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May 11, 2025 Regular readers of Letters To You know that I've been fortunate enough to enjoy a long personal and professional relationship with the great music writer and Springsteen biographer,  Dave Marsh . For more than four decades now, Dave has been a trusted and invaluable friend, mentor, and collaborator. One of the more surprising and delightful things to come out of our friendship are the occasional interactions that eventually occurred between Dave and my late mother, of all people. Looking back now, however, I actually shouldn't have been too surprised by any of those interactions. After all, though they were a generation apart in age, both Dave and my mom were born and raised in Michigan, they both love(d) baseball, children, Christmas, and of course the music of Bruce Springsteen, which played an important role in helping their paths to cross and connect, as it often has for so many listeners. After we first met in 1979 (at one of his book-signings for  Born To Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story , naturally,) Dave and I eventually became closer friends. Throughout the early-to-mid-1980s I would hang out with him whenever possible at various music industry events, became a contributing editor for his independent newsletter  Rock & Roll Confidential  (later renamed  Rock & Rap Confidential ) - usually writing from a musician's point of view – and occasionally spend time with him at his family's New York apartment, which was a bit like visiting the archives of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, my mom eventually got to know the name Dave Marsh very well, too. As I previously wrote in this website's big feature on Marsh and his 2023 Kick Out The Jams anthology , in 1978 - before Mom or I had even met Dave, let alone began to know him personally - I suggested that she read his Rolling Stone cover story on the Darkness... tour so that she might better understand why the music of Bruce Springsteen had become so important to me. "I think I understand now, Gregory," she said to me after reading that Rolling Stone feature. "I can see why you want to go [to Springsteen concerts] so often...The guy who wrote that is a very interesting writer. Made me feel like I was at the show." And as time went by, Mom would notice my copy of the latest Dave Marsh book or read one of my RRC pieces, and she'd begin to connect that "interesting writer" from  Rolling Stone  to her son’s new friend. Of course, it also wasn't too long before "Brucemania" kicked into full swing, with the release of  Born in the USA . Bruce was everywhere, all the time, such that even a suburban housewife in her mid-fifties, like my mom, could become a fan, especially if her son already was a huge fan who attended multiple concerts in 1984. Mom enjoyed the "Dancing in the Dark" video (Thank you, MTV - I think,) she loved the drumming on "Born in the USA" (having been a drummer herself, back in high school,) and she swooned, as so many did, over the "I’m on Fire" video. But the "Glory Days" video was where the "trouble" really began. Not only could I point out my pool-playing friend Dave's cameo in the video - playing, by the way, with all the dexterity of a journalist – but it also featured two of her life favorites: children and baseball. And let’s not forget the clean-shaven all-American singer, singing an incredibly catchy song. One night, we happened to be watching it together and suddenly I heard my mom say, "I heard he’s doing some shows at Giants Stadium. Do you think your friend Dave could get us some tickets?" Up until that point in our relationship, I'd never hit up Mr. Marsh for Bruce tickets, and I had sworn to myself that I would be the one person who never would. But I knew three unfortunate facts: the tickets already had been placed on sale, they had sold out quickly, and now tickets were available only for resale through "ticket-brokers" (legalized scalpers.) The guy I normally used only had field-level seats to sell, and I couldn't imagine my 56-year-old mother dealing with that madness. So I summoned up my courage, as well as a little bit of charm, and called Dave to ask him for four tickets in the stands. (I asked for four because I had equally fanatical friends, and I also figured I could use a buffer!) Dave was pleasantly surprised by the request and said that he thought Barbara [Carr, Dave Marsh's wife and Bruce Springsteen's longtime co-manager] would get a kick out of it. He, of course, came through and for the two extra seats, I invited my friend Michael, who is thoroughly charming and socially adept in any situation (unlike myself.) My last ask was my great friend from college, Julian, who already knew Mom. When I told Julian - a terrific recording engineer - that I had an extra ticket for Giants Stadium, he began to comment on outdoor concert sound not being up to his standards, etc. I mentioned Michael, and then told him the fourth would be my mom. "I’m in," he replied immediately. "Give me the date so I can take off work." The evening did not disappoint, even beyond the usual E Street Band greatness. Not only was Ma Drew attending her first stadium rock show, but thanks to our benefactors, we were in the VIP section. New Jersey’s own Jack Nicholson, along with Angelica Huston, were sitting a couple rows in front of us. Various other movie stars were in our section, too, and Julian’s sacrifice was rewarded with a seat next to Mariel Hemingway. Mom was thrilled by the show, loved Max’s drumming, and thought Bruce was an exceptional performer. She got a particular kick out of the sequences when Bruce would run out to the end of the extended stage wings, with the band tagging along. She referred to it as "follow the leader." I think it brought her back to her pre-marriage elementary school teacher days. After that, Mr. Springsteen had become "my Bruce." Not in some sort of psycho way, but as someone she cared about, like a familiar acquaintance or neighbor. Through the media, she followed him the best she could, and was sad when she heard about Bruce’s divorce. But when she learned of Patti and Bruce’s relationship, and that they were expecting a child together in 1990, she was thrilled. My sister had provided Mom with her first grandchild in