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March 27, 2024 It was announced officially yesterday that Bruce Springsteen is the latest songwriter to be named an Ivors Academy Fellow, the highest honor bestowed by the organization. The Ivors Academy is the UK’s professional association for songwriters and composers. Springsteen becomes the first-ever non-UK-native songwriter that the Academy has inducted into Fellowship since its founding eighty years ago. (U.S.-born contemporary-classical-music composer John Adams and the late French contemporary-classical-music composer/conductor Pierre Boulez also are non-UK-native Fellows.) He joins a prestigious group that includes Joan Armatrading CBE, John Barry OBE, Kate Bush CBE, Peter Gabriel, Sir Barry Gibb CBE, Maurice Gibb CBE, Robin Gibb CBE, Sir Elton John, Annie Lennox OBE, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tim Rice, and Sting. The induction will be awarded officially to Springsteen at this year's annual Ivors with Amazon Music awards ceremony, which will take place at Grosvenor House in London on Thursday, May 23. The Ivors Academy and the Ivor Novello Awards are named after Welsh actor, dramatist, singer, and composer Ivor Novello, who became one of the most popular British entertainers in the first half of the 20th century. Among his many accomplishments, Novello wrote the World-War-I-period ballad "Keep the Home Fires Burning" and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's groundbreaking silent film The Lodger. As per yesterday's official announcement, Tom Gray, Chair of The Ivors Academy, said, “There is no one more fitting than Bruce Springsteen to be the first international songwriter inducted into our Fellowship. Songwriters are powerful storytellers, who capture our lives, loves and hardships. Bruce has always told the greatest stories. The Fellowship marks the esteem in which he is held by all those who share his craft.” Springsteen himself added, “I’m proud to be the first international songwriter to be recognized by The Ivors Academy. In addition to recognizing my songwriting, the award stands as a tribute to the fans and friends who have supported me and my work for the last fifty years. This entire country has made me feel welcome every step of the way, and for this, I will always remain deeply appreciative.” Click here to read more. Congratulations, Bruce!

March 27, 2024 As reported yesterday by Deadline and then confirmed by Variety, plans are afoot to adapt Warren Zanes' book Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska into a dramatic-narrative film. Actor-turned-writer-director Scott Cooper will helm the project, with actor Jeremy Allen White identified as the top choice to play Bruce Springsteen (though White hasn't yet signed on officially.) The film will be the first music-oriented "biopic" centered around any aspect of Springsteen's life and career. According to Deadline's report, "Springsteen and his manager Jon Landau are actively involved in the project, and more details will be forthcoming." Hmm. On "paper," so to speak, this project seems to have very strong trainwreck potential. And Letters To You has posted some misgivings with Zanes' book itself. (See our editor's note here.) On the other hand, Scott Cooper is the kind of talented writer-director who just might be able to pull off what seems like such an offbeat idea. And despite what we see as the EXTREMELY-less-than-stellar track-record of musician-biopics in general, we still have all fingers and toes crossed that in the end, Deliver Me From Nowhere will turn out to be a great film. Let's watch what happens next...

November 5, 2023 Today marks the official 50th anniversary of the release of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle. In the afterglow of Bruce Springsteen himself having joined The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music in getting a jump on celebrating the album's golden jubilee last weekend, our friends at E Street Radio have cooked up something special for today's 50th anniversary proper. Jim Rotolo and Greg Drew (who's also one of our Letters To You contributors) will dive into the album track-by-track, discussing and playing each one, and even including some of the outtakes. E Street Radio's The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle track-by-track special will make its on-air debut today, Sunday November 5, at 3pm ET on SiriusXM Channel 20. Other upcoming airdates and times are: Monday, November 6 at 10am ET Tuesday, November 7 at 4pm ET Wednesday, November 8 at 8am ET Thursday, November 9 at 6pm ET Friday, November 10 at 9am ET Saturday, November 11 at 5pm ET SiriusXM subscribers can listen to this special program on-demand/online, as well, via the SiriusXM app. Letters To You also is marking today's anniversary with a special "Temporary Tillie Takeover" of our website. Our standard postage-stamp logo is being replaced for a bit by another postage-stamp logo, also created by ace artist Stephen Winchell (with website consultant Brian Samelson applying a bit of his postmark-tweaking magic, as well.) This one, of course, features Tillie, the legendary Asbury Park Palace Amusements icon