Tag Archives: Bruce Springsteen. The E Street Band

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2019: Day 14

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Music by

Welcome back to the countdown!!!

Santa and two of his reindeer join us today.  Ho ho ho!!!

Day 14.jpg

Found on Pinterest (original source unknown).

Last Monday night the Rainforest Fund 30th Anniversary Benefit Concert took place at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.  The night featured an array of outstanding musical guests like James Taylor, Debbie Harry, the reunited Eurythmics and John Mellencamp who sang with my favorite guy and personal hero, Bruce Springsteen.  They sang “Pink Houses” and “Glory Days” together in what Rolling Stone dubbed “a rare heartland-rock summit”.  Another interesting fact about that night?  I WAS NOT THERE!!! 

It wasn’t like I did not know about the show.  I keep up with Bruce’s appearances, of course.  But the ticket prices were insanely high, and I do not have to spend that kind of money when I go to see a four hour plus show by Bruce and his ever loyal E Street Band.  That is a much better investment for my money.  Here’s to the hope that the rumors of a 2020 tour are true!!!     

So if you are not following where this is going, today’s Christmas song (and two bonus tracks) are courtesy of the Bossman.  The video is from Springsteen’s own YouTube channel.  The performance was held at The Carousel Building in Asbury Park, and since it dates back to 2010 the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, is in it.  An early Christmas gift courtesy of the Boss.

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Bruce Springsteen (original source unknown).  

Bruce Springsteen:   “Blue Christmas”  (2010, recorded live at The Carousel in Asbury Park, NJ and written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson circa 1948).

Bruce Springsteen:  “Merry Christmas Baby” (live performance from “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” circa mid to late 1990’s,.  That time frame means the entire E Street Band is there, before the deaths of Danny Federici in 2008 and Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons in 2011.  O’Brien joined the band on guitar.  The best view of him comes @ 4:33 after the other big man, Santa himself, makes an appearance.  Springsteen and his band were frequent guests since the E Street drummer, Max Weinberg, led O’Brien’s house band, The Max Weinberg 7.  Written by Johnny Moore and Lou Baxter in 1947).

Bruce Springsteen:  “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” (1975, written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie circa 1934)

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

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Barn Sale Fun

Posted in Vintage Finds by

One of the best things about living in New England is the plethora of barn sales.  They are everywhere and I am completely obsessed.

This time around I did not buy anything, but I l-o-v-e-d everything I saw.  The one I went to happens once a month so I will definitely be back.  Look at these great items!!!

Barn sale 1

I am seriously considering buying one of these large bins.  No Idea what I would do with it, but I keep picturing it in a vertical position working as some type of shelving fixture, or lying horizontally across some hay bales chock full of pumpkins on a rustic fall front porch.  Gorgeous, right???

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Barn doors and shutters……..swoon!!!

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Barn sale 4

I am sure my fellow “Golden Girls” fans know why I took a picture of this sign.  The girls sang this jingle in season 7 episode 24 while they were waiting for Rose in the hospital (“My beer is Rheingold the dry beer, think of Rheingold whenever you buy beer, it’s not bitter not sweet it’s the extra dry treat won’t you try extra dry Rheingold beer”.)  God, I love those women!!!

Barn sale 5

Which items did you like best?

For today’s song I chose two from one of my dad’s favorite movies in honor of Sunday being Father’s Day.  It’s been nearly seven years since he died and my world has been such a cold dark color without him.  But he and my mother gave me the foundation from which my love of music was born, and from the moment he and I first watched “Eddie and the Cruisers” together, there was no denying how much he loved it and its soundtrack.

We will not discuss the fact that it nearly drove me into a catatonic state every time my dad refused to acknowledge that these songs were NOT by my true love Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band (so so sorry, Bossman 😦  ).  My dad forgave me for a lot of things, so I must show him the same courtesy here.  So Dad, the second song is for you because I know how much you loved it.  The first one is for us & how much I yearn to relive all the tender years we spent together again.  And how I wish we had more.  Te amo, Dad.

“Oh oh oh tender years

Won’t you wash away my tears 

How I wish you were near

Please don’t go tender years”

Eddie & the Cruisers/John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band:  “Tender Years“.

Eddie & the Cruisers/John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band:  “On The Dark Side“.

Until next time, happy digging!!!

Valentine’s Day Music Countdown: Song #10

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The next song on my list is dedicated to my mother who was a big fan of the singer in the #10 spot on my countdown.  His dance moves on stage earned him the nickname “Mr. Excitement” by some and “the black Elvis” by others. But make no mistake:  This man had a voice like no one else before or after him.  The singer?  Jackie Wilson.  The song?  “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher”.

Reaching #6 on the charts in 1967 & written by Gary Jackson and Carl Smith, rumor has it that Wilson recorded the vocal track for this song in one take.  If that is true, it is an incredible testament to his magnificent voice and talent.  He had an astonishing 47 R&B hit songs from 1958 to 1973.  They ran the gamut from ballads to dance tunes to true soul numbers. He was so popular overseas in 1963 that the Beatles opened for one of Wilson’s shows.

“Higher & Higher” is as close to perfect as a song gets, from its perfectly delivered lyrics, to its great impossible-to-sit-still-to-so-get-up-and-move beat, to the incredibly pristine horn arrangements, to the fantastic bass line, to the polish of the entire production. There are not too many love songs like this one, probably because there are not too many performers like Wilson.

His exuberant stage performances were copied by the likes of James Brown, Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars, to name a few.  But no matter how great his dance moves were, nothing compared with the range, power, intensity and considerable passion of Wilson’s voice.

Sadly, that voice was silenced in 1984 when Wilson was just 49 years old.  He became incapacitated after suffering a heart attack on stage in 1975 and spent his remaining years in a nursing home.  As was unfortunately common practice in the early days of Rock & Roll, Wilson died virtually penniless due to the machinations of his record company and manager.  The end of Wilson’s story is one of the saddest in music history.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 by Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band.

Notable covers of “Higher & Higher” have been done by Dolly Parton, Rita Coolidge, and Rod Stewart.  But my favorite cover is by one of my heroes (and future husband, if God is listening), Bruce Springsteen.  He started playing this song live with more and more frequency in the last decade, usually as one of his encores.  He and the E Street Band gave it everything they had in this clip from one of their shows in 2009.

Enjoy!!!

“We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school…..”

When I am not antiquing or junking, I pursue my other passion-music. On April 10, 2014 I was lucky enough to attend the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Brooklyn, NY.

I watched one of my heroes, Bruce Springsteen, induct his longtime backup group, the E Street Band, into the famed hall. This was a dream come true for me. I was not able to attend the ceremony in 1999 when the Boss himself was inducted (I had just gone into contract on my house and extra money was a thing of the past). I promised myself that one day I would attend one of these all star concerts, and when I heard that Bruce’s band was being honored in the class of 2014, I knew this was my year to make my dream happen!!!

After Mr. Springsteen’s touching and eloquent speech, he and the band performed three songs-“The E Street Shuffle”, “Kitty’s Back” and “The River”, which the Boss said was one of Clarence Clemmons’ favorite songs. All three performances were absolutely sublime.

It was one of the greatest nights of my life!!!