late 1989, and we all soon realized that "Grandma" was the role she was born to play. So it’s the early summer of 1990, and I stop by Mom's house on my way home from an afternoon visiting Dave. I fill her in on the pertinent details, and the questions begin: “Did you get to see Barbara? Was she there?" I thought about my answer, figured it wasn’t a violation of national security, and answered, "No, she’s in L.A. for Patti’s baby shower." Talk about your proverbial opened can of worms. “They’re not married yet, right?," she asked. "When is he going to marry her?" (Did I mention that despite loving rock ‘n’ roll - by this point, she also had seen the Rolling Stones/Living Colour show at Shea Stadium - Mom was a bit old-fashioned when it came to kids and marriage.) In order to quickly change the subject, I indicated I would ask Dave the next time we spoke. Soon after, I spoke again with the noted Springsteen expert, and informed him of my mother's question. If you’ve ever heard Dave Marsh give one of his definitive opinions on SiriusXM satellite-radio, you can appreciate the tone of his response: "He’s not getting married again; it’s never gonna happen!" I later conveyed this response to my mom. Her reply: “Once he sees that baby, he’s gonna wanna marry Patti. I tell you, Gregory, it’s going to happen, and it will happen within a year. You tell your friend Dave," she continued, "that he’s going to be married within a year, and I’ll bet him a lunch!” I soon conveyed this wager to Dave, while warning him not to mess with my mom on things like this; she knows this stuff. He replied that he knew Bruce Springsteen, and it would be the easiest bet he ever won. The bet's deadline was set for one year from the birth of Bruce and Patti's first child. Evan Springsteen was born on July 25th, 1990; Patti and Bruce got married on June 8th, 1991... Please hold your calls; we have a winner. I would gingerly remind Dave of his loss/debt from time to time, but I must admit that I didn’t push him too hard. And the few times I did remind him, the subject would get changed fairly rapidly. Looking back, I only wish that Live From E Street Nation had been around then. It might have been fun to bring it up on the radio. On the other hand, it also might have ruined a perfectly good friendship. But I digress. 1991 turned into 1992, and soon thereafter came the announcement of another Bruce Springsteen tour. Mom saw something in the paper about a bunch of shows at the Meadowlands Arena and asked me if I thought she could trade her lunch for a couple of tickets. So yours truly, Mom's messenger boy, called Dave to relay the request. His answer was sweet and terrifying at the same time: "Only if she calls me directly and asks me herself." I set up the time, dialed the phone for Mom, got as far out of earshot as possible, and let the two crazy kids from Michigan talk one-on-one. Two tickets for opening night were arranged, with my job being Ma Drew's chauffeur/escort. Truth be told, this Springsteen show was unlike any I've ever attended before or since, and it had nothing to do with the show itself. Dave knew our seat locations and had passed the info along to our mutual friend, Thom Duffy from Billboard Magazine. Prior to the show starting, what occurred was one of the most terrifying moments of my still relatively new music industry career. With the preshow music playing loudly in the background, Dave and Thom, two of my favorite and most important professional contacts as well as friends, are meeting and talking with my mom – extensively – and thanks to the music, I can’t really make out what they’re saying! The longer it went on, the more I was filled with dread. Not your usual Springsteen concert emotion, for sure, but as it turned out, my fears were ill conceived. The three of them talked pleasantly until they dimmed the arena lights, and I was left feeling like the fourth wheel on a kid's tricycle. But I did get to see a great show, so I had that going for me. After that in-person encounter and a post-concert handwritten thank-you note to Dave, Ma Drew treated Dave Marsh like an extended family member, and he reciprocated in kind. Along the way, Dave, my mom, and I attended several Yankee games together. (Besides "my Bruce," there was also "my Jeter," as you can imagine.) Additionally, more than thirty years after that '85 Born in the USA stadium show, Mom and her three "dates" went to Giants Stadium for another Springsteen show (Mom’s fourth,) and as an extra treat, my mom finally got to meet the great Barbara Carr in person. As the years went on, my mom’s health deteriorated – a triple bypass and two broken hips will do that to you - and eventually, she had to be cared for in a nursing home. But her mind remained sharp until the day she died. One of my duties was to always tell her about my interactions with Dave, whether on the radio, or her personal favorite, helping "Santa Dave" during our annual holiday-party visits with MSKCC patients . I only wish she had stayed healthy enough to see Springsteen on Broadway . She loved going to NYC to see a Broadway show, and I know she would’ve been enthralled and thrilled to witness Bruce in that setting. I, on the other hand, became a basket case during Springsteen on Broadway . The song "The Wish" had always resonated with me for obvious reasons, including my own memory of a guitar under the Christmas tree one year. The preview performance at Monmouth University was about a year after my mom had gone in the nursing home. When Bruce started talking about his mom and began the song, I lost it - head buried in my hands, tears streaming down my cheeks, thinking about these tales I’ve just shared with you, along with so many other memories. And if you thought I would've been more prepared when I attended the Netflix filming of Springsteen on Broadway almost a year later... well, you’d be as wrong as Dave was about Bruce getting married. I was afraid my barely contained audible sobs were gonna wind up on the soundtrack. To this day, I still can’t make it through a complete listening of that song. So that’s my Mother’s Day story, dear readers. Many thanks to Bruce, Dave, and Ma Drew for their respective roles in providing all of these cherished moments. And if you’re looking for a sad song, I ain’t gonna play it.

May 9, 2025 As Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band prepare for next week's launch of their 2025 European tour - dubbed just this week to now be known as "The Land of Hope and Dreams Tour" - this month's archival Nugs live-recording release takes us back a quarter-century ago, to the tour on which Springsteen fans all over the world first got to hear the still-so-relevant masterpiece that is "Land of Hope and Dreams." Coming to us today as another "Second Friday" release (probably so as not to overshadow last week's drop of "Faithless" from Tracks II ,) Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA, October 28, 1999 presents the final night of The Reunion Tour's three Oakland shows. Highlights include Reunion Tour rarity "Independence Day" (arguably in its best Reunion Tour version,) the only E Street Band performance to date of "Sinaloa Cowboys," a Southside Johnny guest-vocal on "Hungry Heart," and a seemingly impromptu performance of another Reunion Tour rarity, "Blinded By The Light," to close the show. All of these highlights are accompanied by solidly performed versions of the nightly Reunion Tour "regulars" like "Two Hearts," "Atlantic City," "Mansion On The Hill," "Youngstown," "Murder Incorporated," "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Light of Day," and of course "Land of Hope and Dreams." Toby Scott and Ross Petersen's multi-track professional recording gets the standard stellar mixing by the Nugs mixing team, with Jon Altschiller and Danielle Warman once more sitting prominently at the board. Click here to order/stream Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA, October 28, 1999 , and click here to read Columbia/Nugs archivist Erik Flannigan's essay on Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA, October 28, 1999 , entitled "To Become a Man and Grow Up To Dream Again."

photo by Lisa Iannucci - used w/ permission May 7, 2025 Witnessed by a crowd that nearly filled Pyanoe Plaza, the Borough of Belmar hosted a dedication ceremony last Saturday for the new all-weather piano installed there. The piano, which was placed in the plaza last November,  was the result of hard work by the Belmar Arts Council to pay tribute to perhaps its most famous former residents, teacher Stelma Sancious and her son David . The fully interactive Cadenza outdoor piano  is only the second public installation of its kind in the U.S., and can withstand heat, UV rays, and moisture. photo by Lisa Iannucci - used w/ permission photo by Lisa Iannucci - used w/ permission The event was a fitting tribute not only to one of the E Street Band’s founding members, but to his mother, a woman who was a true pillar of the Belmar community. As laughing gulls swooped and glided overhead, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sancious was introduced by his elder brother Edward, who expressed profound gratitude to the town that had, he said, shown him that “you can come home again and have it be a joyful experience.” He told the story of how, when the family first moved there from nearby Asbury Park, they were surprised to see that the previous owner of their house on E Street had left behind a piano. They were even more surprised when their mother sat down at the piano and proceeded to play a classical piece from memory. Neither Edward, David, or elder brother Jimmie had known that Stelma had been trained as a classical pianist. They were just as surprised when David showed his innate musical genius by sitting down at the piano and not only banging out melodies he had heard in TV commercials, but riffing on them. All of the brothers played instruments in the Belmar Elementary School Band, but “only David had the gift,” he said. photo by Lisa Iannucci - used w/ permission photo by Lisa Iannucci - used w/ permission After this introduction, David, the youngest of the three, took the mic to express his gratitude to the community, and said he was pleasantly surprised by the large turnout for the event. He said that he’d received multiple email messages from former students whose lives had been touched by Stelma, who was not just their mom, but was also a mentor, teacher and guidance counselor at Belmar Elementary, where she stressed inclusion of the arts as part of a well-rounded education. E Street fans owe Stelma their thanks not only for teaching David to play the piano, but for permitting the fledgling band to rehearse at the house. “There are not enough words,” he said of his mother, “to describe how kind, smart and generous” she was to all who knew her; the ever humble and gracious Sancious downplayed his own massive role in the formation of the legendary E Street Band, and appeared overjoyed that the town had given his mother this public recognition. photo by Lisa Iannucci - used w/ permission After wielding the scissors in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the piano, Sancious moved on to the musical portion of the program. Sitting at the piano, he introduced the first piece, “Sleight of Hand” (off his 1975 debut LP with his band Tone, Forest of Feelings ) by explaining how he had gotten a record deal during the E Street Band’s weeklong residency earlier that year at the now-defunct Bottom Line in Manhattan. As he concluded, raindrops began to pelt down, interrupting the proceedings, drenching everyone, and delaying the remainder of the program for about half an hour as attendees ran for cover to wait out the downpour. Unfortunately, a significant number of folks did not return for the remainder of the program, during which Sancious was joined for a couple more numbers by fellow E Streeter Ernest “Boom” Carter on drums and saxophonist Tommy LaBella. But like the musical legacy of Stelma Sancious and her son David, the piano is now a lasting gift not only to the Borough of Belmar, but to the Jersey Shore music scene to which they so greatly contributed. --------------- Below you can watch posted Facebook videos of Saturday's musical performances, courtesy of Eileen Chapman, Director of The Bruce Springsteen Archives & center for American Music at Monmouth University : The Cadenza piano in Pyanoe Plaza is available to any and all, and is “on” until 10 p.m. each evening. Per a borough official, the 10 p.m. cutoff has been implemented in order to keep the noise level down in the area after hours. David Sancious is currently wrapping up his special Open Secret Tour with percussionist Will Calhoun of Living Colour fame. They'll be performing tonight at New York City's The Cutting Room, followed by upcoming dates in Natick, MA; Brattleboro, VT; and Hennicker, NH. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

