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Bruce Springsteen

For nearly four decades Bruce Springsteen has been a rock & roll working- class hero: a plainspoken visionary. He is a fervent and sincere romantic whose insights into everyday lives especially in America's small-town, working-class heartland ” have earned comparisons to John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie. His belief in rock's mythic past and its potential revitalized pop music and made Springsteen a superstar in the '80s. Since then, he has remained true to his artistic calling and shown himself, in carefully selected interviews, to be among the most thoughtful and articulate artists in rock.

Springsteen, of Irish-Italian ancestry, grew up in Freehold, New Jersey, the son of a bus driver and a secretary. He took up the guitar at 13 and joined the Castiles a year later. In 1966 the Castiles recorded but never released two songs co-written by Springsteen, and they worked their way up to a string of dates at New York City's Café Wha? in 1967. During the summer after his graduation from high school, Springsteen was working with Earth, a Cream- style power trio, and hanging out in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He entered Ocean County Community College in the fall, but dropped out when a New York producer promised him a contract; he never saw the producer again.

While in college, Springsteen had formed a group with some local musicians, including drummer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez and keyboardist Danny Federici. Called Child, then Steel Mill, the group worked the Atlantic coast down to Virginia. In summer 1969 Steel Mill visited California (where Springsteen's parents had moved); club dates in San Francisco led to a show at Bill Graham's Fillmore and a contract offer from Graham's Fillmore Records, which Steel Mill turned down because the advance was too small. The band returned east and was joined by an old friend of Springsteen's, Miami Steve Van Zandt, on bass.

Springsteen disbanded Steel Mill in early 1971, intending to put together a band with a brass section and several singers. Meanwhile, he formed Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom, which played only three dates. Eventually, the Bruce Springsteen Band was formed with Lopez, Federici, Van Zandt (on guitar), pianist and guitarist David Sancious, bassist Garry Tallent, and a four-piece brass section. After the group's first show, the brass section was dropped and Clarence Clemons, a football-player-turned-tenor- saxophonist (a knee injury aborted his pro career), joined the band. The group didn't last; by autumn 1971 Springsteen was working solo.

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344
Album Review

Bruce Springsteen: Working On A Dream

Read "Working On A Dream" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


Releasing a CD filled with politically charged songs is nothing new to Bruce Springsteen. Born In The U.S.A. (Columbia, 1984) made overt commentary on this country's political state at that time. The Rising (Columbia, 2002) featured preachy social commentary on post-9/11 America. Magic (Columbia, 2007) voiced the disillusionment of the soldiers returning from the Middle East. Since a similar case could be made for Devils and Dust (Columbia, 2005), Nebraska (Columbia, 1982) and The Ghost of Tom Joad (Columbia, 1995), ...

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Event

Bruce Springsteen Philadelphia Memories Roadshow on April 21

Bruce Springsteen Philadelphia Memories Roadshow on April 21

Source: Rob Lowson

Backstreets and Lawrence Kirsch are pleased to present a celebration evening of longtime Philadelphia favorite, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bruce Springsteen. Fans from Philadelphia and elsewhere are invited to attend the first-ever Philadelphia Springsteen Memories Roadshow. With the ongoing display of the Hall of Fame’s Springsteen exhibit at the National Constitution Center, we invite all Springsteen fans, old and new, to visit the exhibit during the day and then come and party with us on the evening of ...

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Festival

New Orleans Jazz Fest: Bruce Springsteen To Play 2 1/2-hour Set

New Orleans Jazz Fest: Bruce Springsteen To Play 2 1/2-hour Set

Source: Michael Ricci

The Boss will take an especially long ride on “Thunder Road." Eddie Vedder will go head-to-head with Florence + the Machine. And for the first and likely last time in history, Zebra is sandwiched between the Dixie Cups and the Beach Boys. These and many more points of discussion emerged from Tuesday's unveiling of the “cubes," the schedule of times and stage assignments for the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell. Jazz Fest producer/director Quint Davis ...

