From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #48 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Monday, July 29 2002 Volume 09 : Number 048 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: Charlotte CL ["Gene Lazo" ] My days with Bruce and the band... [Mark Cunningham ] new album/new son [David G ] new album thoughts ["Eric Douglas" ] RE: LuckyTown Digest V9 #44 ["O'Hearn, Chris" ] Re Tony's comments, LuckyTown Digest Volume 09 : Number 044 [Demetra Chri] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 16:20:50 -0400 From: "Gene Lazo" Subject: Charlotte CL My humble musings in the 7/31 Creative Loafing: Falling is a word indelibly associated in the minds of many Americans with September 11. We saw the World Trade Center towers fall. We saw people faced with the choice of being burned alive or jumping falling to their deaths. We felt the uneasy prospect of planes falling from the sky. The days that followed were filled with mourning and praise for firefighters, policemen, and other rescue workers who fell while trying to save innocent victims. On July 30, Bruce Springsteen released a new album which was inspired by the events and aftermath of that infamous day. Despite the persistent images of falling that September 11 invokes, in an apparent contradistinction Springsteen choose to call this record The Rising. Why? The Road To Here In August 1975, a blue and weathered romantic from the New Jersey shore exploded like a supernova on the pop / rock scene with the release of an album called Born To Run. On it, a young Bruce Springsteen began writing not so much songs as cinematic vignettes, painting lyrical pictures of youthful angst yearning to escape into the freedom of an endless Saturday night. Bob Dylan, to whom he had been favorably compared on two previous records, said of Springsteen, "He can block out an entire novel with a single phrase". Nearly a decade later in 1984, Springsteen and band mates released Born in the USA which sold over 10 million units. Older, more calloused while simultaneously more refined, the writing on this record reflected the culmination of the transition of subject from the romantic young boy to characters who found themselves in a not always so idealistically harmonic working world. He furthered his thematic approach to writing with poignant songs that had deeper meaning than simple cursory listening could provide, certainly a rarity in popular music. In the years since, Springsteen has moved towards themes concerning family and the convergent redemption of the individual spirit despite the preponderance of failed ideals and the disillusionment this has caused. He has brought together the themes of Work, Family, and Saturday Night and has bound them with the basic human tenets of hope, faith, and community. He developed a subtle style of story telling that allowed the reader/listener to paint their own cognitive details based on the broad, vivid backgrounds he provides. During his solo Ghost of Tom Joad tour of a few years back, Springsteen explained the philosophy behind his songs from the stage. "Faith and hope are our salvation, and they are found in the smallest actions of good people. Salvation is not an individual thing, but a collective one, and each of us is responsible for all others. Our mission is a search for beauty, and in beauty there is hope, and in hope there is some sense of divine love, of faith, of community and possibility, of things that would combat the brutality and the violence and the suffering." "The Rising" is a collection of 15 songs and stories not so much directly about September 11 as it is about life in the context of September 11 painted on that philosophical tapestry. It is a look at average Americans as humans who still search out joy despite suffering despair, who through will and determination face-down the reality of death with the strength of faith in resurrection, who rise up to be heroes simply by doing their jobs. Into The Fire The Rising began with two songs that came fairly quickly to Springsteen, 'Into The Fire' and 'You're Missing'. Springsteen had actually hoped to perform 'Into The Fire' on the Tribute To Heroes telethon which was broadcast live on September 21, but he was not completely satisfied with it at the time. He choose to instead do "My City of Ruins', a song originally written about his old hometown of Asbury Park, New Jersey but which fit post-9/11 NYC well and felt so right with its imploring chorus of "Come on and rise up'. A studio version of 'My City of Ruins' concludes The Rising. There can be no doubt about what 'Into The Fire' is about and how Springsteen feels from the very first words, "The sky was falling and streaked with blood / I heard you calling me then you disappeared into the dust / Up the stairs, into the fire / Up the stairs, into the fire / I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher / Somewhere up the stairs into the fire". Still, the repetitive chorus both lifts us up and provides benediction, "May your strength give us strength / May your faith give us faith / May your hope give us hope / May your love give us love". "The verses are the blues, the chorus is the gospel," Springsteen said in a rare interview with Jon Pareles of the New York Times. It is this genuine, Gospel-revival sense of hope that allows Springsteen to pull off a record about so tragic a subject without sounding opportunistic or Cimmerian. He mourns in the very Lennon-esque 'You're Missing', a song which sounds sort of like 'Streets of Philadelphia' meets 'Blue Jay Way' ("Your house is waiting for you to walk in / But you're missing / When I shut out the lights you're missing / When I close my eyes you're missing / When I see the sunrise you're missing"). But he also celebrates life in the joyous 'Mary's Place', and defines it perfectly in the title song as "A catfish dancin' on the end of my line". The joy in life being the struggle, not so much the reeling it in; a joy is not diminished if the catfish breaks away too early, it is only vitiated by a refusal to fight. A New Approach When he was getting ready to do a new record with the E Street Band last year, Springsteen learned that producer Brendan O'Brien, who, like Springsteen, works for Columbia / Sony, had expressed an interest in working with him and the band. They got together, did some preliminary things, and hit it off well. In the Pareles interview, Springsteen related that working with O'Brien was "inspirational" and that he had not felt a similar sort of electricity since he first worked with Jon Landau on Born to Run. "It was somebody brand new who was excited about what we could do together .. You're just looking and searching to see how you could WOW the other guy. It was just fun". He described O'Brien as a "catalyst" who helped bring things together quickly. That much is apparent since this record came together in several weeks, rather than the several months or even years previous efforts had taken. O'Brien, who has worked with acts such as Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, and many others, brings a new sound to the E Street Band. Said Springsteen, ""The sound is very recognizable and very different. If you have all of our other records, you don't have this one. We picked up the level of intensity. I can't wait for people to hear this record." While the production on this record is very different from past efforts, Springsteen's approach to playing has not changed. He and the band sound tighter and more polished than ever and you can sense the work-ethic energy level. Springsteen's writing, though deceptively simple, grows on you with each repeated listen. This may in fact be some of the best lyrical writing from Springsteen in years. The record also features some new sonic roads for Springsteen, with songs that have a broad range of style from the expected rock and soul to world music to country to the afore-mentioned John Lennon influence. All in all, it is both a listenable and thought provoking work. Why The Rising? The Rising has the potential to match or exceed any of Springsteen's considerable past accomplishments. His record label (Sony) is clearly behind the record with a significant marketing push. He is working with a new and proven producer who has given a crisp hone to what was already regarded as a razor sharp band. Springsteen's writing is some of the best that he's ever done and he has approached a difficult topic with insight and compassion without any hint of treacle. Which brings us back to the original question, why call it The Rising? On this record, Springsteen's stories and characters show us that no matter how evil or sad or despondent any situation, human hope and faith give us cause to rise up. Human bravery and courage cause us to rise up. Selflessness and community cause us to rise up. There is a nobility in the everyday work we do, whether it involves running into a burning building when everyone else is running out, playing guitar in a rock and roll band, or just being a clerk who does his best to provide for his family. At our best, we provide salvation not only for ourselves, but for our families and our neighbors. I cannot imagine a stronger artistic statement. A barnstorming arena tour opens August 7 in New Jersey with 39 shows scheduled in 39 cities (he visits Greensboro on November 16, Tampa on November 24, Atlanta on December 2, and Charlotte on December 8). Kicking off the release of The Rising on July 30 Springsteen and the E Street Band are to appear live on NBC's "Today" show in a performance broadcast from Asbury Park, N.J. They will also appear on Letterman August 1. Next year, they will venture to Australia and back to Europe before returning to the United States for a series of multi-night shows in major cities through the summer of 2003. Gene Lazo is proud to be a native of the great state of New Jersey and can be reach via email at GeneYouIgnorantSlut@Yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 15:20:47 -0400 From: Mark Cunningham Subject: My days with Bruce and the band... Hey gang, I posted this to the newsgroup today, thought Luckytowners would like to read about it. I was lucky enough to spend three days with Bruce and the band during rehearsals (7/18, 7/19, 7/22). A friend of mine is working on the crew, and they needed some extra production help, so he gave me "the call" on 7/17. Beware: SOME SPOILER CONTENT BELOW! The first two days, the band was working on a shorter schedule, 9-2, so Max could get to Conan. That first day, which was Thursday, there was a small audience for part of the time, including several children and Joe Gruschecky. I heard very few "full" songs, as they were broken up by Bruce. It's amazing that he hears, or doesn't hear each band member where they should be. He often stopped the song, or brought it down to a level where he could direct a certain band member (more here, less