who remains immortal even in the face of shameful neglect - and sometimes worse - by certain Jersey Shore developers, politicians, bureaucrats, etc. Tillie also was a major figure in the original ad campaign for The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, as can be seen in the vintage full-page ad pictured above. And for Washington, DC/Virginia-area fans, the WIESS@50 celebration will continue into Thanksgiving Weekend 2023, thanks to the DC-area special-musical-events production company known as Newmyer Flyer. On Saturday, November 25, a group of DC-based musicians will perform the songs from The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, as well as the songs from another classic album that was a major influence on Springsteen's second LP: Van Morrison's 1970 masterpiece Moondance. (Check out the poster designed for this event, too: an ingenious album-covers mashup that suggests the possibility that Moondance's influence might have been at least somewhat visual as well as musical.) This special concert will take place at The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

March 23, 2024 There's a new official music-video for Mark Knopfler's Guitar Heroes' version of "Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)," the all-star charity recording to benefit Teen Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America, on which we reported previously here and here. This new music-video identifies each of the supergroup's members' individual solos and parts, including Bruce Springsteen's contribution, which begins at the 4:08 mark and lasts about forty seconds. Check it out below: We definitely can hear some surf-guitar sound and style in Bruce's part, as well as the influence of Glen Campbell's work on some of his classic hits like "Galveston" and "Wichita Lineman." It's also so cool to hear Bruce trading off his licks (via mixing-board magic) with Ry Cooder, Sam Fender, Buddy Guy, Nile Rodgers, Zak Starkey, Pete Townshend, Joe Walsh, and Ronnie Wood. (Hey, Boss, speakin' of Buddy Guy, now that you're healthy and back on tour with "a much wider song-selection going on," maybe you could reconsider that Buddy Guy cover suggestion of ours from last September, especially since you're still "young" enough to pull it off. Just a thought...) Click here to purchase your copy of "Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)" recorded by Bruce Springsteen and all other members of Mark Knopfler's Guitar Heroes, in support of Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America.

March 21, 2024 Not surprisingly, after Tuesday night's Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert in Phoenix, Stevie Van Zandt didn't just high-tail it back to his hotel-room and slip into his (presumably) paisley (or perhaps leopard-skin-print) pajamas. Instead he headed over to the special "Stevie's After-Party" edition of the ongoing Wicked Cool Records Revue touring showcase, held at downtown Phoenix's Crescent Ballroom. Jake Clemons stopped by, as well. Unlike many "A-lister" after-parties, mere mortals were granted admission, as well...and for only about twenty-five bucks per person, at that! Those in attendance got to see and hear four great mini-sets performed by some of the best acts signed to Van Zandt's own record label: (in order of appearance at Tuesday's Phoenix gig:) Soraia, The Cocktail Slippers, The Chesterfield Kings, and Slim Jim Phantom & The Wildcats. The Wicked Cool label is yet another part of Stevie's tireless efforts to support both veteran rockers and up-and-coming artists, helping to keep great rock-and-roll alive for current listeners and future generations. “The Wicked Cool Records Revue will give people a taste of the twenty fabulous acts on our record label,” he says. “People know Slim Jim Phantom from the Stray Cats, but they may not have had an opportunity to see Slim Jim Phantom & The Wildcats. We’ve also got Soraia, one of our most popular bands from Philadelphia, and the fabulous Cocktail Slippers are coming all the way from Norway. I’m particularly excited about the return of the legendary Chesterfield Kings, the garage band that set the standards for all others back in the eighties. It’s their first show in fifteen years and we couldn’t be more thrilled.” Before Tuesday night's gig in Phoenix, the bands also got to catch their record-label head in action onstage with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at the Footprint Center. The Cocktail Slippers posted on their Facebook page this photo of them hanging out backstage with Stevie and being "not worthy!" with Alice Cooper, who attended the Footprint Center show: There are only two more chances to catch the current Wicked Cool Records Revue: tonight's 21-and-over event in Las Vegas and Friday night's all-ages event in San Francisco. Click here for more information, including ticket-purchasing links, although it was just announced that there will be NO cover charge for tonight's Vegas event! Unlike Tuesday night's Phoenix gig, neither Stevie Van Zandt nor any other E Streeters have been confirmed to attend tonight's Las Vegas event, but ya never know. More important, if YOU attend, you're guaranteed to hear some wicked cool Wicked Cool music, baby! All photos from Phoenix's The Crescent Ballroom; March 19, 2024 by Shawn Poole

