despondent performance juxtaposes perfectly with the bitter-sweetness of the music and the aeolian cadence before the outro. A bedroom-pop classic.

xp i don't know how many times i've heard "tunnel of love" at this point but i'd say at least 75% of the time it comes up on random/in a store PA/etc. the intro always throws me and makes me think i'm listening to a early NIN track.

Speaking of "Tunnel of Love," it just occurred to me that the song features I think the only stylized, virtuoso guitar solo in the entire Springsteen studio catalog (ignoring whatever bullshit Tom Morello did decades later on "High Hopes"). That's Nils for you. It says a lot about the guy that his two most famous, steadiest sideman gigs have been with meat and potatoes rockers. I mean, I'm sure I've posted this before, but:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd6c6z2owak

I was concerned that the current Bruce drama would mean the end of his radio show, but it looks like he's got a show planned for the 24th - which I think is also the day he goes to court.

maybe he’ll do the show live from the courtroom 😂

Bruce and Obama are co-hosting a podcast where they talk about masculinity, dads, and America. It sounds cheesy as hell and I will be listening to all of it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/arts/obama-springsteen-podcast-spotify.html?smid=tw-share

I already made my wife cry by playing the preview

Wow. That's going to be incredible. Two of the best, most compelling, most charismatic storytellers of all time.

i’ve only listened to about 20 min but its v good so far

2 eps are up already

lol I can imagine that podcast being a good listen but my initial reaction was the biggest OK BOOMER of all time.

Charges of DWI and reckless driving dropped; he pled guilty to drinking in a closed area and has to pay a fine. .02 BAC confirmed.

I listened to the first episode of the podcast and I have very mixed feelings about it but I'm trying not to overthink it.

What are your mixed feelings? Just curious.

“Mr. Springsteen is pleased with the outcome of today’s court appearance,” a statement from his rep reads. “The prosecutor was unable to provide the necessary evidence and facts as it related to the charge of Driving under the Influence (DUI) and Reckless Driving and therefore, dismissed both of those charges. Mr Springsteen, who has no previous criminal record of any kind, voluntarily plead guilty to a violation of consuming an alcoholic beverage in a closed area, agreeing to a fine of $500. We want to thank the Court and will have no further comment at this time.”

xp I like Bruce, I like his stories even though I've heard them all before, I like that he's making a genuine effort to actually talk about race. I sometimes find him a little self-satisfied these days, a little in love with the sound of his own voice and with the narratives that he's created about his life, but I can deal with that, because he's earned it imo and there are still genuine, charming moments when his natural weirdness still comes through.

You put him and Obama together, though, and Obama actually has a kind of similar vibe to me - that charming openness that goes only so far and no further, that glossy expertise in controlling the narrative and making it seem natural - and together they reinforce that quality in each other, where a good outside interviewer would have cut through it.

Or maybe it's just that it's a lot easier to let myself be charmed by Bruce Springsteen, rock star, than by a former president, even if he's a former president that I still like okay. That Bruce and Barack took a while to become friends because Bruce was shy, but then they got drunk together and sang show tunes, should be a really cute story, but I can't help bringing to it a whole bunch of preexisting attitudes about celebrity friendships and the policies of the Obama administration, along with the mental image of a script with "relatable!" and "humanizing!" scribbled in the margin.

That's why I said I'm trying not to overthink it - because overthinking it is clearly my natural instinct, and I do enjoy hearing Bruce's voice and his thoughts and stories.

it's definitely too important to Obama to be friends with celebrities. (i say as someone who used to love Obama and who learned not to love politicians from my intense disappointment with him during and after his presidency.)

he pled guilty to drinking in a closed area drunkenness on the edge of town

what is the closed area they speak of? a car?

the soul of a man who's seen it all, worked his fingers to the bone, and just can't catch a break

i would like the record to reflect that i was in the dumps with the mumps when along came those chumps with a little promise of some relief

You put him and Obama together, though, and Obama actually has a kind of similar vibe to me - that charming openness that goes only so far and no further, that glossy expertise in controlling the narrative and making it seem natural -

I just finished the new Cary Grant bio, in which the author reaches a similar conclusion and Grant himself acknowledged it when alive.

what is the closed area they speak of? a car?

― tobo73, Wednesday, February 24, 2021 11:28 AM (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

he was in a park that was closed at night iirc?

A national park where there's no alcohol allowed.

Parkness on the edge of town

Even if we're just drinkin' in the park

If the story about fans ambushing Bruce so they could offer him tequila is true, then I guess he is, indeed, easily found.

xp to Alfred:
"Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant." - Cary Grant

"People see you onstage and, yeah, I'd want to be that guy. I want to be that guy myself very often." - Bruce Springsteen