From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #20 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Wednesday, June 19 2002 Volume 09 : Number 020 NOTE: Sale/trade posts should be emailed to luckytown-ads, *NOT* to luckytown. That includes tix wanted/tix grovels, post them to luckytown-ads, please. Contents: Springsteen Class [Tom Hart ] Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #19 [DuoStudio@aol.com] Empty Sky [Matthew Orel ] Complaining ["Curtis, Robert L. LT (NASWI)" ] Beatles?! [Chris Ryan ] code of silence ["Danko Perovic" ] Tour Rumor ["J K" ] Re: Songs that should be played on the next tour ["Roderick Green" ] Re: Songs that should be played on the next tour ["Rob Bliss" Subject: Springsteen Class Greetings LTD Folks!! Many of you may remember back to a posting from last summer regarding a Freshman Seminar I was preparing to teach. The class centered around America as reflected in the music and message of Bruce Springsteen. Many of you contributed outstanding ideas and suggestions, with some of them actually finding their way into the syllabus. At the time I said would be keeping everyone up on how the class was progressing. It's now June, I am preparing to teach the class again (either great evaluations or not enough teachers, I 'm not sure which) and I realize I have not updated anyone on how the class went. This may be somewhat long but hopefully worth the read. The fall of 2001 was an interesting time to be a freshman in college, away from home for the first time. It was also an interesting time to be discussing ideas about America and for some, a glorious opportunity to learn about the message of Bruce Springsteen. The class started with a quiz on Springsteen. While everyone on this digest would score well, 18 year olds from the midwest (there were 8 girls and 7 guys in the class) seemed to have a little trouble. There were two students in the class that were way into Bruce and they seemed to enjoy beginning their college careers on a good note. The last question on the quiz asked who inducted Bruce into the R&R Hall of Fame. When we got around to answering that question, we played Bono's speech, which not only gave them some insight on Bruce, but was done by someone who the class was a little more familiar with. The next couple classes centered around the theme of "Growin Up". We started by playing the version from "1975-1985" which includes the parental professional wish list. This was a great jumping off point for a discussion on what they wanted to accomplish vs. what others may want for them. In addition, a paper on an instance when they began to act or feel in an adult fashion brought some interesting responses. "Independence Day" also made it's way into the discussions during this time. The first book we read was Jim Cullen's "Born in the USA". In the next section of the class we used the book as we looked into the concept of the American Dream. While this section went well, overall the students were not all that excited about the book. This year I plan to use just the chapter on the American Dream and have the class read "It Ain't No Sin" from Eric Alterman as the book on Bruce. In early September I had the class over to the house (the idea of seeing Chuck Berry at Blueberry Hill was not possible given the students age) and we ate bar-b-que and watched "Roger and Me". This was supposed to lead us in a section on the plight of cities in the US (with Youngstown a prime example). However, our next four classes were consumed by Sept. 11. While the topic of bootlegging has been batted around off and on on this site for quite some time, the value of capturing performances for future gain was never more in play than on the Thursday September 13th in our classroom. Our class met at noon each T-TH and the hours after the attack were unsettling to students and faculty alike. While classes were not canceled, only a handful of students showed up and most that time was spent trying to make sense of what was going on. However, on Thursday, everyone was back in the classroom where fears were expressed, tears were shed and questions were raised. The only song that was played that day in class was a version of "My City In Ruins" that I had gotten through someone on LTD. That song, combined with the events of the previous 52 hours not only brought new meaning and immediacy to the message of Bruce Springsteen, but provided perspective on being an American. Later when Bruce played that song for the country on a Friday night, many of the students said they had goose bumps when he started singing "our song". The next section of the class was short story time with Flannery O'Connor's "The River" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the stories of choice. We looked to compare and contrast these works with the Springsteen songs of the same titles. I would dub this portion of the class "Mary Queen of Arkansas" as it kinda worked but........ Route 66 took center stage during the next portion of the class. In addition to reading "Out of the Dust", watching the "Grapes of Wrath" and hearing a good portion of Tom Joad, we took advantage of St. Louis' location to talk about travel, escape and the route to California. This was an interesting portion of the class where we looked at "The Promised Land", the underbelly of America and "Goin Cali". The final topic that we discussed was Vietnam. We read "In Country" which worked out well given the number of 18 year old females in the class. Bruce's writing also played a major part in the discussions and learning. The last portion of the class was spent with student speeches where quite a bit was learned about Bruce related topics. From an informational speech on the current state of Asbury Park and Freehold to a discussion on Bruce's charitable work to the hotly debated topic of gambling, the students did a good job thinking about and issues and where they stand. I had a habit of picking the quiet versions of songs so the words could be emphasized. I had to chuckle when about 3/4 of the way through the class a student said me with a straight face "I thought Springsteen rocked out". So the last class was spent watching the NYC video from Youngstown-10th Ave. I then asked the students to express the emotions each specific song brought out, and then collectively as a group what did the songs represent. The Bruce fan in me is pleased to say quite a few of them "got it". Feedback from the students centered on a couple points. First, they wanted a new book on Springsteen. Given that these students were coming from a place where little is known about Bruce, I hope to give them more of an overview of his work, life and music during the class. The second thing that came out was more on Springsteen's life and motivations. I hope to incorporate these suggestions into next years class, as well as rock'n out a little more. Which leads me to my summer project of improving the class as I prepare for my second attempt to expose 18 year olds to the music and message of Bruce. My hope is to help everyone in the classs to "get it" and with a new album on the way, I hope it will spur many new discussions. Who knows, maybe we will even take a class trip to a show if Bruce and the Band play somewhere near St. Louis. If anyone reads this piece and has some additional good ideas for next years class, I am more than willing to consider them. In fact, "Out of The Dust" and Flannery O'Connor would not have been part of the class if not for feedback from this digest. So if anyone out there has ideas please drop me an e-mail. Thanks again for all your help. Getting the message of Bruce out there,16 students at a time! Tom Hart Webster University 314-968-6984 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2002 23:28:11 EDT From: DuoStudio@aol.com Subject: Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #19 In a message dated 6/15/02 2:04:06 AM, owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org writes: << This is the first time you'll hear traces of the Beatles' influence in the music, which has never been obvious before.'' >> Y'know, I'm sure I speak for many Bruce fans when I say I've always wondered what Bruce's take on The Beatles was. Other than re-picking up the guitar (remember, when he first tried the guitar after Elvis appeared Bruce claimed his fingers were too small to play it) after The Beatles made their historic Ed Sullivan appearance (along with about a million other kids!), there's been nary a hint of the Beatles in Bruce's music since. Sure, he covered "Twist & Shout" for years, but that was really the Isley Bros.' version he was covering (to which he later added, in '84, a soupcon of Ritchie Valens "La Bamba"); in fact, it wasn't until last December's covers of "Something" & "My Sweet Lord" that Bruce actually covered a Beatles tune! I've always thought that Bruce's music was, in truth, the American "answer" to the Beatles. For me, who came to Bruce upon the release of "Born to Run" (his first 2 albums passed under my radar), that song and album supplied the tangible/intangible elements that had been missing from rock and roll since the Beatles '67 acendancy to pop-godhood with "Sgt.Pepper." That album, long considered the best in history (until only recently supplanted by "Revolver" in most polls), spawned an incredible amount of schlocky music done in inspiration/homage to it, as well as its already-acknowledged positive influence on music/culture/etc. Too many "concept" albums, "la-la-la" high harmonies, and overall druggy, raga, non-rock and roll classic elements turned a guy like me, more a fan of the early Beatles singles than the post-Pepper Beatles, off to a lot of what passed for "rock" music" in the late '60's and early '70's. Until Bruce hit. I couldn't articulate it then, as a 17-year old, but the muscular sound of the band and his voice was much more