March 21, 2024 EDITOR'S NOTE: Thirty years ago tonight, Bruce Springsteen won his first (and, to date, only) Academy Award. The Oscar went to Springsteen for "Streets of Philadelphia," the song that he wrote for Jonathan Demme's film Philadelphia. To mark this anniversary, we have invited contributing writer and Springsteen as Soundtrack expert Caroline Madden to write about "Streets of Philadelphia," its role in Demme's film, its importance in Springsteen's career, and its thematic connections to the rest of his music and messages. We are honored to present Caroline's essay below: On March 21, 1994, Bruce Springsteen accepted the Academy Award for Best Original Song for his contribution to Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia, “Streets of Philadelphia.” The powerful song is Springsteen at his very best, using a combination of sparse instrumentation and subjective lyrics to clearly convey the inner thoughts and struggles of someone living with AIDS. At the time, the epidemic had been largely swept under the rug by the Reagan administration, save for dismissive jokes about the “gay plague” during press conferences. In Springsteen’s song, ethereal synthesizers evoke the narrator's close brush with death and the drum loop his wandering of the lonely streets. You can feel the weight of his illness getting heavier with each plodding step of the steady, hip-hop beat. By writing the lyrics in the first-person, the listener is able to closely identify with how the narrator’s illness causes him to slowly waste away into someone he no longer recognizes—like so many of the friends he has already lost. There's a somber resignation in Springsteen’s plain vocals, giving the sense that he has already accepted his grim fate—even as he still asks his community if he will be left unacknowledged and uncared for. Jonathan Demme's film, which centers on a man with AIDS who sues his law firm for wrongful dismissal, was intentionally made for “the malls.”  The director sought to cast a wide net of viewers, especially conservative ones, in the hopes that they might begin to empathize with those with this disease—especially the LGBTQ+ community. While independent films such as Parting Glances and Longtime Companion addressed the AIDS crisis, they mainly appealed to art-house connoisseurs (who were likely also LGBTQ+ themselves). Demme appealed to broader audience members by using Bruce Springsteen on the soundtrack and Tom Hanks, the quintessential American everyman, as his star. Donning acid-washed jeans and muscle tees, belting anthems extolling the virtues of souped-up cars and dirt-under-the-fingernails labor, Springsteen’s rock-star persona exuded ruggedness and machismo—particularly during the height of his 1980s popularity. The participation of these beloved stars, known for their very heteronormative palatability, ensured that there was no “danger” in more traditionalist audience members embracing Demme’s queer-focused film. But Springsteen would buck this conservative interpretation of his star image, making it clear that he did not endorse some of the more intolerant ideologies of his right-leaning fans. While "Streets of Philadelphia” was a very public declaration of Springsteen's support for the queer community, he further cemented his allyship in a 1996 interview with The Advocate, a legendary LGBTQ+ publication. This was a very significant interview for a major rock star. Springsteen declared that everyone, regardless of their sexuality, is entitled to the beautiful rewards of marriage and children. He reflected on how his relationship with his father, who resented his son’s artistic and sensitive nature, taught him the importance of acceptance and allowing children to pursue their own paths in life. Springsteen also affirmed that he would fully embrace his children's LGBTQ+ identity if they were to come out. Springsteen would make similar observations on how his upbringing shaped his acceptance of diverse identities in his autobiography Born to Run. As a young rock-and-roll outsider, he defied the clean-cut norms of his insular Freehold community. His working-class enclave scorned the long-haired hippies of the growing counterculture, as well as their African-American neighbors. It would be unthinkable for anyone to be openly queer in such an environment. But Springsteen was forged on the streets of Asbury Park, which has long been an LGBTQ+ mecca, and often skipped school as a teenager to prowl New York City’s Greenwich Village. Both of these locales boast a vibrant, bohemian culture that undoubtedly exposed Springsteen to a melting pot of artistic expression, sexual and gender fluidity, and unconventional lifestyles starkly contrasting with his hometown. We can see these influences throughout his music, especially in his early work. Looking beneath the dirty hood of Springsteen's alpha-male persona that swept the mid-1980s by storm, we find someone who has consistently included LGBTQ+ characters and ideals within his music—either directly or indirectly. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. includes several references to complex interplay of gender and sexuality. The soft ballad "Mary Queen of Arkansas'' revolves around a transgender woman, someone who is "not man enough for me to hate or woman enough for kissing." The narrator enamors her "soft hulk," a line that suggests a paradox between her sex and gender expression. The mealy-mouthed phrase "wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide" from "Lost in the Flood" infers the radical changes in society, as well as traditional masculinity, that the Vietnam veteran encounters upon his homecoming. The world is now just as unstable and unfamiliar as the jungle he fought in. The song "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle features lily-white boys wearing "high heels." While these were possibly the popular Beatle boots of the era, the boardwalk flâneurs could have easily been wearing more feminine footwear. On “Incident on 57th Street,” there are “golden-heeled fairies” and “romantic young boys” freely kissing one another goodbye. In live performances of "Wild Billy's Circus Story," Springsteen sings "the leather boy tightens his legs on the sword swallower's blade.” This line offers a clearer depiction of gender as opposed to the vague term “hired hand,” enhancing the line’s suggestive undertones. While some of these songs have outdated vernacular or are considered “problematic” by contemporary standards, they still illustrate the diverse canvas that Springsteen was toying with. He created a musical landscape filled with nonconforming individuals. Another issue is that Springsteen tends to frame the LGBTQ+ figures as peculiar oddities, especially when linking them to a circus environment. This implies that their identities are something to be gawked at rather than normalized. However, Springsteen was a young man when he wrote these songs, and his artistic evolution would lead to a more sophisticated portrayal of queer life. The gender of Terry in "Backstreets" from Born to Run is hotly debated. While there is ample evidence that Terry is female, such as the "Sad Eyes'' interlude during live shows, Springsteen also describes the close friends’ desire to emulate their movie heroes. This brings to mind the leather-jacketed male roadsters of the B-movies that inspired other tracks on the album. However, the narrator’s relationship with Terry is incredibly fraught and emotionally charged, one that requires them to run away and hide on the backstreets. They are left stranded in the park and find solace lying together in an abandoned beach house before they are forced to confess the true nature of their relationship. These lyrical motifs of clandestine intimacy and social marginalization deeply resonate with LGBTQ+ experiences. The title character of "Bobby Jean" from Born in the U.S.A. is also gender-neutral, calling into question the song’s relationship dynamic. The narrator refers to Bobby Jean as “baby,” which suggests femininity and a romantic attachment, but the line about liking the same music, bands, and clothes suggests that they are platonic friends of the same gender identity. The narrator harbors a deep affection for Bobby Jean, seeing them as a kindred spirit with the same view of the world. However, the lyrics teeter between platonic and romantic tones, obscuring the truth of their relationship Springsteen frequently explores these types of tight-knit bonds with amorous subtexts. Many of his same-sex characters are unafraid of physical closeness, such as the kiss between the “brothers'' of “This Hard Land.” Springsteen animated this type of brotherly love on stage with Clarence Clemons. The sight of two strapping men openly sharing a firm kiss—often at the triumphant end of "Thunder Road," as if Clemons were the equivalent of Mary finally climbing into Bruce’s car—conveyed an ethos of openness and acceptance. Of course, we know his relationship with Clemons is platonic and this is all theatrics, but through this gesture Springsteen asserts that there is no inherent taboo in the physical expression of same-sex affection, whether through love or friendship. Another notable visual moment occurs in the “Tougher Than the Rest" music video from Tunnel of Love, a tender declaration of commitment through adversity. Released in 1988, the video features an adorable montage of both heterosexual and queer couples posing as if they are in a boardwalk photo booth, attesting that everyone is welcome to ride the tunnel of love. Other songs have been adopted by the LGBTQ+ community. The line “closets are for hangers” from “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) has popped up on lots of queer Etsy merchandise. “Dancing in the Dark,” with lyrics about yearning to change “my clothes, my hair, my face” and spark a new beginning, embodies very queer themes of liberation, defiance, and self-discovery. People who are LGBTQ+ often seek to change their way of dress and appearance in ways that challenge societal expectations. After the success of "Streets of Philadelphia," Bruce has continued to show his support for the LGBTQ+ community, whether it be in live performances or acts of protest. During a concert in Portland, Oregon