Category: Bruuuuuuuuce!!

Exclusive: Bruce Springsteen Explains His Experimental New Album

‘This is as direct a record as I ever made,’ he says

Two years ago Bruce Springsteen told Rolling Stone that he had just written his first song about a “guy that wears a tie.” The songwriter had spent much of his career writing about characters struggling in tough economic times, but the financial crisis convinced him it was time to write about the people and forces that brought America to this ugly point.

The result was Wrecking Ball, a scathing indictment of Wall Street greed and corruption and a look into the devastation it has wrought. “This is as direct a record as I ever made,” Springsteen tells Rolling Stone. “That’s with the possible exception of Nebraska, which this record has a lot in common with.”

The stark subject matter is paired with an experimental sonic palette that Springsteen created with producer Ron Aniello. “The record basically started out as folk music – just me and a guitar singing these songs,” says Springsteen. “Then Ron brought a large library of sound that allowed me to explore – like maybe a hip-hop drum loop or country-blues stomp loop. The actual drums came later. There was no preconceived set of instruments that needed to be used, I could go anywhere, do anything, use anything. It was very wide open.”

Album opener “We Take Care of Our Own” poses a question: Do Americans take care of their own? The songs that follow make the answer clear: The narrator of the slow waltz “Jack of All Trades” struggles to find work, while the anti-hero of the country-folk stomper “Easy Money” decides to imitate “all them fat cats” on Wall Street by turning to crime. The similarly uptempo “Shackled and Drawn,” meanwhile, offers a political analysis worthy of Woody Guthrie: “Gambling man rolls the dice, workingman pays the bill/ It’s still fat and easy up on banker’s hill/ Up on banker’s hill, the party’s going strong/ Down here below we’re shackled and drawn.”

The album’s themes shift midway through, as economic despair gives way to a quest for spiritual redemption. It ends on a hopeful note with the ambitious “We Are Alive.” The song takes on an Irish-wake feel, as Springsteen celebrates Americans (and aspiring ones) who died fighting for progress: “I was killed in Maryland in 1877/ When the railroad workers made their stand/ I was killed in 1963 one Sunday morning in Birmingham/ I died last year crossing the Southern desert my children left behind in San Pablo… We are alive/ And though we lie alone here in the dark/ Our souls will rise/ To carry the fire and light the spark/ To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart.”

There are genuine musical surprises throughout. The cinematic “Rocky Ground” expands on the hip-hop-inspired vibe of “Streets of Philadelphia,” while prominently featuring the voice of gospel singer Michelle Moore, who even delivers a brief, apparently Springsteen-penned rap. “Death To My Hometown” is a Celtic-influenced foot-stomper that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Dropkick Murphys album. “We Are Alive” borrows the horn riff from Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire,” while “Land Of Hope And Dreams” (originally written and played live with the E Street Band in 1999) has been re-worked with electronic drums and a gospel choir.

“Hope and Dreams” also has a saxophone solo by the late Clarence Clemons. The Big Man’s sax can also be heard on “Wrecking Ball,” alongside trumpeter Curt Ramm – who will be in the five-piece horn section (which also includes Clemons’ nephew Jake) that will be hitting the road with Springsteen on his upcoming tour.

Clemons’ nephew to play sax on Springsteen tour

NEW YORK (AP) — It takes two men to replace The Big Man.

Bruce Springsteen announced Thursday that two musicians — Jersey Shore sidekick Eddie Manion and the late Clarence Clemons’ nephew Jake — will “share the saxophone role” during the E Street Band’s “Wrecking Ball” world tour, which begins March 18 in Atlanta.

The new “Wrecking Ball” album is the band’s first since Clarence Clemons’ sudden death June 18. The album, Springsteen’s 17th, will be released March 6.

The decision on how to fill the Big Man’s larger-than-life role in the E Street Band was not an easy one. The personal and professional aftershocks from the devastating loss have not subsided. His sax was a pillar of the E Street sound; Clemons also was the band’s spiritual center.

Jake Clemons, son of a former Marine Corps band director, began performing with his family as a child, and his career was championed by his famous uncle.

Eddie “Kingfish” Manion is a longtime saxophonist with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, a group that has cross-pollinated for decades with Springsteen and E Street. He was with the horn section during Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love tour in 1988, and also played with the Seeger Sessions Band, along with Ramm and Gayton.

Manion recently told New Jersey’s Star-Ledger newspaper that he had sometimes been urged to “just sound like Clarence Clemons. … But you couldn’t. Nobody could sound like that. He had a sound of his own, and that’s what made him great.”

The long-awaited, and much-speculated-upon, sax decision also included news that singers Cindy Mizelle and Curtis King, trombonist Clark Gayton and trumpeter Curt Ramm will tour with E Street, along with newcomer Barry Danielian on trumpet.

Clemons’ comrades have struggled through the healing process, offstage and on.