here). What was amazing was that once Bruce left for the day, several band members hung around working on their own parts. I spent an hour or so watching and listening to Danny work through "You're Missing", trying to nail his keys on the song. It was more of a timing thing, trying to figure out his intros into the song, where he fades out during the song, and the outros. Nils spent pretty much an 8 hour work day each day working through his parts. I can say that Nils and Danny spent the most time at rehearsals, ususally until 4 or 5pm, with Nils some days being there past 6. Each of the musicians would tackle a song that they felt they needed to work. Max, Steve, and Bruce were in and out quickly. Clarence spent some time with the bagpipes, working on the "Into The Fire" intro. I did hear him work through "Amazing Grace", which is a great intro to ITF. The third day was a full set rehearsal day. This was the Monday before they headed to Asbury. Wow, what a setlist I witnessed! Around rehearsals, lyric sheets were posted for some songs. I saw "Real World", most of the new album, "Incident", all posted around the stage. When the band worked through the set, the concentration was on the blending of one song into another. There was very little downtime, as they went through the set. The one time they did stop or "bring it down" was during Mary's Place. Bruce and the band worked on bringing the music down so he could do the intros. It was so cool seeing Bruce stop the band as he wanted and have them start up again. They did this several times, until Bruce felt the band stopped and started where he wanted it. At times, he stopped the band with his hand....held it for several seconds so they could focus on his movements, then started up again. Wow! This being the last day before moving to Asbury, and Max's first full day, Bruce and the band worked all day. I saw the set from which they were working, and it looked like it included all of the songs from The Rising. There were some moments, where I was in and out and didn't hear everything, but I did hear the following full songs, all from the side of the stage: Backstreets Thunder Road Into The Fire Lonesome Day Ramrod (not on the setlist, but Bruce threw it in) Born In The USA (not on the setlist, but threw it in) For You (Bruce solo on piano) Worlds Apart The Fuse Mary's Place My City Of Ruins Tenth Avenue Freeze Out Promised Land Human Touch American Skin Songs not played (as far as I know during the time I was there), but on several setlists or the lyric sheets were visible during the rehearsals: Jackson Cage Incident Real World Glory Days Prove It All Night It was truly an amazing experience. The band was loose, laughing, having a great time. Bruce looked great, as if he had been spending time in the gym. Patti confirmed this, as I heard her say that he was "working out once in the morning, and once in the evening". I often had to remind myself of what a chance it was to witness what I was witnessing. Imagine being a huge Springsteen fan, seeing this rehearsal, and not being able to show any emotion! When the band took breaks, they were walking all over the stage and backstage. I was watching Bruce walk past me several times. I met Terry McGovern, super nice guy, and he helped me tremendously during the 3 days. I reported to Kevin (guitar tech) every day, and he was great too! Little did they both know that they had a huge fan in the house! One very cool thing happened on Friday. Bruce was at his house in Colts Neck and was doing an interview. He wanted to play "Empty Sky" during the interview, but needed a lyric sheet and his harmonica. I had to drive out to meet Terry, with Bruce's harmonica, lyric sheet and guitar picks. Very cool! The guitars. Wow! There must have been 40-50 guitars in the building. Three guitar techs, Kevin the only one who touched Bruce's. Saw the famous telecaster (is that what it is called, the tan one that looks old and weathered?), but didn't see in use. One of my duties was to pick up someone coming in from Staten Island. This guy owns a guitar shop there, and Bruce had one of his guitars sent there to be manipulated in such a way to get a specific sound. This guy explained to me what he did, but I can't exactly remember. I think it was adding a whammy bar to a guitar that doesn't usually have one so that Bruce could get a specific sound. This guy was bringing the guitar back to Bruce. Yes, one of Bruce's guitars was in my car! This guy did a days work. Here's a strange part...I had to drive this guy back to a local diner so he could pick up a check from someone in Bruce's camp. The person paying him drove up in a Fire Chief car, he is the Fire Chief at a local fire company. Anyone know who it could be? I thought that was interesting that a Fire Chief also does work with the Springsteen camp. I think that is all. There was so much going on, I tried to absorb as much as I could. And to top it all off...I won one of the 35 spots on the Today show bus going to Asbury. I'm taking a train from Middletown to NYC to meet up with the bus, to drive back down to Asbury! Middletown to Asbury is a 15 minute drive! What will be funny is seeing the Springsteen crew at the Today show performance, and have them look at me thinking.."Didn't this guy work for us last week?" See you in Asbury and on 8/7! Mark ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 19:31:59 -0700 (PDT) From: David G Subject: new album/new son Hello