on March 28, 2008, he replaced "Germans" with "lesbians" in "American Land," tipping his hat to the audience members wearing Lesbians ♥ Bruce t-shirts. He canceled his April 10, 2016 concert in Greensboro, North Carolina in response to the controversial "bathroom bill," which mandated individuals use public restrooms corresponding to their birth sex. Springsteen’s decision amplified the visibility of the issue on a national scale, with many other artists and athletes following suit in canceling their events. In this day and age, it isn’t revolutionary to champion LGBTQ+ men and women, nor do we need to overly praise a straight white man for acknowledging their existence. However, we should commemorate Springsteen for embracing the queer community from the very beginning of his career. As someone who grew up as an “outcast weirdo misfit sissy boy,” Springsteen has so eloquently captured what it feels like to be an outsider and the difficulties of finding your place in an often hostile world. With these themes, it’s no surprise that so many LGBTQ+ fans have connected to his music. Bruce Springsteen’s body of work insists that everyone—regardless of race, country of origin, religious beliefs, gender expression, and sexual preference—can climb aboard the United States’ figurative train of acceptance and unity. It’s easy to say that this is a very romanticized vision of America, but Springsteen’s recurring efforts to include, support, and give voice to LGBTQ+ individuals shows that they are an invaluable part of our national and global community. Through the power of music, Springsteen shows that changing minds is possible and the differences in our identities is what makes our world a richer and more beautiful place. ---------- Caroline also has provided this small bibliographical listing of and links for books, essays, and articles that feature more in-depth writing on Bruce Springsteen's relationship with the LGBTQ+ community: "Things That Can Only Be Found in the Darkness on the Edge of Town: The queerness of Bruce Springsteen" by Naomi Gordon-Loebl from The Nation "Beyond blood brothers: queer Bruce Springsteen" by Rosalie Zdzienicka Fanshel from Popular Music Vol. 32, No. 3 (October 2013), pp. 359-383 "Is there anybody alive out there? Growing up queer with Bruce" by Holly Casio from Bruce Springsteen and Popular Music "My Butch Lesbian Mom, Bruce Springsteen" by Natalie Adler from Electric Lit ---------- Some further reading at Letters To You on Philadelphia/"StreetsOfPhiladelphia"@30: "30 years ago today... PHILADELPHIA, featuring Springsteen's 'Streets of Philadelphia,' first opens in theaters" (December 22, 2023) Bruce’s Best Original Song Oscar acceptance speech: “Thank you. This is the first song I ever wrote for a motion picture, so I guess it’s all downhill from here. But Neil, I gotta share this with you. [Neil Young wrote and performed “Philadelphia,” which played over the ending of Jonathan Demme’s film and also was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar that evening.]  You do your best work, and you hope that it pulls out the best in your audience, that some piece of it spills over into the real world, into people’s everyday lives, and it takes the edge off the fear and allows us to recognize each other through our veil of differences. I always thought that was one of the things popular art was supposed to be about, along with the merchandising and all of the other stuff. But I just want to say thank you, Jonathan, for having me as a part of your picture. I’m glad my song has contributed to its ideas and its acceptance. Love, you, Pats, and thank you, all, for inviting me to your party.” Music writer, cultural/political critic, and broadcaster Dave Marsh on “Streets of Philadelphia” and its deep connection to his family: “My daughter, Kristen Ann Carr, the product of [former Springsteen co-manager] Barbara Carr’s first marriage but raised by me since she was three years old, had developed liposcarcoma, a very rare cancer. Kristen loved Bruce the way you love a person you’ve known from infancy and have watched grow into a virtually mythic figure while remaining someone sitting next to you on the couch...Bruce would play a benefit to help us endow a Kristen Ann Carr Fund for Sarcoma Research…It would be the final show of his 1992–1993 tour... Later in 1993, director Jonathan Demme asked Bruce to write a song for his upcoming movie about a Philadelphia lawyer fighting AIDS and the law firm that fired him because of antihomosexual bigotry. Bruce responded by writing a beautiful, somber song called ‘Streets of Philadelphia.’ Whether it’s a great song about AIDS, I don’t know; but having studied the subject more than a little (see my Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story and The New Book of Rock Lists), I know it’s one of the greatest rock songs about death and dying. The first time I heard Bruce sing one of its most poignant lines—“...my clothes don’t fit me no more”—I knew that Kristen had left her mark on the song. When Bruce accepted his Grammy[s] for Song of the Year [and Best Male Rock Vocal performance, on March 1, 1995, Dave Marsh's 45th birthday,] he thanked Kristen, ‘whose spirit is in this song.’ I love my kids and my wife, and I do my best to love myself. All that comes with the territory. For two books—call them histories, biographies, hagiographies, whatever—I did my best to explain why I loved Bruce Springsteen’s music while avoiding talking about why I love him. At the time, that seemed to come with that territory. But now that Bruce has demonstrated his love for my family in such tangible and intangible fashion, I’m in a place beyond words. So I will not speak further but leave you as is only appropriate with lines from Bruce Springsteen: But the stars are burnin bright like some mystery uncovered I’ll keep movin through the dark with you in my heart My blood brother.” – from the introduction to the 1996 Thunder’s Mouth Press edition of Glory Days: The Bruce Springsteen Story Volume II

March 20, 2024 After a six-months-plus delay due to his peptic ulcer disease treatment and recovery, Bruce Springsteen resumed his 2023-2024 tour with the E Street Band last night at a sold-out gig in Phoenix, Arizona's Footprint Center. Letters To You was there, and the (relatively) short take is this... How very fortunate we are to get more chances to see Bruce and this band once again in fine form, picking up exactly where they left off, with a life-affirming live show that continues to connect the essential elements of Springsteen's most recent records with some of his greatest all-time material, which also just happens to be some of the greatest popular music ever written and performed. "Performed" is an especially important word here, too. It's not just about what songs were chosen to be played last night and why (though if you're that curious about the specific songs themselves, they're listed right below for you.) It's at least as important that once more we're getting to witness in person this legendary live performer and his most famous, equally legendary backing band deliver such a meaningful, important, rockin' and (often, though not solely) downright fun show like this with all of the skills, knowledge, and passion that they can muster... and without a single costume-change or domed video screen in sight, either. To put it even more succinctly... Setlist schmetlist! Last night was a triumphant, hopeful return. Full report and more photos to come ASAP - from both last night's Springsteen/ESB concert, as well as the "Stevie's After-Party" Wicked Cool Records Revue event that followed it in downtown Phoenix. Stay tuned... Setlist from Phoenix, AZ 3-19-2024 Lonesome Day Night No Surrender Two Hearts Darlington County Ghosts Prove It All Night Darkness on the Edge of Town Letter to You The Promised Land Spirit In The Night Don't Play That Song Nightshift Mary's Place Last Man Standing Backstreets Because The Night She's The One Wrecking Ball The Rising Badlands Thunder Road Born To Run Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) Glory Days Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Twist and Shout I'll See You In My Dreams Photo above by Shawn Poole

March 18, 2024 And now for the latest meteorological and musicological forecasts... Tomorrow evening, both Spring and Springsteen (with his legendary E Street Band in tow, of course) will officially return - the former to the Northern Hemisphere and the latter to the concert stage. They'll be arriving at right around the same time, too. Spring 2024 is set to begin officially at 8:06 p.m. in Phoenix, Arizona, which is where Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band are officially scheduled to perform their first 2024 concert, performing at the Footprint Center with a listed-on-the-ticket starting-time of 7:30 p.m. (probably a bit later than that, as per past practice, but we'll see...) Letters To You will have a full, on-the-scene report from the show ready for our readers as soon as possible. Stay tuned, all you fellow freaks, fans, and friends! Oh, and ICYMI, Rob DeMartin's official photos of Bruce and the E Streeters rehearsing together for their long-awaited return to live performance in 2024 can be seen here and here. Welcome back, Spring! Welcome back, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band! UPDATE (morning of March 19, 2024:) Yesterday, Pam Springsteen's great rehearsal photos also got added to Bruce Springsteen's official Instagram page:

March 17, 2024 Appropriately, as Women's History Month draws to its conclusion, The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music will host an online conversation with Lorraine Mangione and Donna Luff, the co-authors of Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen's Women Fans. Conversations with our Curator, Melissa Ziobro – Lorraine Mangione and Donna Luff will take place on Wednesday, March 27, beginning at 7pm ET. Registration to attend this event online is free and open to the general public. Click below for details and to register: And for more from Luff and Mangione on their important work, check out our own Letters To You podcast with the authors from last September, hosted by London-based journalist and Letters To You contributor Herpreet Grewal. Click here to read about it, and to listen in on our Soundcloud and/or YouTube platforms.

March 14, 2024 Bruce Springsteen's two most recent television appearances, both still available on-demand, explore the "celebrity do-gooder" description often applied to himself and others, as well as the complexities and potential pitfalls of such roles. Both of them find him working in collaboration with others, though in one case on a far more serious note than the other. In Netflix's documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, about the formation of the 1985 superstar supergroup USA For Africa and the creation and recording of its best-selling anti-hunger charity single "We Are The World," Springsteen's modern-day interview segments stand out. As one of the key artists involved in the project, and as an artist who developed and maintained a strong involvement in supporting anti-hunger efforts both before and after USA For Africa, his perspective on the project's significance and legacy is among the least hyperbolic and most realistic. In fact, pretty much the entire remainder of the documentary is focused strictly on the songwriting and recording processes behind creating "We Are The World," including some of the music-industry and recording-session politics still in play even on a night when everyone was famously instructed to "check your ego at the door." Very interesting "fly-on-the-wall" kind of stuff, for sure, but overall little time gets spent on adequately placing "We Are The World" within the historical contexts of what preceded it, as well as what would follow it. For example, there's no mention of the late Harry Chapin's groundbreaking mergers of music and anti-hunger activism, including a visit to Ethiopia during its 1970s hunger crisis, despite Chapin's strong connections to and influence on key USA For Africa figures Ken Kragen, Harry Belafonte, Kenny Rogers, Billy Joel, and, yes, Bruce Springsteen. (Fortunately, we recently learned from the Chapin camp that a bit later this year the 2021 documentary Harry Chapin: When In Doubt, Do Something, in which Springsteen also appears, will be reissued along with the release of a new Chapin documentary. Stay tuned...) We also get Kenny Loggins' inside-baseball story of Paul Simon allegedly looking around at the assembled group of USA For Africa superstars in the recording studio and saying, "Whoa, if a bomb lands on this place, John Denver's back on top." Cute quip in an oh-so-hip kinda way, perhaps, except you'll never learn from this doc that just a few years later Simon would go on to flagrantly violate the U.N.'s cultural boycott of South Africa that Artists United Against Apartheid supported, while John Denver would become a vocal ally in the fight against music censorship. Such contradictions and complexities of celebrity-philanthropy culture also got explored by Bruce Springsteen with another set of collaborators - though this time with their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks - in a recent episode of HBO/Max's Curb Your Enthusiasm. In the second episode of the series' twelfth and final season, entitled "The Lawn Jockey," Larry David's alter ego gets misperceived as a hero in the struggle for voting rights in Georgia. Springsteen appears briefly as himself, seen on MSNBC lauding David's perceived heroism. "Involvement," enthuses The Boss, "That's Larry David's middle name... Larry 'Involvement' David." It's a smart, funny, self-deprecating little satire of celebrity-do-goodism politics, while simultaneously never becoming cynical enough to understate the important civil-rights struggle that continues in Georgia and in many other parts of the U.S. In real life, Springsteen also doesn't let the limitations and complexities of celebrity philanthropy keep him from still supporting worthy causes when and where he can. Case in point: Bruce is part of the group of famous "ambassadors" participating in the Buddy Holly Words of Love book project, initiated by The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, and benefiting Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America. The project was conceived by The Who's Roger Daltrey as a way to share and sustain Holly's legacy while benefiting two key organizations that support teenagers with cancer. Words of Love focuses on Buddy Holly's history and enduring importance. Each ambassador is photographed with their specially designed guitar - a replica of Holly's 1943 Gibson J45, named and stylized after one of Holly's songs, and presented to the ambassador as a gift from The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation. The ambassador also shares some handwritten thoughts on why Holly's work remains important and influential. Here's Springsteen's two-page spread: Other ambassadors include original Crickets band-members Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis, Paul Anka, James Burton, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Steve Cropper, Roger Daltrey, Dion, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, Don Everly, Phil Everly, John Fogerty, Dave Grohl, Emmylou Harris, Mick Jagger, Joan Jett, Mark Knopfler, Brian May, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Graham Nash, Willie Nelson, Willie Nile, Dolly Parton, Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Linda Ronstadt, Ed Sheeran, Sting, Pete Townshend, Brian Wilson, Ronnie Wood, and The Zombies. Greil Marcus wrote Words of Love's introduction. The book is currently available only in a "Deluxe" edition limited to just 500 copies, quarter-bound in apple leather and cloth, with black and sonic blue foiling, and gold page edging. The front cover is screen-printed