Tag Archives: Bruce Springsteen

Song of the Week – Jungleland (demo) & Lonely Night in the Park, Bruce Springsteen

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Ignored             Obscured              Restored

In January 1975, I landed my very first FM radio spot on WZBC — as a freshman.  This was a big deal, because Boston College’s station had only just received its FM license less than a year earlier.  Back then, there were strict requirements: you had to spend at least one semester on the AM station, which only reached the dorms via carrier current.  And in ’75, you also needed a Radio Telephone Third Class Operator Permit.  That meant hunting down an FCC office and passing an actual test.

That first semester on air, I received a caller request to play “Rosalita” by Bruce Springsteen.  Bruce who?  I hadn’t yet caught up to Springsteen but was game to satisfy a listener request.  I found the album — The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle – in our record library and tried to cue up “Rosalita”.  But as you may know, there’s no clean break between “Rosalita” and the track before it, “Incident on 57th Street”.  I had to take my best shot a figuring out where “Incident…” ended and “Rosalita” began.  By some miracle, I nailed it!

Five minutes later, I was hopping up and down in the studio –

And my tires were slashed and I almost crashed, but the Lord had mercy
And my machine, she’s a dud, out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Well, hold on tight, stay up all night, ’cause Rosie, I’m comin’ on strong
By the time we meet the morning light, I will hold you in my arms

… and just like that, I was a Springsteen fan for life.

By the end of that summer, I was counting the days until his next album would be released.  Born to Run dropped exactly 50 years ago this Monday — August 25, 1975.  My hometown of Newburgh, NY, didn’t have a record store that stocked new releases on day one, so I drove down to the Nanuet Mall to grab my copy.

Born to Run still stands as one of the greatest rock albums of all time.  You know all the songs by heart.  So how do I provide an entertaining twist to celebrate the album’s golden anniversary?

Let’s start with an early, bootleg version of “Jungleland”?

This version (V4) has a different intro, and some different lyrics.  Instead of “the midnight gang’s assembled and picked a rendezvous for the night”, we hear “there’s a crazy kind of light tonight, brighter than the one that sparked the prophets”.  And where the final lyrics read “the street’s alive as secret debts are paid, contacts made, they vanished unseen, kids flash guitars just like switchblades hustling for the record machine”, we get “the street’s alive with tough-kid Jets in Nova-light machines, boys flash guitars like bayonets and rip holes in their jeans”.  The final lyrics are tighter, but it’s fascinating to hear the evolution.

Another outtake from the Born to Run sessions is a song called “Lonely Night in the Park.”

“Lonely…” was considered for inclusion in early track listings of the album but was ultimately dropped.  Coincidentally, it received its first official release yesterday, though bootleg copies have been circulating among collectors for years.  I often thought this track was probably an early rehearsal, not the final track.  It feels less polished, a little sloppy, and there’s a lyrical clash: the imagery puts you at the beach, yet the title plants you in a park.  Bruce probably preferred the way “park” sounded when sung, but apparently, he never reconciled that conflict.

Thank you, Bruce, for working so hard to give us Born to Run.  You’ve earned a huge fan base with the release of this outstanding album, whose lyrics and music touch so many people – even 50 years after its release.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – She Don’t Love Me Now, Bruce Springsteen

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Ignored             Obscured              Restored

Jesse Malin, the talented songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, suffered a rare spinal stroke about a year ago, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. In response, his musician friends have rallied to record a tribute album titled Silver Patron Saints. Released on September 20th, the album’s proceeds go to the Sweet Relief Fund, an organization that provides “financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing physical or mental health issues, disability, or age-related problems.”

The album features an impressive lineup of guest artists, including Counting Crows, Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Dinosaur Jr., Lucinda Williams & Elvis Costello, The Wallflowers, Spoon, Susannah Hoffs (The Bangles), Graham Parker, and The Hold Steady.

A standout track on the album is Bruce Springsteen’s rendition of “She Don’t Love Me Now.” Originally featured on Malin’s 2015 album New York Before the War, the song captures the essence of Malin’s beloved New York City. It’s a mid-tempo, reggae-tinged piece about lost love.

And, oh, we had so many nights down there in the village
Dressed up like each other’s dreams
We were kinda killers

Oh, she don’t love me now
She don’t love me now

Springsteen delivers the song with the spirit of his early bar band days, perfectly matching the sentiment of the lyrics. His connection with Malin goes back to 2007, when they collaborated on the track “Broken Radio,” with Springsteen providing backing vocals.

You can learn more about the Sweet Relief Fund by clicking on this link:

https://www.sweetrelief.org

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Let’s Roll, Neil Young; I Can’t See New York, Tori Amos; My City of Ruins, Bruce Springsteen

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Today we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terrible terror attack on the United States.  In reaction, many music artists wrote songs about the horrible 9/11 events.