official concert photo (Washington, DC - September 7, 2024) by Rob DeMartin - used with permission May 4, 2025 We have no idea whether Soozie Tyrell celebrates Star Wars Day or not. Probably not, but hey, just last weekend at The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music's 2025 American Music Honors, noted once-temporary-E-Streeter Tom Morello reminded us all again of what a " Star Trek nerd" he is , so maybe, just maybe... In any case, one thing's for sure... It's certainly fitting that Soozie has a "May the 4th be with you" birthday, because - as illustrated so effectively and atmospherically in Rob DeMartin's beautiful official concert photo above - she definitely can wield a violin bow with the same skill, grace, and elegance with which a Jedi Knight wields a lightsaber. Happy Birthday, Sister Soozie, and many, many more! May the Fiddle be with you, indeed! Oh, and to help celebrate Soozie Tyrell's birthday today - as well as remember a great, recently departed musician with whom she also collaborated extensively - here's a little something special off E Street and from a long time ago in a legendary L.A. venue not so far, far away. When we lost the late, great David Johansen towards the end of last winter, Reelin' In The Years Productions LLC posted on its YouTube channel a high-quality professional 1988 video-clip of Johansen, in his "Buster Poindexter" persona, playfully hamming it up with his main onstage foil, "Sister Soozie" (identified as such onstage years before Bruce Springsteen would begin introducing her that way) while singing Johansen/Poindexter's monster-hit cover of "Hot Hot Hot." (Tyrell also sang on the Buster Poindexter debut album, featuring the hit recording of "Hot Hot Hot," along with Patti Scialfa and Lisa Lowell.) Below you can watch Johansen and Tyrell do their thing at a sold-out gig in Los Angeles' famous Roxy Theatre, with the famous - such as Neil Diamond, who can be glimpsed briefly in the crowd - feeling "hot hot hot" right alongside the not-so-famous. Fiesta!

May 1, 2025 Dropping today as the third Tracks II: The Lost Albums preview track: "Faithless," the title track of the "lost" soundtrack album of music that Bruce Springsteen created for an unreleased film. As per today's official press release , "A meditation on purpose, belief and acceptance — intended to accompany a film described as a 'spiritual Western' — Springsteen recorded much of Faithless between the conclusion of the Devils & Dust Tour in November 2005 and the release of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions in April 2006. Throughout the collection’s eleven songs — including four pieces of instrumental music, written as interstitial pieces for the film — Faithless explores Springsteen’s unique vision of spirituality in the mythic American West, while working inside of this uncharted artistic medium. “'This was a really unusual collection of songs,' Springsteen remembers. With all of Faithless composed before a single frame of the film was shot — over a prolific two weeks in Florida — he explains of the results: 'You could recognize details and maybe a character or two. But for the most part, I just wrote atmospheric music that I thought would fit.' The album was recorded primarily as a solo pursuit, with appearances throughout by producer Ron Aniello, touring members of The E Street Band — Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Curtis King, Jr., Michelle Moore and Ada Dyer — as well as contributions from Patti Scialfa, Evan Springsteen and Sam Springsteen." You can listen to this "lost" album’s title track, “Faithless,” below: Click here for additional listening options and "Faithless"/ Tracks II: The Lost Albums pre-ordering information.

photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission April 30, 2025 For those of us who were in the audience for The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music 's 2025 American Music Honors , and who are more than a bit concerned about the current state of the U.S. (to put it extremely mildly,) as well as its relationship to the rest of the planet, Saturday night's event was a sorely needed shot of hope and sanity on a stage filled with beloved artists and great music. It couldn't have come at a better time. photo by Shawn Poole As has been the case since the Honors' inaugural ceremony in 2023, the evening opened with the Honors' house band, Little Steven's Disciples of Soul, brilliantly performing a set of songs made famous by the evening's honorees (one song to salute each of this year's five honorees.) This opening segment quickly has become one of the highlights of each year's ceremony, and having the Disciples of Soul serve as The American Music Honors' house band throughout each evening is now one of this annual event's biggest draws. photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission It quickly became clear, however, that this year's American Music Honors would be very different on many fronts. You could feel it right from the start, with the ceremony addressing current events in a decisive manner that it hadn't done previously. It wasn't just the evening's M.C., Brian Williams, joking about how topsy-turvy the world feels right now, but it also was his early announcement that New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy would be missing an American Music Honors event for the first time, due to his attendance at The 2025 International March of the Living , and Williams noting why he feels that such international gatherings are especially important now, given the current geo-political climate. (Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State Tahesha Way attended and spoke in Murphy's stead.) photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Shortly thereafter, Archives and Center Executive Director Robert Santelli asserted in his welcoming remarks, "At a time when the nation’s culture is under attack, and institutions that celebrate and preserve that culture are threatened with censorship, firings, forced resignations, and financial starvation, The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, though in its infancy at the moment... will not waver in its commitment to promote artistic freedom.” photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission This also was the first American Music Honors event in which one of the honorees was not present to accept. Unfortunately Joe Ely, who was the honoree for the evening's first presentation, was unable to attend due to his ongoing health issues. Nevertheless, Bruce Springsteen spoke eloquently of