ManWithNoName
TheBrownDog
You have an item you didn't pay for. That's pretty much the definition.
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Bruce Springsteen
- Thread starter Cruyff14
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- Thread starter
- #6,152
If I buy two Rolex's and give you one, is that stealing?
...and home.
Thankyou my friend.
Thankyou for coming here.
Thankyou my friend.
Thankyou for coming here.
ManWithNoName
TheBrownDog
If you only pay for one Rolex, absolutely.
Have the people who are sharing these shows around paid for them once? Or five/six/however many times?
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- Thread starter
- #6,155
They have been paid for, I don't see why you care. It doesn't affect you, at all.
...oh dear, time to leave
^^^^
^^^^
ManWithNoName
TheBrownDog
If you can't see why it's wrong I hold grave concerns.
Go to Coles, grab a dozen of an item off the shelf, pay for one, try to leave with all of them, and see how they react.
- Thread starter
- #6,158
BRB going to listen to the Sydney show.
Or maybe I'll listen to Adelaide 2, or Perth 3. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.
- Thread starter
- #6,160
I hope you don't download movies you haven't seen at the cinema either
I hope you don't download movies you haven't seen at the cinema either
There will always be movies. I want Bruce Inc to keep doing this and am happy to part with $9.99.
RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
So how much is each download?? If its $10 then yeah, I would probably download all the shows myself as long as it doesn't take forever and is a pain in the arse.
I am sure that Landau and co would be aware that the really staunch fans who try and go to every show would be file sharing.
**** if you went to 11 shows in Oz you paid the Boss $2,300 gross then surely its fair if you split the 11 shows between half a dozen people who you probably met along the way.
I spoke to the camera lady on Roys side of the stage at Adelaide 2 and she said she had been doing this for 14 years. I asked where are the 14 years of video tapes and what are they doing with all of them? She said she had no idea on both counts.
There is plenty of superannuation monies for Bruce, Patti, the kids and grandkids in those 14 year of videos plus all his other stuff.
I am sure that Landau and co would be aware that the really staunch fans who try and go to every show would be file sharing.
**** if you went to 11 shows in Oz you paid the Boss $2,300 gross then surely its fair if you split the 11 shows between half a dozen people who you probably met along the way.
I spoke to the camera lady on Roys side of the stage at Adelaide 2 and she said she had been doing this for 14 years. I asked where are the 14 years of video tapes and what are they doing with all of them? She said she had no idea on both counts.
There is plenty of superannuation monies for Bruce, Patti, the kids and grandkids in those 14 year of videos plus all his other stuff.
- Thread starter
- #6,163
It's $15 for mp3, $17 for FLAC. Downloading doesn't take long.
RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
What's the big difference if any in the 2 formats quality? Can you play them both on everything?
- Thread starter
- #6,165
FLAC won't play on an iPod/phone.
I can't tell much of a difference, mp3 is fine for me.
I can't tell much of a difference, mp3 is fine for me.
ManWithNoName
TheBrownDog
Invest in Bigasoft Audio Converter. Converts FLAC to Apple Lossless. So you can get the lossless quality on your iPhone.
- Thread starter
- #6,167
Hmmmm, I've whacked a few of the tracks on my iPod (the mp3 versions) and they sound great.
I converted one using Free Audio Converter and it sounded softer to me, not sure if it actually was or not though.
And I am running out of space on my phone lol
ManWithNoName
TheBrownDog
The MP3's are fantastic, but the FLAC's are something else.
- Thread starter
- #6,169
I got Perth 3 in FLAC. Blasting HTH is something else.
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ManWithNoName
TheBrownDog
My new desktop background.
My new desktop background.
So many people in that photo vying for the title of "Coolest Person Ever".
You got Gary all dressed in black and like "yeah, I know what the f***'s going on".
You got the Professor in his sunnies, standing there like the head vampire from some awesome TV show
You got Nils and that top hat. Screams "You don't like the hat? Screw you, I've been a member of the E Street Band and Crazy Horse. What have you done?"
