Then Bruce was a dolt. Just because you're a millionaire doesn't mean you can't put a spotlight on those needier than you. In fact, you should do that. Bruce had a good position to bring attention to various causes - that doesn't mean he had to be a poor person to do that...
I think he was often nervous in TV interviews. He became a confident interviewee and orator as he got older.
Is there a book that you’re referencing for this information? I would enjoy reading one that detailed his sessions, who played on what, the instrumentation, outtakes, etc.
Definitely. Bruce always seemed to have a love/hate relationship with fame and ambition. Clearly he wanted to be rich and famous, and he had the ambition to do so, but he also had some apparent reluctance along the way. To some degree, I think he eventually embraced the "Bruce Springsteen Character" as a way to cope. Also, he eventually was so famous that he couldn't help but become more comfortable. In 1984, being a massive star was still new, but after that, it had to feel less awkward...
The only visual confirmation is the 1980 River Tour souvenir program, which shows max sitting behind the 5 piece kit at the Power Station (I’m a lifelong gear head). Unfortunately, no film exists of The River sessions. Pics aside, You can clearly hear the 3 Toms on several fills.
One suspects Springsteen was being careful not to alienate the public circa 1985. Perhaps he was uncomfortable with television interviews, etc., but Landau was carefully orchestrating the BITUSA project and it would not be surprising to find out that Springsteen was instructed not to say anything too polarizing. Clearly he had made social/political statements in the past, either in his work or from the stage, but after the brand was firmly established and the revenues maximized, things became less restrictive.
There doesn't seem to be much hate in the equation. Maybe decades ago, but over the past 20+ years, he seems comfortable and fond of his notoriety.
Danny was a much more soulful and fluid keyboardist than Giordano. Giordano does an ok job playing parts, but he’s no Danny Federici. Listen to Pretty Flamingo in 1975 versus 2016. No comparison. In his prime, Clarence was a powerful (if limited) sax player. He was also a very good harmony singer. Jake Clemons has the right last name, but that’s about it. He hits tons of bad notes, and is often out of key. Eddie Manion is 25 times better.
Is the drum loop on the live Roulette in 1988 the beginning rolls? I should look up a video on Youtube. Max played the intro live in 2000 and subsequent tours, I think (definitely remember watching a Leeds 2013 video where it was played live).
The flub is on the 1988 shoreline amphitheater show. Bruce fell in love with drum triggers in the late 80’s, and IIRC he used them live on Tunnel of Love, Roulette and One Step Up, maybe one or two others. I’m sure Max hated them (as most drummers do).
Poking around looking at old videos. I know I’ll get drawn and quartered here, but god the TOL show was cringey...
I missed the TOL tour, but the Other Band tour set 1 closer Roll of the Dice had some pretty atrocious staging. Like a bad high school production of Guys and Dolls.
TOL was pretty atrocious. I saw the show in Philly. It had one or two good moments, but overall it was the hokiest, most stagey thing I ever saw. Bruce flexing his muscles and acting like a cheesy cabaret narcissus. I remember this one being particularly awful. I can clearly remember the Philly crowd was like “wtf is this ****??”
Hey look we all make mistakes in life, but...WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? Really! Was a huge fan from from 75 -84, got off the Bruce train around 84, came back in the last year or so and thankfully had no idea anything like this existed. You got to warn a guy next time before you do something like this.
Haha. I was going to post “I’m a coward” but I’ll show some mercy. In the interests of being balanced, Be True and the acoustic Born To Run were really nice moments in the show. But I just remember the show being like one big long pose from Bruce. It was really weird.
Yes! The Born to Run solo acoustic (which I only know from the Chimes of Freedom EP, but guessing it's the same version, the sing along fade out gets me everytime) is one of my favorite Bruce moments, thanks for that palate cleanser, was about to go to bed really depressed. You ruined, then saved my night.