According to unconfirmed fan reports, Bruce Springsteen may be prepping a surprise soul covers collection for release before the end of the year. The “Boss”-centric None But The Brave podcast tweeted: “As we mentioned on the last episode about rumblings of a new Springsteen release, those rumblings have gotten much louder and we expect Bruce to release a soul covers record this fall. A small number of shows to promote it are also expected. Count us as intrigued.”
Springsteen's one and only other covers collection was 2006's We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The set peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and snagged the Grammy Award for that year's Best Traditional Folk Album.
During his 2012 keynote address at Austin's South By Southwest music festival, Bruce Springsteen spoke about the lessons he learned from '60s soul music: “It was a music of gritty determination. Of the blues, of the church, of the Earth, and of the sex-soaked heavens. It was music of sweaty perspiration and drenched demands for pleasure and respect. It was adult music. It was sung by soul men and women — not teen idols.”