You got Charlie G and that quizzical look on his face which belies the whole "I'm the greatest chess player ever" vibe.
You got Stevie. Who knows what the hell's going on with him but I won't ever say he's not cool.
You got Bruce, who just knows these other cool kids are fighting for second place because, you know, he's Bruce.
And then there's Tom Morello looking like he's about to pump someone's gas in the 1950s.
Finally, there's the Mighty Max looking like a grizzlied war veteran with 1001 stories to tell.
They're just the coolest.
OK, picking this back up again.
80. 'Ain't Got You'
Get it on: Tunnel of Love (1987)
So here's what happened.
1984: Born in the USA comes out and goes gangbusters. 16 million copies sold, seven top 10 singles, and one huge, long tour which went all over the world.
1986: Bruce releases Live 1975-85, credited to Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. 13 million shipped/sold.
At this point in time, Bruce was king of the castle. But did he feel as though a little too much credit were going to his band? I don't know, I wasn't around there at that time. What I do know is that Tunnel of Love is noticeable for the lack of the E Street Band. Sure, some of the guys are there on the tracks, but there's no Clarence Clemons at all, and the E Street Band sound, as was previously known, has all but vanished (the ultimate kick in the pants for Clemons was when the band toured this album, an album that had no saxophone on it at all, Bruce brought the Miami Horns along with him as well). It's as though Bruce was saying (but not saying, if you get my drift) that "yeah, the band's good, but don't forget that they're MY songs".
So what I'm saying is that I think Tunnel of Love is the album that showed for the first time that Bruce Springsteen was thinking about life without the E Street Band. Why, I'm not sure. After all, their sound is what helped him get to the point of his life where he was as huge as he was. Obviously the songs played a huge part too, as did the man himself, but the mythology behind the E Street Band isn't because they single-handedly defeated the Germans at Normandy Beach, it's because for years they were an extension of Bruce himself and helped create a legendary legacy of music, both on stage and in the studio.
But he grew tired of them, for reasons unknown. Was it a clash in personalities? Did Springsteen miss Steve Van Zandt too much? Who knows. Hindsight's a wonderful thing sometimes, and it allows to look back and see that this was the beginning of the end. What better way for Springsteen to announce a new direction in his musical life than to kick off his next album with a practically acapella song? 'Ain't Got You' is a song that if someone came up to you and played this track, told you that it was recorded when Bruce and a couple of guys were busking in the city streets, you'd believe them.
It's Bruce, his fame and his riches, singing that he could have everything in the world but the one thing he truly wanted continues to elude him. Is he singing about his, then, wife and his crumbling marriage? Or is he singing about Patti Scialfa? I'll leave it up to you. Like much of Tunnel of Love, it's Bruce singing with unflinching honesty. And while I never listen to Tunnel of Love all the way through, from start to finish, there's a handful of gems on the album which stand side-by-side with his greatest songs.
I know it's not the most widely-loved song in Bruce's catalogue and that some of you will question my decision for having it here, but from my first listen I was hooked on the song.
The best bit: If you're going to have a song where the music is minimal, you better make sure you're voice is up to the pressure. Bruce belts it out of the ground, leaving you hooked with each and every line.
80. 'Ain't Got You'
Get it on: Tunnel of Love (1987)
So here's what happened.
1984: Born in the USA comes out and goes gangbusters. 16 million copies sold, seven top 10 singles, and one huge, long tour which went all over the world.
1986: Bruce releases Live 1975-85, credited to Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. 13 million shipped/sold.
At this point in time, Bruce was king of the castle. But did he feel as though a little too much credit were going to his band? I don't know, I wasn't around there at that time. What I do know is that Tunnel of Love is noticeable for the lack of the E Street Band. Sure, some of the guys are there on the tracks, but there's no Clarence Clemons at all, and the E Street Band sound, as was previously known, has all but vanished (the ultimate kick in the pants for Clemons was when the band toured this album, an album that had no saxophone on it at all, Bruce brought the Miami Horns along with him as well). It's as though Bruce was saying (but not saying, if you get my drift) that "yeah, the band's good, but don't forget that they're MY songs".