masculine, in a way, than the quasi-effeminate sense I felt came from those Beatles-influenced high harmonies and the "softer" rock sound of the L.A. singer-songwriting school of the early '70's; Bruce and the E Street band were a bunch of "real men" singing rock and roll, not drugged-out, effeminate hippies wearing scarves, hunched over their instruments with their backs to the audience. And it was an unashamedly East Coast, American sound that I gravitated toward in "Born to Run," after almost a decade of Brit-rock/West Coast dominance. Since I believe "Born to Run" to be the greatest Rock and roll album in history, I've always thought it "answered" Sgt. Pepper's hegemony in a tongue-and-cheek way, much like those old "versus" albums, like "The 4 Seasons vs. The Beach Boys," where side A's Seasons' songs would be "matched" to side B's Beach Boys hits. In this way, BTR neatly stacks up to Pepper almost song for song, providing the American/rock & roll/nighttime counterparts to Pepper's British/"rock"/daytime numbers, to wit: "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" with "A Little Help from My Friends"; "Night" with "Good Day Sunshine"; "Backstreets" with "She's Leaving Home"; each album's title tracks; "She's the One" with "Lovely Rita"; and finally, "Jungleland" with "A Day in the Life," with Bruce's awesome closing vocal howls the ultimate human response to "Life"'s famous sustained end note. So--this has been a roundabout way of saying that I am mightily intrigued by Steven's comment about hearing The Beatles' influence in Bruce's new album, because the only influence I've gleaned to date has been the upbeat, postive, life-affirming, joyous feeling I've gotten from Bruce's music and concerts that is similar to the feeling I've always gotten from listening to the early Beatles' singles and, as a 6-year-old in '64, standing in the back of a movie theater playing "A Hard Day's Night," packed with screaming female teenagers standing on their chairs so that the only image I can recall is a flickering black-and white screen obscured by the silhouettes of their flailing hands. --Arlen Schumer ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2002 23:52:23 -0400 From: Matthew Orel Subject: Empty Sky The song title list for the new album came out last week, and one of them struck a nerve. So I jotted down my thoughts on what it meant to me: Last September 11, after the bombs hit, those of us in exposed high rises had to get out. I spend most of my hours high up in one the most prominent -- and prominently exposed -- high rises on the planet, within eyesight of the busiest international border crossing on the continent. I didn't stick around. Our house is under the flight path for Detroit Metro Airport. Depending on the winds, we'll get 'em one way or the other. We're 35 miles out, so it's not so bad, but sometimes they get pretty loud. If we're outside for a while, we're bound to get a few. By September, it's pretty high into harvest season. As any of you who have been to our house know, we grow lots of stuff. By second week of September, we have everything from apples and pears to peppers and tomatoes all ready for picking, and it can be a pretty long time getting all the stuff. It's a different world for me, one where time stops and nothing else really matters. I brought apples to the Springsteen concert on 9/8/99 to hand out, but the Palace folks wouldn't let me take them in. The 11th and the 12th were beautiful late summer days. Best we could hope for. Tried to work a little bit at another facility where I have a desk, but it was pretty hopeless. I went into the garden and my own little reality, jumped in the pool and floated away. I looked up. Lori looked up. And we both noticed exactly the same thing. There wasn't nothing but blue up above. Quiet. So quiet it was surreal. The sky was empty. Peaceful. Calm. Of all the personal rememberences from those first couple of days, that eerily quiet empty sky, floating away in the peace and quiet and looking up and imagining that's all there is, that is the thing that sticks most. The 13th, it turned colder. We ate at The Sheik, a local middle-eastern restaurant that had been libelled by a vicious internet hoax. Never did warm up again. For whatever it's worth. - --Matthew Orel, June 4, 2002 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 10:25:56 -0700 From: "Curtis, Robert L. LT (NASWI)" Subject: Complaining Greetings Tramps! Kudos to Chris and Dave (LTDG # 19)! I'm tired of reading all the complaining that goes on. I've been subscribing since 1996, there was complaining about Bruce's acoustic tour, about his "shut the fuck up speech", his choice in setlists, why no BTR or T Rd? (Acoustic Bruce? AM I DREAMING??) "How come he's not playing this or that song." Complaining about no new material, so out comes Tracks (which I consider an abslute TREASURE!!). Tracks = complaining about the big box it's in, "... it