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January 11, 2026 This year marks what would have been the 84th birthday of our beloved Clarence "Big Man" Clemons , born on this date back in 1942. (Happy Clarence Clemons Day 2026, New Jersey!) And just over two-and-a-half months from now, 2026 also will mark the 25th anniversary of the first officially released recordings of two of Bruce Springsteen's greatest songs: "American Skin (41 Shots)" and "Land of Hope and Dreams," both included on the album Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live in New York City , officially released on March 27, 2001. (The HBO television-special version of Live in New York City premiered on April 7, 2001 and received its expanded-DVD release in November of that year.) Clarence delivered crucial performances - two of his all-time greatest performances, actually - on both of those songs, which stood out and have stood the test of time among the handful of new songs performed by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band on their 1999-2000 "Reunion" tour. His is the first voice heard singing "41 shots..." at the beginning of "American Skin," and his mournful sax solo closes the song, fully articulating all of the pain and loss without any additional words needed. On the other hand, in "Land of Hope and Dreams," his sax solo soars and lifts the song to new heights of glory, conveying just as much joy and hope as those "bells of freedom ringing" that Bruce was singing about just before Big Man began blowing his horn. How importantly linked was Clarence Clemons to "Land of Hope and Dreams?" On the studio version of the song, recorded for Wrecking Ball after Clemons' passing, it's still the Big Man playing that sax solo (via a beautifully brilliant move by producer Ron Aniello, using archival audio of Clarence on sax from another live recording of the song.) And even at Clemons' deathbed, Springsteen lovingly sang a solo-acoustic version of the song to his bandmate and friend just before Clemons passed. These two songs also serve as flip-sides of an essential message that Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band have consistently displayed, embodied especially well within the onstage relationship between "Scooter" and "the Big Man." As Bruce himself put it in the part of his eulogy for Clarence included in Wrecking Ball 's liner notes, "It was a story where Scooter and the Big Man not only busted the city in half, but we kicked ass and remade the city, shaping it into the kind of place where our friendship would not be such an anomaly." Taken together, "Land of Hope and Dreams" gives us an immensely inspiring vision of what our lives, our communities, our nation, and our world could become, while "American Skin (41 Shots)" reminds us all too well of just how far away from achieving that vision we still are. A quarter-century after their first officially released recordings, "Land of Hope and Dreams" and "American Skin (41 Shots)" remain as relevant as ever, if not more so, given our current state of affairs. Just last year, "Land of Hope and Dreams" even provided the name for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's most recent tour, in which they regularly took some of their greatest and most important political stands ever. Clearly, Bruce also was correct when he stated in Clarence's eulogy, "...I'll miss my friend, his sax, and the force of nature that was his sound. But his love and his story - the story that he gave to me, that he whispered in my ear, and that he gave to you - is going to carry on."

image courtesy of Save Tillie January 5, 2026 In this, his final month in office, outgoing New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy - a self-proclaimed Springsteen fan - has a relatively easy-peasy, no-brainer chance to save what's left of Asbury Park's demolished-in-2004 Palace Amusements building ("the Palace" in the "Beyond the Palace..." lyric of "Born to Run,") including its iconic Tillie mural, pictured below. By all means, this should be one of Murphy's new-year resolutions. image courtesy of Save Tillie image courtesy of Save Tillie Last September, Preservation New Jersey 's Executive Director, Kelly C. Ruffel, wrote an open letter to Gov. Murphy to "respectfully urge your administration — through the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) — to take immediate steps to enforce the historic preservation conditions attached to the 2004 CAFRA [Coastal Area Facility Review Act] permit issued for the demolition of the Palace Amusements Building in Asbury Park. "As detailed in a recent letter submitted by Save Tillie to [DEP] Commissioner LaTourette ," Ruffel continued, "the DEP made preservation of significant artifacts — including the iconic Tillie mural, metal channel lettering, and several original Palace Amusements features — a specific and binding condition of demolition approval. More than twenty years later, those cultural assets remain hidden away in storage, deteriorating and inaccessible to the public. "These artifacts are not simply remnants of a building — they are emblems of Asbury Park’s rich entertainment history and New Jersey’s broader cultural legacy. Palace Amusements holds a unique place in the hearts of New Jerseyans and has been featured in numerous films, TV shows, and music. It has become an enduring symbol of the Jersey Shore — most famously associated with Bruce Springsteen, who used the Tillie image throughout his career and helped bring national attention to its cultural significance... "Despite the clear preservation mandate in the 2004 permit, no development has taken place on the site, and no progress has been made toward integrating or displaying the artifacts as required. This prolonged inaction — now spanning over two decades — has resulted in avoidable degradation, including paint loss, rust, and other structural damage, as confirmed by conservation experts. "We respectfully request your support in directing the DEP to take immediate and appropriate steps to enforce the CAFRA permit conditions. These should include: A professional inspection of the artifacts by a qualified conservator; A public update on the condition and location of the artifacts; and A specific and time-bound plan for their preservation and public display. These artifacts deserve better than indefinite storage and slow decay. Enforcing the preservation requirements will not only uphold the law — it will demonstrate the state’s commitment to protecting its cultural identity and honoring its past." In a separate open letter, Asbury Park’s representatives in the state legislature - Senator Vin Gopal, Assemblywoman Margie Donlon, and Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul - warned Murphy that without his direct involvement, there is a threat that the artifacts “will be lost forever.” They urged Murphy to take “whatever action is necessary” to avoid that result, and "to ensure the Palace Amusements Artifacts are preserved and the city's history is protected." To date, however, neither Murphy nor anyone else in his administration has done anything significant in response to these urgent requests for action. So far, the only thing that Murphy has done is refer all inquiries to New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP.) The DEP's spokesperson, Vincent Grassi, actually had the audacity to claim recently to The Star-Ledger that the last time the DEP even checked on Tillie and the other Palace artifacts was seven years ago, back in 2018, and, despite the 2016 independent inspection that revealed degradation, paint loss, rust, structural damage, etc., “observed the mural and artifacts in satisfactory condition.” Grassi added that DEP officials are "working with the developers to ensure compliance." He claimed that they contacted the developers last July and requested an update last month “on the status of the artifacts and efforts to fulfill the permit requirements.” Reading-between-the-lines translation: After more than twenty years of damaging neglect, the developers continue to essentially ignore the preservation requirements, doing and saying nothing significant in that regard, and neither Governor Murphy nor anyone in his administration seem upset - or even concerned - about that. We at Letters To You feel that this response - or, more accurately, non -response - by the outgoing Murphy administration is not "satisfactory" at all. If you agree and you feel inclined to reach out to our fellow self-described Springsteen fan about it, especially if you are a New Jersey resident, please click this link to email and/or text Governor Murphy. ---------- And here are links to further essential reading on this important, pressing matter: "Gov. Murphy urged to save Asbury Park’s iconic Tillie" by Sophie Nieto-Munoz for New Jersey Monitor "Iconic Jersey Shore mural has been hidden for 21 years. Fans are begging N.J. gov to save it." by Rob Jennings for The Star-Ledger "Saving Tillie: The Fight to Preserve an Asbury Park Icon" by Carlee Migliorisi for Preservation New Jersey (Note: Migliorisi is the Monmouth University student whose scholarly work played a major role in Bruce Springsteen publicly confirming the significant influence that Peter Pan played in the compostion of "Born to Run" at last September's Springsteen Archives/Monmouth University " Born to Run @50" symposium. Click here and here for details.)

