Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia

Happy Birthday to Academy Award winner Bruce Springsteen. Many happy,rockin' returns of the day!

My Love Will Not Let You Down

Bruce is 60 years old today. Happy Birthday to "The Boss" :-)

The Rising/Eight Years Gone

Memory dims…time heals…life waxes and wanes…

life moves on like it has to do…

And we are here…eight years gone…

and moving on with life like we have to do…

Yes I remember where I was…

Yes I remember how scared I felt…

Yes I remember how angry I felt…

Yes I remember how helpless I felt…

Yes I remember finding solace in the smile of a baby girl…

Yes I remember.

Eight years gone…so many yesterdays ago…

And we are here…remembering with comforting buffer of time and tide…

Eight years gone…and moving forward and looking back…moving on with life like we have to…

Flags flying…tear stains long dry…I remember…we all remember…

Eight years gone…so many lifetimes gone….so many lifetimes to go.

- MKW/September 2009 -

Working on a Dream

As anyone who has read this blog for a length of time knows, I am totally in the bag for Bruce Springsteen. I’ve been down with “the Boss” since ’77 when Darkness on the Edge of Town came out (the “future of rock and roll” hype for Born to Run a couple of years earlier put my iconoclastic hackles up and I resisted its charms at first…ah, the foolishness of youth…)

This is not to say that all Springsteen records are created equally. There are some…Darkness, The River, Nebraska, Tunnel of Love, Live /1975-85, The Rising, We Shall Overcome…that I return to over and over finding enormous satisfaction each time; while there are others…Human Touch, The Ghost of Tom Joad, Devils and Dust…that do not draw me nearly as often (though they have their own rewards just the same.)

At first blush it seems that Working on a Dream will most like fall into the first group.

It starts with the epic tale of “Outlaw Pete” (an 8 minute story song about a cowboy maverick) and ends with the Golden Globe winning theme from “The Wrestler” (a spare, rueful elegy that somehow managed not to get an Oscar nomination) and in-between there’s vibrant, optimistic vibe that was largely missing from the last couple of CDs Springsteen and the E Street Band did together.

Songs of love and passion and redemption are the currency of this engaging record. Some of the songs…the nakedly romantic “What Love Can Do”, the optimistic “This Life”, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, and the infectious title track…have a sprightly bounce that will sound great booming through car stereos on bright blue summer days.

Even the bluesy rock and roll snarl of “Good Eye” hugs you like an old friend and holds on tight.

“Kingdom of Days” is a delightfully soaring number…I watch the sun as it rises and sets/I watch the moon trace its arc with no regrets…that makes as good a theme statement for the CD as any other song on it.

The playing is, of course, tight…even if Clarence Clemons’ iconic saxophone only makes a few fleeting appearances…the songs are charming and heartfelt, and Bruce is in fine voice throughout.

Yeah, I am in the bag for Bruce…and it’s records like Working on a Dream that makes me very happy to be there.

Danny Federici 1950-2008

Danny Federici, the stalwart keyboard player in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, died Thursday night of melanoma. He was 58.

Below is a video of the band playing "Blood Brothers" in the studio.

The 2007 Twenty

Neverending Rainbow's 3rd annual rundown of our 20 favorite reasons to have owned a CD player. These are the best CDs of 2007...or more to the point, given the daunting number of recordings released each year...the best CDs that we heard over the course of the year. Your mileage may (and doubtlessly will) vary. In any case, the picks (in alphabetical order by album title):

Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
(At once retro and utterly modern, as fine a soul record as you could ever hope for)

Children Running Through – Patti Griffin
(Passionate, evocative, utterly compelling, an amazing collection of songs and performances)

Finding Forever – Common
(Sly and sassy, romantic and randy, acerbic and hopeful, a seamless album featuring stellar guest turns by Lily Allen and Kanye West and held together by Common’s smooth, peerless flow)

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – Spoon
(Urbane pop-rock…delightfully melodic with tight playing and solid vocals…that soars and shimmers from beginning to end)

High Steppin’ – The Pimps of Joytime
(A really fine…really funky, really soulful, really rockin’, really jammin’, enormously entertaining…CD.

