The Cure's Greatest Hits

80's music nostalgia is rampant these days. For someone like me who graduated in the early eighties that makes sense of course. The eighties certainly saw a great variety of music. The early eighties for us cool kids meant Van Halen before Jump brought them to the whole world's attention, Bruce singing Nebraska and not Born in the USA, and of course the first last album by the who It's Hard which featured Athena and Eminence Front. The ultimate test of course is did you buy The Final Cut by Pink Floyd and if you did, did you get it?

With all that however what I find one of the more enjoyable trips down 80's nostalgia is the melancholy music of the second half of the eighties. On the First Wave satellite station it often seems between The Cure and The Smith's with a little Thompson Twins thrown in they have time for little else. And surprisingly for me, that is just fine.

Maybe it is because while I was aware of these bands the first time around they were not overplayed on my floor in college. Whatever the reason The Cure in recent weeks has certainly become turn it up music in my vehicle. My kids look at me and say " Really Dad?" It is kind of a two fold look. Not just this is awful but this is not your normal awful music. So I will be the first to admit it is a stretch.

However as the saying goes the heart wants what the heart wants. Listening to The Cure's Greatest Hits album this morning there is no doubt of my being dead on in my assessment.

I cannot listen to Close to Me without tapping my foot. The stomp beat, post Clash and the absolute unique voice of Robert Smith on Why Can"t I Be You is infectious. Now truth be told this music is not for everyone. I have a friend who I am sure would revoke my membership in the he man club if he read this but I think it is well known I am pretty open when it comes to music.

Eventually The Cure went a tiny bit more mainstream or mainstream went a tiny bit more Cure and songs like Just Like Heaven became a success on the mainstream charts. Smith's vocal is a little clearer but he still had the breathy quality you either appreciated or did not. He certainly was not going to change. The peak of the mainstream success, rightly so, came about with " Lovesong" which by any standard is a great performance.

Also on the greatest hits album is one of my favorites. Lullaby, perhaps because it does not make any effort at being liked, it is odd, and Smith's voice is the voice that we remember when he was just the hardcore groups. The Cure really never got enough credit for the cleverness of their songs, the beats, the music itself, much stronger than was thought. Smith's voice, so original, tended to dominate everything else.

One cannot neglect the poppy " Friday I'm in Love " which appeared like a bolt of sunshine in the early nineties. You had to sing along, it was infectious, but the question for most Cure fans was what the hell is this. Did Mr. Smith finally get some anti depressants. No matter the song was one of their most popular and with the contrast to previous records it certainly was original.

I have to offer however that a couple of songs are inexplicably missing. Fascination Street which featured Smith in full Smith voice and has been offered in multiple versions for the hardcore fans certainly should be on this compilation. The obviously missing song in any collection of The Cure's Greatest Hits however is not including Pictures of You. When I think of everything that makes one think of music from The Cure this song has it. When Smith sings" I've been looking so long at these Pictures of You that I almost believe that they're real" captures all the sadness and depression that good or bad encompassed so much of the music of The Cure.

This band made many memorable songs, when you look over a list, you are shocked to realize just how much music they made. With Morrisey touring to stand out reviews in the states right now one wonders if a reborn Cure might not be far behind.

Tom Hanks on Jimmy Fallon Last Night

Some people are funny no matter what they do. Tom Hanks appeared on Jimmy Fallon last night. Hanks has been everywhere lately. Making a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, working the phones on Jon Stewart's autism benefit, and then last night appeared on Fallon last night.

There might not be two more likable people in entertainment than Jimmy Fallon and Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks, now Hollywood Royalty, never seems to forget that he is the same person that we first saw on Bosom Buddies, or if you dig deep as the alcoholic uncle of Alex P Keaton on Family Ties.

Last night Hanks did a slam poem about the nineties sitcom Full House and as funny as that was the real highlight was just the stories he told while visiting with Jimmy. Telling the story of Jimmy's desire to appear on the Hanks HBO Miniseries Band of Brothers, and another story of Hanks almost playing guitar for Bruce Springsteen Hanks is just naturally funny. His ability to laugh at himself, combined with Fallon's constant joy in whatever he is doing made this fantastic television.

I watch a good deal of late night television. Only a few people are must see, Tom Hanks and Bill Murray are two of them. Hanks showed us why last night.

