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  • Someday, girl, I don't know when, we're gonna get to that place...

    February 9, 2025 No matter who wins tonight's Super Bowl, H.E.R. will be heard during the game's fourth quarter interpreting Bruce Springsteen's classic song "Born to Run" in a way that reinforces and expands upon what he used to say onstage before singing it in the mid-1980s: "Nobody wins unless everybody wins." The acclaimed California-born Filipino-African-American songwriter, musician, and singer has partnered with the beauty/personal-care brand Dove for an ad campaign designed to raise awareness of the impact that negative body talk can have on girls in sports, and Dove's support of the Body Confident Sport program , described in Dove's press release as "a first-of-its-kind and scientifically-proven set of coaching tools to build body confidence in 11-17-year-old girls and encourage them to stay in sports." Below you can watch two separate 30-second spots from the campaign: the one that will air tonight during the Super Bowl and another one that features even more of H.E.R.'s version of "Born to Run," which will be released officially in its full length tomorrow. As an excellent Billboard feature on the ad campaign , which also features an exclusive interview with H.E.R. about the project, notes, "It’s a directive that feels especially poignant considering the popularity boom women’s sports have seen in recent years (thanks in no small part to powerhouses like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese), as well as the sociopolitical influx in online communities picking apart players’ appearances (the transphobic hate cisgender Algerian boxer Imane Khelif experienced during the 2024 Olympics comes to mind). And it’s definitely something that weighs on H.E.R.’s mind as a former athlete and role model to her 18-year-old and 3-year-old sisters, which is why she says she jumped at the chance to translate 'Born to Run' into a heartfelt tribute for young girls all over the world." For her part, H.E.R. tells Billboard , "The song itself is so iconic, I didn’t want to do a complete left turn in my recreation of it. It’s so uplifting and joyful, and 'born to run,' it’s the perfect lyric. It’s the perfect message, and kind of the perfect pace for a message like this. It was all about the image of this young girl — keeping that in mind was the most important thing. We started with drums to kind of keep the energy but still make it my own, and I played some guitars on it to keep that iconic lead. It was all about adding even more soul to it. That iconic line that’s usually just the guitar line, I turned into vocals. I like doing things like that — taking pieces from the instrumentation and turning them into vocals — and my vocals definitely make [the song] a little more feminine... I love Bruce. I grew up listening to a lot of Bruce with my dad. He’s iconic. I actually got to meet him two years ago and he was so sweet. I was like, 'I’m such a big fan, my name’s Gabi.' [H.E.R.'s real name is Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson. Her stage name is an acronym for Having Everything Revealed.] He was like, 'Oh my god, H.E.R., I’m such a big fan of you, I’ve mentioned you in interviews, you really rock out on stage.' And I’m like, 'Man, I get it from you!'” Click here to read Hannah Dailey's complete Billboard article "How H.E.R. Reimagined an Iconic Bruce Springsteen Hit to Remind Girls in Sports They’re ‘Born to Run’".

  • "Living Proof" that the Springsteen/Nugs archival-concerts series' "First Fridays" are back, baby!

    February 8, 2025 Yesterday saw the first "First Friday" release from the Springsteen/Nugs archival concert series since last March's Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, September 21,1978 . (Okay, actually it was a "Second Friday" release that month, most likely due to the Friday March 1, 2024 announcement of Best of Bruce Springsteen , as we reported at that time , but still...) That Capitol Theatre release also was the final archival concert release before the shutdown of the website that was the series' former online home: live.brucespringsteen.net Presumably continuing with monthly releases at least until the 2025 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band tour commences in mid-May, the "First Friday" archival series has resumed this month with yesterday's drop of Vancouver, BC 2005 , recorded at Springsteen's August 13, 2005 Devils & Dust Tour show in "Pontiac Theatre" at what was then known as GM Place (now Rogers Arena.) It's another great show from that tour, opening with a rare solo-pump-organ version of "Living Proof" (the third of only eight such performances of the song on that tour,) an especially appropriate and moving choice given that the song's real-life inspiration, Springsteen's first-born son Evan, was working on the stage-crew that night: Other highlights of Vancouver, BC 2005 include Springsteen's last performance to date of the still-all-too-relevant "Paradise," and the only Devils & Dust Tour performance of "Because The Night," delivered in a unique solo version with Bruce also playing an electric piano. As usual, Jon Altchiller and his sonics team (this time around including Danielle Warman, Brad Serling, and Arya Jha) deliver another awesome new mix from multitrack master tapes. Click here to read more about Vancouver, BC 2005 in Columbia/Nugs archivist Erik Flannigan's essay, "Man on Wire." And click here to get Vancouver, BC 2005 from nugs.net's official Springsteen site.

