Repeats

Well I’m listening to The Killers - Sam’s Town - at the moment.  This album falls into two of our buying categories.

1. They are influenced by Bruce
2. It’s a critically acclaimed album

So whilst we weren’t sure whether we would like it we gave it a go. The Springsteen - esque nature of the album might be apparent to some but I can’t really detect it.  Maybe I’m looking for the obvious - you know - a kind of light bulb moment when I think wow! that sounds like Bruce.  That moment has never arrived but I really like the album.

I am listening to this today because my search for Bruce stuff has taken me to this blog   The Killers 'When You Were Young' is number 17 in the list.  We have been here before because both 'Born To Run' and 'Jungleland' have featured previously.  Although I don’t know this person I find I am interested in his choice of music simply because he likes Bruce.  I haven’t heard of some bands/artists in the list.  Some of his choices I agree with and one or two would be pushing towards my list of all time dislikes!!

I really like the idea and I am tentatively considering putting together a list of my favourite Bruce songs to do a similar thing.  Deciding why you like a song is quite a task though.  Sometimes you - well - just like it and that doesn’t make for very interesting reading. Anyway I’m not even sure whether I would be able to choose, say, my top 50 but at least I would have a list of every song to hand - in the CD rack.

Trying to decide on my faves, If I were to include any artist, is an impossible task.  I can’t even remember half the tracks I love. Whenever I've tried this before I've always come unstuck at a point where I have to choose between songs by the same artist.  Which do I pick? and in the case of Bruce would this mean that my top 100 would include 80 Springsteen songs and 20 others!

This week, on the radio, I heard 'The First Cut Is The Deepest' by P P Arnold.



I love this song and this is the definitive version (sorry Rod - you know I'm still a fan).  I like the way verse is gentle but it builds up towards the chorus and then those drums and horns (trumpets?) are just great. One for my top 100 I think.

I also heard 'Anchorage' by Michelle Shocked today.



Now this is an example of a song I like for no reason that I can put my finger on.  Perhaps it’s just the tune because I usually find myself singing along.  Not sure if this one would make the top 100 though.

This knotty problem of why I like a song had occured to me earlier in the week when two Springsteen tracks popped up on my iPod.   I don't really love Working On A Dream (the album).  I played it a lot when it was new in an effort to embrace it but - no. For me, the lyrics are kind of lazy and I find them really repetitive.  The obvious is Surprise Surprise Surprise etc etc etc. but it’s not the only example of a line being oft repeated.

I thought this was why I hadn’t fallen in love with the album but now I’m not so sure.  The first song on the iPod? ... I’m going down down down down I’m going down down down down - you know the rest.  The second? ... My love love love love love love love love will not let you down!  Now you can’t deny that each is somewhat repetitive but I love them both.

And whilst we are talking about being repetitive the news this week is the repeat release in May of The Promise: The Making Of Darkness On The Edge Of Town.  OK it has a couple of other bits with it - the set from The Carousel and the Q and A session with fans.  More from Shore Fire here

Now I've got the documentary and seen it a couple of times on the TV. I downloaded the Carousel set and copied it to DVD (shhhhh - is this illegal?) but I haven't seen the 'conversation with the fans'.  I assume it's out there somewhere but I haven't looked.   I was hoping for the rest of the Carousel set that hasn't previously been broadcast but perhaps they (whoever they are) are saving that for later.  Will I buy it? Don't think so but.... if I pop into HMV I won't be able to resist having a look to see if it's there and if it is? - well it might just shout out 'Buy me buy me!'

My and finally this week is something that made me chuckle from a Yahoo! message board :-

Bruce Springsteen at Apple???
11-Mar-11 03:25 pm    
I live in vegas and just visited 2 store locations.
Lines are just huge with people waiting for their ipad 2's. I thought they were selling Springsteen tickets as that is the last time I saw people lining up for stuff to buy.

If Bruce Likes It...

A bit off the wall this.  On Radio 2 this week they have been trailing a program about George Formby - that’s the British entertainer - not to be confused with George Forman the American boxer and champion of the grill.

He died when I was very young but my dad used to sing ‘Leaning on a Lamp Post’ and ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’ and most British people of a certain age will know, at least, a few lines from a Formby song.

During the trailer Stuart Maconie mentions that maybe Springsteen would have approved of his (Formby’s) portrayal of the average man.  Well I’m not sure about that, but perhaps George would have appreciated the innuendo of ‘Pink Cadillac’ or the comedy in ‘Sherry Darling’.  Could Bruce have been leaning on his very own lamp post when Cynthia passed by? 

I see from HMV that the new Dropkick Murphys album is released over here on 14th March.  Now although the name rang a bell I can honestly say I had never listened to anything they had done prior to my quick listen to ‘Peg O’ My Heart’.  I must say I really liked it so I’m considering going out to buy the album next Monday.  The Question is do I really like Celtic Punk?

This is one of the less obvious benefits of being a Bruce fan.  He seems happy to let us know who he likes by endorsing them in some fashion (couldn’t resist that!).*  The songs played over the P.A. before a concert for instance, or as in this case, a collaboration. My policy veers towards the if-Bruce-likes-it-it-must-be-good philosophy so our CD racks have quite a selection of Springsteen approved music.  Still trying to come around to Arcade Fire though.  They are obviously popular but I’m not so sure.

The latest rumours on a tour suggest 2012.  I’ve settled myself to this now so we are planning our 2011 without Bruce.  We are going to see Nils in Bradford on 3rd June (full list of dates here) but other than that nothing planned yet.  

Anyway Clarence is apparently in no shape to go on tour judging by this interview.  He's still at the forefront of someone's mind though. According to this blog Julian Casablancas of The Strokes cites Clarence's 1985 hit with Jackson Browne as an influence. Blimey I'd never seen this before!  It's very eighties.

