Sparks fly on E Street

[JACkory]

Oh, not to worry...he'll make ME look bad when he does his The River after mine.
I have been listening to that album, but I don't know if my piece is going to be very lengthy at all. I have a few opinions, I'm sure there will be some division between mine and the other stalwart bruceophiles on this board.
I will say this...as much as I truly love the version of "The River" on the album of the same name, the version on Live In NYC seriously kicks it's ass. That particular version can bring tears to the eyes, especially the end section.

[JACkory]

I've said it before so many times I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing it, but if any album deserves a re-mastering, it's this one. Not all of the songs are as badly mixed as others, but the whole could stand it. From the git-go it's noticeable, with "The Ties That Bind" blaring so much trebley high end that it hurts the ears when played at a loud volume.
But anyway, enough complaining about that.
I think my problem with The River is this: After three albums from Springsteen that didn't have a single bad song in the lot, I found that I didn't like not only a couple but a few songs on this double album. How many double albums have you heard folks say about them, "It's okay, but there's really a great single album in the whole thing". That's exactly the case with The River. I could compile a list of ten songs from it and I guarantee it would be every bit as strong, maybe even stronger than one or two of the last 3 albums he'd put out.
I had a real hard time choosing Favorite Tracks (as opposed to "nearly impossible" on the last 3)...I thought I knew exactly which ones were going to make the cut, then found myself re-arranging the list...it was not quite so hard this time to make a Least Favorite Track list.
So yeah, to my mind The River is a very uneven affair that suffers from a bit of filler (not to say some of that filler is bad, it just doesn't live up to the truly great songs that it's mixed in with).
If The River had been my first exposure to Springsteen instead of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, it would have been "Drive All Night" that would have made me a hardcore Bruce fan. This is Springsteen at his pinnacle. Just breathtaking.
I caught something today that sort of slipped by in all these years of loving that song. I always thought it was your typical love song, albeit more powerful and soulful than most. But the first line came on and he sings "When I lost you honey, sometimes I swear I lost my guts too"...so he's singing all this to a girl he's somehow or other "lost". Did he lose her to another man? Did he lose her to death? No matter how he lost her, he's caught up in an intense fever dream where she's right there with him. He reminisces on the past, singing "I would drive all night AGAIN, just to buy you some shoes and to taste your tender charms" as if this is something he did once, on a whim, and now recalls with affection. He sings about how she's got his love, his heart & his soul, as if they are things she took with her when she left. The depth of his love is displayed in his promise not only to drive all night, but through the wind, through the rain, through the snow. This song and it's lyrics are, IMO, too powerful to be about a girl who ran away. I get more out of it in thinking that it's about a man whose wife has passed away sometime in the past.
But that may all be a load of bollocks. You decide.
The songs that didn't make the Favorite Tracks, just barely, are, in no particular order, "The Ties That Bind", "Independence Day", "I Wanna Marry You", "Fade Away", "The River" and "Wreck on the Highway".

4 Stars
Favorite Tracks: "Drive All Night", "Stolen Car", "The Price You Pay", "Point Blank"
Least Favorite Tracks: "Ramrod", "Cadillac Ranch", "I'm a Rocker", "Hungry Heart"

[Galactus]

I agree that if any of his albums need remastering it's The River. I also agree it's the first album with obvious filler. Like Greetings I think every song on this album is stronger, much stronger live. On stage Hungry Heart, Out In The Streets, Ramrod and Jackson Cage really shine.

[Kensterberg]

JAC -- you're nuts.

Full response to follow ... maybe today, maybe tomorrow.

DED -- man, I loved your write-up on Main Point! I really was just trying to flesh out my thoughts on a couple of tracks -- esp. "Wings for Wheels" and "She's the One." The latter is not one of my faves normally, but the version on here had me up and dancing in the living room. And lifting the lyrics that would later go on "Backstreets" just absolutely blew me away. I was just trying to get that stuff out there. I can't touch what you wrote about "Incident" or "NYC Serenade," for example.