The Best of Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff has released an album this year and as a legendary reggae figure it has received some positive reviews. I confess that my knowledge of Jimmy Cliff until recently was knowing that the song Trapped that Bruce Springsteen has performed over the years is a Jimmy Cliff song

Over the last couple of weeks I have listened to this album quite a few times and have to advise that while Cliff has been recording for years and years and thus doing a deep dive on his recording history is not really feasible for me this Best of compilation is well worth taking a test.

Reggae historians will tell you that most feel that Jimmy Cliff came before Bob Marley in Jamaica. Marley through a combination of factors became the Godfather of all Reggae but a quick perusal of this album will make one aware that Jimmy Cliff is very and I mean very underrated.

Cliff has it all, listening to Hard Road to Travel, the reggae beat, the inspirational lyrics, there is nothing here that would be diminished by comparison to a Bob Marley song and in fact holds up stronger than 98 percent of what Marley recorded. I would go so far as to say that as big a Marley fan as I am, with the exception of No Woman No Cry and Three Little Birds there is nothing in Marley's music that can compare with five or six of the songs on this album.

You Can Get It If You Really Want, The Harder They Come and Many Rivers to Cross, I do not know how I could have listened to as much music as I have, as much reggae as I have without knowing these songs. They are impeccable. I turned my son onto Bob Marley by playing it when he was growing up. Sending him information on this album is now at the top of my list of things to do today.


Which brings me to the essential Jimmy Cliff song I knew nothing about. Cliff recorded an anti war song called Vietnam that might be the best song of that era. It is easily singable, has an incredible beat and Cliff's voice is angelic. In the song we hear about a letter received from Vietnam from a soldier telling his friends that he will be home soon, his time is almost up, and he looks forward to seeing them all. The very next day a telegram arrives stating that the young man has died and " Mistress Brown your Son is Dead. " This is a bone chillingly great song.

Jimmy Cliff is an example of a great performer getting lost, hiding in plain sight. Inevitably he has had a good career, his fans have known about him, but how can such talent not be known in a mainstream way. Somethings are hard to comprehend.

Listen to Jimmy Cliff. It will make your day .

Battle Born by The Killers

Brandon Flowers of The Killers is a seventies front man in a 2012 band. Nothing Flowers does is small. His voice is Big. Often times people say that his lyrics and style is like an overamped Springsteen but I think that the more you listen to Flowers you can here a plethora of influences. Freddie Mercury, John Waite and Meatloaf all have lent themselves to some of the songs Brandon Flowers sings.

The Killers are from Las Vegas and maybe that in itself tells you all that you need to know about them. They are the quintessential rock and roll band you would expect from Vegas. Bombastic, loud, overdone, and brilliant.

This album has been number one on my hit parade this week. Each time I listen to it I hear another feeling, sound, instrumentation, note, that takes me back to the eighties. It is as if Flowers did not grow up in the eighties so much as breathe them into his cells.

The album is strong all the way through. Runaways is straight ahead rock and roll, the first single and should be enough to get the album some attention. It is also as strong a track as it is not close to being the best song on the album.

Here With Me is a monstrously good song. One can hear Guns and Roses November Rain, Meatloaf and others but perhaps what we should start saying is we can hear Flowers. The line " Don't want your picture in my cell phone, I want you hear with me." If radio still played rock and roll this song would be a huge hit. In my teenage years this song would have been one of the biggest songs of the year, MTV would have had some super over the top video in heavy rotation and girls would have swooned. In today's music scene this might not even be a single.

The Way It Was when I listened to the first few bars, before Flowers voice comes in and I thought I was listening to " We Built This City" era Jefferson Starship. Another strong song.

A Matter of Time goes back much more to The Killers first album, it would fit on Hot Fuss easily. Flowers is actually a very strong lyricist.

Deadlines and Commitments has a chorus which saves it from being an otherwise mundane song. Flowers rings out " If you should fall, upon hard times, if you should lose your way, there is a place here in this house, that you can stay." There is something to be said for having a place we can count on.

Miss Atomic Bomb is another flash of lyrical lightning, with "racing shadows in the moonlight, in the desert on the hot night," Mr. Flowers better make sure he sends the royalty check to the right address for Mr. Springsteen. Still a strong song.

