Darkness in Philly
As bootlegs go, the tour that supported Bruce’s Darkness on the Edge of Town has to be my favorite (followed closely by The River). My favorite show? Without question, it’s July 7th, 1978 at the Roxy – a small club show in L.A. The quality is perfect, the intensity unmatched. In fact, let me play it now…. *click click* ….. okay, that’s better.
So by popular demand, here’s the recent Darkness show at the Spectrum in Philly. Can you believe we’re down to only two shows left on this tour?? After Friday in Baltimore, and Sunday in Buffalo (with a full performance of Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ), that is it, folks. Sort of depressing, isn’t it?
As for the future of the E Street Band, I’ll quote Little Steven from this Rolling Stone.com article: “…if you ask me if I think we’ll continue I’ll certainly say yes. It’s just a matter of what happens to everybody physically, beginning with Clarence [Clemons] I suppose. He may fantasize about retiring, but with all his ex-wives I doubt it.”
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Philadelphia, PA
October 14th, 2009
“Darkness on the Edge of Town”Part I
Thundercrack
The Ties That Bind
What Love Can Do
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Intro to Darkness on the Edge of Town
Badlands
Adam Raised a Cain
Something in the Night
Candy’s Room
Racing in the Street
The Promised Land
Factory
Streets of FirePart II
Prove It All Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Waiting on a Sunny Day
Sherry Darling
Human Touch
Long Walk Home
The Rising
Born to Run
Ramrod
Detroit Medley
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Flying High (Theme to Rocky)
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)Let Him Roll
Guy Clark hit my radar after I got into Steve Earle in the 90’s. I started digging deeper into the “outlaw” singer/songwriters from the state of Texas. People like Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Joe Ely, and Townes Van Zandt. I still have a long way to go with exploring the rich catalogs of these guys. My most recent pick-up on eMusic was The Essential Guy Clark, which I will make a point of spending plenty of time with in the near future.
I heard “Let Him Roll” on Sirius a while ago, and was struck – as I always am with these guys – by the vivid, colorful, and genuine imagery in the storytelling.
Like:
It was white port that put that look in his eye,
Grown men get when they need to cry.
We sat down on the curb to rest,
And his head just fell down on his chest.He says: “Every single day it gets,
“Just a little bit harder to handle and yet. . .”
Then he lost the thread and his mind got cluttered,
And the words just rolled off down the gutter.It’s a tale of a down on his luck wino – in love with a prostitute from Dallas. He’s at the end of his road, and the narrator tells the story of his sad demise…
Guy Clark – Let Him Roll – from The Essential Guy Clark
Bruce Takes NYC Down To The River
With only four shows left on the Working On A Dream tour (wrapping up in Buffalo on November 22nd), and with much buzz about how the band will be taking some sort of extended hiatus, now’s the time to savor and cherish what Bruce and the Band have been bringing all year – and that’s night after night of powerhouse performances.The tour started out in April with a healthy dose of tracks from Working On A Dream. Last night in Detroit, only the title track was played. The tour has morphed into more of a special treat for the fans – including full album performances, sign requests, and even Bruce regularly crowd surfing during “Hungry Heart”.
As I mentioned in last week’s The Wild, The Innocent post, a couple of special nights took place in New York City last weekend. Saturday was a full performance of The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, and Sunday was Bruce’s 1980 classic The River.