All - I am a unfrequent poster to this forum, but have hit it every day for the past several years. Let's all take a moment and bask in the glory of a new album, a new tour, many reasons to discuss, and many cd's to collect. I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on a cd of the Rising, and will still buy the delux edition on Tuesday. I am amused by all the people giving such intricate reviews after only hearing the album a couple of times. Can I say one thing...LET IT SOAK IN! 15 songs and 73 minutes of music is rare these days and we should not rush to jusdgement. My second son was born yesterday so I will not be able to join the festivities next week in Asbury. I wish you all a great time. I got a single for opening night at the meadowlands so if anybosy wants an extra during a tailgate party, I plan on taking the day off and doing one of the things I enjoy best - Sitting on that blacktop hearing all eras of tunes playing in the background, and feeling part of a cool dam community of tramps. Lets enjoy everybody, don't get too hung up on the chorus of Mary's Place...we are lucky to have this moment. saintinthecity@yahoo.com - --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 16:36:17 -0700 From: "Eric Douglas" Subject: new album thoughts > Any other thoughts from those who have heard the > entire album? > > Rob > good comments, rob....here are a few of mine that stand out: - --favorite songs: NOTHING MAN: great musical setting for these terrific lyrics. I don't think it would make a great single, Rob, but I like it a LOT WORLDS APART: Should be incredible in concert. The Pakistani music is a perfect fit. FUSE: I don't compare this to Souls of the Departed at all. My fear is that Patti will ruin this one in concert. LET'S BE FRIENDS: same for this one. I like this a lot, and I like the female voice, and don't think Patti will add to this one well. By the way, does anyone else want to do the electric slide to this one? Baby, let's be friends (it's electric!), baby, let's be friends, (boogie woogie woogie woogie) - very catchy. Of the three "fun" songs (Mary, sunny day, and this one) I like Let's Be Friends the best. PARADUSE: wow. I am overwhelmed by the first verse.....very reminiscent of Highway 29, with so many more levels to it. And I love that it's near the end of the CD. - --least favorites: EMPTY SKY: bo-ring. I like the intro a lot, and the sound of the acoustic guitar throughout, but every time I hear it, I'm waiting for the chord to change at a particular spot, and it never does. Also, the second verse ("Blood on the streets, blood flowing down, I hear the blood of my blood") makes me wonder what kind of mushrooms Bruce was eating that day. MARY'S PLACE: If I interpret this correctly (with the help of others), mary's place may be a church, and "let it rain" is a symbolic cleansing, yada yada yada. I do like the last verse a lot, about the record, and the "turn it up" refrain. I look forward to hearing that part live. MIRACLE: I can hardly understand the words.....I'm waist deep in the big muddy sound of this song. Other comments: I like this version of Further On a lot, though I never cared for the way it ends so abruptly. But I dig Bruce's voice on this one a lot. Lonesome Day is another one I like a lot too, ever since it was available earlier this month. The Rising has some good parts, but the "li li" chorus seems out of place, and the catfish line is outta nowhere. Well, maybe harkening back to "With Every Wish", but it doesn't work as wel for me in The Rising. I also like You're Missing, though it's not as good a song as "Missing", from a couple of years ago. I could go on....but I look forward to hearing other comments on the CD.... Eric. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 05:37:52 +0100 From: "O'Hearn, Chris" Subject: RE: LuckyTown Digest V9 #44 NY TIMES ARTICLE IN SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Todays SMH featured ad great piece on Bruce titled 'Red, white and blues'. You can view it at http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/26/1027497413400.html Cheers Chris Hope will be rewarded. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 16:15:24 -0400 From: Demetra Christakos Subject: Re Tony's comments, LuckyTown Digest Volume 09 : Number 044 Tony "tjryan" Tony, I don't really know why I wanted to respond to your anger. I wanted to start off by saying that IMHO perhaps it's good to feel cross once in a while, be a little critical. But I also wanted to say what I am trying to say to myself more often: hey, relax a little with it. It's one record of a career in music. He's trying out something with a new producer. It's one moment in all the time we share together on the planet, it's not the whole story. I haven't even heard the record yet. (Or maybe this is what I'm trying to say to myself about seeing Glory Days back on the set list. What could Bruce Springsteen actually do with Glory Days that I would find genuinely engaging?) I remember being furious with the idea of the Greatest Hits album for several days (this was before it was released.) But now when I pull out GH, I do with absolutely no memory of my own great ire. Why would I? It was seven years ago. (As you suggest for Bruce, we all may hear something again in the new record in two months, in six months, in a year.) I currently still hold a tiny grudge about the arrangement of the released version of Back in Your Arms--yeah, right, Bruce, THAT"s