New Springsteen Album "Western Stars" June 14*

Hasn't he already?

 

Well, the review copies usually start coming out usually about a month before release so i’m Sure we will start hearing more about the album soon.

 

Good question. I never bothered to look it up.

 

Indeed he did. 12/12/96 on the Joad tour, with special guests Patti and Soozie, and an assist from Emmylou Harris from the balcony on "Racing in the Street."

 

Think he played there on the 75 tour.

 

Yeah he played the Ryman on the Joad Tour.

 

D&D Tour also I think

 

April 28 1976

 

Yeah but the Opry hasn't been at the Ryman except for special occasions since 1974.

 

As someone who hasn't played High Hopes more than a handful of times since its release, I've been listening to it over the past few days to prep myself for the new LP, and I'm actually enjoying it far more than I thought I would. It's a better album than I remember, even if it is a bit of a grab-bag of tracks.

 

Ok, I assumed “Opry” meant the Ryman

 

Yup

 

As someone who has been listening to country music pretty closely since about 1973, I would say this is the best country song I have heard in many a moon. I only have one Bruce Springsteen album in my collection, his Greatest Hits, but I will be buying this album when it comes out, just on the strength and beauty of this single. I did not think anybody had the guts or talent to make this type of music anymore. My hat is off to Mr. Springsteen.

 

The Opry is at the Ryman in the Winter. I saw the Grand Ole Opry hour there in November 2014 and it was great. Nice to finally see the music church

 

I've been listening to it this a.m., still am, and the song's surprisingly grown on me (it just took a second listen); it's pretty nice in a really relaxing way; I don't feel the sense of what he was fighting lyrically in the song, maybe due to the production, but then he's singing of depression in the past tense in it.
I still hate the cover for the upcoming album, I wish he'd chose another picture, but the song itself is nice. And it sounds more like Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues (a LOT like it) than Everybody's Talkin'.
It's not "exciting" to me by any means but it's a million times better than on first listen. It's quite soothing.
I guess the first-day hype dying down helps me be more open to it, I don't know. It just sounds nice.

 

Would anyone like to take a crack at explaining the differences between Country and Western music? Are there clear definitions or is it mostly a gut feeling?

Some people are saying that this song is "Bruce going Country", but I feel like it's "Bruce going Western". That may simply be because that word is used in the album's title and I'm taking it too literally. I'm certainly no expert in the field, but I'd like to know, and I suspect this may come up as we hear more and more songs from the new album.

 

This song as it is performed and produced doesn't feel breezy to me. The tempo is a little too slow, the tone a little too melancholy, the approach a little too reserved, quiet. It feels more like a draft to me or even a light chill, or a kind of gentle but somber sway. Kinda mournful, regretful, but still a little hopeful, and it ebbs and flows just enough and doesn't seem to me that far removed from a few of the more somber or moody ballads on TOL. Well done by Mr. Springsteen. Sounds good too. I think "Sunshine" also serves a dual purpose as a metaphor for a partner or 'chick' imo.

 

lanoish rather than country

 

Visted the Ryman for the first time last month. What a fantastic place. Nashville is a great town. Saw more great musicians in a 5 block radius than anywhere else I've ever been, with the possible exception of New Orleans.

 

I'm not close to being an expert but I never got why the category is called "Country & Western" music. I mean you basically had folk music from the British Isles brought here by pioneers and recreated in Appalachia and Virginia. And New England too, for that matter.
How that translates into people wearing cowboy hats, I never understood. I think it has something to do with Hollywood and the Singing Cowboy.

But Western is a whole different thing, isn't it? You have German immigrant --who brought the accordion --and Mexican influence going on.

Maybe anything with a steel guitar and/or fiddle is country.

But I know what you mean with "Hello Sunshine." Maybe we are being taken in by the album's title and the video of the dusty streets of the southwest.

 

Hmmm, the new song does indeed sound like Glen Campbell doing Jimmy Webb. I like it. I like the arrangement with the strings. I haven't said this about many new Bruce songs in a very long time.

No vocal twang and a fairly strong melody too, which helps.

 

Bruce does both types of music country and western

 

the arrangement is not country or western.
its an interesting sound no doubt an update of
the old, both lyrically and musically.

 

Emmylou sang from the balcony?!? Did she stand... the acoustics are great at the Ryman but could she be heard? Sounds like a special moment for sure.

 

Elvis used to sing Good Time Charlie.