So what I'm saying is that I think Tunnel of Love is the album that showed for the first time that Bruce Springsteen was thinking about life without the E Street Band. Why, I'm not sure. After all, their sound is what helped him get to the point of his life where he was as huge as he was. Obviously the songs played a huge part too, as did the man himself, but the mythology behind the E Street Band isn't because they single-handedly defeated the Germans at Normandy Beach, it's because for years they were an extension of Bruce himself and helped create a legendary legacy of music, both on stage and in the studio.
But he grew tired of them, for reasons unknown. Was it a clash in personalities? Did Springsteen miss Steve Van Zandt too much? Who knows. Hindsight's a wonderful thing sometimes, and it allows to look back and see that this was the beginning of the end. What better way for Springsteen to announce a new direction in his musical life than to kick off his next album with a practically acapella song? 'Ain't Got You' is a song that if someone came up to you and played this track, told you that it was recorded when Bruce and a couple of guys were busking in the city streets, you'd believe them.
It's Bruce, his fame and his riches, singing that he could have everything in the world but the one thing he truly wanted continues to elude him. Is he singing about his, then, wife and his crumbling marriage? Or is he singing about Patti Scialfa? I'll leave it up to you. Like much of Tunnel of Love, it's Bruce singing with unflinching honesty. And while I never listen to Tunnel of Love all the way through, from start to finish, there's a handful of gems on the album which stand side-by-side with his greatest songs.
I know it's not the most widely-loved song in Bruce's catalogue and that some of you will question my decision for having it here, but from my first listen I was hooked on the song.
The best bit: If you're going to have a song where the music is minimal, you better make sure you're voice is up to the pressure. Bruce belts it out of the ground, leaving you hooked with each and every line.
79. 'Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?'
78. 'Lost in the Flood'
Get them both on: Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J (1973).
Greetings From Asbury Park NJ is actually a Springsteen album that I feel gets a little too much praise. Don't get me wrong, I'd give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, however it isn't a masterpiece. On record, it's sequenced horribly and some of the songs are just a bit rushed. But I love a lot of the songs, even 'Mary Queen of Arkansas' (though it won't be getting its own entry in this thread). I just feel like I've heard them better. I've heard too many live versions of the albums songs which just kick the album to the kerb.
But I'm not one to complain. It was the guy's first album. I think people are too quick to judge artists/bands from their initial output. If something isn't received well initially then it's deemed to be a failure, and by default, the artist/band is deemed to be a failure. Once that happens, how the hell do you come back from it. Thankfully, 1973 was a different time. Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ sold about 23,000 copies and did nothing. The pre-release hype was backed up with no sales, and to be honest, when you listen to this album, it's hard to see where the hype came from. I mean, "the next Bob Dylan"? How the hell is that even relevant to this album? Oh that's right, there's lots of words.
Words, words, too many words. Throwing them out left, right and centre. Some miss big, but when they hit... damn.
'Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street' just comes out of the gates like a hammer and it chugs along amazingly. You can tell from this one song that the guy knew how to craft a great song. It's a solid 9/10 song for about 1:50 of its 2:06 and then we encounter what I'd deem to be a problem. The song just stops dead with an outro which is a true WTF moment in Bruce's career. It just doesn't really make sense. You've got this fantastic less-than-serious song and all of a sudden Bruce turns the song round a corner and straight into the music you'd expect to hear accompanying the prelude to some western gunfight.
I never got it (although I understand how it leads into 'Lost in the Flood'), and it's a pity because the rest of the song is grand. There's live versions where the band doesn't dive into Lake Serious and just keeps the song's groove kicking along for another minute or so. That's how the song should be, and that's how I try to remember it, not the album version. But I can't discount that this studio cut is the way Bruce originally wanted the song heard, so I gotta drop it some places.
