Music |
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
Bruce Springsteen
By
Published: Jan 01, 2006
Category:
Rock
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
Bruce Springsteen
My young friend, who — like most American men — is not much given to physical embraces, gripped my forearm just above the wrist and said, “Bruce is here.”
As in Springsteen. I recognized the expression on my friend’s face: I’d exhibited it once myself when I spotted Springsteen a few feet away asking for “a special bottle of wine” at the Sherry Lehman liquor store on Madison Avenue, where, for the record, not one sales person seemed to recognize the unshaven fellow in the leather jacket and jeans. My wife later told me that judging from the expression on my face, she thought the joint was being held up. All of which is to confess that yes, I’m one of those guys: I’m a Springsteen fan.
My friend had taken me as his guest to the "listening party" for ‘We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions,’ Springsteen’s new CD of American folk songs made popular by Pete Seeger. Pete Seeger? He of the fisherman’s cap, the banjo, and the very old-school left-wing politics? Yeah, that’s the guy. If you think Seeger is as irrelevant to today’s world as a “George McGovern for President” poster, Springsteen wants you to think again.
The listening party was held in a basement restaurant of B. B. King’s nightclub on Times Square. The Boss is shorter than one expects and broader in the back. His hair was slicked down and he wore a sort of Isaac Mizrahi handkerchief/headband to keep it in place. Honoré de Balzac’s face was said to have radiated light and to have been easily given to laughter. That’s the vibe I got from Springsteen, who settled down at the end of the bar with his wife Patti Scialfa. No one in the room bothered them.
My friend and I were maybe ten feet away, leaning against a wall with our drinks. Needless to say, we didn’t move all night. I was a TV talk show producer for years, so I was literally in the business of meeting famous people. It’s a point of professional pride that I don’t stare, don’t ask for autographs, don’t take photos, and don’t embarrass myself in the presence of the extremely famous. Though on this occasion I did find myself looking Springsteen’s way throughout the session that followed. From this I learned that Bruce looks quite content.
Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager, spoke briefly. The first of five cuts from the CD came on the PA — in mono, alas. Then the audio system broke down entirely. So much for professional show biz. Soon Don Lenner, the head of Sony records, was under the audio board, trying his hand as a roadie. Springsteen walked by, laughing and muttering, "I’m gonna fix this myself." He spoke to the crowd pleasantly and profanely about the fuck-ups of the great Sony Corporation. Then the songs played — in mono again — before Landau introduced a DVD of five songs — at last with stereo audio.
The music is brilliant: joyous, raucous, heartfelt folk songs recorded in Springsteen’s living room with a collection of musicians he’s known for years. Springsteen plays guitar, harmonica, organ and percussion. There are also violins, guitars, a tuba, an upright bass, a banjo, piano, accordion, sax, trumpet, trombone and plenty of backup vocals. It’s big, exuberant group of musicians, scattered throughout Springsteen’s fairly fabulous-looking house.
From the DVD, one gathers that the spiritual quality of the music was in part inspired by the amount of spirits imbibed during the session. Truly a joyful noise. You might recognize some of the songs from your childhood: “Old Man Tucker,” “John Henry,” “Erie Canal,” “Buffalo Gals,” “Pay Me My Money Down.” I was taught to sing those songs — very, very badly — in grammar school. But Springsteen and his happy friends make the songs seem new and important. And of, course, there’s the title track. It takes balls for a white guy to cover "We Shall Overcome." But to this white boy’s ears, it worked.
I often liken Springsteen to the heavyweight boxer George Foreman: you saw Big George’s punches coming, but he had the kind of power that only comes around once in a generation and he usually got his knockouts. Springsteen’s music is like that. For me, he’s a great American artist in the style of O’Neill or Hopper: occasionally unsubtle but always powerful and true. That Springsteen has carried his fame for all these years without self-destructing is a testament to his mental health, which is perhaps unparalleled in the history of rock and roll.
When the DVD presentation ended, Springsteen took the stage again to thank all the industry people for supporting his work over the years. He closed by asking everyone in the room to help put a Pete Seeger song in the top ten.
Afterwards, Springsteen stood by the bar, where he posed with anyone who wanted a picture taken with him. I watched as each person got a smile, a bit of chat, and a thank you. My buddy told Springsteen how much he’d enjoyed the recent acoustic tour. “Not as much as I did,” the Boss said.
I didn’t wait in line for my moment with Bruce. But on the way home, I thought of what I would have said if I had: "Bruce, one of the most moving things about your concerts is how they speak to the best part of everyone in the crowd. I always look around and think: these are the same people who tried to beat me up in high school. But your music reminds Americans of how much we do have in common. So thanks for that — and much else. I can’t wait to listen to the whole record.”
— by Ronald Fried, Springsteen Scholar and author of Christmas in Paris, 2002
To order ‘We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions’ from Amazon.com, click here.