doesn't fit in my CD shelf", complaining about the lack of this song or that song (Fever/Promise), complaining about the price, the amount of empty space on the CD's...he could've put this on there, or used it for that! "There's no liner notes, what's WRONG with him?" I love this one, "Here's what I would've put on Tracks..." Bruce must've been reading because out comes 18 Tracks with Promise and Fever and out comes the complainers! "I don't want to pay 18 bucks for two songs!" "Why didn't he just put it on Tracks?" "I don't like the version of Promise, why didn't he just put on the original version?" "When is he going on tour?" (HOLY SHIT...BS & the E St. Band are on TOUR?!!) Then complaints about ticket pricing, the Men in Black, the people who cheated the MIB, the setlists, "Play this song, play that song!! Where's Rosie? For the love of God, I NEED ROSIE!! Didn't he see me in the 27th row holding up my Rosie sign?" (I'll never forget at E. Rutherford, when some LTDG reader organized got the great idea that to form a "Play Rosie" sign convention in the first few rows, Burce told them to put those damn signs down! It was beautiful!! They went down SO fast! Way to go!) "The shows are too short...I can't see the stage...the t-shirts are too expensive...the sound sucks...the tix are too expensive...ALD's, how can someone do that? "Stop buying bootlegs". LINYC: "The color is disgusting, the packaging is ugly, how come he left off this song, there's PLENTY OF space on disc one, he could've put these three songs on there...I did the math!" Out comes a sweet DVD concert: "Where's THIS song, the sound sucks, why didn't he put on THAT song?" "I don't like the packaging" "Now I gotta go out and buy a DVD player, what about us VHS fans?" "What is Bruce-camp thinking? "Mr. Landau help us out for crying out loud!!" "AREN"T YOU READING THIS?!!" "There's a typo in line 63 in the credits" "Where's Max's legs in the picture?" "We want NEW stuff" Here comes the new CD, with a tour announcement, and we're ALREADY complaining about it!!!! What about this song or that song, I want a studio version of LOHAD!! "Maybe this song title means that song", "Please come to this town or that town" GET WITH IT PEOPLE!!!! Bottom Line: If Bruce farts and it is recorded, released on friggin' 8 track only, I will buy it the minute after I hunt down an 8 track player, and enjoy listening to it, and be THANKFUL that he released something new! AND thank God that I'm a Bruce Springsteen fan!!!! BRUCE, NO COMPLAINTS HERE!!!!!! Thanks for the music!!! Show a little faith there's magic in the night You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright This train... Bob [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 09:27:28 -0700 From: Chris Ryan Subject: Beatles?! So Steve Van Zandt says, "This is the first time you'll hear traces of the Beatles' influence in the music." Well, yawn. Doesn't make me look forward to the new CD with great anticipation. Have these guys listened to anything that came out after the 60s? There's been so much vital stuff in the last ten years, from Uncle Tupelo to Rage Against the Machine, just to pick two disparate things at random. As great as it was, I don't really want to hear a new "Sgt. Pepper." Chris ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 10:14:22 +0100 From: "Danko Perovic" Subject: code of silence When the songlist for "Live in NYC" came out I guessed (and posted) that the exclusion of "Code Of Silence" and "Another Thin Line" really ment putting them on hold, and off the next studio album. It proved right. What I ment was: those song belong with "American Skin", and should have been released together. If Bruce thought that there was no place for them on the record, I think a big chance was missed to edit an EP containing "American Skin", the mentioned two songs + eventually the studio version that was reported beeing made. I think it's a pity that things went the other way. Maybe it would have been a further (missing) push for "Live in NYC", but then again maybe Sony wouldn't go for it. It could still be done in this rumoured bonus disc with "The Rising", but I don't think those songs belong with the new album anymore. Waiting for July 30th. Danko ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 18:29:26 -0400 From: "J K" Subject: Tour Rumor Hi, Heard this rumor, indirectly, from SFX in Connecticut. Some dates are being held for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Hartford Civic Center. The only timeframe indicated was "in the fall". No number of dates were indicated. There also has been no confirmation of the dates from Bruce's Camp. If and when I hear more, I will post it. Joe REPLY TO: BOSSTRADE@hotmail.comGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 10:29:57 -0600 From: "Roderick Green" Subject: Re: Songs that should be played on the next tour Got to add one thought, and so far as I know, it's never been played live, but