Springsteen's Letter To You thread (second try)

Yeah, I wouldn't touch a speck on Nebraska. It is perfect.

 

That sounds like a damn good playlist.

 

I think his use began with the dissolution of his first marriage. I usually don't care about Celeb gossip, but was bummed when I found he was splitting from his first wife who had been there before he was famous, and probably helped keep him grounded.

I think in the later years in might have been pain management for the broken hip, but even in recent documentaries like "Echo in the Canyon" you can see (with hindsight) that he was not well behind those dark sunglasses worn indoors.

 

To my ears, "Sleepy Joe's Cafe" is a nice little Los Lobos or Ry Cooder song. I have no problem with it.

 

Ha, "American Cheese" g0tta make one of those, maybe some John Prine or Warren Zevon thrown in too, for good measure! I'm a Jersey guy (btw,) - funny story: My brother-in-law has a good friend from his college days,
he grew up in Freehold, N.J. and was a high school friend of Springsteen. He had borrowed Springsteen's guitar and had it for a while, so one day Bruce comes bangin' on his back door, and say's "hey the guitar, or the money..."
He handed over Bruce's guitar. Wonder how much that guitar would be worth now?!

 

Not to careen off topic, but I have some first hand experience observing this. Rock & roll keeps people in a state of permanent adolescence, and the game is rigged to keep you there. It also encourages narcissism, a straight pathway towards hard drugs.

I’ve been a lifelong drummer in all kinds of working bands. Always “in the back” watching. Plenty of stories of self destructive drummers. But for the front guys, doing 3 hours in front of an adoring crowd, whether it’s in a club or stadium, is a shot of pure adrenaline. So you want...need...to keep that high going. Nothing new I’m saying here, but I’ve learned it’s true. Very hazardous line of work, and often heartbreaking. I’m lucky that I have a separate career that keeps me grounded. If it was my sole vocation, I’d probably be dead. Been to too many funerals of ex band mates the past several years. It’s depressing.

I agree it’s highly unlikely Springsteen would go down this path, but you never know.

 

Having read about the subject, I am not of the understanding that Tom’s first wife kept him grounded. Apparently, she was mentally ill and quite difficult. He allegedly wrote the beautiful song Wildflowers about himself in the aftermath of the dissolution of that marriage and personal period in his life.

 

Crazy women inspire great songs. Lots of good(?) examples out there.

 

Didn't know that, thanks for the correction. They were together for like 20 years, I just assumed things were good

 

I think “Don’t fade on me” was written about his ex wife also. Haunting song.

 

I've always heard it might be about his relationship with Dylan, who was going through a drought at the time. The lines "first one through the door", "which way the wind was blowing" I thought referenced him, and "“Drifting Too Far From Shore" referenced "Knocked up Loaded", considered one of his worst albums, and one Petty played on.

 

He was in the same head when he made Echo in 1997-98 and released it in 1999. The title track and "Room at the Top" are two of his most profound songs regarding loneliness and self destruction. Even a more upbeat pop song like "Walls" drifts into that dark space: "Some things are over/Some things go on/And part of me you carry/Part of me is gone."

Petty had such a simple, direct way of describing hard emotions. For me, that mid/late 90s period is his best. In sound, not so far from where he'd been, but his lyrics were on another level entirely.

 

Ditto. This was my first Springsteen studio album I bought since Nebraska and I like Songs For Orphans the most. Maybe it’s because it sounds like early Dylan. Overall a good album or a great album for any artist’s late career but I would skip the first two tracks.

 

What thread is this?

 

I don’t throw around this comparison lightly, but Janey, Priest and Orphans really do have a sweeping, rollicking Highway 61 Revisited attitude to them. To me, it’s some of the most exciting music he’s ever recorded.

 

Los Lobos or Ry Cooder might actually bring the song to life. Bruce misses the feeling it needs to work entirely.

 

No doubt. Janey is probably my least favorite of that trio, Zevon's version is so good. But Bruce and the band sound so loose and organic on these songs, it is a revelation. It is possible he's lost some of his muse and that happens to the best of artists. I'd enjoy another record recorded like Letter To You and if he needs to revisit songs he wrote years ago, so be it. I'm greatly looking forward to Tracks 2 or another box and maybe another new studio record - and then a tour in '22.

 

He actually approached this sound and “attitude” at times in the past, such as on “ The Promised Land” and live versions of “ Atlantic City” but he never mined this particularly rich vein for one reason or another.

If the fabled Electric Nebraska doesn’t exist in completed form— something I’ve always maintained—then this is the sound template he should use to finally re- record for release.

 

Whatever he does next, I hope he sticks to 12 string guitars, Hammond organs and harmonicas, and keeps the synthesizers and drum loop machines in the closet.

 

I wonder what Mike Appel thinks of the trio of resurrected songs —that he once owned a piece of —in their revamped, full band versions.

Isn’t this close to the sound he envisioned for his one- time client ?

 

The same thing he thinks about every other song he sold from the early catalog:

“What was I thinking?”

 

he sold because he was broke.

 

I think Tom Petty was the greatest songwriter and singer...he flew very much under the radar because he never
sought the limelight. His songs have deep meaning to many people and they could identify more with
the man and his songs. Springsteen had many great hits, but he always came off as phony...at least to me.
His voice was marginal...almost like he's gargling with shards of glass. Petty was one of the few guys
who could sing cover songs better than the original artist and he could also sing any kind of music
genres...and could sing just as good "live" as his recordings. He once said his songs were
"one long recording session of his life". He also never had to contact other icons to do duets
as they called Petty. People like Stevie Nicks and Johnny Cash and so many others wanted to
sing with Petty.....and Johnny Cash said "Southern Accents" was the greatest song he ever heard.
He also wanted to sing "I Won't Back Down"....and Stevie Nicks wanted to join the Heartbreakers.
I liked the story Petty said that on his 50th birthday...he received a postcard from Johnny Cash
that said "you're a good man to ride the river with"......and that is one of the few things Tom Petty
kept....I think that said it all....he was simply the BEST.

 

Have you got any data to back this up? Youtube doesn't seem to agree, Spotify doesn't, various Rolling Stone lists don't, US sales don't...
I won't discuss artistic merit, that's always personal, but as a European I'm flabbergasted by the claim Petty could rival in popularity terms.

 

Petty was never that popular in Europe. He didn’t tour there much. He’s huge in the US.
“Bigger” than Springsteen? Hard to quantify, but yes, I’d say he at least rivals Springsteen in the US. Springsteen has always been a polarizing artist, but even more so in recent years. Just about everybody here loves Tom Petty, and his music.