December 31, 2025 Happy New Year to one and all, Dear Readers! In 2025, we Springsteen fans certainly ended up with quite a lot to experience, enjoy (at least most of the time,) and discuss. Once again, continuing what quickly has become a year-end tradition, Letters To You has joined forces with our friend Jesse Jackson at the Set Lusting Bruce podcast to discuss the "Springsteen 2025 Year in Review." Clocking in at almost three hours - and that's AFTER the editing! - Jesse hosted a conversation with Letters To You contributors Caroline Madden , Joyce Millman , and editor/publisher Shawn Poole that was recorded on December 22nd. We dove deep into the ups and downs of what ended up being another very significant year in Springsteen's career. You can click below to hear our edited conversation via YouTube: You also can click here to access other streaming/listening options. Having marked its tenth anniversary this year and still going strong, Set Lusting Bruce is the internet's oldest continually-running Springsteen-themed podcast. You can click here to learn more about it and you can click here to become one of Set Lusting Bruce 's Patreon supporters . We at Letters To You are honored to continue our partnership with Jesse Jackson and his Set Lusting Bruce podcast in our annual year-in-review discussion. Again, Happy New Year to all. If you listen to the just-released-last-week 50th-anniversary edition of Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975 , recorded fifty years ago tonight down the road a bit from "Letters To You Central," during "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" you'll hear Bruce's first-ever onstage, jokey reference to those now-famous dual- Time -and- Newsweek -covers: "Wait a minute, Rosie!," exults Springsteen, "Tell him [your Papa] I ain't no freak, 'cause I got my picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek !" Of course, a lot has happened since that major-breakthrough year of 1975, and not all of it good, either. Nevertheless, Bruce and many of his key collaborators are still here making music, and we're still here listening to it, continuing to derive from it all that is good. Our dearly departed loved ones are still here with us in spirit, too. We look forward to moving towards whatever 2026 might have in store for us... together, like spirits in the night. See ya next year!

December 25, 2025 "...even stoplights blink a bright red and green..." - the legendary Tower Theater - or what's left of it, since its iconic tower had to be removed for safety reasons years ago - on Christmas Eve 2025 - photo by Shawn Poole It's Christmas morning here on the East Coast of the U.S., which is probably the most appropriate time for us to wish all of our readers celebrating around the globe a Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, etc. Season's Greetings from the Letters To You home-office, located just a snowball's throw away from the town where the special Nugs/Live Archives series Christmastime 2025 50th-anniversary remaster/re-release of Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975 was recorded five decades ago this month, on The Born to Run Tour's New Year's Eve 1975 show. That town, however, isn't officially Philadelphia, PA but Upper Darby, PA, a smaller suburban town located just outside the city. So let's start our dive into our virtual Christmas stocking with these two photos taken early last night outside and around the currently shuttered Tower Theater, on the same Christmas Eve that brought us the new Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975  50th-anniversary remaster/re-release. Shoppers rush home with their treasures, past a mural located near the currently shuttered Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA on Christmas Eve 2025 - photo by Shawn Poole The new remaster/re-release sounds great, of course. Below you can listen to one major highlight of this legendary show, the only-at-the-Tower-in-'75 arrangement of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out:" And you can click here for more info on the new Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975  50th-anniversary remaster/re-release, including Columbia/Nugs archivist Erik Flannigan's essay on this recording - finally embedded right on the page without having to click anything else to access it - along with all necessary links for ordering/streaming. Speaking of the fiftieth anniversary of all things Born to Run this year, here's a fun Yuletide take on the album's iconic cover, featuring the return of our old pal "Boss-ty The Snowman," accompanied this time around by his plushy, sax-playing pal Rudy: Letters To You editor/publisher Shawn Poole first reported on and produced a video featuring "Boss-ty" for Backstreets.com back in December 2016. Check out the archived video below: In addition to Born to Run , another one of Springsteen's greatest classic albums - Nebraska - also got more than a bit of extra attention this year. Nebraska fans, check out the images of this rare document that we recently stumbled across during our visit to The Kris Kringle Archives and Center for Christmas Music at North Pole University: And speakin' of ol' Mr. Kringle, it's the perfect time of year to click here and re-read our contributor Greg Drew's fun, moving, and excellent archived essay "The EXPANDED Adventures of 'Santa Dave' and His 'Head Elf' (featuring 'that nice boy' from NJ.)" Since we first published it in 2023 and then expanded upon it last year, Greg's essay has become a bit of a holiday tradition in certain circles. We hope to continue and extend that growing tradition this year, and in the years to come. Please also click here to donate whatever you can to The Kristen Ann Carr Fund. Another annual holiday tradition that we're pleased to see return and continue is our beloved Christmas Queen Darlene Love's yearly late-night television performance of the classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home.)" If you haven't yet seen this year's version, or even if you have, you can click below to watch or re-watch it right now. Once again this year, Darlene was accompanied by Paul Shaffer, as well as Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul: Finally, Nils Lofgren's 2025 holiday release is a beautiful new song reminding us of another important cause to support: the life-saving work of animal-rescue organizations. Click below to watch Nils' loving, life-affirming, and - we can assure you - NOT depressing/disturbing music-video for "World Through Your Eyes." Also be sure to check out the listed links of various animal-rescue groups in the video's info/comments section: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, no matter how much fur or how many legs you have, and best wishes to all for a peaceful, hopeful, and happy 2026.