Heart of a Girl again does Springsteen, perhaps better than he has in the last ten years, with lots of " she said and I said" the only thing that makes this more Killers than knock off is the background music of being much more modern and much less sparing than a Springsteen version would be.

Be Still is a typical power ballad. This song is the one in which Flowers uses what sets him apart. His voice rings, almost a capella in parts, " Don't break character, you've got a lot of heart, " with a great note on lot....this song may not be radio friendly but one can imagine a lot of sad young people, those who cannot wait to get out of their all enclosing hometowns, who cannot wait to start their lives, listening to this song and feeling inspired.

This is a, pardon the pun, killer album. Look up all your adjectives for overdone, over the top, bombastic, if not name dropping then sound and riff dropping from classic bands, and you will find a picture of The Killers. On this album it all works. Tremendously.

If I Was a Priest by Bruce Springsteen

A couple of weeks ago a Springsteen fan site tweeted out an old recording of this unreleased song. Interestingly I had just a week or so earlier read somewhere about Springsteen's original audition and the record company executive being stunned by the lyrics that Springsteen sang.

This song was the song that stunned the record man. Still the song never found it's way to an album. I guess even in 1973 Bruce had more material than he needed.

The lyrics in question? " If Jesus was the Sheriff and I was the priest, if my lady was an heiress and my mother was a thief." Certainly this was an indication of many of the songs to come, the characters like Blind Terry and the Rat that we would soon be meeting.

It was true in 1972 when he appeared, he was the next Dylan, and in 1974 when Jon Landau called him the future of rock and roll he was not wrong. He was more right than he could have ever imagined.

Find this song online. It is a masterpiece.

Americana by Neil Young

As most everyone knows Neil Young is on my list of great things. I believe Neil Young might be one of the best songwriters of his generation and his longevity is a testament to his ability to adapt and being willing to explore different musical styles.

Thanks to the good folks at Rolling Stone Magazine I was able today to listen to Young's new album Americana which will be released next month.

This album in which Young comes together with all the members of his famed Crazy Horse band is a theme album in which Young and his bandmates take a run at various songs from the American songbook. These are not the Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney standards albums we have recently seen but more from the traditional songs from pioneer days.

The first song released from the album has been Neil's take on Oh Susannah. Yes the same Oh Susannah that we all sang when we were kids. With Young and the bandmates it becomes a singalong for the rock era. When Young says he comes from Alabama with his b-a-n-j-o on his knee you cannot help but tap your foot and sing along. My kids with the exception of my oldest son have no affinity for Young but my daughter has complained that the song has stuck in her head as well.

As with all things Crazy Horse one has to decide just how much guitar jamming and soloing is too much but perhaps oddly these work well with most of the songs.

Another winning entry from the album is the song Travel On. The steady beat performed by Crazy Horse makes this another earwig that you cannot get rid of.

Not all the songs work, in fact much of the first side of the album is weak but this is made up easily by listening to the last half. After Travel On Young continues his fascination with birds by singing High Flying Bird as a blues song that could easily fit on his Everyone Knows This is Nowhere Album from forty years ago. Forty years ago, can you believe it?

Another splendid effort is Young's version of " She'll be Coming Around the Mountain" here titled Jesus Chariot. With a nasty electric back-beat and a strong backing vocal from members of the Horse this is not the version you sang when you were kids. It is strong with the mix of old, electric and a touch of Irish dirge. However it is the song works for me.

Young slows things down for his take on Wayfarin' Stranger performing the song in an electric Dylan way that again compliments the original.

It seems that all of the classic rock singers want to perform the Woody Guthrie classic This Land is Your Land. In recent years Springsteen and for example a great version by The Counting Crows have added to the long list of recordings. Young's version here while not the best song on the album certainly deserves to be held up as one of the better versions. I am just not sure if we need too much guitar solo on this song. Still the sing along section with the Horse and Neil's friends make this one a keeper.

The album ends as perhaps only it could with a rocking version of God Save the Queen. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen remember, singing God Save the Queen might be something you thought you never would here. Surprisingly it fits and with a single drum pounding the length of the song with a chorus helping Young makes you believe he would love to bow for the Queen.

All in all this is not a great album. While fun it is not a necessary album and proves little of what Young will be remembered for. Still some of the songs on this album are quite remember-able, certainly songs that stick in your head and Young should be commended for being willing to still take chances.