[Galactus]

Just joking with you, feel free to add any thoughts you like. I'm not normally a big fan of She's The One either but that version is especially good. Maybe it is that last verse but it sure does rock.

[JACkory]

kenholzman said:

JAC -- you're nuts.

Can't wait to find out which part of my piece has illicited this reflection.
Nuts, eh?
FILLER! FILLER! FILLER!
I'm sure we will re-unite in mutual admiration for Nebraska next time around.

Nuts...Pah!

[Galactus]

I'm guessing it was the filler bit too...which I kind of agree with though no way I could edit it down to a single vinyl record but it's only three minutes to long to fit on a single CD, I could drop Sherry Darling or Crush On You without feeling too bad about it.

[JACkory]

I've come to really like "Sherry Darling", if only for the funny lyrics.
"Crush On You" is definately in the "Filler" category. "Out In The Streets" just barely escapes, IMO.

Ken's gonna slaughter me, I just know it.

[JACkory]

Nebraska is a stark, spare meditation on hope, despair, corruption, poverty, faithfulness, infidelity, dreams gone bad and dreams still alive...The intimacy that is a hallmark of this album is achieved by the use of a Tascam 4-Track cassette tape recorder that was a gift from the record company (these days 4-Track analog cassette decks are a dime a dozen, what with the advent of the superior digital portastudios, but back in '82 they were quite the coveted centerpiece of home studios). Springsteen set it up in his living room and recorded songs and ideas for songs as they came to him, overdubbing when appropriate.
When he was finished with a set of demos he presented them to the record company executives with the tacit understanding that these were only demos, that band arrangements were soon to follow. But the execs were taken aback by the immediacy and honesty of these tracks and before too long the decision was made to simply master the original cassette recordings to a professional analog board and release them in their primitive state.
The result was a record unlike anything Springsteen had done in a short career that saw him changing and progressing over the course of 4 excellent albums. Miles away from the city landscapes that permeated Born to Run and The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, the album continues in a vein that was hinted at on Darkness On The Edge Of Town, a more mid-western, southern Gothic setting, where State Troopers allow their "no good" brothers to cross the state line and mass murderers go on a killing spree from Lincoln, Nebraska to "the badlands of Wyoming" with a baton-twirling adolescent in the passenger seat.
The former, "Highway Patrolman" is a story of a lawman, Joe Roberts and his trouble making brother, Frankie. Two sides of the same familial coin, Joe has devoted his post to an "honest job", but he turns his head when Frankie gets in trouble. Frankie on the other hand, returns from Vietnam with a chip on his shoulder, and in one way or another he finds himself at odds with the law. Eventually Frankie goes overboard and winds up seriously injuring, perhaps even killing a man in a bar. This is probably the worst trouble Frankie has ever gotten himself into, and Joe, as he chases him down, is forced to contemplate his actions, his honesty and his dedication to his job as a lawman. The overriding thought that impresses him the most: Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no friend of mine....
And yet when Frankie gets to the Michigan county line all the way to the Canadian border Joe once again "turns the other way". And in doing so he proves the truth of those haunting thoughts, Man turns his back on his family he just ain't no good.
"Highway Patrolman" is the centerpiece of side one on the record. It's followed by a track called "State Trooper" which could very well be Frankie Roberts response to his brother Joe's life decisions. It's punctuated with a couple of unnerving shrieks that sound very much like Alan Vega's trademark "whoops" in the early '80's duo Suicide. Springsteen, when interviewed during press junkets for Nebraska briefly mentioned a taste for Suicide's confrontational brand of electro-shock. Nothing else here invokes that seminal New York band's sound, but the yelps in "State Trooper" are enough to conjure their spirit, especially the lyrics and theme of "Frankie Teardrop" (perhaps a clue, in dropping the name, that it is indeed Frankie Roberts narrating).
"Used Cars" is a sweet rumination of childhood, poverty and the dream of escaping into a better life than the one you grew up in. Used cars are a metaphor for all the things in our youth that we are ashamed of, even though they may be necessities. But, as in "Thunder Road", there is a long highway that takes you far away from all that, hopefully into a place where you won't ever have to ride in no used car again. There are details in this song that are bittersweet (Well, my mama fingers her wedding band and watches the salesman stare at my old man's hands)...and these details are woven through the set of songs that make up Nebraska.
If I remember correctly, the pre-release record company constructed buzz was that this album was going to be like a musical tribute to Bob Dylan. Once again they invoked Zimmy's name in hopes that it might sell a few records. There is very little here that's obviously Dylan inspired (though Woody Guthrie's ghost hovers over some of the proceedings), but it does have in common the same devotion to the songwriting craft and lyrical symbolism that reveals itself over the course of time.
With the success of Born To Run and the even more financially successful The River, Columbia records was willing to pretty much give Springsteen carte blanche for his next record. Say what you will about the negative aspects of record companies (and there are many) but it is a testament to Columbia's integrity and devotion to their artists that they would be willing to release this rough collection of demos. And in so doing they put out a true masterpiece that has inspired legions of singer/songwriters (there's even a full CD available of other artists covering the songs from Nebraska. Entitled Badlands: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska', it's no "second tier performer"'s fare, as it features big names like Johnny Cash, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, Chrissie Hynde, Hank Williams III, Son Volt, Los Lobos and more).
I've only touched a few bases in this humble review of Nebraska, but it must be said that this is, in Springsteen's canon, an almost flawless album. It gets you further into his mind than just about anything he'd done before and really, just about everything that followed.
I would feel remiss, however, if I didn't say something about the concluding number. "Reason to Believe" is about how life deals some harsh blows, and it may strike you funny, but at the end of every hard earned day people need some reason to believe. And during that day the cycle of life goes on, as a baby is taken to the river to be baptized while, in an old shack on the other side of town, an old man passes away. All you can do is sit and watch "the river" roll on, and unlike man with his trials and tribulations that wound and scar for life, the river makes it's way "so effortlessly". Who knows but that contemplating that river may be enough to give someone "reason to believe".
"Reason to Believe" is the only logical choice with which to close Nebraska, as we've come to know so many different people and so many different stories throughout the course of the record, all of whom are searching for that same reason, none of whom will find an adequate reason, but the lucky ones will believe anyway.

