• Country,  Roots Rock

    Sea of Heartbreak / Rosanne Cash + The Boss

    “Sea of Heartbreak” is one of those classics you recognize when you hear it, you enjoy it, but you really know nothing about the history or origin of the song. Well, that’s my experience anyway. After hearing Rosanne Cash‘s new version, with Bruce Springsteen on harmonies, and listening about 5-6 times in a row, it was time to hit All Music and get to the bottom of it.

    The song was written by Hal David and David Hampton. Far as can tell, it was originally recorded by Don Gibson in 1961. Rosanne’s old man Johnny covered the song on his 1996 Rick Rubin-produced album Unchained, an album that features Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers as the session band.

    It’s the first single from Rosanne’s forthcoming album The List, due out October 6th. The story goes that Johnny gave Rosanne a list of 100 essential country songs when she was 18 years old. Juuust a few years later, she’s taken a handful and made The List.

    I think Rosanne’s voice is flawless. Love it. And add the Boss to the mix? Sheesh. Fuhgetaboutit.
    I think I’ll listen to it 5-6 more times…

    Buy the single on Rosanne Cash - Sea of Heartbreak (feat. Bruce Springsteen) - Single

    Visit: Rosanne Cash’s Official Site

  • Bruce Springsteen

    NEW: John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen – “When Will I Be Loved”

    In 1973, John Fogerty released his solo debut album, The Blue Ridge Rangers – a collection of country, rock and gospel covers- every instrument and every vocal part belonging to John.

    On September 1st, John’s back with a whole new collection of favorite tunes, with The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again. Once again, the record is produced and arranged by Fogerty, but this time around, he brings some friends into the studio to help out with the playing and singing. Among them, Timothy B. Schmidt and Don Henley on Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party”, and one Bruce Springsteen on the Everly Brothers classic “When Will I Be Loved”.

    The Boss is a long time fan of Fogerty’s, and it’s great to hear the two of them together, covering such a great tune…

    Listen: John Fogerty w/ Bruce Springsteen – “When Will I Be Loved”

    [audio:WhenLoved.mp3]

    Pre-Order The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again |Visit: JohnFogerty.com

    Here’s the track listing:

    • Paradise (John Prine)
    • Never Ending Song of Love (Bonnie Bramett/Delaney Bramlett)
    • Garden Party (Rick Nelson)
    • I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me) (Buck Owens)
    • Back Home Again (John Denver)
    • I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me) (Ray Price/Rusty Gabbard)
    • Change in the Weather (John Fogerty)
    • Moody River (Gary Bruce)
    • Heaven’s Just a Sin Away (Jerry Gillespie)
    • Fallin’ Fallin’ Fallin’ (D. Deckleman/J. Guillot/J.D. Miller)
    • Haunted House (Robert L.Geddins)
    • When Will I Be Loved (Phil Everly)
  • Bruce Springsteen,  Rock

    The Boss Rolls on – debuting 10 songs in just 2 shows

    While I enjoy some much needed vacation time – away from work, and away from staying current on ol’ Ickmusic, I had to pass on some gems from Bruce’s European tour. On July 21st and 23rd, the Italian cities of Turino and Udine got treated to some really special shows, where 10 songs made their tour debuts (six in Torino, four in Udine). You can check out my tour tracker for the details, but here are a couple highlights.

    First off, “Drive All Night” is in my top 3 all-time Boss tunes, and the folks in Torino got to hear it from the E Street Band for the first time since 1981 2008. [Correction: “Drive All Night” made an appearance on the Magic Tour, see the comments]

    “Drive All Night” | July 21st | Torino, Italy

    And then there’s the definitive Boss song. The tune that lifted his icon status to a whole new level – “Born in the U.S.A.”. We’ve heard the darker acoustic version over the years, but I’m not aware of the full-band album version rearing its head very often. Cool to see (and a great quality video!).

    “Born in the U.S.A.” | July 23rd | Udine, Italy

  • Rock

    Bruce Joins the Gaslight Anthem at Glastonbury

    Fist clenching, goosebump inducing stuff!! The Boss joined the Gaslight Anthem onstage at Glastonbury. This 2 minute clip is enough to get me revved up! Gahhhhrrrr!!!

    [dailymotion id=x9q0wq]

    And I just read that Bruce opened his set with an acoustic version of Joe Strummer’s “Coma Girl”. This is too much!!

  • Bruce Springsteen,  Rock n' Folk

    Bruce Meets Band of Horses

    Not only did Bonnaroo bring together two of my favorites in the form of a Phish-Springsteen collaboration, but, as it turned out, Bruce also found time to catch Sunday’s set by Band of Horses. And as you can see from some brand new pics posted to BoH’s blog, Bruce hung around to meet Ben Bridwell and the band afterward. Thanks and props to Christopher Wilson Photography for capturing the moment!

    My musical universes continue to converge.

    Check out Band of Horses Tour blog with more pics of the encounter, and a bunch of others from Bonnaroo.

    By the way – if you’re a Boss fan wondering about Band of Horses, check out this Amoeba in-store video for a good intro.

    Photo Credit: Christopher Wilson Photography

  • Bruce Springsteen,  Jam

    Bonnaroo: Bruce Springsteen on stage with Phish

    As a Bruce and Phish fan for more than a quarter century and almost 20 years respectively, my mind was just about blown last night when I was reading through my Twitter feed, and saw this from Bruce’s official Twitter:

    I guess the opportunity was ripe, with Phish and the Boss co-headlining the festival, but it just didn’t seem within the realm of possibility that these two forces in popular music – different realms of the spectrum, one could argue – would collide and collaborate. But it happened. At the end of Phish’s 1st set on Sunday night, Trey Anastasio introduced his “boyhood and still hero”, Bruce Springsteen.

    They tore through “Mustang Sally”, “Bobby Jean”, and “Glory Days”.  And suffice it so say, I’ll be scouring the interwebs for any and all video of this moment. Bruce was also spotted taking in Band of Horses earlier in the day as well. It just keeps coming together, doesn’t it?

  • Acoustic,  Video

    I’m On Fire

    Thanks to a post on Slowcoustic, I  happened upon a cool A.A. Bondy version of “I’m On Fire” today (who’ll be at Modified in Phoenix later this month).  I had to share.

    Hear: A.A. Bondy I’m On Fire (mp3)

    Which made me seek out the Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon singing the same tune at a performance in Germany. Both great interpretations of a classic Boss tune…

    Sites: A.A. Bondy | Gaslight Anthem

  • Bruce Springsteen

    Springsteen Tour Premiere Tracker

    Photo / set list info courtesy of Backstreets.com
    Photo / set list info courtesy of Backstreets.com

    I’m still riding a Springsteen high after seeing him April 3rd here in Arizona. Since then, the show has rolled on to Austin, Tulsa, Houston, and Denver – each stop bringing more surprises for the lucky fans. I thought I’d keep track of the tour premieres on this, the Working on a Dream tour, since it seems the band will be pulling out more treats, and the fact that sign requests have become a staple of an E Street Show, with the Boss honoring requests each stop along the way.

    So read on for your one stop shop for all the Springsteen bust-outs as they travel on down that road….

    [Be sure also to keep up to date on Backstreets and Bruce’s Official Site.]