  • Where Shakin' Street and E Street Meet: Exploring the MC5's Springsteen-related connections

    January 29, 2025 This month has marked the 55th anniversary of the release of Back In The USA , the second album by the MC5 , released on January 15, 1970 and produced by a fella by the name of Jon Landau. Back In The USA was the hardest-rocking production work that Landau did before he began working with Bruce Springsteen a half-decade later. When Landau was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020, the induction program featured an excerpt from MC5 lead guitarist and co-founder Wayne Kramer's 2018 memoir The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities , in which Kramer wrote: "Atlantic Records commissioned Jon Landau to write them a report on the MC5's strengths and weaknesses. Landau studied the band, and his report was insightful and knowledgeable. He recommended they sign the MC5... John [Sinclair, the MC5's manager] had been in discussions with all the stakeholders in our sphere, and he concluded that bringing in Landau to produce the [next] album was the best move we could make. After reading his ten-page report and talking with him at length, I liked him. I was impressed with his analysis of the MC5's strengths and weaknesses. He realized that the MC5 was the only group out there to really connect directly with the audience's concerns... He also saw the deficiencies that we needed to address. He saw it all. Landau would come out [to rehearsals] and listen and make suggestions. He and I would sit up in my bedroom and talk about music for hours on end. We talked about the MC5's problems and strong points... Landau once said that he thought [rhythm guitarist] Fred [Smith] and I should be referred to in the same way that Carlos Santana or Pete Townshend were. That we were every bit as good as our contemporaries, and better than most. I didn't disagree... We talked through the group's challenges in great depth... He was trying to get us to think for ourselves; to move past the groupthink that we were accustomed to... There were issues that I'd never addressed because of our band's boundless camaraderie... Landau didn't have the constraints that we did. He was hired to produce a record, and he spoke up... Landau forced me to see the reality of how the MC5 went about the business of creating music... He believed the band could be greatest American hard-rock group of our time, but we needed to face our weaknesses and fix them." Landau wasn't the only strongly Springsteen-connected person to also serve as an early champion of the MC5. Springsteen biographer and music writer Dave Marsh grew up in the Detroit area, and was among the most passionate of teenage MC5 fans in their late-1960s/early-1970s heyday. (After all, "the MC5" was an abbreviation of "The Motor City Five.") Marsh's 1971 piece for Creem , "The MC5: Back on Shakin' Street," as collected and heavily re-written for his 1985 anthology Fortunate Son: The Best of Dave Marsh , remains an illuminating and insightful read. In his 1985 introduction to the piece, Marsh, who already had invented the term "punk rock" in 1970 while writing in Creem about ? and the Mysterians (also a Michigan-based band,) wrote, "The MC5 helped get me my first full-time job in journalism, their incredible buzz-saw rock (echoes of which can be heard in the New York Dolls, the Sex Pistols and every other band that terms itself punk or hard core) illuminated the shadowy corners of my adolescence, their fusion of rock and politics expressed my own early, fumbling attempts to reconcile the two." Later in the anthology, in introducing some of his later writing on Springsteen, Marsh also wrote, "Bruce Springsteen offered not a single song, image or event that galvanized my passion and made me recall my roots, but a whole series of them, which in combination made me (I suppose) a fanatic for the first time since the demise of the MC5." And in his second Springsteen biography, 1987's Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s , Marsh described the version of "Adam Raised A Cain" that appears on Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Live/1975-85 as "frothing...with shouts and feedback akin to the MC5." In the latter part of his career, Marsh named his long-running satelite-radio series on music and politics Kick Out The Jams with Dave Marsh , after the MC5's most famous song . The latest Marsh anthology is also entitled Kick Out The Jams: Jibes, Barbs, Tributes, and Rallying Cries from 35 Years of Music Writing . Then there's the Patti Smith /Fred "Sonic" Smith connection. In 1976, former MC5 rhythm guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith met groundbreaking rocker and poet Patti Smith. They were introduced to each other by Patti Smith Group guitarist and key collaborator Lenny Kaye (also a major MC5 fan,) and were married four years later. (A running joke in their circle at the time was that any potential name-changing didn't even need to be considered.) During the Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions, then-recording-engineer Jimmy Iovine, who also was in the midst of producing Patti Smith Group's album Easter , asked Bruce Springsteen if he could give Springsteen's partially-completed-and-abandoned song "Because The Night" to Patti Smith to complete and record for her album project. As Smith herself related in Thom Zimny's 2010 documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town , "I was in my apartment, and I was having a long-distance romance with Fred 'Sonic' Smith, who later became my husband. He was supposed to call me up, and I waited for him to call me for hours. I thought, 'Well, I'll listen to that darn song [the demo cassette for the partially completed 'Because The Night.'] It was so accessible. It had such an anthemic tone. It was in my key, and I kept letting it loop and play, and I still tried to resist it, but I filled in the blanks, and in the blanks, it tells the story of me waiting for Fred to call and of my love for Fred. Fred did call about three in the morning, and I wasn't mad at him, though, because by the time he called, I had written my share of the lyrics of my one and only hit song." In the documentary, Springsteen added that Patti Smith "took ['Because The Night'] and she turned it into this really beautiful love song. I have to thank Jimmy [Iovine] for recognizing what was in the song, and then [Smith] for the intensity and the personalness and the deep love that she put into it. Her work on it has been a tremendous gift to me." Decades after the creative completion of "Because The Night," Fred "Sonic" Smith and Patti Smith provided Springsteen - and the rest of the artists on the bill for the 2004 Vote for Change concert-tour spearheaded by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - with yet another musical gift. The Smith/Smith composition "People Have The Power" became the beautifully appropriate closing song performed at the end of each of the Vote for Change concerts. Last October, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and notable Springsteen collaborator Tom Morello (who also has just been announced as a 2025 Springsteen Archives American Music Honoree ,) inducted the MC5 into the Hall at last. Below is a complete transcription of Morello's induction speech: The MC5 crystallized Sixties counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening. They were as bold and as musically adventurous as experimental jazz, as militant and as stylish as The Black Panther Party, and as loud and as dangerous as a Detroit riot. But perhaps their greatest accomplishment was that the MC5, in sound and in attitude, laid the cornerstone for one of rock's most exciting and important genres. Before the Ramones, before The Sex Pistols, before The Clash... there was the MC5, inventing the template of raw power and irreverent attitude that became punk rock. Their previously unimagined amalgam of jazz improvisation, garage rock, and James Brown dance moves was forged with raw theory, molten adrenaline, and political purpose. And as a live act, they were without peer. As the tear-gas began to fly during the massive anti-war riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, every other band on the bill chickened out and cancelled. Only the MC5 stood firm and played a defiant eight-hours set for the protesters. And when they hit the stage and shouted, "Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!," the promise of Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock" was made reality, and the future path of every musician who dreamed of raging against the machine was made clear. In these few lines, they encapsulated the redemptive power of living, breathing, playing, and believing in the irresistible force of truly revolutionary music: "Let me up on the stand, and let me kick out the jams! Put that mike in my hand, and let me kick out the jams! Let me be who I am, and let me kick out the jams!" Their visionary poet of a manager, John Sinclair, vocalist Rob Tyner, bassist Michael Davis, drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson, guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith, and my dear forever friend and forever comrade, Brother Wayne Kramer, have sadly all passed away. But wherever and whenever any of us summon up the guts and the courage to get up on the stand and kick out the motherfuckin' jams, the spirit of the MC5 will be right there with us. MC5, welcome home to where you belong, in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Later in the year, Morello organized and performed in two special Los Angeles tribute shows memorializing Wayne Kramer and benefiting Jail Guitar Doors USA , the organization that Kramer founded in partnership with fellow musician Billy Bragg. Below you can watch and listen to Stevie Van Zandt joining Morello and his band at the December 5th Roxy Theatre concert to perform the MC5's classic "Kick Out The Jams:" Finally, our friend Nick Mead, the filmmaker who directed Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? , is