5 Stars
Favorite Tracks: "Reason to Believe", "Used Cars", "Atlantic City", "Highway Patrolman"
Least Favorite Track: "Open All Night"

[skvorisdeadsorta]

This is a great article from Stylusmagazine.com on "Born in the U.S.A".

he Diamond is an apt name for albums certified for 10 million + sales by the Recording Industry Association of America. The hardest substance on earth: insoluble, impervious to penetration, secure in itself. "The formation of natural diamond requires very specific conditions," Wikipedia says. The aim of this feature is to define what made Cracked Rear View, Come On Over, Boston and The Lion King soundtrack not just sales benchmarks of their respective artists' careers, but inexplicable loci at which shrewd marketing and the inscrutability of mass market taste met to produce high-quality entertainment no one breathing could escape. This column will also study why artistic peaks like Rumours, Born in the U.S.A., Thriller, Can't Slow Down, and Hysteria deserved their sales. Each entry in this series will pose the question: why should we separate art from commerce?

Most likely I don’t know your father, but the laws of average suggest he’s probably a lot like mine. Mine’s named Mark; he’s from Syosset, Long Island; married his high school sweetheart when he was 20; commuted to the city everyday until he was 40, owning and operating a bridal gown business with his father on 38th and Broadway. In the early ’90s the garment industry went completely to hell so now he sells Toyotas.

Of the 100 albums that have been certified “Diamond” by the RIAA (roughly 10 bajillion copies) my father owns 50 of them. That’s obscene. He doesn’t know how to buy songs off iTunes, let alone download illegally, but he just bought his first iPod. As of press time its library looks kind of like this:

Bruce Springsteen…
Bruce Springsteen…
Bruce Springsteen…
Bruce Springsteen…
Bruce Springsteen…
Bruce Springsteen…

I’d say on any given day since 1975 my father has listened to “Thunder Road” at least once. It’s his theme song. There are always 5 CDs in his truck. Three are Bruce Springsteen. The other two are Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and something by Boz Scaggs. Needless to say my father and I are very, very different people (when we aren’t exactly the same), still, I can’t help but feel he probably knows something I don’t.