In Rainbows – Radiohead
(Challenging and accessible in the same moment, an utterly remarkable rock and roll record)

Live in Dublin – Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band
(A grand, accomplished, enormously entertaining 2-disc live set combining traditional songs with reworked Springsteen tunes)

Magic – Bruce Springsteen
(The Boss and the E Street Band on a set of rock solid, earnest, cranky, and soaring rock and roll ruminations)

Neon Bible – Arcade Fire
(Ominously haunting and undeniably rousing at the same time, the full bodied baroque rock and roll of this CD effortlessly gets under your skin and into your head and stays in both places and man is that a cool thing)

100 Days, 100 Nights – Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
(As gritty and old school funky as it wants to be, this CD grooves, growls, and bites with soulful fury as the righteous, gutbucket beauty of Ms. Jones’ voice is ably supported by the sterling musicianship of the Kings)

Raising Sand – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

(What seemed a strange match on paper became a magical, compelling, and heartfelt collaboration when they came together in song trading stunning leads and sharing remarkable harmonies)

River: The Joni Letters – Herbie Hancock
(A graceful and tasty tribute to Joni Mitchell featuring an excellent band and some nice guest vocal turns)

Teknochek Collision – Slavic Soul Party!
(This 9-member ensemble claims to be the “#1 brass band for Balkan-soul-gypsy-funk” and the music…joyous, worldly, full-bodied and, yes, brassy, soulful, and funky…proves the point with potent, irresistible charm)

The Hottest State – Movie Soundtrack
(Judging by critical response, the movie wasn’t so hot but the soundtrack…with songs by Jesse Harris and sublime performances by, among others, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Feist, and Norah Jones…is a cool, evocative gem)

The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster – Ruthie Foster
(An evocative, rocking, soulful CD that more than lives up to its grandiose title)

The Reminder – Feist
(A smart, sparkling collection of slightly offbeat pop tunes)

The Spiritual Kind – Terri Hendrix
(Witty, whimsical, insightful, heartfelt, delightful…a grand country record with all of the soul and twang and none of the glossy pop that too often passes for country music these days)

Under the Blacklight – Rilo Kiley
(Jenny Lewis and the guys embrace their funky edge to very fine effect)

Version – Mark Ronson
(The celebrated DJ and producer serves up a groovy party record filled with covers of British hits sung with gusto by, among others, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and Robbie Williams)

We’ll Never Turn Back – Mavis Staples

(Righteously soulful and soulfully righteous, a collection of compelling standards delivered by one of the most incomparable voices in pop, soul, and spiritual music)

2007 : The "Singles"

In these days of music downloading "singles" are kind of an anachronistic concept but that doesn't deter us here at the Rainbow from once again presenting our favorite tracks of the year. We make no claims that these are the "best" tracks that came out during year but they are the ones that that greatly entertained and/or inspired us (why am I using the imperial "we/us" when it's just me here? I dunno...just be a pal and indulge the hubris and let it go :-)

ANYWAY (he do go on sometimes, don't he? Sheesh...) here are Neverending Rainbow's 10 favorite tracks of 2007 (links to video and/or audio on each track...make with the clickety-click on the titles):

1) "Silver Lining" Rilo Kiley
(A rueful tale of love lost told with an irresistible catchy beat and a great Jenny Lewis vocal)

2) "You Know I'm No Good" Amy Winehouse
(Backed by the mighty Dap-Kings, the redoubtable Ms. Winehouse...who seems likely to actually survive '07 despite herself...throws down an soul jam as sweaty and funky as can be..."Rehab" [see below] was also mighty fine but her antics this year turned that song from being cheekily defiant to being creepily self-destructive.)

3) "Are You Alright?" Lucinda Williams
(A haunting, bittersweet plea for reconnection)

4) "Hey Eugene" Pink Martini
(A witty, sultry shout out to a guy who didn't call after a seemingly great time had at a party)

5) "Jigsaw Falling into Place" Radiohead
(A throbbing, utterly engaging rock and roll song)

6) "Heal Yourself" Ruthie Foster
(A wonderfully soulful tune of self-affirmation set to a driving beat)

7) "1234" Feist
(Yeah, the iPod commercial was ubiquitous but the song is still very cool)

8) "The People" Common
(While Kanye and 50 were having their over-hyped pissing contest, Common was quietly presenting the most engaging and inspirational hip hop of the year)

9) "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" Miranda Lambert
(The Nashville Star 1st season runner-up makes a solid case for being one of the more interesting stars to come from a TV competition with this feisty and funny warning to her ex and his new love.)

10) "Radio Nowhere" Bruce Springsteen
(The Boss rants about the woeful state of pop radio over a tight, propulsive rock groove.)

Merry Christmas Baby

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band bringing the Xmas joy on the Conan O'Brien Show.

Magic

I’ve seen at least one review of this CD that calls it Bruce Springsteen’s best record since 1980’s The River. I guess it you’re idea of a Bruce Springsteen record includes lots of soarin’ guitars and wailin’ sax solos and the E Street Band front and center (unlike the last album the band did together…the more somber The Rising…which used the band as sidemen rather than as a integral part of the overall sound) that might indeed be true (personally I think that Springsteen has made a lot of wonderful music since 1980 but to each his own when it comes deciding who the “real” Bruce is and should be.)