with artwork created exclusively for this project by Ronnie Wood. Each numbered copy is signed by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend. Additionally, Deluxe copies include a photographic print of a previously unpublished portrait of Buddy Holly. Hand-numbered and blind-stamped with Buddy's signature, the 8" x 10" print is suitable for framing. Completing the boxed set, an exclusive 7-inch vinyl pressing features two rare home recordings made by Buddy Holly. It costs over £943 - more than $1200 - to pre-order a copy of this edition before its September 2024 publication. This approach towards limited-edition, high-end pricing of books may help to raise some badly needed funds for worthy organizations and causes, but the downside is that very few readers get access to important books and cultural information. Here's hoping that a book like Words of Love eventually gets re-published in a less expensive edition accessible to many more readers. Another relatively recent book project that is similarly pricey not only involved Springsteen, but also is centered around a very important period of his musical career. Published late last fall, photographer Lynn Goldsmith's Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (full book-cover/spine title Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Darkness On The Edge Of Town) is 364 pages' worth of Goldsmith's images and recollections of her time spent in the late 1970s with Bruce and his band, as she captured on film hundreds of photographs taken mainly during the recording of Darkness on the Edge of Town and the tour that followed its release. As Springsteen himself (who also had a romantic relationship with Goldsmith during this period) writes in the book, “These photos remain a record of a time when I truly played for my life, night after night.” In this case, the high price-tag of $750/copy (with the now-sold-out first 200 editions, each accompanied by a numbered/signed Goldsmith print, having been priced $1000 higher per copy) doesn't directly benefit any particular charity or cause. Goldsmith, however, spent a substantial amount of her own money to win her precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court case last May. So depending on how you feel about the ramifications of Goldsmith's victory, and whether you can afford such a steep price for her book, you might be a bit more willing to fork over the bucks to help support the offsetting of her legal expenses. And finally, the latest all-star "celebrity do-gooder" collaboration to feature Springsteen drops officially tomorrow, when Mark Knopfler's Guitar Heroes' recording of "Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)" gets its official release. This new recording of Knopfler's instrumental - part of his beautiful score to the great 1983 film Local Hero, and later used as the run-out music for Newcastle United, Knopfler's hometown soccer club - also benefits Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America, as the Words of Love book does. Springsteen performs with more than fifty other guitar heroes, including the late, great Jeff Beck, who made his final recording for this project. (The Guitar Heroes version of "Going Home" begins with Beck's guitar track.) But not everybody involved wields an axe. Roger Daltrey, Teenage Cancer Trust’s Honorary Patron and co-founder of Teen Cancer America (with Pete Townshend), added harmonica, and Ringo Starr is on drums along with his son Zak Starkey, their two drum tracks switching from one to the other. Sting completes the rhythm section on bass. The complete lineup of Mark Knopfler's Guitar Heroes consists of Joan Armatrading, Jeff Beck, Richard Bennett, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Brown, James Burton, Jonathan Cain, Paul Carrack, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Jim Cox, Steve Cropper, Sheryl Crow, Danny Cummings, Roger Daltrey, Duane Eddy, Sam Fender, Guy Fletcher, Peter Frampton, Audley Freed, Vince Gill, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Keiji Haino, Tony Iommi, Joan Jett, John Jorgenson, Mark Knopfler, Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Greg Leisz, Alex Lifeson, Steve Lukather, Phil Manzanera, Dave Mason, Hank Marvin, Brian May, Robbie McIntosh, John McLaughlin, Tom Morello, Rick Nielsen, Orianthi, Brad Paisley, Nile Rodgers, Mike Rutherford, Joe Satriani, John Sebastian, Connor Selby, Slash, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey, Sting, Andy Taylor, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Ian Thomas, Pete Townshend, Keith Urban, Steve Vai, Waddy Wachtel, Joe Louis Walker, Joe Walsh, Ronnie Wood, Glenn Worf, and Zucchero. Click here to purchase Mark Knopfler's Guitar Heroes' recording of "Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)" in support of Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America.

March 15, 2024 NOW AVAILABLE - Click here to purchase your copy of "Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)" recorded by Bruce Springsteen and all other members of Mark Knopfler's Guitar Heroes, in support of Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America. And click here for more details about Springsteen's latest charity-focused collaboration, as part of our March 14 overview entitled Bruce "Involvement" Springsteen's recent teamups, focused (sometimes satirically) on philanthropy.

March 10, 2024 "My good friend Bruce Springsteen joined us for 'Pink Houses' at the NJPAC 3/10/24." -text accompanying posted video at John Mellencamp's official Facebook page, embedded below