Last July, E Street’s Steven Van Zandt joined Southside Johnny Lyon and his Jukes for an outdoor musical tribute to Clemons in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Instead of a moment of silence, the mayor led the crowd in a moment of noise in the Big Man’s memory. Manion poured his heart into Clemons’ most famous solo, “Jungleland.”

E Street’s equally broken-hearted Nils Lofgren dedicated his album “Old School” to Clemons, and has included references to him in live performances of “Miss You Ray,” a song originally written about Ray Charles.

The selection of a Southside stalwart for the tour doesn’t come as a total surprise. Lyon recently let it slip to an interviewer that Springsteen was “stealing” some of his famously big brass section. But in interviews that followed, Van Zandt sidestepped the subject, suggesting there was no done deal yet.

In the interim, various solutions were employed to make music without the Big Man.

On July 16, making his first public performance since the loss, Springsteen appeared at an Asbury Park tribute with Clemons crony J.T. Bowen and the Sensational Soul Cruisers, singing an old E Street song “Action in the Streets” with a band that included sax players Steve Barlotta and Joey Stann.

In November, Springsteen did a concert in Pittsburgh with longtime collaborator Joe Grushecky and his Houserockers band. “We don’t have horns, but we’ll give this one a shot,” he said before launching into an E Street show standard “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.”

During Springsteen’s glorious Jan. 14 Light of Day benefit performance in Asbury Park, guitars — including those of Grushecky and Houserocker Danny Gochnour — bridged what would have been Clemons’ solo during the E Street standard “The Promised Land.”

Houserocker Joffo Simmons, who had just given up his drums to E Street’s Max Weinberg, pointed heavenward. Springsteen smiled and offered a shout-out: “Big Man!”

It seemed no coincidence to some when Southside showed up at that show with his new band, the Poor Fools. Springsteen joked that it was hard getting used to seeing his old friend in the new role. In yet another cross-pollination, Soozie Tyrell, a violinist, guitarist and singer who performs with E Street, played with the Poor Fools that night.

A week earlier, several sax players — including Jake Clemons — were featured at a touching memorial benefit in Norfolk, Virginia. The show was buoyed by E Street bassist Garry Tallent, Bon Jovi’s Bobby Bandiera, Southside and a band fronted by the Big Man’s son, Clarence Clemons III, who’s known as Nick.

Jake Clemons showcased some impressive singer-songwriter skills that night. But mostly, the soon-to-be co-successor to the throne — playing solo and amid a solid sax trio with Stann and Michael Antunes — was awash in the moment as his horn wailed in honor of the Big Man.

Springsteen guitarist anticipates emotional shows

NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen guitarist Steve Van Zandt says touring without saxophonist Clarence Clemons is sure to be emotional for the E Street Band and its audience.

Clemons died at age 69 last year after a stroke. Van Zandt said Thursday that the band’s work will always be a tribute to Clemons and keyboard player Danny Federici, who died in 2008. Springsteen and the E Street Band begin a long tour next month.

Despite the emotion, Van Zandt says band members have to ask themselves whether their colleagues would have wanted them to carry on with the work. The guitarist said: “I think the answer’s yes.”

Besides the music, Van Zandt is promoting “Lilyhammer,” Netflix’s first original series. It is set in Norway and begins streaming Feb. 6 on Netflix.

Bruce Springsteen will still have sax, Nils Lofgren says

Don’t fret, saxophiles.

We don’t know who is going to play it, or how it’s going to be used. But when Bruce Springsteen hits the road this spring, there will still be saxophone in the E Street Band.

E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren confirmed this on Wayne Cabot’s WCBS radio show on Friday. Cabot asked Lofgren if the sax would be gone from the group for good.

“Of course not,” replied Lofgren.

“We all know there is no ‘Clarence 2,’,” Lofgren told Cabot. “He’s irreplaceable.”

But Springsteen will still find a way to incorporate saxophone into his shows.

“Ultimately that will be Bruce’s call,” said Lofgren, “and he’ll come up with something that’s right for himself and the band.”

How Springsteen will cope with the loss of Clemons has been one of the biggest question surrounding his upcoming tour, which comes to the Izod Center on April 3 and 4, Madison Square Garden on April 6 and 9, and the Prudential Center on May 2.

Springsteen raised some eyebrows among devoted fans when he announced the lineup of the latest version of the E Street Band. There was no saxophone player listed. Two adjunct members of the group were announced, too — neither of whom play saxophone. There was no sax solo on “We Take Care of Our Own,” the first single from the upcoming “Wrecking Ball.” How fans wondered, could the Boss perform many of his most famous songs without a sax sideman?

It is not unreasonable to think that Springsteen might try to tour sans sax. Long before his death, Clarence Clemons’ role in the E Street Band had been substantially reduced. Springsteen albums of recent vintage do not feature many sax solos or reed parts in general.