Magic has a lot of the classic E Street vibe…this sucker rocks and the Big Man is all over the first few tracks…with lots of radio and concert ready rockers to please the souls of Springsteen fans (like yours truly.)

But Bruce is more than a bit cranky here (the unamused look on Bruce's face in the cover photo is quite appropriate to the lyrical content of this record) at the same time…while the grooves are hard and rock solid, the lyrics are often dark and lacerating. That’s not a criticism…far from it… just a statement of fact. The opening “Radio Nowhere”, for example, is an unabashed slam against the current state of music radio set to insistent, irresistible beat while the acerbic “You’ll Be Comin’ Down” wraps a “what goes around comes around” warning in a rocker so tight that you can almost see the audience dancing as the band plays it in concert.

Clarence Clemmons, in fine form throughout, wails the opening of “Livin’ in the Future” with assurance. Bruce is in fine voice throughout the record with none of the twang that informed his last few records present (the twang fit perfectly on those records but would be out of place on the anthem-like tunes here.)

The bittersweet “Your Own Worst Enemy” lopes along at a nice mid-tempo beat while thick layers of snarling guitars and distinctive bursts of harmonica infuse the driving “Gypsy Biker”.

This is the sound of a great band working as a mighty, unbeatable unit and that’s more than cool to be sure.

Things lighten up a bit with the wall of sound paean to “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” and the relatively jaunty “I’ll Work for Your Love” (the apocalyptic references to the book of Revelation and “the dust of civilizations” making that “jaunty” comment refer to the music and definitely not the lyrics.)

The title track is a brooding rumination while “Last to Die” rocks hard but is decidedly acerbic lyrically. “Long Walk Home” (see video below) with its lacerating guitars and classic sax solo is a cautiously optimistic rocker that soars along relentlessly while the closing “Devil’s Arcade” builds from a whisper to thick crescendo of guitars and strings and then back to a whisper and up again to stunning effect.

Magic is, crankiness and all, a great record plain and simple.

Bruce Springsteen - My City Of Ruin (9-11 Tribute) NYC

From the smoldering rubble, we rise,
From the well of bitter tears, we rise,
From the night that seemed without end,
From the day blackened with blood and fire,
We rise…

We give thanks for the light,
Prayers for the souls gone abruptly to God,
Thanks for all the magic and majesty
That lingers even in the face of madness.

From the storied cities, we rise,
From the bountiful fields, we rise,
From the crucible of peace and justice,
From the land of the free and the freedmen,
We rise…

(MKW - 2001)

Play it as it Lays

One hopes and expects that Patti Scialfa enjoys her life. She’s a member of the mighty E Street Band (and the Sessions Band as well, she had a couple of cool solo turns on the Live in Dublin set.) She’s the wife of Bruce Springsteen and the mother of their three children. She is a fine songwriter and she has a sweetly husky, smoky singing voice that is reminiscent of the great Ronnie Spector. And every once in a while she gets into the studio and delivers up a delightful little gem of a CD.

Her first CD, 1993's Rumble Doll, was a fine collection and her second, 2004's 23^rd Street Lullaby, was even better. Play it as it Lays, a bluesy affair with a tight band (anchored by The “Whack Brothers Rhythm Section” featuring E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, bassist Willie Weeks, drummer Steve Jordan, keyboardist Clifford Carter, and some guy named Bruce on guitars and organ) and soulful backup singers, continues that trajectory with a funky, affecting set of evocative songs.

Scialfa hits the ground running with the grand “Looking for Elvis”, a bluesy country number (see video below) and follows that with, “Like Any Woman Would”, a soulful paean to womanhood that name-checks Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo and Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar and incorporates elements of the Chiffons classic “He’s So Fine”.

The disc…clocking in at just under 40 minutes…continues on a bluesy (there’s that word again), sometimes swampy, sometimes rockin’ “Run, Run, Run”, a tribute to drag racer Shirley Muldowney is a fun, foot-tapper from beginning to end), mid-tempo groove that fits Scialfa like a glove.

The title song is a bittersweet…emphasis on the sweet and the positive…celebration of love and life that lopes and shimmers along and keeps you engaged as does the understated (it almost sounds like a lullaby), love-affirming finale, “Black Ladder”.

Play it as it Lays is a CD that will deliver up new nuances and little surprises every time you play it. It won’t sell zillions of copies…more’s the pity for that…but hopefully it will sell enough to allow Patti Scialfa to…every once in a while at least…give us more delightful little gems in the future. I can only hope.

