Ok, so where do I start? Do I pick one from each of his ten best albums, or do I divide his career into 10 year periods and pick equally from every period? Or do I simply let my emotions decide, and pick what feels right today? That’s what I ‘ll do, like I allways do, I go with what feels right at this particular moment.
Springsteen is a fantastic songwriter and a formidable performer, for me he is easily in the top 3 both as a singer/songwriter and as a performing artist.
To pick 10 songs from the hundreds he has written is not easy, but here we go.
They call him the Boss. Well that’s a bunch of crap. He’s not the boss. He works FOR us. More than a boss, he’s the owner, because more than anyone else, Bruce Springsteen owns America’s heart.
~Bono (induction speech for at the 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
From Wikipedia:
Also known as
The Boss, Bad Scooter
Born
September 23, 1949 (age 63)
Long Branch, New Jersey, United States
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949), nicknamed “The Boss“, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who records and tours with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of heartland rock, poetic lyrics, Americana sentiments centered on his native New Jersey and his lengthy and energetic stage performances, with concerts from the 1970s to the present decade running up to an uninterrupted 250 minutes in length.
Springsteen’s recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more somber folk-oriented works. His most successful studio albums, Born in the U.S.A. and Born to Run, showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life; he has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and more than 120 million worldwideand he has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him as the 23rd Greatest Artist of all time, the 96th Greatest Guitarist of all time on their latest list and the 36th Greatest Singer of all time in 2008.
From allmusic.com – William Ruhlmann:
In the decades following his emergence on the national scene in 1975, Bruce Springsteen proved to be that rarity among popular musicians, an artist who maintained his status as a frontline recording and performing star, consistently selling millions of albums and selling out arenas and stadiums around the world year after year, as well as retaining widespread critical approbation, with ecstatic reviews greeting those discs and shows. Although there were a few speed bumps along the way in Springsteen‘s career, the wonder of his nearly unbroken string of critical and commercial success is that he achieved it while periodically challenging his listeners by going off in unexpected directions, following his muse even when that meant altering the sound of his music or the composition of his backup band, or making his lyrical message overtly political. Of course, it may have been these very sidesteps that kept his image and his music fresh, especially since he always had the fallback of returning to what his fans thought he did best, barnstorming the country with a marathon rock & roll show using his longtime bandmates.
.. read more over @ allmusic
Some of his recognition’s:
October 27, 1975: Bruce Springsteen appears simultaneously on the covers of Newsweek and Time
Polar Music Prize in 1997.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1999.
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1999.
Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, 2007.
“Born to Run” named “The unofficial youth anthem of New Jersey” by the New Jersey state legislature; something Springsteen always found to be ironic, considering that the song “is about leaving New Jersey”.
The minor planet 23990, discovered September 4, 1999, by I. P. Griffin at Auckland, New Zealand, was officially named in his honor.
Ranked No. 23 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Ranked No. 36 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time.
Made Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People Of The Year 2008 list.
Won Critic’s Choice Award for Best Song with “The Wrestler” in 2009.
Performed at the Super Bowl XLIII half time show.
Kennedy Center Honors, 2009.
Rolling Stone magazine also ranked 8 out of 16 Springsteen’s studio albums in their 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time list.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Born to Run” and “Thunder Road” in its 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list, in 21st and 86th, respectively.
Forbes ranked him 6th in The Celebrity 100 in 2009
John Steinbeck Award
Named 2013 MusiCares Person of the Year
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We will post some Bruce Springsteen lists later today / tomorrow.
OLD post … You’re being redirected to a newer version……
Don’t run back inside
Darling you know just what I’m here for
So you’re scared and you’re thinking
That maybe we ain’t that young anymore
Show a little faith there’s magic in the night
You ain’t a beauty but hey you’re alright
Oh and that’s alright with me
Happy Birthday to my fav Springsteen album!
From Wikipedia:
Released
August 25, 1975 – (37 years old:)
Recorded
Record Plant, New York
914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York
January 1974 – July 1975
Born to Run is the third album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released on August 25, 1975 through Columbia Records. It captured the heaviness of Springsteen’s earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.
Born to Run was a critical and commercial success and became Springsteen’s breakthrough album. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, eventually selling six million copies in the US by the year 2000. Two singles were released from the album: “Born to Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out“; the first helped Springsteen to reach mainstream popularity. The tracks “Thunder Road” and “Jungleland” became staples of album-oriented rock radio and Springsteen concert high points.
On November 14, 2005, a “30th Anniversary” remaster of the album was released as a box set including two DVDs: a production diary film and a concert movie.
When asked for his opinion on the subject/the man/the musician Bruce Springsteen in 1997, Joe Strummer sent the following letter to “rocumentary” filmmaker Mark Hagen. The film in question, ‘Bruce Springsteen: A Secret History’, was broadcast in 1998 on British television:
London Calling, with Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello and the Clash:
Springsteen returned the compliment during a gig in 2008, declaring Strummer “one of the greatest rockers of all time” before launching into a rendition of I Fought the Law.
I Fought the Law:
He has also covered Joe’s last masterpiece Coma Girl.
Coma Girl (audio only):
The Guardian:
On the Saturday night of Glastonbury you may be lucky enough to seeBruce Springsteen & the E Street Band power through their version of the Clash’s London Calling. One key figure in securing the Boss’s booking? One of that song’s co-authors, Joe Strummer. (refering to the letter in this post)
London Calling:
cont. The Guardian:
It’s a sentiment that Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis would agree with; in his later years, Strummer became a figurehead for the festival and when it came time to persuade Springsteen to appear, he still had a significant part to play. “I did an eight-page document about the festival for Bruce with quotes from Joe included,” says Eavis. “I’ve never done anything like that for anyone before. It’s going to be an amazing couple of hours.”
A nice story about two great persons and musicians!