'Lost in the Flood' carries on the doom and gloom of the ending to 'Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street', and as I understand it, is a long-time favourite of many Bruce fans. Well, I think it's a really good song, but I never understood its high praise. But don't get me wrong, it's one of the best songs on Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. Easily. But I feel depressed when I hear the song, and even though I can't say why, it doesn't happen with Bruce's more 'depressing' songs. But what it does well, it does very well. Bruce's voice? Top-notch. Lyrics? There's lot's of them, but they're not always a series of words thrown together to form lines that pseudo-intellectuals claim to understand but in reality scratch their head at. It's just a bit too overwrought, a bit too everything.
I was going to say something like "but who am I to judge?" until I realised I was writing a thread judging his output and distilling it into his 101 greatest songs so I'll forget I even thought it. Let's just get past that.
The Best '...Bus Stop' moment - It's a mere heartbeat of a moment, but the drums of Vini Lopez kicking in at the start of the song always bought a tap to my feet.
The Best '... Flood' moment - "dressed in drag for homicide". Bruce's voice. His great, underrated voice, gets its first really balls-to-the-wall chance of belting out some lines.
78. 'Lost in the Flood'
Get them both on: Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J (1973).
Greetings From Asbury Park NJ is actually a Springsteen album that I feel gets a little too much praise. Don't get me wrong, I'd give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, however it isn't a masterpiece. On record, it's sequenced horribly and some of the songs are just a bit rushed. But I love a lot of the songs, even 'Mary Queen of Arkansas' (though it won't be getting its own entry in this thread). I just feel like I've heard them better. I've heard too many live versions of the albums songs which just kick the album to the kerb.
But I'm not one to complain. It was the guy's first album. I think people are too quick to judge artists/bands from their initial output. If something isn't received well initially then it's deemed to be a failure, and by default, the artist/band is deemed to be a failure. Once that happens, how the hell do you come back from it. Thankfully, 1973 was a different time. Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ sold about 23,000 copies and did nothing. The pre-release hype was backed up with no sales, and to be honest, when you listen to this album, it's hard to see where the hype came from. I mean, "the next Bob Dylan"? How the hell is that even relevant to this album? Oh that's right, there's lots of words.
Words, words, too many words. Throwing them out left, right and centre. Some miss big, but when they hit... damn.
'Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street' just comes out of the gates like a hammer and it chugs along amazingly. You can tell from this one song that the guy knew how to craft a great song. It's a solid 9/10 song for about 1:50 of its 2:06 and then we encounter what I'd deem to be a problem. The song just stops dead with an outro which is a true WTF moment in Bruce's career. It just doesn't really make sense. You've got this fantastic less-than-serious song and all of a sudden Bruce turns the song round a corner and straight into the music you'd expect to hear accompanying the prelude to some western gunfight.
I never got it (although I understand how it leads into 'Lost in the Flood'), and it's a pity because the rest of the song is grand. There's live versions where the band doesn't dive into Lake Serious and just keeps the song's groove kicking along for another minute or so. That's how the song should be, and that's how I try to remember it, not the album version. But I can't discount that this studio cut is the way Bruce originally wanted the song heard, so I gotta drop it some places.
'Lost in the Flood' carries on the doom and gloom of the ending to 'Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street', and as I understand it, is a long-time favourite of many Bruce fans. Well, I think it's a really good song, but I never understood its high praise. But don't get me wrong, it's one of the best songs on Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. Easily. But I feel depressed when I hear the song, and even though I can't say why, it doesn't happen with Bruce's more 'depressing' songs. But what it does well, it does very well. Bruce's voice? Top-notch. Lyrics? There's lot's of them, but they're not always a series of words thrown together to form lines that pseudo-intellectuals claim to understand but in reality scratch their head at. It's just a bit too overwrought, a bit too everything.
I was going to say something like "but who am I to judge?" until I realised I was writing a thread judging his output and distilling it into his 101 greatest songs so I'll forget I even thought it. Let's just get past that.