Live in Dublin

Last year Bruce Springsteen gathered a group of little known but very accomplished musicians together to make a collection of songs associated with the legendary folk singer/activist Pete Seeger. The resultant CD…a delightfully freewheeling, spirited, and ramshackle acoustic affair…was We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions.

Springsteen took a version of the big band (now dubbed The Sessions Band)…some 17 strong including E Street Band members singer/guitarist Patti Scialfa (Mrs. Springsteen) and violinist Soozie Tyrell…on the road and this 2-disc set was recorded last November in Ireland (before a very enthusiastic audience) during the process (a 3-disc version of the set features a DVD of performances of all 23 songs.)

The playing on this collection is tighter than it was on the studio album, a joyful noise indeed. The 23-track set includes most of the songs from We Shall Overcome along with new arrangements of a number of Springsteen songs and a couple of venerated gospel songs.

The disc opens with a lively re-interpretation of Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” (from his classic album Nebraska; “Highway Patrolman”, from the same album, is featured later on the disc to fine effect) followed by three potent performances of Seeger Session songs (the rollicking “Old Dan Tucker”, the soulful anthem “Eyes on the Prize” featuring vocals by Mark Anthony Thompson, and a boisterous romp through “Jesse James”.)

Springsteen shares the mike with some of the band members…including Thompson and Scialfa…for a lovely version of his own “Further On (Up the Road)” (originally recorded on The Rising.) Springteen, Thompson, and Scialfa trade off verses on a soft, elegant version of “When the Saints Go Marching In”

Springsteen’s “If I Should Fall Behind” (from Lucky Town) is recast as a stately waltz featuring a duet between Springsteen and Scialfa.

Songs from the Seeger Sessions all shine including energetic and engaging takes on “Mary Don’t You Weep”, “My Oklahoma Home” (which includes great solos by Tyrell, banjo player Greg Liszt, and the horn section and a fun call and response with the audience), “Jacob’s Ladder”, “Mrs. McGrath”, “Pay Me My Money Down”, and “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” (featuring Bruce’s Hurricane Katrina inspired additional lyrics.)

The Springsteen songbook is explored with interesting new versions of tunes such as: a fine mid-tempo take on “Long Time Comin’” (originally from Devils and Dust), a wonderful, totally rockin’ “Open All Night” (from Nebraska), a heartfelt lope through “Growin’ Up” (from Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ), the jaunty, Irish-flavored “American Land” (from the special edition of We Shall Overcome), and a playful romp through “Blinded by the Light (also from Greetings.)

Springsteen, the band, and the singers work up a righteous gospel fire with their take on “This Little Light of Mine” before finishing the disc with the tropical lilt of “Love of the Common People” and a delicate, moving version of “We Shall Overcome.”

Live in Dublin is a grand album…fun, frisky, and full of life. Bruce is in fine voice and having a great time and the crack band is downright amazing. What more could you ask?

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

I have to admit that when I heard that Bruce was making an album of folk song covers my first reaction was that we were in for something along the somber lines of the wondrous Nebraska or the less-enthralling The Ghost of Tom Joad. But Springsteen and his cohorts on We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions are not in a somber mood…quite the contrary they are in a mood to make a joyful noise and by golly that’s exactly what they do.

For the most part, Springsteen eschews the political songs associated with Pete Seeger (the anti-war track “Mrs. McGrath” being an exception) in favor of engaging, high-steppin’ versions of some of the folk songs Seeger recorded over the year…including traditional chestnuts such as the classic “John Henry”, the charming “Froggie Went A-Courtin’”, the inspirational “Eyes on the Prize”, “Jesse James”, and the rollicking gospel burner “O Mary Don’t You Weep”.

Springsteen (who brings a playful, almost Tom Waits-like growl to some of the tunes) sounds like he’s having a ball as he leads a crack band of 13 players (on violins, horns, guitars, keyboards, and vocals) through 13 songs associated with Seeger. The only members of the E Street Band involved here are violinist Soozie Terrell (who plays on all cuts) and Patti Scialfa (who sings background vocals on 9 tracks.)

The album was recorded “live” during three one-day sessions with no rehearsals (Bruce can be heard calling out changes and solos throughout the record); they worked out the arrangements as they played and the music sounds vital and all the more compelling for that off-the-cuff energy. The title track was recorded in 1997 for a Seeger tribute album, the others were recorded in 2005 and 2oo6.