Surely this is better than 90 percent of the things you will hear this year. And of course we will never hear someone accusing Young of just knocking off another album off the assembly line. That in itself makes this album worth your time.

Springsteen by Eric Church

I read an interview with Eric Church recently in Rolling Stone or perhaps another magazine. He was, to put it nicely, not overly politic in his words, certainly did not display a great deal of intelligence, compassion for others, or thoughts about anything beyond drinking and partying.

In short your typical version of the non Bono rock star. In his case perhaps a little worse than the norm on the redneck scale.

Still no matter my opinion of him one thing Eric Church has done has crafted a great song. For those who grew up in the mid eighties, and frankly for many who first discovered Bruce with The Born in The USA album, this song will bring about a welcome feeling of nostalgia. With references to I'm on Fire, Born in the USA and Glory Days amongst others the wording is clever.

With a one word chorus " Springsteen" designed to be the summation of the memories of that time, even a short woow, woow, chorus Church hits all the right notes.

Much like Kid Rock's tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd All Summer Long this song will be a keeper for Springsteen fans. Interestingly it will add to the list of songs that become a memory for one generation as it pays tribute to those from another.

A very hard song not to like.

Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen

A new album by Bruce Springsteen is an event still in parts of the country. Certainly it is in my house. With the release of Wrecking Ball and a world tour pending I look forward to perhaps seeing him on the second leg of his American tour this fall.

The album has opened to mixed reviews. Some of the mainstream publications have called it uneven and dark while Rolling Stone, which might not be as objective as they should gave the recording five stars. Five stars is hard to get. Born in the USA got five stars so does that mean that this Wrecking Ball album is comparable to that album.

It is hard for me as a middle aged man to ever have the same passion for a new recording that was felt 25 years ago but this is a strong, a very strong record.

This album is an angry record. One criticism given and one that has some legitimacy is that the album appears to be a catch all for a few different recordings left over from various time frames. This point has some merit. Wrecking Ball is a strong song that was originally written for the closing of The Meadowlands. It as well as Land of Hope and Dreams, another concert staple for years, have been reworked a bit and placed on this album.

We Take Care of Our Own opens the album and is the first single. The song speaks with a snarl as a response to the anti help politics of the right. Rocky Ground is another song that shows that Springsteen is never shy about new ideas. This song features a rap beat in the middle.

For me the songs that strike the most are the songs that enter the album directly after the title cut. Easy Money and Shackled and Drawn are very good songs but the highlights of the album are the quietly angry Jack of All Trades in which Springsteen mourns what a man must do toe survive. Lastly and strongest is the fierce Death To My Hometown. Seen as a continuation of My Hometown and backed with an Irish beat this song is Springsteen at his best. Speaking of how without a war or a battle sound the corporate interests have killed his hometown. This song must resonate strongly through the Industrial Midwest.

In his early sixties Springsteen shows no signs of slowing down. He still has alot to say. We look forward to listening.

John Prine

John Prine has been making music for a long time. I have heard his name around the fringes of my music knowledge for many years. Usually indicated as an influence of other artists I had never really explored his music.

Christmas in Prison is a song I have heard a couple times at Christmas when a Deejay tired of playing the standard accepted Rock Christmas Songs but that was my only experience.

Until today. Hearing a song called Paradise on Outlaw Country this morning I was struck by what a fine song it was. I love old school country, I like lyrics that tell a story. One cannot listen to Prine and not hear Springsteen and Gram Parsons and scores of other artists that truly have been influenced by John Prine.

Spotify makes it easy to explore new artists or older artists you never gave enough attention to. Tonight I have listened to about a half hour of Prine's music on random on Spotify. Hearing Souveniers, Jesus the Missing Years, In Spite of Oursevles I feel like I have just found a diamond in a spot that I passed every day for years.

Life is busy. I read, write, watch old movies and of course listen to music. New idea for the day, find time to listen to as much of John Prine's catalog as I can. He is amazing.

Bruce Springsteen on Jimmy Fallon

Last Friday night Jimmy Fallon finished Bruce Springsteen week with a bang with Springsteen as his only guest. It was a very entertaining show. Fallon, perhaps better than anyone else, has the ability to " be us " in the interview, sometimes showing excitement that seems a bit unprofessional. For him though it works, we appreciate his excitement.