probably would be a good one to add to the setlist, perhaps even as the opener: "Missing" Rod [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 17:08:45 -0400 From: "Geoff Coleman" Subject: Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #19 Hello out there: I know I will be the 1000th person to point this out, but "the songs that should be played" email included "Darlington County". Was that a joke? Geoff Coleman no clever sign off ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 15:09:24 +0000 From: "Rob Bliss" Subject: Re: Songs that should be played on the next tour I agree with a lot of the choices for songs that should be played on the next tour. However, as a 26 year old boss fan (who only became a Bruce dedicate when he bought the Greatest Hits Album only to find out that that was JUST the tip of the Springsteen iceburg) I have a few things to ad: 1. You guys are kidding yourselves....you WILL hear BTR and Thunder Road on the next tour...I'm willing to bet on it. 2. I really wish Bruce would play more TOL, LT, and BitUSA songs that would get mixed into the set sometimes. I have NEVER heard BitUSA live with the band...I wasn't into Bruce when he last played it in 92-93. I also would NOT want to hear Light Of Day again!!! If "The Rising" is indeed in the "post 9/11" context here are my song choices to get mixed in with the new album's songs on the tour: 1. BitUSA (w/band)(to remind gov't that this should never happen again) 2. Souls of the Departed (obvious) 3. War (obvious) 4. Point Blank (not one of my favs...but rings true) 5. The Price You Pay (obvious) 6. No Surrender (no retreat, baby, no surrender) 7. Blood Brothers (obvious) 8. Brothers Under The Bridge (obvious) What do y'all think??? _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 14:58:42 -0400 From: "Magnus Lauglo" Subject: re: songs that should be played on the next tour Hi all, To add my two cents to David in NYC's list: Aside from the obvious songs we'll be getting (BTR/TR/Promised Land/Badlands/Darkness, plus the new material of course), here are some of the older songs I could see working in the context of the new material when Bruce tours again. I'm basing my assumptions about the new material and the new theme of the tour on various things that have been said/leaked. I get the impression the album will centre itself around the post September 11th world, and that the tour will centre itself around the new album. Darlington County - I realise the fans are divided as to whether this song should even be played again ever, but since Bruce has played it already in Asbury Park, I think we'll see it pop up on this tour, perhaps even as a setlist standard. No Surrender - The full band rock version is just shouting out to be played. Early in the set, in the encores, whenever... Price You Pay - This seems like the appropriate time to dust off this near forgotten gem from The River. Human Touch - The ESB blew the roof off of this one the few times they played it in 2000. I think it would work well in a core set this time around. Murder Inc. - Still as relevant as ever. American Skin - This song doesn't really relate directly to the post September 11th world, but the themes it brings up are obviously relevant today, in the US and the world in general. Reason to Believe - Whether a full band version of given acoustic treatment, this is another song that needs to be sung. Across the Border - See above. One of the best songs from the Joad album; I'd hate to see it disappear from Bruce's live sets forever. Long Time Coming - I was hoping this one would make the album actually. I think it would fit in well with the new material. LoHaD - This has become a E Street anthem. I wouldn't want it to close the shows, that was what something that made the last tour special. But if Bruce wanted to give LoD a rest, perhaps LoHaD could close the main set? Can't wait for the tour! Magnus _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #20 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** LuckyTown WWW URL ** The LuckyTown FAQ, back issues, web-based subscription/unsubscription, and many other things can be found on the LuckyTown WWW Page: http://www.luckytown.org ** LuckyTown mailing list addresses ** You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown Digest to: luckytown@luckytown.org You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown-Ads Digest to: luckytown-ads@luckytown.org Any questions for the list admin should be emailed to: owner-luckytown@luckytown.org To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: unsubscribe luckytown-digest To get further information on how to subscribe/unsubscribe/change your subscription address, as well as the other available commands, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: help ********************************************************************* The contents of this digest are not necessarily approved by the list admin.