about to premiere at next month's Santa Barbara International Film Festival his latest documentary, which he co-directed with Andre Relis, entitled I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol . The film is based on Glen Matlock's book of the same title, and it features Wayne Kramer's final filmed interview. Below, Nick was kind enough to share with us his reflections on having gotten to know Wayne Kramer over the years: Let me set the scene... I had long hair, a black leather motorcycle jacket, and a Triumph motorcycle that worked only occasionally. And I was always with my first girlfriend, Claire, the most beautiful girl in the world. On a Sunday afternoon, the place to be was a gathering of hippies and rockers at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm. The best of the headlining bands then were Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies, and Motörhead . Inside was the space that once housed a railway turntable and it was, and in my opinion still is, the best venue in London. On a Sunday, the hallways were made up of hippie stalls selling their wares, the air was thick with the smell of patchouli and marijuana, and the amplification was loud. There were three songs that always heralded the headlining act: “I'm Waiting For The Man,” “White Punks On Dope,“ and finally “Kick Out The Jams.” That was my first introduction to Wayne Kramer and the MC5, and I was hooked. I got into photography and was assisting the great and wonderful Sheila Rock when we photographed Wayne Kramer at her studio in Portland Road, Notting Hill. My job on that day was to arrange Christmas fairy lights around his head. I remember not wanting to be paid for that day because meeting this legend surpassed any thought of money. I was thrilled when I started making films with Motörhead that the link to Lemmy, Mick Farren and Motörhead with Wayne was a strong one. Mick Farren and Wayne were very close friends, collaborators and revolutionaries, both being part of the White Panther movement. I made my first film, Black Leather Jacket , with Mick, based on his book of the same name. Cut to years later. I’d made the film on Clarence, and was embarking on a film, I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol , with Glen Matlock. A friend introduced me to Wayne at his MC5 HQ, which was above the tailors where I had my wedding suit made. If only I had known... I started seeing Wayne regularly and was absolutely knocked out by what a lovely amiable, honest, and compassionate gentleman he was. He gave me a copy of his heart-wrenching book, The Hard Stuff , and we started talking about turning this into a narrative feature film. I’d managed to set up the Glen Matlock film and was delighted that Wayne agreed to sit down with us and give us an on-camera interview (which sadly would be his last.) He was articulate, passionate, genuine, and highly amusing, seeing the comparisons between the way the authorities, in the form of respective governments, tried to demonize and close down the MC5 and The Sex Pistols, and at the same time highlighting Glen’s contribution to the Pistols' legacy. We were talking more about turning Wayne's book into a film, and I stuck my producer's hat on and reached out to Thom Zimny, whom I’d met in Asbury Park. I had read that Thom was looking into directing narrative features, so I sent him the book (signed by Wayne to Thom!!!) and we were trying to arrange a get together as soon as we were all in town at the same time. A few weeks later, I was shooting in New York when I got a text from Thom telling me how sorry he was about Wayne. It was then I found out Wayne had passed. Sometimes it’s the journey and not the destination, and I am so very grateful for spending a little time with Wayne and very happy indeed that he’s a part of our film, I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol . The officially approved, limited-edition MC5 2024 logo t-shirt featuring a design by Jason Federici (Danny's son,) who also is the Art Director at Jail Guitar Doors USA. Click the t-shirt image above to buy your shirt(s.) UPDATE - Courtesy of reader Randy Severs (Thanks, Randy!): One more MC5/Springsteen connection... In June of 1970 I had tickets to see the double bill of Grand Funk Railroad and the MC5 in Brick, NJ. I was very disappointed to arrive and see that the MC5 had been replaced by Steel Mill (a group I had never heard of before.) [Apparently travel issues forced the MC5 to cancel, and Steel Mill to replace the MC5 on the bill. The cancellation/switch was so last-minute that all of the tickets still listed "The MC Five" and not "Steel Mill."] Sixty-five years later and I still remember the power of Steel Mill. They played a fairly long set for an opener, and when GFR took the stage the audience continued to yell “Steel Mill.” GFR did not appear to be happy, and played a very abbreviated set. [Click here to hear a bit of archival audio from that night: Steel Mill playing the rarely performed "Black Sun Rising."]