Joe Ely's enduring importance and influence, as well as his longtime friendship with Ely. photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission He also paid tribute to Ely with an incendiary version of "All Just To Get To You," the song that Ely and Springsteen recorded together for Ely's 1995 album Letter To Laredo . The song also was performed with a brilliantly edited set of film and video clips of Ely through the years, playing on the large screen behind Springsteen and the band. It was a beautifully moving visual accompaniment to the musical performance, and I wouldn't be surprised if somebody like, say, Thom Zimny was responsible for it. photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Bruce dedicated his performance of "All Just To Get To You" to "my baby," Patti Scialfa, "because she's here with me." Indeed, having Patti Scialfa present and participating in an American Music Honors event for the first time was cause for celebration indeed, as was Brian Williams noting at one point that Scialfa's next album is imminent and "will knock your socks off." Patti being in the house was the perfect counterpoint to the sadness of Joe Ely's absence, and yet another development that made this year's event different from the previous two American Music Honors. After Ely was honored, Nils Lofgren presented Tom Morello with his American Music Honor, describing him not only as "a good friend and bandmate who I love and admire," but also as "a visionary, a social justice warrior, and a fearless purveyor of truth. It’s simply who he is and what he has been called to do, share the truth through amazing music." photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Morello, in both his acceptance speech and the musical performance that followed, proved that Lofgren wasn't joking. Nobody with any sense, however, could say for sure exactly how much Morello himself was joking - if at all - when he began his speech by saying, "It is an honor to be here at the last big awards event before they throw us all in jail." In any case, it was crystal-clear how serious Morello was when he asserted, "All music, in my opinion, is political...the right combination of rhythm and rhyme, when it washes over a huge throng or transmits through an earbud, can feel like the truth, deep in our reptilian brain in a way that can provide a spark for action or a life raft for survival." He cited the important role of music in the organized-labor movement, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam-era anti-war movement, and then added proudly that "one or two Rage Against the Machine songs were heard pumping in the streets at anti-Trump demonstrations last weekend," getting a hearty round of cheers and applause from the audience. Morello concluded his remarks by proclaiming, "There is solidarity in song. If we can sing together, we can work together, fight together, win together. When we stand up for each other, we’ve got a shot to create the world we’d like to one day see. And so thank you, brothers and sisters... I hope to see you at the barricades and in the mosh pit." photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Bruce Springsteen then took the stage again to join Morello for their great, appropriate, and electrified duet version of "The Ghost Of Tom Joad." Before diving into the performance, however, Springsteen first expressed his support for Morello's speech by saying, "I second that emotion," with a smiling glance towards Smokey Robinson. For his part, Robinson would later add during his own acceptance speech, "Tom...if you ever run for anything, I’m voting for you, man." photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission "Okay, some girl time now," said Patti Scialfa as she took the stage to present Emmylou Harris, the only female 2025 American Music Honoree, with her honor. Scialfa spoke of Harris' artistic impact, and of Scialfa's longtime friendship with Harris, similar to the way that husband Springsteen had spoken about Joe Ely earlier. "She has changed the landscape of American music," Scialfa said, "and done so with grit and elegance, that only women like her can pull off... She’s a brilliant role model for women, for any kind of music that you choose to do." photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission In accepting her honor, Harris stated, "This award actually means even more coming from Patti, because she’s one of my favorite singers... She really understands a woman’s heart. I love her singing and I love her lyrics... [W]e’re sisters under the skin." Harris was joined by Scialfa on a beautifully moving version of Harris' self-penned song "Red Dirt Girl," the title track of her 2000 album on which Scialfa and Springsteen contributed vocals to "Tragedy," the song that Harris co-wrote with Rodney Crowell. photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Bruce Springsteen returned to the stage to present John Fogerty with his American Music Honor. "Both solo and with his great band Creedence Clearwater Revival," said Springsteen, "John’s been able to condense everything good and painful, joyful and serious about this country we live in, in two minutes and thirty seconds... I’ve always described John as the Hank Williams of our generation... Now, I’m often asked if I’ve heard a song I’ve ever wished I’d written.... Yeah, John Fogerty’s entire fucking catalog... Thank you, John, for the beautiful gifts your music has given the world, and especially the American people. You constantly make us aware of who we were, are, and who we could be. That’s something we need more than ever right now." photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission In his acceptance speech, Fogerty - as he often has over the years - also spoke of the bitterness mixed with the sweetness that have marked his long career in music. He briefly recounted his many battles with the recording industry for artistic control. " The worst part about it was I didn’t own my own songs," said Fogerty, later adding, "At some point, for a long time, I didn’t even sing my own songs, because I was so angry or bitter about the whole thing." These days, however, his story ends on a much more hopeful note, with Fogerty's wife Julie having led successfully the effort to buy back the majority stake in publishing rights to his music just over two years ago. "You girls already know all this," exulted Fogerty to the audience, "Behind every man there is a great woman!" He then concluded, "I still love music. I’m having the time of my life right now. My two sons are in my band with me, and my beautiful baby’s always right