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Clarence Clemons, Jr.; Maryland State College, Class of 1964; Major: Music Education (of COURSE!) - photo from the 1964 Maryland State College yearbook ( The Hawk ) January 11, 2025 Happy Clarence Clemons Day 2025! Today we have something extra-special for everyone to enjoy, as we remember and celebrate our beloved Big Man on what would have been his 83rd birthday. Our editor/publisher Shawn Poole has managed to track down some great images, stories, and even some recorded music from Clarence Clemons' college days at Maryland State College (a historically Black, land-grant institution now known as University of Maryland Eastern Shore,) where he also joined his first professional band, The Vibra-Tones. To date, the most commonly known information about Clarence's college experiences has to do with his having played college football, most notably serving as offensive lineman for Maryland State's star running back Emerson Boozer, who went on to play with the New York Jets during their Joe-Namath-led glory days. The Big 5-0 - Offensive lineman Clarence Clemons suited up and ready to play for the Maryland State Hawks - photo from the 1964 Maryland State College yearbook ( The Hawk ) Clarence became good friends with Boozer, and the Big Man himself was offered a tryout with the Cleveland Browns, but an injury, sustained in an auto-accident on the day before his scheduled tryout, derailed any chance of a professional football career. The legend is that his no longer being able to play professional football is what led Clarence to pursue a career in music, but in reality music already was an essential part of who Clarence Clemons was. Music Education was his major at Maryland State College, and, as stated above, Maryland State was also where he got to play R&B-style saxophone in The Vibra-Tones, his first professional band. The Vibra-Tones was a floating assemblage of musicians that was started and led by Robert Batson, another Music Education major at Maryland State. Clemons and Batson had met previously as high-school students, when the director of Clarence's Chesapeake, Virginia-based high-school band, who had been a student of the director of Batson's Cambridge, Maryland-based high-school band, arranged a visit to Batson's high-school for a meeting between the two bands. Batson remembered how impressive Clemons' high-school band was, and how much Batson's high-school band began to improve after the encounter. When Batson, a year younger than Clarence, arrived at Maryland State College in 1962, the two students quickly reconnected and their friendship grew stronger, especially since they both were Music Education majors. Together they often were active in various music-oriented programs at the college, including the college's choir. Clarence (on sax, of course) in action as a freshman Music Education major - photo from the 1961 Maryland State College yearbook ( The Hawk ) A full page from the 1963 Maryland State College yearbook ( The Hawk ,) focused on the college's choir - In the top photo, college junior Clarence Clemons and his friend college sophomore Robert Batson are on opposite ends of the choir's fifth row. In the bottom photo, Clarence is the second choir-member visible from the left, as the choir makes a television appearance. Eventually Batson decided to take all that he was learning about music to another level, and founded the R&B-focused group The Vibra-Tones (not to be confused with any of the several other musical groups formed over the years under the moniker The Vibratones or The Vibra-Tones.) Batson played bass, and Clarence Clemons became one of the earliest members of the band's impressively large horns section. Last September, Letters To You editor/publisher Shawn Poole met with Robert Batson and another surviving member of The Vibra-Tones, trumpeter Orlando Spry. Batson and Spry shared their memories of playing with the Big Man in his first professional band. left to right: Orlando Spry (Maryland State Class of 1963, Social Sciences major, and trumpeter for The Vibra-Tones,) Shawn Poole (Letters To You editor/publisher,) and Robert Batson (Maryland State Class of 1965, Music Education major, bassist and founder of The Vibra-Tones) - September 2024, Delmarva Community Services Building, Cambridge, MD Batson initially formed The Vibra-Tones (with the group's name chosen by Batson's roommate Gerald Baltimore, who never played in the band) as just a fun little way for him and some of his like-minded classmates to apply all that they knew about music, and to enjoy playing the hits of the day, especially on the R&B charts. They quickly became good enough, however, to start scoring professional gigs locally: not just private parties and dances, but eventually nightclubs, outdoor beach clubs in the warmer months, etc., especially on "The Chitlin' Circuit," the historical network of venues that offered performance opportunities for African-American musicians and entertainers while racial segregation still operated so strongly and openly in the U.S. The Vibra-Tones, with founder and bassist Robert Batson on the far left, and Clarence Clemons standing directly next to him - image courtesy of Gayle Morrison of the Clarence Clemons Trust "We got in a cycle," recalled Batson, rattling off the names of some of the towns and venues where they scored regular gigs: "Snow Hill... The Chicken Shack in Pocomoke..." They never scored any big money or fame, of course, and in fact sometimes their "pay" consisted mainly of free food and beverages at whatever venue they played that night. Nevertheless, this was a group of young men who were bonding, learning, having fun, and creating some great memories while delivering some exciting live, local music for folks to enjoy. Members floated in and out of the group, as folks graduated and/or followed other paths. (Below is Robert Batson's handwritten listing of all people - both those who've passed and those who are still with us - who were Vibra-Tones members at one time or another during the group's history, totaling forty members in all:) The lead singer or drummer might change from night to night, from gig to gig. And while the whole enterprise only lasted for a few years, it still was a very special time for many - if not all - of those involved. