From: "Curmudgeon" <ray.gehring@mindspring.com>
Newsgroups: rec.music.artists.springsteen
Subject: Re: 9/1 photos?
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 23:41:49 -0700
Organization: MindSpring Enterprises


"Hal S 007" <hals007@aol.com> wrote:
> and quite frankly, I wouldn't walk 10 feet across the street
> at this point to see CC if I didn't think Bruce was going to be there.

Yo Hal, I wonder, did you have to say it "that" way? In that fashion?

But even more than all this, I wonder if there's anyone else on the board
who feels similar to the way Hal feels (about seeing Clarence without Bruce)
about seeing Bruce plow through all the old warhorses: Glory Days, 10th
Avenue, Pink Cadillac, and (even) Mustang Sally?

Oh I know, I know....this was the PONY! And these versions were anything
but tired. They were smoking, incredible, better than sex on the head of a
pin, hotter than July. But I wonder, are there others 'round here who'd
prefer to see Bruce drag out accordion, violin or tuba and whisper through
the good stuff: Sandy, the slow E Street Shuffle, Wild Billy's Circus Story.

This ain't been a Bruce summer for me; but on those occasions when I have
played the man I've mostly played the old boots. You Can Trust Your Car and
The Lost Radio Show (thx Jerry!). One night I got out every cd I own with a
version of Circus Story on it and played each. Man, what a song!

I really like some of the stuff on LINYC. Mansion and the new River jump to
mind. I also like Murder Inc., which is a rocker, but also much more than a
bar song. And of course, LOHAD's and AS are wonderful.

But I guess I sometimes wish that Bruce had stayed on that dizzy, crazy,
creative road he seemed to be riding in the early 70's, before he became
so...so...so...deliberate. Don't get me wrong, I love the albums BTR,
Darkness and River. But there was something undeniable, something magical
and wildly inspirational about the loose, artistic, beachcombing Bruce.
That raspy punk who wrote such complex, stunningly beautiful songs. The guy
who's band whooped it up during interviews and played Sentimental Journey
just for the fun of it. That Bruce just seems to stay the years better than
the bar-band Bruce who rocks hard and sweats good for the boys and their
Heineken.

Glory Days and Pink Cadillac? Good fun songs in their day. But I can't say
they stand the test of time. Gimme that fire-eater lying in a pool of
sweat, creation of a man whose imagery was once a heat wave of emotion,
freedom, carnival sounds and fresh, bright new ideas. rg

marvinbenardfan@mindspring.com
Grapefruit, it's a fruit! It's an ashtray!