Springsteen sat for an interview and was very personable. Telling a very funny story about a visit, or attempted visit to Disneyland in 1982 with Steven Van Zandt that did not work out as planned but was very funny now, thirty years later.

On the cold open Springsteen and Fallon did one of his famous singing skits with Springsteen as himself circa early eighties and Fallon as, of course, Neil Young. Playing an extremely slowed down version of LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It. One has to be pretty comfortable to poke fun at oneself so easily.

Later in the show it was music time. With Tom Morello on guitar, Tom seems to be an unofficial member of the band these days, Bruce played Death to My Hometown and Jack of All Trades from the new album and ended the show with a version of The E Street Shuffle that included The Roots and even Jimmy playing in the band. The show ended with the audience on stage while a seemingly impossible number of people, Springsteen's band and ensemble as well as The Roots gathered on the band stage.

In today's late night environment only Jimmy Fallon could pull this off. He brings a level of excitement and enthusiasm that allows for the spontaneity that you cannot find on other shows.

An example of how good late night television can be.

Darkness on the Edge of Town by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is traditionally my favorite recording artist. His songs are authentic and never lose significance.

When faced with the question of what my favorite Springsteen album is the answer is much dependent on the day of the week. Born to Run is strong, The River is deep, Nebraska is majestic, but Darkness is, by my odds, the strongest of the lot.

Darkness was the album recorded after Born to Run, Springsteen had fought with his record company and had waited longer than he wanted to get back in the studio. The album is anthemic and slightly dark.

A Springsteen show often becomes a singalong. These songs often make up a big part of his concerts.

The album starts with BADLANDS. This song is one of the big ones at any concert Springsteen delivers. My children from a very young age have known about the chorus and sing alongs, and fast knew the phrase " Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king". One of Springsteens all time favorites.

Adam Raised a Cain is a strong semi scream anthem that is my least favorite songs on the album but still stronger than most.

Something in the Night is the first of the the songs that became lighter in the sky songs.

Candy's Room is underrated. A great rocker, with a great intro. Years ago when seeing Bruce at The Fleet Center he opened the show with this song. A great sing along song. Great in concert, a fist thumper and a fast talking singalong.

Another of the all time Springsteen epics Racing in the Street is one of those that we all know. An extended song telling the tale of those who come home from work and wash up and go Racing in the Street. An epic song. An enormous moment in concert.


Just writing about this album reinforces my opinion about how great a collection this is. Prove It All Night and Promised Land are again two of the most popular concert songs. These songs cannot be turned down when found on the radio.

The Factory is one of the smallest songs on the album but it's concise message of honor of the working man predicated much of Springsteen's later joining and support of the working movement.

Streets of Fire is similar to Adam Raised a Cain as Springsteen howls and screams his way and shows us the way.

The last song on the album might be, and on somedays surely is, my favorite Bruce song, is Darkness on the Edge of Town. The title cut is simply a perfect song. Springsteen snarls, he moans and as we sing along with him we feel what he feels and see what he sees.

This is the best Springsteen album. That makes it one of the greatest albums of the rock era.

Lillyhammer

When word broke that Netflix was going to start airing original programming one wondered what they had in mind. The first show I had heard about was the pending Kevin Spacey drama House of Cards.

That is something to look forward to as Spacey rarely swings and misses, but first out of the box is the show Lillyhammer starring Steven Van Zandt, otherwise known as Little Steven in his day job as Bruce Springsteen's guitar player.

Van Zandt who of course earlier played Silvio in The Sopranos does not have to go too far out of his range for this series. Playing former gangster Frank " The Fixer" Tagliano who has turned state's evidence and enters witness protection. The strange thing however is that he chooses to be placed in Lillyhammer, as in Norway. When asked why he admits he loved the Olympics.

With all eight episodes instantly available for streaming it will not take long to watch them and as people become more and more used to watching shows when they, not network programmers, choose it becomes even more clear where the future of programming is.