The Best '...Bus Stop' moment - It's a mere heartbeat of a moment, but the drums of Vini Lopez kicking in at the start of the song always bought a tap to my feet.
The Best '... Flood' moment - "dressed in drag for homicide". Bruce's voice. His great, underrated voice, gets its first really balls-to-the-wall chance of belting out some lines.
77. 'I'm a Rocker'
Get it on: The River (1980)
I understand that putting a song such as 'Lost in the Flood' so low in my list and then following it up with 'I'm a Rocker' is going to make some people pull their hair out. I mean, the first was a big, defining moment on the man's debut album, while this is a song which is, on the surface, one of the slightest songs on the second album of The River.
I can't explain logic, least of all my very own. All I know is that holy shit, this song kicks some serious ass. It doesn't let up, not for a second. It rushes right at you from the start and it's unrelentling. Sure, Bruce ain't singing about anything that's going to be written about in books for years to come and mentioned as a shining moment in the evolution of rock and roll lyrics, but who cares.
There are songs which are all about the heart, and Bruce has those in droves. He's great at 'heart' songs. There's songs which sit you down and really get inside your head and make you think. Bruce has got more than a few 'head' songs. Then there's the songs which exist to just (pardon my crudity) kick you in the balls. The mistake I originally made with 'I'm a Rocker' is that I associated the last group of songs with mediocrity. I assumed that if they sounded like they took ten minutes to write and record then they weren't ever worth anything more than ten minutes of my time. Three listens, thank you very much. Done with the song.
I've always said that when you listen to an album for the first time, you're looking for the immediate things which make you want to listen to the album for a second time. You're looking for the quick fix, because after all, you've just plonked down your hard-earned cash for something you want to like, for something that needs to justify the expenditure. If you find that song, that moment, then you keep on listening. Sooner or later, and if the album's good enough, you begin to hear other little bits and pieces which keep you coming back for more. You may love a certain bassline and want to hear it again, and then you hear something else in the same song which is better than that bassline, and all of a sudden you've got a song you like. Now there's more than one song you put the disc in (or the album on) for. Eventually, if the album becomes a favourite or gets a semi-heavy amount of rotations, you'll find that the song you were attracted to at the start is no longer the song you reach for immediately, if ever, and the songs which seemingly took forever to become favourites will be with you forever.
All this goes to say that the second half of The River was always a poorer cousin for me when I first bought the album. I mean, the first half had 'Hungry Heart' on it, and even though I originally thought that was a Billy Joel song or something, I still knew it therefore I listened to it often. It had more 'rocking' songs, therefore it was better than the second half which had the more maudlin stuff.
But there was always 'I'm a Rocker'. It just seemed so out of place on that second album. The way I justified its presence was thinking of the Yin & Yang symbol. The predominantly white side had a little bit of black and the black side had a little bit of white. 'I'm a Rocker' was the little bit of white, existing only to keep balance.
How wrong I was. Some may disagree, but I could make the case for 'I'm a Rocker' as being a close-to-perfect song. The caveat being that it's a close to perfect song for what it is. It doesn't aspire to greatness (I don't think), and therefore it can't help but lag behind those songs which aim for stars and hit big.
Or at least that's the way I like to think about it. And I don't like to think about this song too much. It doesn't request it, doesn't require it. Time spent thinking about the song is time you should be utilising to shake your ass.
The best bit: Is it wrong to say the whole damn thing? Bruce rips his voice through the thing while the band provide the relentless backbeat. But if pressed to name one portion, then special props go to Max Weinberg. His drums hammer at you the whole time.
Get it on: The River (1980)
I understand that putting a song such as 'Lost in the Flood' so low in my list and then following it up with 'I'm a Rocker' is going to make some people pull their hair out. I mean, the first was a big, defining moment on the man's debut album, while this is a song which is, on the surface, one of the slightest songs on the second album of The River.