And lastly this week to make up for that which, to be honest, I didn't really like I offer you this fabulous post about 'Jungleland'.

* For you non Springsteen fans out there he has a particular way of phrasing his words during interviews.  In some fashion is a favourite phrase.

They Do Bring My Money Home In Crates

I found this today.  if you click on it now, leave the site open, then nip back when you have finished reading you will find out how much Bruce has earned in that time.

My Bruce buddy - Sinead - owns one of Bruce's harmonicas.  He gave it to her during the Bilbao gig on 26 July 2009.  We are trying to think of a cool way of displaying it so this week I have been browsing various sites to get ideas.  I came across this, which must have cost a bomb, but given my love of guitars, I think it's just gorgeous.  If you are interested the site is here


The other week you may remember I bought Sara Elizabeth Goodman's novel Beyond The Palace.  In the absence of a publisher she has decided to go it alone.  The book is available to buy on Amazon and I have to say I really enjoyed it.   Sara is a big Bruce fan.  There is a link to her blog Sara*ndipity in my list below



If you are snobby about your reading you may think the writing needs to be polished a bit.  It might need editing here and there but the story itself really pulled me in.  The content helped of course.  It's basically about two people who meet at a Bruce gig during The Rising tour and their relationship over the course of the tour and beyond.

It's an easy read with an intriguing mystery surrounding one of the characters and a sweet, sometimes angry, love story.   I would recommend it.  Perhaps a good present for a Bruce fan you know although Bruce isn't central to the plot.


I haven't much to say myself this week so I have browsed around the many other music blogs on the net and found this post.  It's only short but says it all.


Lastly for this week, if you are aching for some Bruce to watch, check out these clips that The Rolling Stone site has gathered together featuring Bruce's collaborations.  I haven't watched them all but the chap you can hear at the beginning of the Arcade Fire clip is soooo excited I thought he might pass out!

The Promise - I didn't know I had it!

There is a thread on Greasy Lake about ‘Cynthia’.  

The guy who started it had just stumbled across the song and couldn’t believe he hadn’t heard it before.   I dare said he had played it previously but it hadn’t registered until that moment.  It’s a Tracks problem I think.  Getting four albums at once might mean you miss a gem.  Perhaps you weren’t really listening at the time.  Maybe in ‘Cynthia’s’ case it’s because it’s the first track and you hadn’t quite settled down.  

For me after a few listens I liked album 2 so much I rarely played the other three.  Having said that I know many of the songs, although, for the most part I couldn’t tell you which track belongs on which album.  For those of you who can tell instantly the difference between a Darkness era track and, say, a BITUSA era track you must think this strange but my ears aren’t so refined.     

We bought a lot of the back catalogue at the same time and suffered from the having too- many-albums-to-play-at-once phenomenon.  At first everything sort of merged into one.  Many a time I have only really listened to a song because someone on Greasy Lake had extolled the virtues or sometimes remarked how much they hate a particular track.

Anyway ‘Cynthia’ I knew but... I didn’t know that I already had a version of ‘The Promise’ until a Laker asked for peeps to name their top five songs from Tracks and The Promise.  The replies included 'The Promise (18 Tracks version)' and 'The Promise (full Band version)'.

Now 18 Tracks passed me by because I thought, until only two or three years ago, that 18 Tracks included the same songs as Tracks only fewer (obviously).  When I found out my mistake I bought 18 Tracks but to be honest I’m not sure I really listened to it.

So unbeknown to me I already had this version knocking around and yesterday what should pop up on the iPod but the version from The Definitive Darkness Outtakes Collection.  Now I have three versions.  I like the one from The Promise best which I assume is the one referred to previously as the full band version.

And my point is? ....  There may still be things to discover in my Bruce collection.  Perhaps I should start at the beginning and work my way through to see if there is something there I missed before.   I might have to start loading up a new iTunes library soon so there’s my opportunity - Mary Queen of Arkansas here I come.

This week when I was looking around for stuff of interest I found this

Handbag

I would love one of these but it got me wondering about the other unofficial stuff out there.  There are loads of T shirts mugs etc. of course.

Tried to find something really naf and this was the best I could do - It’s a ceramic tile from here

Fridge magnets

I quite like these but I don't have a fridge to put them on.

And on the subject of Bruce stuff I have started a new hobby - making fabric dolls.  I’ve made two so far using a book for instructions.  My third very similar one is on it’s way.  When I have honed my craft I hope to branch out into male dolls and yes! I thought I would have a go at Bruce.  Can’t promise to get the features right but with brown eyes, the right hair (I’ve bought wool already in an appropriate colour - brown with a hint of grey), black T shirt and jeans and a guitar he might just be recognisable.  I’ll be posting the finished articles out to friends for feedback!!    

Some good news this week to balance up the bad from a couple of weeks ago from GL. - Max hints at a tour in 2012???

And lastly for now Mike and I had one of those conversations this week - It reminded me of these two

but our chat was much shorter and went something like this

Me  ‘They’ve offered me more hours at work”

Mike  ‘Do you want to do them?  You don’t have to.  We can manage without the extra money’

Me  ‘But I can put the money away towards the next Bruce tour’

Mike  ‘that probably won’t be until next year.  We can save up anyway’

Me  'yeah but we will want to go to every gig he does in UK and Ireland... and maybe one in USA’

Mike just looks at me.  I can see this is news to him but he doesn’t object.  Is he wondering how to persuade me that four shows will be enough?  Is he thinking of a smart answer?  Is he hoping I will change my mind?  No - I think he’s just resigned to it.