The River is special to me because it was the album in which I first became aware of Bruce Springsteen. I was only 10 years old, but my older brother Dave became a fan – and he got the chance to go see Bruce when the tour rolled though Minneapolis. “Fade Away” was the first 45 I ever owned. Sides 3 and 4 (“Point Blank” thru “Wreck on the Highway”) have probably had more playtime in my life than any other album (okay, right along with Purple Rain)… it’s the slow burners like “Point Blank”, “Stolen Car”, “Fade Away”, “Wreck on the Highway”, and of course “Drive All Night” that still resonate so deeply within me. The River is a masterpiece, in my opinion, and last weekend, he played it straight through for an appreciative NYC crowd…
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Madison Square Garden – New York City
November 8, 2009Part I
Wrecking Ball
Introduction to the River
Ties that Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)Part II
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I’m a Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck on the HighwayPart III
Waiting on a Sunny Day
Atlantic City
Badlands
Born to Run
Seven Nights to Rock
Sweet Soul Music
No Surrender
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Can’t Help Falling in Love
Higher and HigherA Nod to the the Gipsy Kings
Almost 5 years running, and I’ve never even mentioned the Gipsy Kings on this blog? For shame, Pete. The Rumba Catalana sound of the Gipsy Kings have been bringing audiences and listeners joy for more than 20 years now (13 for me) – it’s near impossible to listen to their music and not feel the tension lift.
I first became aware of them in a Mexican-style cantina in Salzburg, Austria called Pepe Gonzalez back in 1996. I was traveling with my mom and dad, who were living near London at the time. When they were hitting the sack in the 500 year old hotel (the Elefant), it was time for me to hit the town. My first stop was this cool little cantina across the Salzach River. As I sat at the bar sipping my beer, this wonderful sound of latin rhythms came immediately to my attention. I asked the bartender who it was, and the rest is history.
When I got back home to Arizona, I immediately bought The Best of the Gipsy Kings – and it has served admirably since… on road trips, at backyard barbecues, house parties… It’s simply the type of music – this more pop-oriented style of flamenco – that satisfies the soul. You put on some Gipsy Kings music, and you make people happy. Plain and simple.
As for the band itself, its eight members make up two families – five from the Reyes family, and three from the Baliardo family. Anyone new to the band wouldn’t probably guess that all eight members were born in France – but it’s true. Their parents fled Catalonia (Spain) during the Spanish Civil War, and ended up in Arles and Montpelier, in southeast France.
I may be preaching to the choir with a lot of you, but if it happens that you haven’t yet experienced the sounds of the Gipsy Kings, get one of the two collections below. You’ll be happy.
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band on Jimmy Fallon
Okay, so today, Howard Stern played this Nov. 5th clip of Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band on Jimmy Fallon’s show (with Sean Lennon on guitar). Now, I can’t say I’m familiar at all with her brand of avant garde music. There’s one person in my life who I know as a fan, and that’s Gonzo.
It’s hard for me to consider this performance as anything but novel and a tad bizarre. But I have to know, what is the general consensus… what is your opinion of this performance? There must be some of you who enjoyed this? What say you, Gonzo?
By the way, Howard and the gang thought the intro sounded like “Wipeout”.
Bruce’s Wild & Innocent Night in NYC
Since I saw the Boss way back in April on just the second stop of the tour here in Phoenix, the tour has rolled on across the continent, over to Europe, and back again. Since he’s been back stateside, fans have been treated to shows where Bruce and the Band play entire albums from his catalog. Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born To Run, Born in the USA…
But for me, the envy factor really kicked in this weekend with the shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Last night, the crowd got Bruce’s second album – 1973’s The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle. Tonight, his classic 1980 double album, The River.
The two (well, three) albums are teeming with some of my all-time favorite Boss tunes: “Incident on 57th Street”, “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)”, “New York City Serenade”, “The River”, “The Price You Pay”, “Stolen Car”, “Wreck On The Highway”…
In this spoiled & amazing day and age of the internet, it’s possible to sit in the comfort of one’s home and listen to the magic happen – the very next night. That’s exactly what I’m doing right now. And I thought I’d share the joy & magic for those that are interested. Enjoy…
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Madison Square Garden
November 7th, 2009Part One
Thundercrack
Seeds
Prove It All Night
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
The E Street Shuffle [mp3]
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) [mp3]
Kitty’s Back [mp3]
Wild Billy’s Circus Story [mp3]Part Two
Incident on 57th Street [mp3]
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) [mp3]
New York City Serenade [mp3]
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Raise Your Hand
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
Glory Days
Human Touch
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to RunPart Three
Wrecking Ball
Bobby Jean
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Higher and Higher (w/ Elvis Costello)Here’s Bruce kicking off “The E Street Shuffle”, baton and all…
Street Songs
We’ve spent all this time building up our digital music libraries, so why not tinker around with them a bit and have some fun? Last week I explored tunes that clocked in at 2:28. This week, I take it to the streets.