November 9, 2025 "...GHOSTLY VOICES..." - On " Nebraska Outtakes," "Electric Nebraska ," and the enduring greatness of the original album by Caroline Madden As any Bruce Springsteen diehard already knows, and as more casual fans have learned more recently from the film adaptation Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere , his 1982 album Nebraska was recorded entirely in his bedroom on a rather rudimentary TEAC 144 four-track cassette recorder, then mixed on an old Gibson Echoplex and mastered on a water-damaged Panasonic boombox. What were meant at first to be just solo demos, intended for re-recording with the E Street Band in the studio, became the album in its finished form. Springsteen came to prefer his lonely, hushed vocal performances on those demo recordings, wrapped in an echo that created an otherworldly sound, one that perfectly captured the cries of the lost souls he sings about on the album, trapped in a purgatory of violence, hopelessness, and poverty. More than a few folks, including - at least these days, apparently - Bruce Springsteen himself, consider Nebraska to be his crowning achievement. Springsteen archivist Erik Flannigan writes in the new Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition box-set's essay, "Springsteen isn't alone in considering the album his finest work." While I wouldn't go that far myself, I certainly can agree that after more than forty years, Nebraska clearly remains one of Bruce Springsteen's finest efforts. It also is an album that can easily pull you under and drown you in its bleakness. For myself, I have to already be in a very dark mood to engage with these songs. The Nebraska '82... box-set further documents and, yes, celebrates how Bruce Springsteen found his way to that dark space and followed his instincts to release ten of his cassette-recorded song demos, just as they were. The long-awaited box-set offers a candid look at Springsteen's creative process—a journey that was neither strictly linear nor conventional, and one that includes, of course, the fabled "Electric Nebraska " recordings. The first two discs present the roads not taken for Nebraska , some of which are iterations of songs that would later crystallize into the heartland rock grandeur of Born in the U.S.A. In fact, the first track we hear on Disc One (" Nebraska Outtakes") is the original cassette-demo-tape version of Born in the U.S.A. 's title track (the same version that first got released back in 1998 on TRACKS .) Here on the demo you won't hear any thunderous snare (or, for that matter, any drumming at all) from Max Weinberg, or any of the full-band fireworks of the released-in-1984 hit/album version that would later contribute to widespread confusion about its supposed fist-pumping affirmation of conservatism. On the demo, Springsteen inserts high-pitched wails that make the narrator's ten years burning down the road seem like torture, moaning like a ghost of his former self. The song will continue to take shape on Disc Two's "Electric Nebraska ," evoking more of a grungy hard rocker. While these versions capture the narrator’s genuine frustration more sonically, the genius of the official 1984 release of “Born in the U.S.A.” lies in its synth-heavy uplift, which ironically undercuts its flag-waving exuberance. But for now, back to Disc One (" Nebraska Outtakes,") which is a mix of outtakes from the TEAC-cassette demo sessions that took place in early 1982 at Springsteen's New Jersey home, and a solo-acoustic session professionally recorded at The Power Station in New York City later that year... “Pink Cadillac” is one of the most captivating departures from the full-band '84 B-side (later included on TRACKS ) and live versions over the years, transforming the familiar sexy romp into a David Lynch-esque fever dream, with Springsteen-as-obsessive stalker repeating “pink Cadillac” slowly and monotonously, as if in a trance. It shares a similar nervous energy with "On the Prowl," which features skittish, sneaky stops and starts that subvert conventional song structure. It builds to a high-pitched, unnerving repetition of the word “searching,” as if he were some sort of coyote. “On the Prowl” is quite unlike most of what we typically hear from Bruce. “The Losin’ Kind” is one of the outtakes that would most naturally fit on Nebraska , though clearly it came too close for comfort to the superior “Highway Patrolman.” The song tells another Bonnie-and-Clyde-style story of outlaw lovers, with lyrics that reinforce the album’s recurring themes of winners and losers. There’s a fragile melancholy in his vocal performance as the narrator balks at his own foolishness. The gently-strummed (and downright creepy) "Child Bride" feels like another lost opportunity for Nebraska and carries a similar mournful quality, even though some of the same lyrics ended up on the sprightly “Workin’ on the Highway.” The narrator's quiet, defeatist admission, “I swore I’d come and get her / But I know I ain’t ever going back,” is just as heartbreaking of a line as Bruce Springsteen's most tragic song releases. The soft glockenspiel captures the innocence of the eponymous child bride, who doesn’t yet understand the "meanness in this world"—a phrase that resonates far more powerfully on “Nebraska.” But it is “Gun in Every Home” that demands the most attention, speaking to political divisiveness and post-COVID mistrust that have deepened isolation within our communities. We are all guarded and on edge, afraid of our neighbors despite the idyllic façade of suburbia. The tenderly sung lyrics about a father wanting to shield his young child from “a world gone crazy now... a world that’s gone all wrong” fit alongside Nebraska ’s general misanthropy. Without the polished production by Toby Scott at the Power Station, the track would have rounded out the album nicely. On to Disc Two, the long-fabled "Electric Nebraska " material, for which many fans have been clamoring over decades. Does it live up to the hype? Your mileage may vary, depending on how compelling you find hearing Bruce experimenting and trying to sculpt his sound. The album presents full-band interpretations of the six songs from his bare-bones demo tape, alongside two tracks that would take the opposite route, swelling into their more anthemic, stadium-filling form when they finally appeared on Born in the U.S.A. . What frustrates me most about Electric Nebraska  is that the instrumentals are too generic, which sounds incongruent against the exceptionally macabre words. "Nebraska" sounds like something you'd slow dance to at a wedding, if you ignore the lyrics of cold-blooded murder and electric chairs. Most