There are a lot of reasons for why I like Bruce Springsteen, but really, I like Bruce Springsteen because my dad really likes him. Bruce is what we share. As a result, his music has evolved into the prism through which I understand and relate to my father. Simple as that.

But why does he like it?

Musically, Born in the USA is among Springsteen’s poorer records; only three songs truly stand out: the anthemic “Bobby Jean,” “No Surrender” and, of course, “Dancing in the Dark,” all three of which are still desperately gasping for air beneath layers and layers of horrifyingly awful ’80s production values.

But absolutely none of that matters.

Born in the USA has sold 15 million copies. My father owns two of those. Two years after its release in 1984 Columbia released Live/1975-85, a 5-disc box set, which has since gone on to sell 13 million units. There are 12 songs on Born in the USA; more than half of them are singles. He wasn’t just playing sold-out arenas; he was and continues to play sold-out stadiums traditionally dedicated to the sport of professional football for weeks at a time. We know that too.

But how in the hell does that happen?

If Born to Run is about a choice (submission or transcendence, flannel suits or electric guitars), Born in the USA is its sequel. It's nine years later. 1984. Conservatism. Reaganomics. Star Wars (the movie and the strategic missile defense program). The Cold War. The Butter Battle Book. This is its context.

But Born in the USA is, at its essence, a record about fathers and sons. Once again we’ve been faced with a choice: Do we repeat the sins of our fathers? Maybe we’ve chosen the same path, but that doesn’t mean we have to make the same mistakes that almost destroyed his generation: “A lot of guys went and a lot of guys didn’t come back. And the lot that came back weren’t the same anymore.”

Perhaps it’s worth noting that most people have more important things to do than blog, let alone write, let alone write songs. The majority of Bruce Springsteen’s audience, the people he writes about, people like my father, rely on Bruce to be the creative one—not just to entertain them but to share their story. At the height of the 1980s these people are in remarkable abundance.

In the years following Born to Run Springsteen dedicated the thematic concerns of his music to the stories of those who didn't make the choice he made. Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Nebraska: all of these records are about those who stayed behind, those who went to war, those who chose the path-most-traveled. But that’s what the troubadour is. The griot. Great artists don’t just tell their story, they tell your story.

Born in the USA speaks directly to the nobility of those people, the courage it took to not make the decision Springsteen made. In this way, despite what his astronomical sales figures would seem to indicate, the record doesn’t pander to these people, it’s openly and honestly respectful of them. That’s why it has become everyone’s masterpiece despite being Springsteen’s 7th best album.

Springsteen’s music, for better or worse, has always been concerned with those fundamental ideas that simply don’t change; no matter how our environment changes or culture accelerates the ideas of family and parenthood, sacrifice, temptation and forgiveness will always be worth exploring. Because of that it has the potential to endure through generations. People never seem to get sick of it. It endures. At beaches and barbeques, classic rock stations blaring from stadium parking lots and suburban basements. Bruce Springsteen could do next to nothing for the next 20 years, suddenly announce an extensive world tour, and as many nights as he plans to play Giants Stadium or Madison Square Garden that’s how many sold-out shows there will be. That’s what’s basically happened!

Bu if I really want to understand and write about why everyone in the world purchased Born in the USA and why it still matters, I simply have to figure out why my Dad bought it. So fuck it, I interviewed him. What resulted was probably the most honest conversation I’ve ever had with my father. Here’s some of it:

(Oh, and full disclosure: my dad is my dad)

Why did Born in the USA sell 15 million copies?

Because he blew up.

Yeah, but why?

Commercialism.

OK, sure, yes, but why?

Because his music started touching more people.

HOW?!!

More people started getting it.

WHY!?!!

I don’t know!!!

Of course you do! You have to! You’ve been there since the beginning! Why the hell did you like him in the first place?