  • Caroline Madden helps to bring us the newest BOSS ish and, coming in April, a BABY IT'S YOU Blu-ray!

    February 1, 2025 We're not surprised at all, though of course very pleased, to learn that our own contributing writer/film-scholar Caroline Madden remains very active elsewhere when she's not submitting great work for our website. The two latest examples... Madden is the Managing Editor of McGill University's Biannual Online-Journal Of Springsteen Studies (BOSS) , which has just published its newest issue . The journal's mission statement asserts that it "aims to publish scholarly, peer-reviewed essays pertaining to Bruce Springsteen. This open-access journal seeks to encourage consideration of Springsteen’s body of work primarily through the political, economic, and socio-cultural factors that have influenced his music and shaped its reception. BOSS welcomes broad interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches to Springsteen’s songwriting and performance. The journal aims to secure a place for Springsteen Studies in the contemporary academy." Featured in this latest issue: Daniel Loughran's "Dialogic Praxis: Radical Pedagogy for a Runaway American Dream" (in which Loughran argues that Bruce Springsteen’s dialogue with his fans fosters a pedagogy similar to that of Brazil’s heroic social reformer and educational theorist Paulo Freire,) Timothy Penner's "'They wanted to know why I did what I did:' Reading Bruce Springsteen’s 'Nebraska' through Ernest Hemingway’s Iceberg Principle," Nick Sansone's "'Man Turns His Back On His Family': Domestic Precarity and Fragile Masculinity in The Indian Runner and 'Highway Patrolman',” Marian Jago's "It’s Only Rock & Roll: Springsteen, Cultural Value, and Self-Myth on Film," and Melissa Ziobro's "A Glimpse Inside the Collection of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University," along with reviews of Lorraine Mangione and Donna Luff's Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen’s Women Fans (reviewed by Carrie Pitzulo,) Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen's book (based on their podcast) Renegades: Born in the USA (reviewed by James Tackach,) and Jesse Lawson's and Holly Casio's podcast Because the Boss Belongs to Us (reviewed by Lucas Crawford.) Madden writes in her introduction to the issue, "We hope these peer-reviewed articles from multiple academic disciplines, along with our reviews and inside look at the Springsteen archives, will appeal to both scholars and fans. Just as Bruce Springsteen continues to interrogate his own legacy, so too do we, the scholars and readers of BOSS. We appreciate the historical, cultural, and political dimensions of his work and are thrilled to see Springsteen Studies continue to thrive." The current issue and all previously published issues are available online to all interested readers, free of charge. Click here to read any and all issues of McGill University's Biannual Online-Journal Of Springsteen Studies (BOSS) . Caroline Madden also has contributed a new essay to Fun City Editions' upcoming Blu-ray release of John Sayles' great 1983 film Baby It's You , which was the first major-studio-released film to feature Springsteen music in its soundtrack. Sayles' film, starring Rosanna Arquette and Vincent Spano, has been restored from a 4K scan of its original camera negative for this Blu-ray release. Fun City Editions' Blu-ray version of Baby It's You will be released on April 15. Click here to pre-order your copy online.

  • Straight outta the gate for 2025, the Springsteen Archives is steppin' out over the line...

    January 15, 2025 With 2025 only two weeks old, The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University (BSACAM) already has some important circled dates and activities on its calendar for the new year. In fact, the first one takes place online tonight. The January 2025 installment of BSACAM's ongoing and online series Conversations with our Curator will start tonight, January 15, at 7pm ET. Archives curator Melissa Ziobro will conduct a conversation with June Skinner Sawyers, author of the recently published We Take Care of Our Own: Faith, Class, and Politics in the Art of Bruce Springsteen . As usual, after the conversation, members of the online audience will be able to participate in a Q-and-A session, as well. Click the image below and/or scan its QR code for more information and for event registration, which is free to all who are interested. And if you can't catch tonight's conversation live online, you'll still be able to watch it later. All past Conversations with our Curator  events also are archived at BSACAM's YouTube channel, so you always can catch up on any event that you might have missed, or re-watch any event. Click here to view the Archives' Conversations with our Curator   YouTube playlist. BSACAM also has just announced its Second Annual President’s Lecture on Music History and Contemporary America . On Thursday, January 30, beginning at 3pm ET, BSACAM Board of Directors member and Princeton University Professor of American History Sean Wilentz, who also has written the acclaimed book Bob Dylan in America , will present “‘I Don’t Write Protest Songs’: Bob Dylan, 1963” in Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University. The lecture is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required to attend. Click here for more information, and to register. Also recently announced was the date for the Archives' planned scholarly conference centered around the 50th anniversary of Born to Run later this year. The conference is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 7, presumably at Monmouth University. No further details have been announced yet, but a call has been issued for all scholars to submit their paper and panel abstracts no later than Saturday, March 15. Click here for detailed submission guidelines. And finally, while they haven't been announced just yet, before January is over we should know all of the details on the 2025 honorees and presenters, as well as ticketing information, for the Archives' 3rd Annual American Music Honors , to be held Saturday, April 26 at the University's Pollak Theatre. Stay tuned!