The exercise this week is to locate your street songs. I’m not talkin’ lanes, avenues, roads, courts, and the like. Nuh-uh. I’m talkin’ Streets.
What’s more, I’m looking for songs that are simply names of Streets. “Oak Street”, “Main Street”, “This Street”, “That Street”. So that leaves out a lot of quality tunes obviously (“Positively 4th Street”, “Incident on 57th Street”, to name a couple). I’m interested to see what other “Street” gems are out there. So use the Search area of your favorite media player, look for some “___ Street” songs, and drop some into the comments.
Me? I came up with 17 streets. Here are four of my tops…
- Christian St. – Marah | An ode to their hometown of Philadelphia, this is on Marah’s 2nd album, Kids in Philly. It’s my favorite Marah album – just bristling with life. I spent the better part of the year 2000 with this record.
- Straylin Street – Pete Droge | From Pete’s ’94 album, Necktie Second.
- Great Jones Street – Luna | Never owned any other Luna albums other than Bewitched, but this song is a soft stunner. They had me at Great.
- Cherry Street – JJ Cale | From JJ’s latest, Roll On (a concept album about deodorant. Just kidding.).
The Others…
Alphabet Street – Prince
Boogie Street – Leonard Cohen
Dominick St. – Steve Earle
Grafton Street – Nancy Griffith
Grey Street – Dave Matthews Band
Highway One Zero Street – Joe Strummer
Lonely Street – Bap Kennedy
Love Street – World Party
Meadowlake Street – Ryan Adams
Rain Street – The Pogues
Shakedown Street – Grateful Dead
Shouting Street – Joe Strummer
South Street – The OrlonsPowderfinger
Yeah, well, I can’t enough of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger”….
Shelter me from the powder and the finger
Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger
Think of me as one you’d never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I’ll miss her.That’s the final and most goosebump-inducing verse of the song. And this 10-22-78 performance at the Cow Palace near San Francisco (the shows that spawned the Rust Never Sleeps and Live Rust albums) ratchets the intensity up even further. Especially when guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro comes over to Neil’s mic to join in for the final verse.
Clocking in at 2:28
A lot can be accomplished musically in two minutes and twenty eight seconds. What brought this to mind was a Little Feat tune I heard on my way to work recently: “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”. It funks and it rocks & rolls and grooves…makes me wanna strut down a crowded street with a sweet hat and some big fat shades – a grin on my face. “GIT the hell outta my way people, I’m coming THROUGH!”
I sorted my iTunes by Time, and found 37 tunes in my online collection that clock in at 2:28 (three of ’em by Jim Croce, go figure). Here’s that sweet-ass Little Feat tune and eight other nuggets of 2:28 goodness…
If you’ve got a spare 22:12, listen to ’em all!
Little Feat – Feats Don’t Fail Me Now – from Feats Don’t Fail Me Now
Steve Earle – South Nashville Blues – from I Feel Alright
Reverend Horton Heat – Baddest of the Bad – from Liquor in the Front
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Who’ll Stop the Rain- from Cosmo’s Factory
Old 97’s – Coahuila – from Drag It Up
The Byrds – I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better – from Mr. Tambourine Man
Calexico – Sunken Waltz – from Feast of Wire
Jim Croce – Time in a Bottle – from The Definitive Collection
Paul Weller – Spring (At Last) – from Illumination [Limited Edition w/ Bonus DVD]