of the album’s instrumentals are plodding and flat. “Mansion on the Hill,” however, caresses the listener’s ear nicely with Danny Federici’s organ and Roy Bittan’s piano, infusing touches of the wistfulness later found in the country-style Live from New York City  performance. "Open All Night," “Reason to Believe,” and “Johnny 99” have a playful, bar-band infectiousness that belies their morbid lyrics; they’re a lot of "fun" to listen to, but that’s the last impression Bruce wanted audiences to take away from any of the songs on Nebraska . Had these versions been officially released, it would have been easy for listeners to miss how closely Bruce was peering into that psychological abyss. These versions on   "Electric Nebraska " make it understandable why the songs demand to be performed in the sparse, intimate style of his bedroom recordings. One of the strangest outliers is “Downbound Train,” with its frenetic pace and breathless vocal delivery that sounds as if the train itself is going off the rails. Bruce inserts a hypnotic hum in the middle of the song, a sound of the narrator spiraling downward on the runaway train, as if teetering on the edge of collapse. Will you listen to this version more than the glossier, more brooding   one on Born in the U.S.A. ? Probably not, but like most of "Electric Nebraska ," it’s still at least interesting to hear Bruce experimenting. One of "Electric Nebraska "'s biggest problems, however, is that you don’t hear Bruce singing as his characters on these recordings. The words are just words, not raw confessions of his tormented protagonists. There’s a subtle unease in his voice; you can tell Bruce senses that these songs aren’t quite working.   Finally, on the remaining discs of this five-disc box-set, we get to hear the ten-song Nebraska album presented in the solo-acoustic form in which it was first presented back in '82: as the 2025 remaster of the original '82 album, and as audio/video of an April 2025 near -solo-acoustic full-album performance of Nebraska , where Bruce was backed by only two other musicians. (See Shawn Poole's separate report below for further details on the April 2025 performance film/audio.) Both the 2025 remastering and the 2014 Album Collection, Vol. 1 remastering of Nebraska utilized Plangent Processes and are virtually indistinguishable in terms of quality, restoration, etc. The good news, of course, is that thanks especially to the Plangent technology, Nebraska in the 21st century continues to sound as great - technically speaking - as possible. (One weird aspect of the new box-set is that in the vinyl-LP edition, on both the 2025 full-album performance LP and the 2025 remaster LP, Side 1 now ends with "Highway Patrolman" instead of "State Trooper," which now starts off Side 2, followed by "Used Cars" and the rest of what constituted Side 2 on the original 1982 LP. Presumably this was done to ensure more consistent sound quality across the two LP sides, and the actual album sequence hasn't been altered, just where the break to flip the LP occurs. Nevertheless, it's probably at least a bit jarring to some older fans who still remember Side 1 ending with "State Trooper.") The now-consistent good sound makes it all the easier for listeners old and new to appreciate even further all that the Nebraska album has to offer. The album was not only created at a turning point in Bruce's personal life, but also showcases storytelling of exceptional detail, nearly unparalleled. His lyrics, so precise and visual, operate like a movie camera—projecting images that flicker through the mind’s eye. I can see the narrator’s mom bashfully twisting her ring in “Used Cars,” or the sticky fried chicken smudges as the driver searches the map for directions in “Open All Night.” Nebraska affirms Bruce Springsteen as one of the most cinematic songwriters of our time. Very rarely do other musicians achieve this specificity of language, and this sense of narrative and character texture. Even if you are not interested in Nebraska ’s grim content, you can appreciate how vividly Bruce paints his scenes. Nebraska also exemplifies just how well Bruce Springsteen captures sociopolitical anxieties through an album's general vibe and the struggles that the characters are going through. In 1982, it was painfully clear that the Nebraska characters were bludgeoned by the oppressive economic policies of the Reagan era, and as the strangulation of the poor, working-, and "middle-" classes has intensified, Nebraska  continues to feel painfully relevant in 2025. SNAP benefits are being slashed, leaving our most vulnerable populace hungry; artificial intelligence threatens to usurp the dignity and stability of job security; and the promise of the American Dream—owning a home and raising a family—has become impossible for most young people, crushed by student loan debt and wages that fail to keep pace with inflation. The meanness in this world, which feels more acute than ever, is enough to make you want to snap like Bruce’s characters. That’s why revisiting the Nebraska  box-set now feels particularly timely. For completists who want to hear every single thing Bruce has recorded, the Nebraska  box set is certainly another dream come true, and for the rest, it may give you a deeper appreciation of how this still-essential album came to be. ----- MAJESTIC NEBRASKA  - Forget "Electric you-know-what." Springsteen, with support from Campbell, Giordano, Zimny, et al., delivers a full-album Nebraska  performance for the ages. by Shawn Poole "Electric" shmelectric. For me, a longtime fan of the Nebraska album, Thom Zimny's film Nebraska: Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ is the true highlight of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition  box-set. Apparently Springsteen himself was just as enthusiastic about creating the full-album performance film as I am about the film after having seen it. "When the idea for the box-set came up," he stated in the official promo-video "trailer" for the box-set , "I said that's the one thing that I need to do: [re-]record the album from start to finish and then shoot it, let Thom Zimny shoot it as a film." Unfortunately, the only way to see the film currently is by purchasing a physical (CD/LP) version of the box-set, in which a Blu-ray disc of Nebraska: Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ is included. To date, no plans to offer streaming options for the film have been announced. While the audio of the performance, delivered to an empty-house Basie Theatre last April, is easily available to stream, the best way to experience Nebraska: Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ   in all its glory is as a full audio- visual work of art... as the great filmed performance that it is. Here's hoping that eventually there will be streaming opportunities to allow more people to do so. [DECEMBER 2025 UPDATE: As of this writing, some streaming options for the film now exist. Click here to explore those streaming options. ] Springsteen and Zimny first utilized the empty-house full-album - and full-band - performance approach in 2009, with the filming of a full-album performance of Darkness on the Edge of Town at Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre for the 2010 box-set The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story . A washed-out-color look, inspired by the film JCVD , was chosen for that filmed Darkness... performance. This time around, for filming the Nebraska performance, straight-up black-and-white was chosen, of course, with the only other color appearing onscreen being the blood-red in the lettering of the title and credits, mirroring the original album design. Bruce performs the album's ten songs in sequence, with David Michael Kennedy's bleak windshield-landscape 1982-album-cover photo (actually shot in 1976) projected onto the brick wall at the back of the stage. The songs' live 2025 musical arrangements are very faithful to those on the 1982 album, with Springsteen - on acoustic guitar (electric guitar on "Open All Night") and harmonica - receiving minimalist yet beautiful accompaniment by only two other musicians: Larry Campbell on acoustic/12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, and tambourine, and Charlie Giordano on celeste and synthesizer. Bruce's slight modern-day lyrical/phrasing changes crop up on occasion (e.g. "Mansion On The Hill"'s modern-day "down here in the valley" replacing the 1982 recording's "down here in Linden Town,") but nonetheless this remains an essentially faithful live and complete performance of the original album. One key difference, of course, is the obvious aging of Springsteen and his voice, but in the case of this 2025 Nebraska performance, the aging actually becomes another essential attribute for most - if not all - of the performance. Performing this material complete and in-sequence for the first time in the forty-three years since Nebraska was released, Bruce at 76 now looks and sounds more than ever like "that cranky old preacher Ecclesiastes," to whom Dave Marsh aptly compared Springsteen's songwriting perspective in Marsh's essential Nebraska -focused "Reason To Believe" chapter of Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s . Each of the songs is performed straightforwardly, with no additional introductions or background explanations (a brief giggle at the end of "Open All Night" notwithstanding.) From the get-go, Thom Zimny proves yet again why he's the perfect point-person for such a project, directing and (co-)editing each sequence of the film beautifully and brilliantly, opening immediately after the blood-red "Thrill Hill presents... NEBRASKA... a film by Thom Zimny" title-cards (accompanied by the eerily ambient sound of an apparently nearby highway) with a great shot of Bruce's cowboy-boots-encased feet strolling onto the theater's stage, and part of the guitar he's carrying low also visible in the shot. Next we get some close-up and overhead shots of septuagenarian Springsteen taking his seat and positioning his guitar. He's clearly laser-focused, in command, and ready to deliver another masterful performance. From there on out, Zimny remains just as much in command, in order to best capture and convey this performance, behind the camera and in the editing room. (Incidentally, there's yet another advantage that watching the film has over just listening to the audio: you get to hear a wordless version of "Nebraska," with Springsteen humming and whistling the song's melody, over the film's closing credits.) Ironically, the film's music-only, no-talk-talk-talk-talk approach still ends up helping to offer to all who care to listen a much more complete, complex history of Nebraska than the two "histories" of Nebraska that have been getting the most attention these days. One of the worst aspects of the Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere film and the Warren Zanes book on which it was based is their near-complete omission of the political context in which Nebraska was created and heard. If all you know is Scott Cooper's and/or Warren Zanes' take on the album (especially Cooper's,) you'd think that it essentially was "about" only Bruce Springsteen's childhood and mental-health issues. It's well worth remembering, however, that when Ronald Reagan - the first Republican president to use the phrase "make America great again" while attacking and dismantling much of what truly was great about the country - tried using Springsteen's Born - in - the - U.S.A. -era popularity to help get himself re-elected in 1984, Springsteen responded onstage shortly afterwards with a song from Nebraska , "Johnny 99," introducing it as follows: “The President was mentioning my name the other day, and I kinda got to wondering what his favorite album musta been. I don’t think it was the Nebraska album. I don’t think he’s been listening to this one.” (Incidentally, that intro and song were preceded by another of Nebraska 's most political and least personal, childhood-derived songs, "Atlantic City.") Even a more overtly personal song like "Mansion On The Hill" weaves in the political right alongside the personal, given the implicit class-consciousness embedded throughout the song. The same is true of, say, "Used Cars." And hell, while I've written extensively about the personal significance of "My Father's House" and its "sequel" song, "Long Time Comin'," to both their creator and so many in his audience, myself included , I also know that the following is equally true about "My Father's House," thanks very much yet again to the insights of Dave Marsh, this time writing in his equally essential 1982 Record Magazine review of Nebraska , reprinted in 1985's Fortunate Son: The Best of Dave Marsh : "its dream of reconciliation between father and son is ultimately hollow," yet "this dream (which incorporates psychological, political and religious symbols) continues to beckon..." All of this comes into play while hearing and seeing Bruce Springsteen deliver his 2025 performance of Nebraska , letting the album continue to speak for itself in all of its complexity, and making it feel as timely and relevant as ever... unfortunately. While the 21st-century's version of "make America great again" continues to reach new lows, and so many people continue struggling every