I can't explain logic, least of all my very own. All I know is that holy shit, this song kicks some serious ass. It doesn't let up, not for a second. It rushes right at you from the start and it's unrelentling. Sure, Bruce ain't singing about anything that's going to be written about in books for years to come and mentioned as a shining moment in the evolution of rock and roll lyrics, but who cares.
There are songs which are all about the heart, and Bruce has those in droves. He's great at 'heart' songs. There's songs which sit you down and really get inside your head and make you think. Bruce has got more than a few 'head' songs. Then there's the songs which exist to just (pardon my crudity) kick you in the balls. The mistake I originally made with 'I'm a Rocker' is that I associated the last group of songs with mediocrity. I assumed that if they sounded like they took ten minutes to write and record then they weren't ever worth anything more than ten minutes of my time. Three listens, thank you very much. Done with the song.
I've always said that when you listen to an album for the first time, you're looking for the immediate things which make you want to listen to the album for a second time. You're looking for the quick fix, because after all, you've just plonked down your hard-earned cash for something you want to like, for something that needs to justify the expenditure. If you find that song, that moment, then you keep on listening. Sooner or later, and if the album's good enough, you begin to hear other little bits and pieces which keep you coming back for more. You may love a certain bassline and want to hear it again, and then you hear something else in the same song which is better than that bassline, and all of a sudden you've got a song you like. Now there's more than one song you put the disc in (or the album on) for. Eventually, if the album becomes a favourite or gets a semi-heavy amount of rotations, you'll find that the song you were attracted to at the start is no longer the song you reach for immediately, if ever, and the songs which seemingly took forever to become favourites will be with you forever.
All this goes to say that the second half of The River was always a poorer cousin for me when I first bought the album. I mean, the first half had 'Hungry Heart' on it, and even though I originally thought that was a Billy Joel song or something, I still knew it therefore I listened to it often. It had more 'rocking' songs, therefore it was better than the second half which had the more maudlin stuff.
But there was always 'I'm a Rocker'. It just seemed so out of place on that second album. The way I justified its presence was thinking of the Yin & Yang symbol. The predominantly white side had a little bit of black and the black side had a little bit of white. 'I'm a Rocker' was the little bit of white, existing only to keep balance.
How wrong I was. Some may disagree, but I could make the case for 'I'm a Rocker' as being a close-to-perfect song. The caveat being that it's a close to perfect song for what it is. It doesn't aspire to greatness (I don't think), and therefore it can't help but lag behind those songs which aim for stars and hit big.
Or at least that's the way I like to think about it. And I don't like to think about this song too much. It doesn't request it, doesn't require it. Time spent thinking about the song is time you should be utilising to shake your ass.
The best bit: Is it wrong to say the whole damn thing? Bruce rips his voice through the thing while the band provide the relentless backbeat. But if pressed to name one portion, then special props go to Max Weinberg. His drums hammer at you the whole time.
76. 'O Mary Don't You Weep'
Get it on: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
It's been too long between postings in this countdown for me. There's a song which shall remain nameless that previously occupied this spot. I was sure it didn't deserve to hold #76, but through things being moved around, it found its way here. By the time I sat down to write about the song (which I still love), I couldn't. There were no words. I couldn't sit down and tell you why I loved the song. It was a waste of an entry, so it got relegated.
'O Mary Don't You Weep' originally wasn't going to be here because it wasn't a Springsteen original. I wanted the list to be solely made of originals. But that's just a stupid thing to do.
For years I wondered what the E Street Band would sound like in an acoustic setting. Because what were they if nothing but an electrified carny band? I was holding out hope that one year they'd headline the Bridge Benefit concerts and kick everyone's ass. But it never happened (well not yet anyway). Which is a pity because the sound the band would make was stuck in my head for what seemed like an eternity and it was far too good to be stuck in the head of a nobody like myself.
Then Bruce announced the Seeger Sessions album and I was dreading it. In my mind, it was going to be the Springsteen album that sat along side Human Touch as the albums we just pretended didn't exist. After all, the cover Bruce released of 'We Shall Overcome' was not only the cover of a song I truly feel nothing about, it was released around the time that Bruce seemingly forgot that what helped make him great was that he could be loose, he could be funny. So I didn't hold out high hopes for the album.