  • Springsteen Archives announces its 2025 American Music Honorees

    January 29, 2025 The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University has announced its 2025 American Music Honors recipients. In alphabetical order by last name, they are: Joe Ely - "known as one of the pioneers of progressive country and an early purveyor of what is now Americana" (award scheduled to be presented by Bruce Springsteen) John Fogerty - "best known for being the singer, songwriter, and frontman for the legendary band Creedence Clearwater Revival . His hits include 'Proud Mary,' 'Fortunate Son,' and 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain.'” (award scheduled to be presented by Bruce Springsteen) Emmylou Harris - "one of country music’s greatest voices, whose contributions to country have set the bar for so many of today’s female artists" (award scheduled to be presented by Patti Scialfa) Tom Morello - "has made his mark on modern rock with Rage Against the Machine, The Nightwatchman, and even as an occasional member of The E Street Band" (award scheduled to be presented by Nils Lofgren) Smokey Robinson - "artist, songwriter, producer... one of the architects of the famed ‘60s Motown Sound/the Sound of Young America with classics as 'The Tracks of My Tears,' 'Tears of a Clown,' and 'You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me'” (award scheduled to be presented by Stevie Van Zandt) “This year’s honorees represent a cross-section of American music,” said the Archives/Center's Founding Executive Director, Robert Santelli. “Rock, Americana, soul, and country are all represented by some of the most important artists from each of the genres. We are most excited to honor them and welcome them into the American Music Center family.” The 3rd Annual American Music Honors will take place in Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Once again, Stevie Van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul will serve as the evening’s house band. A limited number of tickets will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 12:00 pm EDT. Ticket information will be available on the Archives’ website here . For more information/general questions, please email awards@springsteenarchives.org or phone 732-571-3512.

  • Something special to honor and remember our back-to-back birthday-boy prophets on E Street...

    "The Phantom" (left, R.I.P.) and "Mad Dog" (right) flank their friend, bandmate, and boss - THE "Boss" - on the Jersey Shore back in the Summer of '73 (cropped photo by David Gahr/Getty Images; courtesy of The Estate of David Gahr; used with permission) January 22, 2025 Happy back-to-back birthdays to former E Street Band drummer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez (born on January 22, 1949) and the late, great E Street Band keyboardist "Phantom Dan" Federici (born on January 23, 1950.) Vini and Danny - who also are both Rock and Roll Hall of Famers , of course - are the only E Streeters to have celebrated back-to-back birthdays over the years. To honor and remember each of them on their respective special day this year, we're sharing above a rarely seen photographic image of the two E Street Band members flanking their bandleader Bruce Springsteen - on the Jersey Shore, no less - in an outtake from photo-sessions for The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle photographed by the late, great David Gahr on August 29, 1973. We've cropped this image from the full photographic image that we've licensed from Gahr's estate, which also can be seen below: photo by David Gahr/Getty Images; courtesy of The Estate of David Gahr; used with permission Happy Birthday today, Vini, and many, many more to you in the years to come, good sir. And Happy Birthday tomorrow to you in Rock and Roll Heaven, Danny. Much love and thanks to you both for all of the great music you've made. May it continue to be heard, appreciated, and enjoyed forevermore.

  • Out of the darkness, at last... Leonard Peltier is coming home!

    January 22, 2025 On Monday, in one of his final acts as outgoing President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. issued an Executive Grant of Clemency for the remainder of Leonard Peltier's prison sentence, allowing Peltier to leave prison and serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement, effective February 18.  "Tell everybody in Indian country and all the supporters around the world... I am very, very grateful for what you've done," said Peltier in his first public statement after Biden's action was announced. "You got me one step home. Home confinement is gonna be a million times better than what I'm living in. And I'll be able to get good medical treatment... I'll be able to see my friends... I'll be able to get my shoulders fixed. I can start painting again... It'll be just as good as freedom." One of Peltier's longest and strongest supporters has been Stevie Van Zandt, who as Little Steven wrote, recorded, and released his song "Leonard Peltier" in the late 1980s. During that same time period, Van Zandt also could be seen wearing "Free Leonard Peltier" clothing in several photos and videos. Below he can be seen wearing such apparel in screenshots from the 1985 Artists United Against Apartheid "Sun CIty" music-video and in journalist David Hepworth's 1987 BBC documentary Glory Days : More recently and much more important, of course, Van Zandt was scheduled to speak at Peltier's June 10, 2024 Parole Commission hearing, but the Commission ultimately cut the number of witnesses permitted to speak on behalf of Peltier. A few weeks later, however, Van Zandt contributed an op-ed piece to CNN . It focused mainly on responding to F.B.I. Director Christopher Wray's statement at the June 10 hearing urging the Parole Commission to deny parole to Peltier, and it's entitled, "I deeply respect the FBI. It’s in that spirit that I say they’re getting this very wrong." Van Zandt also told The New York Times  that the F.B.I.'s handling of Peltier's case was “really, really disturbing, and I think hurts the credibility of the F.B.I. to even try and defend it.” Stevie added that denying parole to Leonard Peltier would be “the final terrible chapter in one of the worst, most terrible chapters of American history.” Nevertheless, at that time parole was denied to Peltier yet again. Just a few months after our website launched, we at Letters To You began covering this struggle, Stevie Van Zandt's involvement in it, and how we and our readers could support the struggle, as well. You can click the links below to read any and all of what we've posted previously: For Native American Heritage Day 2023... [November 24, 2023] Where's the justice for Leonard Peltier... and "justice for all?" Say goodbye; it's Independence Day [July 4, 2024] For Native American Heritage Day 2024, tell President Biden to free Leonard Peltier; "Clemency Now!" [November 29, 2024] On Monday, Nick Tilsen, Founder and CEO of NDN (Native Indian) Collective , said, "Leonard Peltier’s commutation today is the result of fifty years of intergenerational resistance, organizing, and advocacy. Leonard Peltier’s liberation is our liberation – and while home confinement is not complete freedom, we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture. “Let Leonard’s freedom be a reminder that the entire so-called United States is built on the stolen lands of Indigenous people – and that Indigenous people have successfully resisted every attempt to oppress, silence, and colonize us. The commutation granted to Leonard Peltier is a symbol of our collective strength – and our resistance will never stop.” “Today’s decision," added Holly Cook Macarro of NDN Collective's Government Affairs, "shows the combined power of grassroots organizing and advocacy at the highest levels of government. We are grateful to President Biden and the leadership of Secretary Deb Haaland. All of us here today stand on the shoulders of three generations of activists who have fought for justice for Leonard Peltier. Today is a monumental victory – the day that Leonard Peltier finally goes home.”