I’ve always been moved by lyrics. The first Bruce Springsteen album I ever heard was The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle. There’s a line in the song “Incident on 57th Street” where he sings, “Hey little heroes, summer’s long but I guess it ain’t very sweet around here anymore.” It just hit me immediately; it’s the sage trying to impart his wisdom. The neighborhood was changing from a typical peaceful quiet neighborhood to a gang-controlled neighborhood. This idea reaches its culmination in “Jungleland.”

“The poets down here don’t write nothing at all. They just stand back and let it all be.”

Exactly. So he’s taken the responsibility.

Bruce is only seven years older than me so his music was immediately hitting my generation. You listen to him paint this picture: you can hear the screen door slam, you can see a pretty young girl with ponytails from your high school running toward your car. That’s what people my age were all about: cars, the night, the conquest—all that. I had long hair. I liked Zeppelin. I drove a Firebird.

And this was all around the time I was dating and falling in love with your mother. In her family she was kind of the rebel because, even though she was young, only 17 years old, she was dating someone very seriously who was unlike anyone in her family of Holocaust surviving German Jewish immigrants. I was the Anti-European. I was the American Long Island boy here to take your daughter away and corrupt her. So Bruce was kind of telling my story for me. He’s telling everyone’s story. And those songs evoke all those incredible emotions and I can recall them perfectly almost every time I listen to them, which is basically why I listen to them so often.

Now Springsteen made this choice to be the artist, to get out. You love Born to Run but you didn’t really make that decision. Is there a piece of you that wishes you’d made the decision Springsteen made?

Not really. I didn’t have a gift to be able to say, “I don’t want to go into my father’s business, I want to do this instead.” And most people don’t have that. It wasn’t like there was a plan for me to go into the family business; I loved numbers and management and stuff like that but the only thing I really thought about was just finishing high school.

Well, do you have aspirations you feel you’ve never been able to achieve?

I still haven’t bowled a perfect game.

I mean with your life’s work, silly!

No, because I never really had that kind of passion. I thought I would just wind up going to some college, getting some accounting degree or something and going into business. That’s the way it was. That’s the way it still is. Obviously, people like Bruce Springsteen are the exception to the rule.

So this whole time you’ve been growing and maturing with Springsteen and his music.

Born to Run came out as I was graduating high school in 1975 and The River was released in 1980. By this time I’m already a married man, commuting to work everyday on the same train with the same people, successfully running my own business. Soon I’ll be a father.

The River maintained his popularity from the people he picked up from Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town; “Hungry Heart” was his first top-10 hit so he’d established a loyal audience he knew was always going to be there, so now was the time for him to reach out for even more people.

Truthfully, Born in the USA was specifically produced to attract people who said they couldn’t stand Bruce Springsteen. It’s obvious. You can hear it on “Dancing in the Dark.” Born in the USA was intended for people between my age group and my parents; people who were in their late 20s when I started listening to Bruce; people like my older sister who listen to a song because of the beat and not the words. You need to give those people a beat for them to be able to say, “Hey, that’s good,” and that draws them in to hopefully find out what he’s all about. Born in the USA was a compromise, but it had a point. That point was to connect with more people, not necessarily to sell more albums, which sounds like the same thing but it isn’t if you really think about it.

So let’s get back to the original point. Why does Born in the USA sell 15 million copies? Why does Live/1975-85 sell 13. Why did you buy it and why do you still listen to it?

What made the experience of seeing him live back then so great was the concerts were just limitless. They could go on for four or five hours because he would tell these long personal stories as preludes to his songs. That story he tells before “The River” on the live box set is like the key to understanding Born in the USA. It’s just this devastatingly beautiful story about the strained relationship he had with his father. You think I work a lot? My father was never home. And when he was home on Sundays he would be working at the table. Then he’d go take a nap. Maybe we shared Astroboy and Speed Racer but that was it. We never really had a thing. I taught myself how to play baseball.