offstage, supporting me.” photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Springsteen then joined Fogerty in performing the CCR classic "Bad Moon Rising." The original hit CCR recording of "Bad Moon Rising" was first released in April of 1969 as the Nixon presidency reached its first one-hundred days. It was a perfect song for describing what was happening then, and on April 26, 2025, it felt like the soundtrack for what's happening right now. photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Stevie Van Zandt presented the final 2025 American Music Honor of the evening to the legendary Smokey Robinson . Speaking as a true Disciple of Smokey, Van Zandt detailed how much of his own work was affected by Robinson's songwriting, singing, and production work over the years. "One can obviously connect, easily, a dozen of my songs directly to his influence, from ‘I Played the Fool’ to ‘Forever,’ ‘Save Me,’ ‘Checkpoint Charlie,’ ‘Trail of Broken Treaties,’ ‘A World of Our Own,’ etc., etc. He continues to inspire and motivate me to this day. I keep climbing, knowing I will never get halfway to that mountaintop that is ‘Tracks of My Tears,’ ‘You Really Got a Hold on Me,’ ‘Ooh Baby Baby,’ ‘Going to a Go-Go,’ ‘I Second That Emotion,’ to the masterpiece that is ‘Tears of a Clown.’ And he was just getting started... " Stevie also praised Smokey's newest album, the just-released What The World Needs Now , a collection of Smokey covering some of his favorite "positive-vibe" songs, to quote Van Zandt (including two previously released recordings by Smokey of songs he wrote himself.) Stevie also called it an album "which I highly recommend." (SiriusXM subscribers can check out Stevie's fun sit-down with Smokey to discuss and play the tracks from What The World Needs Now before an audience of lucky fans. Recorded exclusively for the Smokey's Soul Town channel shortly before The American Music Honors took place, it's available for on-demand listening on the SiriusXM app . Just search for "Smokey's Album Release Party.") photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission "Thank you very much," Robinson said to Van Zandt upon accepting his American Music Honor. After his shout-out to Tom Morello, Robinson added, "This is a great night, and I’m really flattered to be here. I don’t have a long speech written that I’m gonna say to you guys, and I know you're happy about that, but like I said, I have been looking forward to this and I’m honored to be a member of your American Music Honors. Bruce, I can’t even tell how much it means to me.” photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Van Zandt and Robinson then performed Robinson's classic "Tears Of A Clown" together. Stevie later tweeted , "One of the unforgettable honors of my life will always be sharing a stage with Smokey Robinson." photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Springsteen then joined Robinson and Van Zandt onstage to kick off the group-performances section of the show with Robinson's "Going To A Go-Go." Previous American Music Honorees Jackson Browne and Darlene Love were in the audience, and they also became surprise additions to the closing performances. As Brian Williams noted, how cool it is that the likes of Darlene Love and Jackson Browne showed up essentially to just "hang out!" photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission For his part, Browne spoke from the heart about attending the evening to get some sorely needed inspiration and renewal, and then proclaiming - in reference to a great story that Tom Morello told during his acceptance speech about his late father's assessment of one of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's 2014 South Africa shows, "My expectations were met." Browne performed "Take It Easy," which he co-wrote with the late Glenn Frey of The Eagles, at the request of Morello, who joined with Lofgren, Springsteen and of course the Disciples of Soul (who played behind everyone on every song throughout the evening) in backing Browne. photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Fogerty returned to the stage for "Proud Mary," performed with Springsteen and Lofgren, as well as "Fortunate Son," performed with Springsteen. Bruce then performed - after expressing some (feigned?) onstage reluctance to do so - one of his own songs, "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," which is the only song that has been performed at every American Music Honors event to date. photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission Finally, the most overtly political American Music Honors event yet came to its close, most fittingly, with a group sing-along on "This Land Is Your Land," featuring special guest Nora Guthrie (Woody's daughter) joining the ensemble onstage. Not surprisingly, with both Guthrie and Morello onstage, it was ensured to be a decidedly non-truncated version of what Bruce Springsteen once called "just about one of the most beautiful songs ever written." I'd like to think that somewhere Pete Seeger was smiling.  photo by John Cavanaugh - used with permission As with almost every live event, there were a few flubs and awkward moments along the way. All that aside, however, this was a great event that so many of us in the audience downright needed to experience right now. It also was filmed and recorded professionally, no doubt with plans afoot for the Archives/Center to plan something special with the footage, perhaps a big-screen presentation of it back inside Pollak Theatre at some point, as was done last November with the footage of last year's American Music Honors. That's one of the main reasons why this report does not contain any of the numerous fan-shot cellphone videos that are online, inevitably and virtually immediately. As I noted similarly in my April 2024 report on last year's American Music Honors event , the American Music Honors remains among the biggest fundraising sources for The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, and that includes its potential revenue from future television/video/screening/streaming presentations, so as I wrote last year, " here's hoping that eventually all interested fans still will want to see a professionally filmed and edited version of this year's American Music Honors, in a way that helps the Archives/Center to grow in its mission and purpose." In the meantime, dear readers, enjoy John Cavanaugh's great set of professional photos accompanying this essay. And also linger on the best thing that Bruce Springsteen could (and did) say at the end of the 2025 American Music Honors event: "We'll see ya next year!"