In November 2001, Neil young released “Let’s Roll”, a phrase that was attributed to Todd Beamer, one of the heroes on Flight 93 that crashed in PA.  Todd was heard on a phone uttering the words as he and other passengers took action to take control of the flight to prevent the hijackers from using the plane to crash into its target.

This wasn’t the first time Young quickly released a record in response to a news event.  In 1970, Young wrote “Ohio” after the May 4 shooting of students at Kent State University.  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young recorded the song and released it in June 1970.

Tori Amos gave us the haunting “I Can’t See New York.”

Thirteen thousand and holding
Swallowed
In the purring
Of her engines

But I can’t see new York
As I’m, circling down
Through white cloud
Falling out
And I know
His lips are warm
But I can’t seem
To find my way out
My way out I can’t see
Of this hunting ground

Bruce Springsteen devoted an entire album – The Rising (2002) – to songs that addressed the aftermath of events of 9/11 from various perspectives.  This was an ambitious project that only someone with Springsteen’s perception could handle so deftly.  “My City of Ruins” is a hymn in the mold of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.”

There’s a blood red circle on the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door’s thrown open, I can hear the organ’s song
But the congregation’s gone
My city of ruins

Now the sweet bells of mercy drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner like scattered leaves
The boarded up windows, the empty streets
While my brother’s down on his knees
My city of ruins

Now there’s tears on the pillow, darling, where we slept
And you took my heart when you left
Without your sweet kiss my soul is lost, my friend
Tell me how do I begin again
My city’s in ruins

The song’s sadness of the verses change to healing in the final section:

Now with these hands, with these hands
With these hands, with these hands
I pray, Lord (with these hands, with these hands)
I pray for the strength, Lord (with these hands, with these hands)
I pray for the faith, Lord (with these hands, with these hands)
I pray for your love, Lord (with these hands, with these hands)
I pray for the strength, Lord (with these hands, with these hands)
I pray for your love, Lord (with these hands, with these hands)
I pray for the faith, Lord (with these hands), alright (with these hands)
I pray for the strength, Lord (with these hands), come on (with these hands), come on
Come on rise up, come on rise up
Come on rise up, come on rise up

May all we Americans heal together as we mourn on this solemn day.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – My City of Ruins, Bruce Springsteen

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All of the recent natural disasters – multiple hurricanes and a huge earthquake off the coast of Mexico – have caused me to think about Bruce Springsteen’s “My City of Ruins,” today’s SotW.

“My City of Ruins” was included on Springsteen’s album The Rising (2002). The Rising was The Boss’s answer to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center although “My City of Ruins” was actually written a couple of years earlier about Asbury Park.

In Springsteen’s autobiography Born to Run, he describes “My City of Ruins” as “the soul gospel of my favorite sixties records, speaking not just of Asbury Park but hopefully of other places and other lands.”

“Soul gospel”… that’s just how I always heard it. Let’s call it a distant cousin to Curtis Mayfield’s (The Impressions’) “People Get Ready,” a long time favorite of mine.

Springsteen is one of the few artists whose later albums speak to me as completely as his early albums. There aren’t many.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Heroes, David Bowie – It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City, David Bowie – Let’s Dance, M Ward – Wake Up, Arcade Fire w/ David Bowie

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

I hadn’t really planned to post about David Bowie today. All week there have been media articles, radio tributes, and playlists to honor his passing. Sirius/XM even turned The Loft into an all Bowie station for a limited time. What more is there for me to add to the conversation?

But a very good friend of mine sent me an email saying he was looking forward to my take on the Bowie legacy so I decided to take a stab at it after all. My slant is to illuminate the various facets of Bowie as a performer, interpreter, writer and collaborator.

I’ll start by simply offering my all-time favorite Bowie song, “Heroes.”

“Heroes” was released as a single but never really achieved meaningful chart success. It was a well-known album cut but wasn’t among his most commercial releases. So I was surprised when I notice that it is the 3rd top Bowie song listened to on Spotify (with over 25 million streams, behind only “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars”).

I’ve always dug the way it starts off with such power but continues to build and build, even when you think it’s no longer possible.

Next let’s listen to Bowie covering another artist – Bruce Springsteen’s “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City.”

Bowie was an early proponent of Springsteen, having recorded two songs (“It’s Hard to Be A Saint…” and “Growin’ Up”) from The Boss’ first album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

There are scores of great covers of Bowie songs by others. Take a listen to “Let’s Dance” by M Ward.

This melancholy version of Bowie’s exhilarating club hit underscores the simple beauty of the song.

Finally, Bowie was always generously shared his talent with other artists, from Bing Crosby (“Little Drummer Boy”) to Mick Jagger (“Dancing in the Street”) to Queen (“Under Pressure”). My pick for a cool collaboration is his effort with Arcade Fire on their “Wake Up.”

There we go Mike. I hope I didn’t disappoint!

Enjoy… until next week.