So you mentioned this idea of repeating the mistakes of our fathers. Well, this was my contribution. I wanted something I could hopefully share with my children so I introduced you to the music of Bruce Springsteen. That’s what we share and I’ve been talking to you about Springsteen since you were a baby. You’ve seen Springsteen live seven times and every single time I’ve been there, right? I took my sons to see Bruce Springsteen and they loved it. One day hopefully you’ll get to take your children. I bet they’ll love it, too.

[JACkory]

Thanks for posting that article, Skvor. Admittedly it was somewhat difficult to stomach seeing Born In The USA couched between Can't Slow Down, Thriller and Hysteria, but I think I get the point.
I've never seen Springsteen live...he's only played Oklahoma once and that was during the Born To Run tour when I was but a young teen (and I've never even gone to Dallas to see any concert)...but I think it would be one of the most memorable experiences of my life, based upon the few live recordings I've heard.
Who knows, now that we have a large arena in OKC (the Ford Center) maybe he'll make a long overdue stop in the neighborhood.
U2 never played Oklahoma again after failing to sell out the Civic Center (even with half occupancy "theater seating") and that was back in 1983. At least I was there for that one.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

I saw Springsteen here in Austin and it was incredible. 3 and a half hours of pure rock. I think the main reason why he's so great is that he's band is so goddamn amazing. Good show and if he ever tours again, I saw sell something and just go. It's totally worth it.

[Kensterberg]

Great article you posted, Skvor! Thanks!

Yeah, the E Street Band are one of the best supporting units in rock, but they wouldn't be if it weren't for Springsteen's vision. He has a pretty perfect rapport with those guys, and they (in turn) seem to recognize that they're never gonna have a better gig than playing with Bruce. The only line-up change since Born to Run was formally adding Patti Scialfa, and Miami Steve leaving after the recording of Born in the USA, to be replaced by Nils Lofgren, and then coming back when Bruce got the old band back together in the late nineties.

It's funny, even with three guitarists, the live shows from '99 to today never sound like they step on each other's toes. The E Street Band is also the rare rock and roll unit that can support two keyboard players (Bittan and Federici) w/o sounding cluttered. Bittan's more complex intellectual style meshes nicely with Danny's emotional playing to nice effect -- just check out the final "fugue" section of "Racing in the Street." Like JAC said a while back, Bittan's subtle piano work is just chilling, but it's highlighted and enhanced by Federici's cascades of organ.

And Bruce has made the best use of organ in rock and roll, period. Bar none.

[JACkory]

I was eating my usual 3 soft tacos at Taco Mayo in the small town of Chandler last mon th, where I generally go once a month as I have business there. They always play 70's music over the restaurant's sound system and they played "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out". Sounded real good as I wolfed down the delicious Mexican fast food. Hearing it was part of the inspiration for the Springsteen kick I'm on right now.
I was back again today and lo and behold they played "Born To Run". To say it was a treat is to underestimate the experience of the delightful combination of Taco Mayo and the Boss. The 70's music service sandwiched it between the Righteous Brothers' comeback hit "Rock and Roll Heaven" and Paul Simon's snoozer "Love Me Like a Rock". Yes, "Born to Run" kicked both of their asses.
Also, I was browsing (ie. loitering) at a close-out store in a nearby town (charmingly called Big Lots) when I noticed they were also playing "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", albeit at a much lower volume than was heard at Taco Mayo.
What does it all mean? What does it signify?
Surely something.
But I have no idea what it might be...

Holzmanerberg, still waiting on your take on The River. Until then we will all assume that the album's weak point is all the FILLER!

[Kensterberg]

JAC -- Expect a massive write-up on The River some time tomorrow. And you can be sure that it will include a detailed explanation why there isn't any filler on those four sides (well, maybe "You Can Look" or "Crush on You," but that's it), and the assertion that this is quite possibly Bruce's finest rock and roll album, or at the very least his most complete.

My Nebraska review will follow shortly thereafter, and you can expect it to be filled with superlatives as well. After that, well, my personal jury is still undecided as to just what I'm going to say about Born in the USA. You can bet that I'll be bitching about the fact that neither "Shut Out the Light" nor "Murder, Inc." made that LP, however.