April 16, 2025 While collectors and vinyl fetishists may continue scouring the globe for the limited number of LP versions that still might be up for grabs, fortunately on Record Store Day last Saturday The Killers (via their official YouTube channel) also made available for everyone - free of charge - all of Encore At The Garden 's professionally recorded/mixed audio AND all of its professionally filmed/edited images. Above you can hear and see the entire October 1, 2022 Madison Square Garden encore segment in which The Killers were joined by Bruce Springsteen and Jake Clemons on "Badlands" and "Born To Run," in between which Springsteen also performed with The Killers on "Dustland," their retitled/re-recorded-with-Springsteen version of "A Dustland Fairytale." Sixteen minutes and twenty-six seconds total running time, courtesy of director Giorgio Testi and his crew, with no need to flip over a disc at any point whatsoever.

official concert-tour photo by Rob DeMartin (Vancouver soundcheck, Nov. 22, 2024) - used w/ permission April 13, 2025 Happy birthday, and many, many more to the hardest-working drummer in show-business, the one and only Mighty Max Weinberg . At 74, Max continues to bring the big (and - whenever necessary - supple ) beat, night after night after night after night. And not just in the E Street Band, either. In addition to performing in Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's upcoming 2025 European tour , you also can catch Max performing with his Jukebox band at one of his upcoming Max Weinberg's Jukebox gigs: Monday, April 14 - City Winery Boston ( Click here to purchase tickets. ) Tuesday, April 15 - City Winery Philadelphia ( Click here to purchase tickets. ) Friday, April 18 - Cain Center for the Arts , Cornelius, NC ( Click here to purchase tickets. ) Thursday, May 15 - Band on the Wall , Manchester, England ( Click here to purchase tickets ; currently only the late show remains available.) Thursday, June 5 - The Cavern Club Live Lounge , Liverpool, England (currently sold out) Tuesday, July 1 - Magazzini Generali , Milan, Italy ( Click here to purchase tickets. ) Max's camp also recently informed us that we Weinberg fans can look forward to "lots more [Jukebox shows] in the summer and fall." Great news, for sure. Happy Birthday, Mighty One; long may you drum!

photo by Wilhelm Rosenthal - used with permission April 11, 2025 Standing onstage in Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater just over thirteen years ago, Bruce Springsteen told his audience, "If you played in a bar on the Central Jersey Shore in the sixties and seventies, you played soul music... Motown, Atlantic, Stax... These were the labels whose very names held a power and a mystery for us when we were young and gettin' goin'. And we knew that way off in some never-never land of rhythm-and-blues, there was a place called the Apollo. It was the home of the gods, and the true Temple of Soul... And all the men and women who worked on this stage were our teachers and our masters, and they schooled us, and we hope to deliver on just some small piece of their promise. We studied all our subjects... geography; we learned the exact location of Funky Broadway from Wilson Pickett... history; change is gonna come - Sam Cooke... math; 99 1/2 won't fuckin' do! - Wilson again... religion; Aretha Franklin... sex education; Marvin Gaye. We were imparted with the wisdom of Solomon... Burke. And of course, it was the poetry... the poetry... the poetry... of Smokey Robinson ." William "Smokey" Robinson will be among the five honorees later this month when The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University presents its third annual American Music Honors event in the University's Pollak Theatre. As the press release announcing this year's event stated, Smokey Robinson will be honored for his immense impact as an "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.'” Oh, and incidentally, he also wrote and produced more than a few hits for other Motown acts, including both "My Guy" AND "My Girl." 'Nuff said. Appropriately, Robinson's honoree award will be presented by that noted disciple of soul music, Stevie Van Zandt. In 2020, on the occasion of Smokey Robinson's 80th birthday, Van Zandt wrote on his social-media, "My first memory is my Uncle Sal buying me 'Going To A Go-Go,' which remains one of my favorite records of all time and continues to inform my own writing. I would become a lifetime fan of both his songwriting and one of the great voices ever." Letters To You recently reached out to Smokey Robinson to ask if he might like to share a few thoughts with our readers on his American Music Honors recognition. As he so often does, Smokey exceeded expectations, responding by recording exclusively for us a brief personal message directed to Bruce Springsteen himself, and he included a well-deserved nod to Stevie Van Zandt, as well. Of course we're very honored and excited to "relay" this message on behalf of Smokey Robinson. Below, you can hear it as presented on our SoundCloud and YouTube platforms, and also read the transcribed version: "Hey, Bruce, it's Smokey, man. Thank you so much for giving me the American Music Honors for 2025. I really appreciate that, man. I'm a big fan of yours, and you're my brother; I love you, man. And I'm so happy that Steven's gonna give it to me, so I'm looking forward to it. Can't wait to see you guys." And finally, for more on the greatness of Smokey Robinson, check out the two videos embedded below. The first is an insightful and moving 2015 keynote lecture by retired music writer (and Springsteen biographer) par excellence Dave Marsh, delivered at Case Western Reserve University for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Music Masters series honoring Robinson that year. The second is an excerpt from Robinson's 2010 SXSW Keynote, presented as an onstage conversation between Marsh and Robinson, during which Robinson's hilarious "Oobla" fable embodies the essential spirit behind The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music.