Frank is given a new name, Giovanni Henrickson, and a backstory claiming his father had been Norweigan. He quickly becomes busy. In the first two episodes he: meets an attractive woman on a train, teaches a rowdy youth how to be respectful to his elders on the same, goes to his new home and is surprised at how poorly set up he is, meets his neighbor who happens to be the Sheriff ( a woman in a Fargo imitation), finds a lost sheep as he is out driving his electric car, returns the sheep to it's home which happens to be the home of the woman he met on the train who, yes , happens to be single, enters into an immigration program, crosses swords with the agent in charge of his case, goes out hunting ( illegally ) for a wolf that had killed the sheep that he had earlier saved thus making son of new woman friend sad, killed wolf and spent the night in his new companions friends camp. While at camp he uncovers incriminating pictures of the agent in charge of his case and when presented to him the agent asks if this is blackmail. Johnny's answer is " Definetly. This does not even cover half of what happens in the first two episodes.

This is a great show. Is Van Zandt a great actor. No. However he suits this role, it is comfortable on him and the writing is sharp. With subtitles for the Norweigan you cannot multitask and so become more immersed in the show.

We look forward to the next six episodes and will I am sure be sad to see them end.

A Different Kind of Truth by Van Halen

Van Halen is one of those landmark bands. Divided into the David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar era's. With a bit of a soap opera slant over the last twenty years with Eddie's divorce, Eddie losing his teeth, Eddie's alcoholism, the infamous Gary Cherrone period, the Sammy fueds, firing Micheal Anthony to place Wolfgang in the band, Van Halen has been known for about anything but music.

While it is true that the six albums Van Halen released through 1984 did not have a great deal of range it is also true that these albums had some fantastic songs, even if they all could have appeared on one longplay album and saved us all much time.

Still when reviewung my high school years the songs of Van Halen are front and center. Deservedly so.

The release of A Diffent Kind of Truth was a bit of a surprise. Rumors have been the diet of the Van Halen crowd for years so when this album appeared just a month after the announcemtn of it we all felt a bit surprised.

After listening to the album however we have a differnt feeling. It is not deja vu. It is boredom. Now I think a fair question to ask is does the music miss the mark by that much or do I. I am not a teenager anymore. A 45 year old man cannot review music in the same way as a teenager can. I find the same thing with new Jayhawks, and new Bruce that I do with new Van Halen. Music cannot have the same impact when your 45 as does music that you have heard for the last thirty years and has become part of your DNA.

This album is just not that good. I wish it was. What I do not know is could anything grab me like Van Halen I and II. The first single Tattoo is solid. When we are told it contains remenants of riffs from the seventies we are not surprised. On the song Big River I hear some shredding from Eddie that certainly sounds familiar. Maybe it is hearing David Lee make references to Facebook, it just does not click. All I know is if I never hear this album or any songs on it again in my life I will not care. I will however be listening to And The Cradle Will Rock when I am sixty however.

We Take Care of Our Own by Bruce Springsteen

Christmas has come and gone. It is cold outside and in this drafty house none too warm inside. It feels like it will never be warm again. It is hard to be positive and look to better, warmer days.

Fortunately we now have a precursor of good things to come. Today we hear the first single from the soon to be released, on March 6th, Bruce Springsteen album. My wife and I have already been discussing if we think he will get close enough for us to see him and what venue he might play. We saw him three years ago at The Comcast Center in Foxboro and although our seats were not as close as we might have wished one can never really complain about a Springsteen show.

On this first single Springsteen sounds like, well Springsteen. For all the talk of his working with a new producer, a Pearl Jam drummer and other new influences this song does not stray too far from what one expects. I listened to it twice on first lesson and the song has a strong intro and Bruce is serious, almost drawing a line in the sand, stating that We Take Care of Our Own.

Of course his argument could be the contrast between the songs title and what is happening in many places in the country. If this is another socially concious album then this first single does nothing to dissipate that rumor.

New Bruce can never live up to old Bruce. It is just impossible for him to get to the level of intensity he had years ago and his core fans will never like new music like the songs that are in their DNA from the last 30 to 40 years. Still it is a holiday when Bruce gives us anything new and this song, this album, and this tour gives us lots to look forward to on a cold winter's night.

It's Been a Long Time Coming by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

Southside Johnny has been making music for as long as Bruce Springsteen. Never making the dent commercially that he might have liked he has always been a fine musician.

This song with an assist from both Springsteen and Little Steven is as good a song as you would find on a Springsteen album.

The connection between the singers, the lyrics tell a tale of loss and celebration of surviving. Certainly one we all could imagine being on in the background as we gather with old friends and remember lost friends this Holiday season.

It has indeed been a long time coming.