  • Bruce takes the cake (truly) and rejoins his friends fighting Parkinson's, etc. @ LoD WinterFest '25

    photo by Mark Krajnak January 21, 2025 There was a lot going on during Light of Day 's WinterFest weekend this year, including a U.S. Presidential Inauguration weekend and predicted inclement weather, so it definitely was easy for one to be preoccupied. But Saturday night's Main Event (aka "Bob’s Birthday Bash") at Red Bank, New Jersey’s Count Basie Center for the Arts was its usual sold-out, energetic self, with a “surprise” appearance by Bruce Springsteen after a four-years absence and the return of Jesse Malin after a long recuperation from a spinal stroke highlighting the evening. photo by Mark Krajnak The show began with Remember Jones – a newly minted Light of Day board member and emcee for the evening – covering Sheryl Crow’s “Every Day is a Winding Road,” and his hardworking band blasted out a couple originals as well as a stealth, funkified rendition of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” that oddly did not seem to register with the audience despite the recent resurgence of interest in Bob Dylan. Jones and his band always bring the party vibes, though, and it was a lively start to the proceedings. photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak Jesse Malin - fresh off a pair of sold-out shows at New York’s Beacon Theatre – was an early standout. A fair number of folks in the audience had been in attendance at one or both of the New York events, but it was still quite a dramatic moment as the curtain rose to reveal a seated Malin at center stage, prompting the audience to rise and give him a standing ovation. He was able to stand for several songs during the set, and did briefly mention his lengthy rehab stint in Argentina, thanking folks for their messages of support. photo by Mark Krajnak About mid-set, Malin mentioned that he was bringing out a guest whom he first met working on his Glitter in the Gutter record , whereupon said guest - namely Bruce - walked onstage and duetted with him on “Broken Radio.” As per usual in the age of social media, the latter’s presence in the building was not much of a surprise, but there was still the usual hubbub of cell phones being rummaged for and folks rushing toward the front of the orchestra area, where ushers permitted many to lean against the wall on both side aisles – normally the exclusive turf of working photographers. Other notable performances included Brit-pop purveyors The Weeklings – who always seem to have a song on Little Steven's Underground Garage ’s “Coolest Song in the World” list — and Willie Nile , who also brought his "friend Bruce” to the stage to assume guitar and backing vocal duty on the anthemic “One Guitar.” photo by Mark Krajnak Adam Ezra ’s powerful, understated acoustic performance of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah” – played in honor of a friend whom he had just learned had passed away – was also memorable, and one of the few times during the course of the evening when there did not seem to be loud, intrusive chatter coming from the lobby. Also turning in a strong acoustic performance was John Rzeznik , who played a heartfelt set that included lesser known material like “Sympathy” (written during and after his journey to sobriety about ten years ago), as well as Goo Goo Dolls classics like “Iris.” photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak Closing out the night were, of course, Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers (augmented by Asbury Jukes keyboardist extraordinaire Jeff Kazee ,) who played a one-song teaser before calling Bruce out again for a brief set that included chestnuts like “The Promised Land” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” The set started off fairly perfunctorily, but Bruce really seemed to loosen up for “Savin’ Up” – preceded by a de rigueur rant in mock preacher mode – and “Pink Cadillac,” which he introduced by saying he originally wrote it as a joke and admonishing the band to come in on the chorus: "Do NOT disappoint me!" They didn't (despite Bruce himself flubbing a bit,) nor did Danny Clinch , who added some tasty blues-harmonica licks to the proceedings. "That's pretty good for a photographer, and for a concert promoter," Bruce stated with a smile. photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak Everyone trooped back onstage to join Bruce, Joe, and the Houserockers for the obligatory celebration of Light of Day founder Bob Benjamin’s birthday and an all-hands-on-deck concluding performance of the event’s namesake song. Benjamin was wheeled out and presented with a birthday cake – some of which ended up on Bruce’s face – and the evening drew to a close after Bruce performed his typical set-closer, an acoustic singalong version of “Thunder Road.” photo by Mark Krajnak This was the 25th official Light of Day event to be organized around Bob Benjamin's birthday, and now 26 years have passed since the very first Bob Benjamin birthday celebration to raise money for The Parkinson's Disease Foundation, held back in 1998 at Red Bank’s Downtown Cafe. Many miles have since been traveled by all, but as devices and media suck people’s attention elsewhere, and folks are increasingly loath to leave home, it was nice to see yet another sold-out house gathered for such an important and meaningful birthday party. All photos are by Mark Krajnak and used with permission. Click here to donate whatever you can to The Light of Day Foundation, Inc.

