“THE BOSS” & THE PRESIDENT
Bruce Springsteen and President Barack Obama appeared on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday (October 24th) to promote their first joint book, Renegades: Born In The USA, which will be published on October 26th, and based around the pairs recent podcast.
While chatting on Springsteen's Rumson, New Jersey farm, “The Boss” spoke candidly about how his music presented the American experience through his father's story: “The more I look back on it, that's the conclusion I come to. In a sense, I was trying to be him. Y'know, I tried to create a physical self I thought he would approve of, have the success that I thought he would approve of. But I also felt a certain sort of. . . that I was an instrument of revenge for the disappointments that my father had in his life. And so, I started to intensely tell these working class stories were filled with both hope and compassion — but a lot of anger, also. And I think Barack had a very similar — I mean, why did you become President? Who were you trying to impress (laughs), y'know?”
President Obama spoke about how Springsteen's message is based around how we recognize and find a place within the American experience: “(Barack Obama): That power of storytelling is, y'know, at its best, is what good politics does as well, right? It says, 'Here's who we are, here's a common story we share.' There's a certain sense of ministry to Bruce's music. And his body of work is around these issues of, y'know, 'who are we?' (Bruce Springsteen): That's the question. (Barack Obama): . . . And 'what's important?'”
“PHANTOM'S” LAST RIDE
Bruce Springsteen has tapped the E Street Band's March 20th, 2008 concert at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse as his latest archival release. The concert is Springsteen's fifth pick from the band's 2007/2008 tour behind his Magic collection. The show is an emotional one, featuring late-keyboardist Danny Federici's final performances with the band, having returned after leaving the tour to deal with the melanoma that eventually took his life just over a month after the Indianapolis show.
The Indianapolis 2008 concert features Federici taking over from his replacement Charlie Giordano for eight songs — “The Promised Land,” “Spirit In The Night,” “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” “Backstreets,” “Kitty's Back,” “Born To Run,” “Dancing In The Dark” and “American Land.”
Clarence Clemons, who stood in front of Federici night after night after night, explained shortly before his own 2011 death, how tied together his and Federici's lives were: “Danny was like my son. Danny did everything first, including dying. The first time I had any kind of drug. . . relationship was with Danny, and the first time I did anything that's crazy, I did it with Danny. We had a little thing going that we used to do in between songs. I miss him so much. But, man, when Danny was there it was. . . it was something different, y'know? It was something different.”
The tracklisting to 'Indianapolis 2008' is: Introduction, “Night,” “Radio Nowhere,” “Lonesome Day,” “Prove It All Night,” “Gypsy Biker,” “Magic,” “Reason To Believe,” “Rendezvous,” “Because The Night,” “She's The One,” “Livin' In The Future,” “The Promised Land,” “Spirit In The Night,” “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” “Devil's Arcade,” “The Rising,” “Last To Die,” “Long Walk Home,” “Badlands,” “Backstreets,” “Kitty's Back,” Born To Run,” “Dancing In The Dark,” and “American Land”