August and Everything After - Live at Town Hall by The Counting Crows

Adam Duritz and The Counting Crows have turned their first album into a cottage industry. The album which launched them is a wonderful album, one they admittedly never come close to matching in depth and meaning. A couple of years ago they rereleased album with many additional songs from the sessions that did not make the original. These songs too were very good, and strong but the Crows music is often polarizing. Not alot of people who are in between on their music.

I am surely in the Counting Crows camp as I love the music. Yesterday Amazon informed that they have now released a live performance of their original album performed recently. Of course Springsteen started this area with his performances of some of his classic albums on his most recent tour.

I have several live Crows albums and Duritz shines in these moments. So with a sense of what new can they offer in another live album of this material I listened. In short it is a great album. No there is no revalation. There is nothing new. The band clearly loves this material, Duritz was in great form offering many great stories and lead ins to songs. The intro to Sullivan Street is funny but the gem of the album is the extended Rain King with a full version of a funky Thunder Road in the middle. I have heard this before but did not have a recording of it. Round Here, Mr. Jones and Murder of One are highlights as expected with Murder of One with a few brief lines of U2's Red Hill Mining Town.

A great album, one wanting to know what the Counting Crows and their diehard fans connect on would be well to start here.

The Promise by Bruce Springsteen

I have spent a good portion of this week listening to the new collection of songs from Bruce Springsteen. These songs are among those that were recorded in that period of time between the release of Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. This along with The River, to me make up the triple play of Springsteen's best work. For the record Nebraska might be his best stand alone album.

Being that this was an incredibly fruitful period of time for him it should be no surprise that there is ample music that can be released from that period of time and make one wonder why it was not released then.

This album includes Breakaway, One Way Street, Spanish Eyes and City of Night but they all are Springsteen songs and Bruce rarely has a clunker.

Most Springsteen fans have The Promise from one bootleg or another but here is an an authorized release of the single as well as Springsteen studio versions of Fire and Because the Night ( songs Springsteen gave to others) which only appeared previously on live collections.

A great set, a very good album

Bruce Springsteen/ The River

This Sunday morning I listened to this album. It is a treasure. All Springsteen is good but the for me from Born to Run through Nebraska was the high period. This double album was a number 1 album in 1980.

The River, the title song, is a classic. Hearing the opening chords of the harmonica in concert is a mesmerizing experience.

Point Blank and Drive All Night are two songs by Springsteen that are both haunting but unforgettable.

Hungry Heart, Fade Away, Cadillac Ranch, The Ties that Bind, Independence Day, Sherry Darling all these songs are songs we know and love.

No one is greater than Springsteen. This album is one of the reasons why.

The Ghost of Tom Joad

A few months ago we watched the Grapes of Wrath, a 1940 movie. It was well done. I read the book back in high school and more recently in the last year. It ages well or i have. I have read recently that the book upon publication was a banned book. During the depression the book was concerning to many of those in power. The book certainly did nothing to instill confidence in those that were downtrodden that their government would do anything to help them.

In 1995 Bruce Springsteen wrote a song called The Ghost of Tom Joad. This was a quiet song told during the Bush I & early Clinton years and it was not a pretty picture. A few years later a metal band called Rage Against the Machine covered the song in a much different way.

All of these stories of Tom Joad trace back to the wonderful book that I hope high schools are still making their students read. I want my children to read this.

In the meantime I will sit my boys down and let them watch Tom Morello ( of Rage Against the Machine) join Bruce onstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert on HBO. These two tore this song up. And if after hearing the song the boys ask " Who is Tom Joad?" I have just the book for them to read.

Springsteen on XM Radio

I have been listening to this channel for quite sometime on the XM/Sirius radio and for a Springsteen fan it can offer the occasional tidbit that you have not heard, or not heard in so long it is like a new experience. Late last night as the insomnia kicked in we heard The Promise and then a version of Johnny Bye Bye from a long ago concert. Bruce gave an into where he talked about Elvis and how he had seen him six months before he died in Philly and in Bruce's words the death of the King was not a surprise to him. It was quite a statement and an incredibly personal version of Johnny Bye-Bye followed.

We saw Bruce at Great Woods last August. It was an incredible night, an incredible show. With Bruce at least for me it never gets old. We took our oldest son who is 14 to the show. It was a night to remember. Not the first time I have said this and it will not be the last. Thanks Bruce.