  • For Light of Day 2025... Thundercrack! Bruce comes back!

    photo by Mark Krajnak January 19, 2025 Last night, after a four-years absence and for the thirteenth time in the quarter-century history of official Light of Day events, Bruce Springsteen was an unbilled addition to the performers at the 2025 edition of "Bob's Birthday Bash" - The Main Event, held in Red Bank, NJ's Count Basie Center for the Arts. He performed with Jesse Malin on "Broken Radio," with Willie Nile on "One Guitar," and then closed the evening with Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers on an extended set of Grushecky and Springsteen songs, followed by a full-audience-and-all-performers sing-along to "Happy Birthday" (belatedly celebrating Light of Day founder Bob Benjamin's birthday) and "Thunder Road." photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak photo by Mark Krajnak We'll soon post here Lisa Iannucci's full report of the evening, along with more of Mark Krajnak 's photos. Stay tuned!

  • We're just around the corner now... Grushecky and Nile talk 25 years of Light of Day

    January 15, 2025 Saturday night's Light of Day Winterfest "Main Event" - aka "Bob's Birthday Bash," saluting Light of Day founder Bob Benjamin - will mark a quarter-century of Light of Day concerts, raising funds to fight Parkinson's disease, ALS, and PSP. What started as a single Light of Day concert at The Stone Pony on Benjamin's birthday (November 3, 2000) has since grown into a multi-day festival of musical events in the New Jersey region each January, accompanied by a yearlong calendar of Light of Day events at other locations in the U.S., as well as abroad. To help our readers and us in gearing up for Winterfest 2025, we at Letters To You were pleased and honored to speak yesterday with two of the musicians who, along with Bruce Springsteen and others, performed at that very first Light of Day concert back in 2000 and have remained strong Light of Day supporters since then: the great rockers and songwriters Joe Grushecky and Willie Nile . Grushecky and Nile shared with us their memories of and reflections on their involvement with Light of Day through the past quarter century, as well as this year's Winterfest and their plans to continue their involvement until the day that the battle against Parkinson's disease, ALS, and PSP is won at last. In the course of the conversation, they each discussed experiences and insights that were interesting, moving, funny, inspiring, heartbreaking, and ultimately filled with hope for the day when the horrible effects of these neurological diseases will be no more. Below are embedded links for our conversation with Joe Grushecky and Willie Nile, which is available on our SoundCloud and YouTube platforms: And just in case you haven't yet finalized your Light of Day Winterfest 2025 plans, click here for a complete guide and ticket-links for all Winterfest 2025 events , including tonight's first official Winterfest 2025 event at City Winery New York City, featuring Willie Nile . (If you can't attend any of the events, you still can click here to donate whatever you can to Light of Day .) Finally, stay tuned for more coverage of Light of Day Winterfest 2025 from Letters To You in the days to come.

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Letters To You LLC is not affiliated in any way with Bruce Springsteen, his management, his record company, and/or any of his other affiliated companies or agencies. For all official announcements regarding Springsteen releases, tours, etc., please visit BruceSpringsteen.net

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