the song to bury the vocal--or that Bruce refused to sneak in his astounding performance of Back in Your Arms or, never mind that, a very-nearly definitive Adam Raised a Cain from June 27, 2000 onto the DVD, but in a couple of years--if I'm still alive--I probably won't remember being cross about that, either. So far this time out I have resisted (the now familiar) pattern of early circulation of the new album because the opportunity to get a new record of brand-new songs out of Bruce has been fairly rare over the past twenty-one years. I want to experience the music on the actual CD whenever I actually can get it here in the Big Smoke (Toronto)--I want to savour the experience of anticipating it, picking it out, examining it front and back, buying it, I want to break the seal, look at the book, put it in a functioning CD player with my headphones and enjoy listening to a new Bruce record. I expect to be a little critical, a little suspicious of the potentialities of the content: I was in Toronto, my experience of 9/11 wasn't the barest, slightest shadow of what New Yorkers lived through, I experienced 9/11 to the same extent I experienced the whole Afghan war, through the television. As usual, I feel trepidatious and suspicious about my own abilities to respond to Bruce's big heartedness, his ambition, his approach to this cycle of songs. But, hey, so far, any time he's produced a record from a cycle of songs written in this natural flow he sometimes falls into--those records can (and will) stand the test of time. There was a very nice half-page review of The Rising in the Globe and Mail this morning (Saturday, July 27) by Shawna Richer which will remain accessible online at www.globeandmail.ca under Arts and Entertainment for seven days. Timing-wise, I am amazed to know that Bruce Springsteen's release of The Rising is actually going to have to be competitive with the commercial release of the remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation," played on the rock stations here about once every twenty minutes. Since Elvis Presley departed from this earth at the age of 42, and, can it really be believed, has been dead and mouldering in the earth these past twenty-five years, I found myself shocked and deeply thrilled just to hear and feel the life force of Elvis' muscular voice on the radio, his effortlessly mastery and rhythm, his performance of the song, crystallized into a glittering jewel. My blood roared to hear it. Apparently the Elvis remix has got something to do with a sports commercial. I found this out when I went into Sam's and HMV on Yonge Street on July 16th to buy one copy of the CD single for The Rising--neither store had it--and I found the Elvis remix singles stacked up ten-deep on sale at $4.99. (I will buy one, but I refused to so do until I can purchase a copy of The Rising CD single.) Maybe there are some Elvis fans out there who hate the remix, the release, etc. I know very well if Bruce Springsteen did something like this with one of his songs, I could expect to pee my pants with venom and probably carry a sign about it in the street. So the experience of "A Little Less Conversation" was kind of comforting, levelling, it allayed some of my usual anxiety about the bigness of the Sony approach to the commercial release of The Rising, the Springsteenian star-making machine. For I thought briefly what if I were to have come to Springsteen at the age of twenty, say, for instance, when he's eighty, or (thank god I'll never have to deal with this) he's been dead twenty-five years, wouldn't it be great just to hear him on the radio? I wonder now if I can find my way back to my primary relationship to Springsteen's music, the relationship I had with Springsteen as a songwriter and performer when two years after my one first show, I was able to buy, open and play Nebraska. I would like to hear The Rising without the veneer of cynicism, the peevish veil of (imagined) past disgruntlements. Is it possible to hear him as if for the first time, as if he's an alien voice beamed in from Mars? Wouldn't it be great to hear what he's laid down on tape in the last ten months with a new producer in the way someone will hear this very same music in one hundred years, in the absence of all the other information we as his contemporary audience just know? Re-reading that, I appear to proposing to cope with the release of The Rising by pretending I'm already dead. Clearly this directly opposes Bruce Springsteen's actual call-to-arms, his imperative to be in the present, experience the moment, you know, "is anyone alive out there?" Sigh. It's self-protection against the inevitability of being completely swept away. I thought I was safely away from love enough to manage, for, as a grown-up, I can't be in Asbury Park this week. It was my hope that the the Internet might provide a sort of cottoning effect against the sheer painfulness of being separate from it all. No such luck. Digital photography now affords an incredible amount of detailed information. In addition to everything else, I wasn't standing outside Convention Hall when Bruce came out on that porch deliberately wearing a sleeveless T. How is it possible for a 52-year-old man to be so fine? Winding up, pressing "send", (with apologies) Demetra [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #48 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** 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.