Possible theories floated by Boss-watchers: Miami Horns reed man Ed Manion, who has played with Springsteen many times, might step in, or a relative of Clarence Clemons could attempt to fill the shoes of the beloved sax player. Springsteen could also choose to add a horn section to his touring band.

The announced lineup of the E Street Band: Roy Bittan on piano and synthesizer, Nils Lofgren, Stevie Van Zandt and Patti Scialfa on guitar and backing vocals, Garry Tallent on bass, and Max Weinberg on drums. Violinist Soozie Tyrell and organist Charlie Giordano will play with the group, but aren’t listed as official members.

Bruce Springsteen Finishing Up New Album

After two years of downtime, Bruce Springsteen is roaring back in 2012: According to multiple sources, he is putting the finishing touches on an album that he will release in the first months of the new year. “He’s mastering it right now,” says Bob Seger, who spoke with Springsteen backstage at Seger’s New York show this month. “He’s says it’s really unusual and that it’s the best thing that he’s done in years.”

To support the album, Springsteen and the E Street Band will embark on a world tour that will extend through most of 2012, starting with a two-month U.S. arena leg in early March, sources say – including a stop in Austin for the South by Southwest music festival, where Springsteen will deliver the keynote address. The U.S. dates will be followed by a European tour of festivals and soccer stadiums that kicks off May 13th in Spain.

The question that hangs over the tour: how Springsteen plans to fill the void left by saxophone player Clarence Clemons, the spiritual heart of the E Street Band, who passed away in June. At Clemons’ funeral, Springsteen made it clear that the band would continue: “Clarence doesn’t leave the E Street Band when he dies,” Springsteen said. “He leaves when we die.”

Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band to tour in ’12

NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are set to go on the road in 2012.

Springsteen announced plans to tour the United States and Europe on his official website Sunday. Dates were to be announced later.

He also wrote the band is “incredibly excited” about the new year, adding their new music is “almost done” and “still untitled,” but with an undetermined release date.

This will be the first tour for the E Street Band since saxophonist Clarence Clemons died in June from complications of a stroke.

Springsteen’s last tour was the “Working on a Dream” tour, which ended in 2009.

Little Steven snares Boss for radio show
NEW YORK ñ With old friend Bruce Springsteen stopping by to swap music stories for the ninth anniversary of Steven Van Zandt’s rock radio show, Van Zandt laughed at the notion that he’d set the bar pretty high for the tenth year.
“It’s been an open invitation,” said Van Zandt, guitarist in Springsteen’s E Street Band. “He just finally got around to it.”
Their reminiscences take up three episodes of “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” over three weeks, starting Friday. If it sounds like two old friends talking about glory days, it’s because that’s precisely what it was: Springsteen and Van Zandt grew up playing in New Jersey-area bands in the wake of the Beatles’ arrival with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
“What’d ya think?” asked Van Zandt about when Springsteen first heard the song.
“My world changed,” Springsteen replied. He described being driven to a bowling alley ó his house didn’t have a phone ó to use the pay phone and call his girlfriend to talk about it.
Springsteen tried to stump his buddy, bringing in a laptop to call up a vintage song that Van Zandt hadn’t heard by Darwin’s Theory.
Van Zandt said in an interview that he thought it would be instructive to fans to talk in depth about Springsteen’s formative years musically, a topic that doesn’t come up much in serious interviews.
He couldn’t recall the exact time they met. The two formed a kinship through their love of rock ‘n’ roll because at the time, people seriously pursuing it were considered freaks, he said.
“He was a very important friend,” Van Zandt said. “When you are a freak by yourself it’s one thing. But if there’s someone else, you don’t feel as freaky. It’s a big deal to have someone feel the same way you do.”
Van Zandt has had Keith Richards, Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr and Ray Davies as guests on his show, syndicated in more than 200 markets in five countries. He hopes the radio format will be an enduring legacy.
“I started doing it because I felt there was a gap, and I think the gap is still there,” he said. “Nobody is playing 60 years of rock ‘n’ roll in one place, and nobody is playing new rock ‘n’ roll.”

Bruce Springsteen’s E Street bandmate tips him for solo album release
Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt has predicted that the singer’s next release will be a solo album.
Appearing on Philadelphiaís WMGK radio station, Van Zandt told host John DeBella that Springsteen already had a wealth of solo material ready to work on.
“You know Bruce – heís always got an album in his pocket, heís always writing something,” he said.
He added: “I donít know this for a fact, but I expect him to possibly put something out thatís more of a solo nature, before we get back together. Only because he’s just so prolific, still, after all these years. He’s still just a terrific songwriter and writes all the time.”
Springsteen’s last solo album was 2006ís ‘We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions’, while his last album with the E Street Band was 2009’s ‘Working On A Dream’.
The frontman also features on Dropkick Murphys’ new album íGoing Out In Styleí, on the song ‘Peg O’ My Heart’.