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Performance / Tour

Clarence Clemons' Nephew Jake Joins the E Street Band

Clarence Clemons' Nephew Jake Joins the E Street Band

Source: JamBase

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE E STREET BAND ANNOUNCED The expanded lineup for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band world tour will feature singers Cindy Mizelle and Curtis King, it has been announced. Trombonist Clark Gayton and trumpeter Curt Ramm, both of whom have toured with Bruce in the past, will also join the E Street Band on the road, along with newcomer Barry Danielian on trumpet. E Street stalwart Eddie Manion, also known as the “Kingfish," and ...

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Performance / Tour

Bruce Springsteen to Play Apollo Theater for Sirius XM

Bruce Springsteen to Play Apollo Theater for Sirius XM

Source: JamBase

HISTORIC CONCERT AT THE WORLD FAMOUS APOLLO THEATER CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF SATELLITE RADIO Sirius XM Radio announced that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform at Harlem's world famous Apollo Theater for the first time at a special concert event, only for SiriusXM, to celebrate 10 years of satellite radio. The concert will be held on Friday, March 9 at 8:00 pm ET, three days after the release of Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball. The concert will ...

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Video / DVD

Occupy Movement Inspires New Compilation Albums and Bruce Springsteen [video]

Occupy Movement Inspires New Compilation Albums and Bruce Springsteen [video]

Source: HypeBot

A variety of record albums related to the Occupy Movement are set for release including “Occupy This Album" from Music For Occupy with a star-studded list of participants, “Folk the Banks" from the newly formed Occupation Records in London and media claims that Bruce Springsteen's newest work is the voice of the movement though the songs were mostly written before it existed. These releases could bring renewed attention to a movement which has lost much of its early hold on ...

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Recording

Bruce Springsteen: New Album Wrecking Ball out 3/6

Bruce Springsteen: New Album Wrecking Ball out 3/6

Source: JamBase

NEW ALBUM OUT MARCH 6 ON COLUMBIA RECORDS Bruce Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball has been set for March 6 release on Columbia Records. Marking his 17th studio album, Wrecking Ball features 11 new Springsteen songs and was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen and executive producer Jon Landau. A special edition of Wrecking Ball will also be available and include two bonus tracks and exclusive artwork and photography. Said long-time manager Jon Landau, “Bruce has dug down as ...

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Event

Bruce Springsteen Named Keynote Speaker at SXSW

Bruce Springsteen Named Keynote Speaker at SXSW

Source: JamBase

KEYNOTE SET FOR MARCH 15 AT AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER The South By Southwest Music and Media Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce Bruce Springsteen as keynote speaker for the 2012 event. The keynote will take place on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at the Austin Convention Center, the hub of SXSW Music events. In the tradition of legendary artists delivering the main event at SXSW, Springsteen joins notable keynote alumni including Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Lucinda Williams, Robert Plant, Pete ...

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Performance / Tour

Bruce Springsteen: New Album and World Tour in 2012

Bruce Springsteen: New Album and World Tour in 2012

Source: JamBase

SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND TO TOUR BEHIND NEW ALBUM IN 2012 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have announced plans for a new album and world tour in 2012. Check out the statement below from BruceSpringsteen.net: “Well, things are starting to heat up down on E Street. A lot of you have been hearing that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be on tour in 2012. That is absolutely correct. The European dates run from ...

153

Recording

Father's Day Special: Bruce Springsteen, "You're Missing" (2002)

Father's Day Special: Bruce Springsteen, "You're Missing" (2002)

Source: Something Else!

This song, issued in the wake of the devastating attacks on New York City in 2001, nearly overwhelmed me with grief the first time I heard it. I thought of my father. He's been dead more than 20 years, and I must admit that—like everything from that long-ago time—there are moments when it is hard to fully grasp his memory. I think of him more and more in the abstract, through an old saying, or the details of an old ...

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