And then a funny thing happened. Bruce released a video of 'John Henry' being recorded and even though it wasn't the E Street Band, it was though a gate to another life was opened. Immediately, my feelings of the album turned from nervous dread to giddy excitement. And then I bought the album. Sure, 'John Henry' was fun, but it was 'O Mary Don't You Weep' which grabbed my attention for the longest.
I know the song's been covered by a list of names longer than than 'Lawrence of Arabia', and Springsteen's version may not compare to say, the live version Aretha Franklin released on Amazing Grace, but for the purpose of my Bruce listening pleasure, 'O Mary Don't You Weep' was exactly the kind of song that I'd been longing for from him. I didn't care if he never wrote another 'Thunder Road' ever again (and I wouldn't want him to try), and I don't need him to return to scenes of past triumphs.
I needed that sound in my head to be made real, and 'O Mary Don't You Weep', when it starts playing, is not only the sound I heard in my head years ago, it knocks my sound to the ground and towers above it.
The Best Bit: Bruce always sounds his most fun when the Miami Horns (or whatever they're called these days) are backing him. Here, Mark Pender gives a short little trumpet solo that in a matter of seconds makes you wish he was used throughout Bruce's career far more often that he has.
Get it on: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
It's been too long between postings in this countdown for me. There's a song which shall remain nameless that previously occupied this spot. I was sure it didn't deserve to hold #76, but through things being moved around, it found its way here. By the time I sat down to write about the song (which I still love), I couldn't. There were no words. I couldn't sit down and tell you why I loved the song. It was a waste of an entry, so it got relegated.
'O Mary Don't You Weep' originally wasn't going to be here because it wasn't a Springsteen original. I wanted the list to be solely made of originals. But that's just a stupid thing to do.
For years I wondered what the E Street Band would sound like in an acoustic setting. Because what were they if nothing but an electrified carny band? I was holding out hope that one year they'd headline the Bridge Benefit concerts and kick everyone's ass. But it never happened (well not yet anyway). Which is a pity because the sound the band would make was stuck in my head for what seemed like an eternity and it was far too good to be stuck in the head of a nobody like myself.
Then Bruce announced the Seeger Sessions album and I was dreading it. In my mind, it was going to be the Springsteen album that sat along side Human Touch as the albums we just pretended didn't exist. After all, the cover Bruce released of 'We Shall Overcome' was not only the cover of a song I truly feel nothing about, it was released around the time that Bruce seemingly forgot that what helped make him great was that he could be loose, he could be funny. So I didn't hold out high hopes for the album.
And then a funny thing happened. Bruce released a video of 'John Henry' being recorded and even though it wasn't the E Street Band, it was though a gate to another life was opened. Immediately, my feelings of the album turned from nervous dread to giddy excitement. And then I bought the album. Sure, 'John Henry' was fun, but it was 'O Mary Don't You Weep' which grabbed my attention for the longest.
I know the song's been covered by a list of names longer than than 'Lawrence of Arabia', and Springsteen's version may not compare to say, the live version Aretha Franklin released on Amazing Grace, but for the purpose of my Bruce listening pleasure, 'O Mary Don't You Weep' was exactly the kind of song that I'd been longing for from him. I didn't care if he never wrote another 'Thunder Road' ever again (and I wouldn't want him to try), and I don't need him to return to scenes of past triumphs.
I needed that sound in my head to be made real, and 'O Mary Don't You Weep', when it starts playing, is not only the sound I heard in my head years ago, it knocks my sound to the ground and towers above it.
The Best Bit: Bruce always sounds his most fun when the Miami Horns (or whatever they're called these days) are backing him. Here, Mark Pender gives a short little trumpet solo that in a matter of seconds makes you wish he was used throughout Bruce's career far more often that he has.