day to find some reason to believe while facing the sheer insanity of it, I'm reminded of what the great music writer Mikal Gilmore (brother of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, who famously, and like the fictional Johnny 99, welcomed his execution) wrote of Nebraska back in '82: “A dark-toned, brooding and unsparing record... a sizable statement about American life... When Springsteen tells Charles Starkweather and Johnny 99’s tales, he neither seeks their redemption nor asks for our judgment. He tells the stories about as simply and as well as they deserve to be told—or about as unsparingly as we deserve to hear them—and he lets us feel for them what we can, or find in them what we can of ourselves.” As bleak as these ten songs are, clearly they still need to be sung - and heard - at least as much now as they ever have. Kudos to Bruce Springsteen for delivering this special performance of them, with the able assistance of Larry Campbell and Charlie Giordano. And many thanks to Thom Zimny and his team for beautifully capturing it on film for the ages. ----- "bonus track" - Of course the Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition  box-set includes "The Big Payback," the Nebraska outtake that first got released officially as a B-side decades ago, along with the original demo version of "Born in the U.S.A." that first was released officially in 1998 on TRACKS . But it doesn't include the other Nebraska "outtake" of sorts that also got released officially - several times, even, albeit unintentionally, apparently - years ago, before somebody finally corrected the error for all future releases. Several Japanese-CD editions and other rare/promo versions of Nebraska were created from a master tape containing a version of "My Father's House" identical to all other officially released versions, with the exception of a synthesizer coda lasting about thirty seconds. At some point, Springsteen must have wanted to include the coda on "My Father's House" but then later changed his mind about it. Yet inexplicably, at least one Nebraska master with the synth-coda version of "My Father's House" managed to still be floating around, which is how some editions of Nebraska ended up containing "My Father's House" with the synth-coda. Apparently Springsteen and/or his camp eventually learned of this, and there have been no further official releases of Nebraska  containing the synth-coda version of "My Father's House." Below, however, you can listen to the tail-end of that version right now:

December 20, 2025 From Bruce Springsteen's official website/social-media statement on the passing of the great "Lord of the Highway," Joe Ely , who died earlier this week on Monday from complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and pneumonia: "Over here, we’re deeply saddened by the loss of Joe Ely, a singular American singer, great musician and great artist. I was lucky enough to count Joe as a true friend and I will miss that voice and his companionship. Our hearts go out to his wonderful wife Sharon and the family. We’ve lost an American classic." In the wake of Ely's passing, his official YouTube channel has posted a special version of the 1995 Ely-Springsteen duet on Ely's song "All Just To Get To You." Their recording is accompanied by the beautiful, moving video that was played behind Springsteen onstage last April at The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music's 2025 American Music Honors, as he performed "All Just To Get To You" during his induction of Ely as one of this year's Honorees: That night, Springsteen also had this to say about Ely as he inducted him: “If the world was a fairer place, Joe Ely would have been huge! I mean huge... He’s a great songwriter... He’s a fabulous stage performer, always with a great band. He’s got that voice, the one I wished I had. It’s got that slight southern country twang, it’s got a hint of rockabilly. It’s got the depth and emotion of Johnny Cash and it’s as deeply authentic as his Texas roots. Now, from his early classic band The Flatlanders, with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, he made a music unique to Texas that touched folks all around the world. He had records like Musta Notta Gotta Lotta , Love and Danger , Letter to Laredo [on which the 1995 Ely-Springsteen version of "All Just To Get To You" first appeared,] Love and Freedom , and a dozen top-shelf others that a lot more people should have heard and gotten to love. Joe left his mark, though, on the Texas and the world music scene. He opened for The Clash in 1978. That’s incredible! As they sang on Sandinista! , ‘There ain’t no better blend than Joe Ely and his Texas men.’ Now Joe Strummer, he knew greatness when he heard it. “Joe is a member of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. He spent 2016 as the reigning Texas State Musician. He’s a writer, a poet, he’s an accomplished visual artist. He’s been my friend for thirty-plus years and I take great pride to be able to call him so. He’s a sweet, sweet man. We’ve had some wonderful times together, including one post-show Irish night in the pubs and clubs of Dublin that I won’t soon forget. Nor will I say anything more about it! [Note: Another great Ely-Springsteen Dublin moment, as seen in the photo below, was their getting to perform together with one of their greatest musical heroes, The Killer himself, Jerry Lee Lewis, on the first night that Ely ever appeared as a guest-performer at a Springsteen concert.] "But I’ve been blessed to sing on his records and be onstage with Joe on occasion and the only thing I can say is: Thank God he wasn’t born in New Jersey! I would have had a lot more of my work cut out for me." In late June of 1993, Joe Ely was among Bruce Springsteen's onstage guests at two major benefit concerts: in New Jersey on June 24 for the "A Concert to Fight Hunger" event (officially released/available in the Nugs/Live Archive series ,) and at New York's Madison Square Garden on June 26 for the "A Concert for The Kristen Ann Carr Fund " benefit event that launched Bruce's longtime, strong, and sustained support for the Fund and its ongoing endeavors. That evening opened with a one-time-only performance of Woody Guthrie's version of "Lonesome Valley." Ely joined Springsteen and his 1992-93 touring band, as well as one of Kristen's all-time favorite musicians, the artist formerly known as Terence Trent D'Arby , in delivering a powerful, moving, and fully appropriate opening to a very special and important concert: In 2005, Ely also contributed his musical talents to fighting another deadly disease, with his recording of Bob Dylan's "Winterlude" for the to: KATE - a benefit for kate's sake Christmas album, a project spearheaded by Garry Tallent: (Coincidentally, to: KATE... also featured a track from another recently passed-too-soon musical great: Raul Malo 's one-man-band version of Willie Nelson's song "Pretty Paper," first recorded and released by Roy Orbison back in 1963.) Just last year, the world was treated to another officially released Ely/Springsteen collaboration on the recording of Ely's song "Odds of the Blues" for his album Driven to Drive : Finally, this week's Texas Monthly article by journalist and musician Michael Hall , a fan of both Ely and Springsteen, provides an excellent perspective and overview of everything that made Joe Ely such a great musician and a great person. (Its opening sentence reads, "For many Texans, Joe Ely was our Bruce Springsteen.") As Hall's article details, Ely lived a beautiful, significant, and meaningful life, and when he had to face the reality of illness and decline that ultimately would cut it short, he didn't have to walk that lonesome valley all by himself. He was surrounded and protected by a core group of people who loved him deeply, including his longtime friend Bruce Springsteen. Ely's wife Sharon relates to Hall how supportive Bruce was during Joe's health struggles. (There's also an indication of one more officially released Ely-Springsteen recording collaboration coming in the near future.) And after discussing the difficult - but definitely correct - decision that she and her husband made earlier this month to allow him to die at home, Sharon tells Hall about receiving a phone call from Springsteen shortly afterwards. "Bruce called as soon as he heard, and I said, ‘I think he’s still here. If you want to, I’ll let you say what you feel right now to him or to the universe or whatever.’ And I put the phone up to Joe’s ear, and Bruce said what he felt about Joe to him.” Click here to read Michael Hall's superb and moving Texas Monthly article, "Joe Ely's Final Act."

December 7, 2025 All tickets and ticket-packages are now available for the 2026 edition of the Jersey-Shore-based, multi-day Light of Day WinterFest , which will take place next month in mid-January. The "Main Event - 'Bob's Birthday Bash'" (and this year's currently announced Birthday Bash lineup pictured above,) will take place on Saturday, January 17, and all other events will place on the days surrounding it. Click here and here for detailed information on all events, as well as how to purchase your ticket-packages and/or tickets for individual events. Once again, money raised from all events' ticket-sales will benefit The Light of Day Foundation, Inc. , the charitable organization long supported by Bruce Springsteen and many other Jersey-Shore-based/connected artists. Of course, Letters To You will again be on the scene to cover Light of Day WinterFest 2026. We look forward to reporting to our readers about the 2026 Winterfest shows and encouraging everyone to support The Light of Day Foundation, Inc. in its continuing efforts "to defeat Parkinson's disease and its related illnesses, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) within our lifetime."

December 6, 2025 Yesterday's "First Friday" release from the monthly Nugs/Live Archive series is another great show from The Wrecking Ball Tour: HK Areena, Turku, FIN - May 8, 2013 . It's one of the best examples of how varied and full of surprises the shows on that tour could be, with Bruce Springsteen & the (newly expanded) E Street Band taking on nightly sign-requests and major setlist changes. Most important, they did all of that while maintaining their well-known musical excellence, consistently delivering excellent, moving, and powerful shows that continued to connect and resonate with their international, multi-generational audiences. Among Turku 2013 Night 2's highlights: the only live performance to date of "Wages of Sin," the rarely performed "I'll Work For Your Love" in a solo-acoustic version to open the night, followed by "Long Walk Home" as the evening's first full-band performance (a rare placement of that song so early in the set,) a Greetings... two-fer with "Blinded by the Light" and "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" back-to-back, the debut addition of a bit of Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns' great "Don't You Just Know It" to "Open All Night," Everett Bradley's outro percussion work adding some unique flavor to a beautiful ten-minutes-plus version of "Racing in the Street," and as if all of that weren't "good enough," one of only five public performances to date of "Ain't Good Enough for You," the fun Darkness... outtake that also would later provide the musical bedrock for the Springsteen-written Gary "U.S." Bonds hit "This Little Girl:" Click here to order/stream HK Areena, Turku, FIN - May 8, 2013 .  While there, also be sure to click the "SHOW MORE" button where it reads, "Show Notes," to read Columbia/Nugs archivist Erik Flannigan's essay on this recording, entitled " I’ve Tried So Hard, So Hard In Every Way." It's insightful and informative, despite a misleading implication that The Wrecking Ball Tour was the first Springsteen/E Street Band tour without the late, great "Phantom" Dan Federici present onstage. (That actually was The Working On A Dream Tour.) And here's hoping that the long-standing tradition of TWO new Nugs/Live Archive releases in December will continue this year. We'll just have to wait and see what the Fates will allow, as we draw closer to Christmas...

Alison Oscar of Jon Landau Management and Karen Rosenberg of Empire Events Group display a navy-blue "Spirit of '76" shirt at The Kristen Ann Carr Fund's 2025 "A Night To Remember" event last month December 1, 2025 Happy Cyber Monday, and Happy Last-Day-To-Order-Your- Exclusive-Letters-To-You-Frank-Caruso-"Spirit-of-'76"-Shirts -With-Free-Guaranteed-Delivery-In-Time-For-Christmas/Kwanzaa! With awesome art by Springsteen's Outlaw Pete collaborator Frank Caruso , and a relevant quote from Bruce himself, it's one of the coolest gifts you can give to every Springsteen fan in your life - and/or to yourself - this holiday season, with all shirt-sale profits going to one of Bruce Springsteen's longtime favorite charities, The Kristen Ann Carr Fund . The "Spirit of '76" shirt is available in two colors, "dark ash" gray (90% preshrunk cotton, 10% polyester) and navy blue (100% preshrunk cotton,) and adult sizes small through 4XL. And this the only place ANYWHERE where you can buy them. So click here to order NOW , before it's too late, for free guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas/Kwanzaa.