This is an enormously entertaining disc that will set your toes to tappin' and your soul to hummin'…or as Bruce himself says in the liner notes, “turn it up, put on your dancin’ and singin’ shoes, and have fun”. ‘Nuff said.

Early 21st Century Blues

When Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Session came out back in '88, a friend of mine expressed her distaste for Margo Timmins' languid, reserved, and (to my ears anyway) sultry vocals (especially on their semi-hit cover of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane", one of my friend's favorite tunes.) I didn't understand her criticism then...I think Timmins' supple, evocative voice is one of the underappreciated wonders of the pop world (the same being true for the band as whole)...and, of course, I still don't get it all these years later.

The Junkies' new disc is one of the most sedate (but no less engaging for that) "protest" records you are ever likely to hear. Early 21st Century Blues presents a remarkable collection of songs...two originals by ace guitarist Michael Timmins (the evocative "December Skies" and the wistfully bittersweet "This World Dreams Of"), two traditional folk songs arranged by the band (the oft-covered "Two Soldiers" and the anti-slavery song "No More"), and seven shrewdly chosen covers...that comment on the state of our world in a still new century.

Arguably, no self-respecting "protest" collection would be complete without a Bob Dylan song and this one opens with a lovely version of his acerbic "License to Kill" (originally done by Dylan on his Infidels disc.)

With Michael's acoustic guitar and Margo's luminous voice at the fore, the band resurrects Richie Havens' "Handouts in the Rain" to fine effect. Similarly, they strip down two Bruce Springsteen songs...the aftermath of war song "Brothers Under the Bridge" and the haunting 9/11-inspired "You're Missing"...revealing new levels of nuance in the poignant lyrics in the process.

The only real misfire is the inclusion of tepid rapping (by a friend of the band calling himself "Rebel") during the percolating, otherwise taut and funky (well for the Junkies anyway :-), version of John Lennon's "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier". Leave the hip hop to the professionals.

Shimmering, passionate readings of George Harrison's "Isn't it a Pity" and U2's "One" round out this grand record.

(FYI: As of this writing, Amazon.com doesn't list this CD...I bought mine from the fine folks at Maple Music.)

Devils and Dust

In the name of full disclosure I have to admit that I’ve been in the bag for Bruce Springsteen since 1978. Since Darkness on the Edge of Town got under my skin and stayed there (all of the incessant “future of rock and roll” hype for Born to Run three years earlier irked the skeptical soul in me and I, foolishly, passed on that one at first.) And so the chances that I was not going to like this disc were slim at best (which is not to say that Bruce hasn’t misfired now and again…The Ghost of Tom Joad was earnest but kinda boring, 18 Tracks was a well-intentioned rip-off, Live in New York City was okay but not really necessary, and Human Touch was a bit too slick for its own good.)

Early word about Devils and Dust led one to believe it was a stripped down, starkly acoustic affair like the wondrous Nebraska…but that isn’t really the case at all. Granted, the rousing joyful thunder of the E Street Band that informed The Rising gives way to a sound centered around Springsteen’s acoustic guitar but the sound here is fuller than on Nebraska or Tom Joad...it's filled with keyboards (mostly by Bruce himself), drums, violins, and horns on various cuts. This record rocks unabashedly on a number of cuts...but in a gentler way that would have been bludgeoned by the full-bodied muscle of the E Street Band (only three members of which make appearances here: Patti Scialfa on background vocals, Soozie Tyrell on violins and background vocals, and, on one cut, Dan Federici on keyboards.)

Devils and Dust is filled with atmospheric, insightful stories…about lost sons (one dealing with his mother's death in “Silver Palomino”, another living a hardscrabble life as a boxer in “The Hitter”, yet another finding his way from the shelter of his mother's smile to life on his own in "Black Cowboys") and prostitutes (“Reno”, a somewhat graphic song that earned this disc Bruce’s first parental warning label), soldiers (the Iraqi War inspired title song) and saviors (“Jesus Was an Only Son”) and lovers (the sweetly randy “Maria’s Bed” and “All I’m Thinkin’ About”, a gently driving love song sung in an effective falsetto) and other souls with poignant tales to tell…mostly told in a burnished, heartfelt twang that suits these fine songs to a tee.

It’s a lovely record indeed (and I’m not just saying that because I’ve been in the bag for Bruce since ’77…really I’m not ... :-)

(This disc is one of the “dual discs” that are starting to be pushed. It has the CD on one side and a DVD…in this case featuring solo acoustic performances of 5 songs from the album…on the other. I’m not a big fan of music DVDs…MTV notwithstanding, music was meant to be heard rather than seen…but I guess it’s cool for those who dig the music DVD thing.)