April 11, 2025 This month's "First Friday" archival Nugs live-recording release actually has ended up being a "Second Friday" release, due to last week's big Tracks II announcement . But that's especially appropriate, in a way, because Amway Arena, Orlando, FL, April 23, 2008 was the second concert that Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed with a focus on their recently fallen comrade, the late, great "Phantom" Dan Federici, after Danny passed on April 17, 2008. (The first concert they performed after Danny's death was released in the archival Nugs live-recordings series as St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL, April 22, 2008 back in 2019.) As was the case with the first Federici-focused show in Tampa on the previous evening, the Orlando show opened with what Springsteen called "something in remembrance of Danny." It was a rare performance of "Blood Brothers," made even rarer by it being performed in the hard-rocking Greatest - Hits -sessions outtake version first released on the 1996 Blood Brothers CD-EP included with the VHS home-video release of Ernie Fritz's film Blood Brothers: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band . Other highlights of this great Magic Tour show included extra-intense versions of three Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ songs - "Spirit In The Night," "Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?," and "Lost In The Flood" - scattered throughout the set "for Dan," as Bruce said when introducing the first Greetings... song of the evening. Later, during the encores, The Byrds' Roger McGuinn joined Springsteen and the E Street Band for back-to-back performances of The Byrds' classic arrangements of "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." Click here to order/stream Amway Arena, Orlando, FL, April 23, 2008 , and click here to read Columbia/Nugs archivist Erik Flannigan's essay on Amway Arena, Orlando, FL, April 23, 2008 , entitled "I Don’t Know How I Feel Tonight."

April 1, 2025 These days, with principal photography now completed for the first-ever Springsteen biopic (presumably hitting theaters before this year ends,) Bruce Springsteen himself must be feeling pretty supercalifragilisticexpialidocious about the film-industry once more. That good feeling wasn’t always the case, however, especially during a particularly lengthy behind-the-scenes attempt at film-music-licensing that was... ahem, not among his most successful endeavors. As many Springsteen fans know already, a quarter-century ago, even after his artistic and commercial success with the first song he ever wrote specifically for a film soundtrack, “Streets of Philadelphia,” Bruce's song “I’ll Stand By You” was rejected for inclusion in the soundtrack of the first Harry Potter film . Eventually, almost two decades later, he finally would get to re-record the song for inclusion in the Blinded By The Light soundtrack, but in many of those years between Harry Potter and Blinded By The Light lies a tale of Springsteen's legendary career that very few fans have ever heard before... “At some point I'd like to get ['I'll Stand By You'] into a children's movie of some sort, because it was a pretty lovely song," Springsteen said back in an October 2016 BBC interview. Yet according to Ed Catmull, retired president of both Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, Bruce’s 2016 comments to the BBC about “I’ll Stand By You” understated extremely just how strong his desire had been for the song to end up in a kids’ flick. In an exclusive, recently conducted Letters To You interview, Catmull - now serving as an advisor to the Emmy-winning interactive animation team at Baobab Studios - revealed publicly for the first time ever that a year or so after the Harry Potter pitch didn’t get greenlighted, Bruce began setting his sights on Pixar/Disney. “Every night for years, I’d pray that I’d never hear another pitch for that friggin’ song. Now I know why they really call Bruce ‘The Boss.’ Man, can that guy get pushy ! The first time the phone rang was back in late 2002, just as we were beginning to wrap Finding Nemo . Bruce very excitedly told us that he had re-written his song for our film as ‘I’ll Swim By You.’ We said, ever so politely and respectfully, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ Springsteen in Steel Mill, sporting his Mickey Mouse shirt at The Upstage back in the early 1970s. Who knew that decades later, he'd be building a rather "pushy" rep at Disney/Pixar? “Then a coupla years later, Bruce hears that we’re working on Cars . Not only does he want to re-pitch ‘I’ll Stand By You,’ but now he’s offering to sing it as an actual animated car-character in the film...some character he apparently made up himself called, uh... ‘Pardner Sonny,’ an old street-racing buddy of Lightning McQueen. He even brought in a few concept drawings by some artist he hired on spec. Anyway, here’s hopin’ that Bruce didn’t pay this artist very much, if anything. I mean you just can’t put fuelie heads on a big block-engine like a 396. Doesn’t everybody know that?! “Bruce also knew that Randy Newman was scoring Cars for us, and that we often work with Randy. I remember Bruce saying, ‘Listen, Ed...Randy and I are tight. You ever hear ‘My Life Is Good’ ?’ “Finally there was the infamous WALL-E pitch in early 2008. That time he tried pitching us a rewritten ‘I’ll Stand By You’ as a love theme for WALL-E and EVE. It actually gave me a new personal definition of hell: being in a pitch-meeting with Bruce Springsteen, having to watch and hear him sing ‘I’ll Stand By You’ in his ‘WALL-E voice,’ and having to stifle every single giggle and guffaw bubbling up inside of me.” Years later, none of that laughter needs to be stifled anymore, especially with all of those awkwardly unsuccessful movie-soundtrack pitches long gone in Springsteen's rear-view mirror, and a much-improved relationship with Disney these days, while his latest documentary streams on Disney+/Hulu . As Ed Catmull told us, "We truly can look back on this and it all seems funny... now , that is." -“Pardner Sonny” concept art by Stephen Winchell -Special thanks to Carrie Potter Devening for permission to use the image of Bruce Springsteen in his Mickey Mouse shirt. Check out Carrie's awesome book For Music's Sake: Asbury Park's Upstage Club and Green Mermaid Café - The Untold Stories . Click here to purchase the softcover edition. Click here to purchase the e-book edition.

March 31, 2025 May, 2005 photo by Don Norkus Click here to read the archived Waterbury Record article "On my way out … Joe DePugh’s story" by former editor/publisher Maria Archangelo.