photo by Mark Krajnak  for The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music  - used with permission November 30, 2025 Today we're celebrating the 72nd birthday of E Street Band founding member and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer David Sancious (pictured above at last September's Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University's Born to Run @50 symposium.) Christmastime has just begun, too, so how 'bout we celebrate Davey's special day by enjoying two vintage video-clips featuring Sancious, from Natalie Merchant's December 18, 1996 appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show 's holiday-decorated set? Merchant, who at the time also was a client of Jon Landau Management, told O'Donnell "It's been really great working with David Sancious and the rest of the 'jazz cats.'" She was appearing on the show to help promote her recording of the Goffin-King classic "One Fine Day" for the soundtrack of the George Clooney/Michelle Pfeiffer Christmastime '96 vehicle One Fine Day . Sancious produced Merchant's version of "One Fine Day" for the soundtrack. Below, you can watch Natalie Merchant, David Sancious, and the rest of the "jazz cats" deliver their unique takes of both "One Fine Day" and one of Merchant's big solo hits, "Wonder:" Happy Birthday, David Sancious, and many, many more, you versatile, mega-talented jazz/rock/classical/soul/prog/multi-genre cat! May you enjoy one fine day, today and every day.

publicity photo of Ethan Zane Browne from the Alain / Zane Facebook page November 29, 2025 This week, we at Letters To You were shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic death of Ethan Zane Browne at only 52 years of age . Ethan was the son of Jackson Browne and the late Phyllis Major. During his short life, he did some modeling, some acting, and - as one-half of the duo Alain Zane - he also made some pretty damned good R&B/soul music. In the now-hard-to-find 1980 film No Nukes , there's a sweet scene of Jackson Browne carrying five-year-old Ethan backstage to meet his father's friend, Bruce Springsteen. Onstage during his second "No Nukes" concert, on September 22, 1979, Springsteen dedicated his performance of "The Promised Land" (as seen in Thom Zimny's 2021 film The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts ) to, among others, Jackson Browne and Ethan Browne, "...that little boy," as Bruce said with a smile. On the back-cover of Jackson Browne's 1976 album The Pretender , produced by Jon Landau, there's a beautiful photo of Ethan that was taken by his father as the child ran playfully on a beach. Superimposed over the photo is a poem by Pablo Neruda, translated by Kenneth Rexroth: Brown and agile child, the sun which forms the fruit And ripens the grain and twists the seaweed Has made your happy body and your luminous eyes And given your mouth the smile of water. A black and anguished sun is entangled in the twigs Of your black mane when you hold out your arms. You play in the sun as in a tidal river And it leaves two dark pools in your eyes. Brown and agile child, nothing draws me to you, Everything pulls away from me here in the noon. You are the delirious youth of the bee, The drunkenness of the wave, the power in the wheat. My somber heart seeks you always I love your happy body, your rich, soft voice. Dusky butterfly, sweet and sure Like the wheat field, the sun, the poppy, and the water. Letters To You sends its deepest condolences to Jackson Browne, and to everyone else who knew and loved Ethan Browne.

November 26, 2025 Once again this year, Bruce Springsteen is lending his support to WhyHunger , as he has done so often in the past, and the anti-hunger organization's annual Hungerthon . Springsteen fans who support this year's Hungerthon and WhyHunger, which is now fifty years old, can score some exclusive Springsteen-themed gear. The theme of this year's Bruce-themed benefits is centered around lyrics from "Jack Of All Trades." Fans who donate $60 or more can receive the Bruce Springsteen "The World's Gonna Change" Tee : Fans who donate $100 or more can receive the Bruce Springsteen "The World's Gonna Change" Hoodie : Fans who donate $150 or more can receive the Springsteen Bundle, containing both the Bruce Springsteen "The World's Gonna Change" Tee and the Bruce Springsteen "The World's Gonna Change" Hoodie : There also are two other special Springsteen-related Hungerthon events of note this year: Charitybuzz Auction to Co-host on The Wild & The Innocent with Jim Rotolo on SiriusXM E Street Radio (bidding closes on Tuesday, December 9 @ 2:28pm EST) Hungerthon Benefit Concert at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ on Sunday, December 14, beginning at 6pm , commemorating fifty years of WhyHunger and featuring performances from Music Director Marc Ribler with members of Little Steven’s Disciples of Soul and The E Street Band, with special guests Sameer Gadhia & Eric Cannata from Young The Giant, Yola, Amy Helm, Jim Babjak and Dennis Diken of The Smithereens, Dixie Dregs, Garry Tallent, Jimmy Vivino with Mark Barden, Steve Chapin & The Original Harry Chapin Band featuring Tom Chapin & Jen Chapin, Randy C Moore, and Danny Clinch Tickets can be purchased in person at The Stone Pony's box-office (913 Ocean Avenue Asbury Park, NJ; open noon-5pm Thursday through Sunday, and during show hours) or online via Ticketmaster by clicking here . Earlier that day, beginning at 2pm, WhyHunger will also host a special two-hour Artist Summit on hunger and poverty for VIPs at the Transparent Clinch Gallery across from The Stone Pony. The summit welcomes artists and community leaders to engage in an open discussion about creative solutions to combat global hunger and the injustice at its root. Moderated by Rick Korn, participants include talent such as Sameer Gadhia of Young the Giant, Yola, Mark Barden, Amy Helm, and Jen Chapin in addition to Jenique Jones, Executive Director of WhyHunger. Click here to purchase WhyHunger's special VIP/Artist Summit tickets (which include admission to the 6pm concert at The Stone Pony.)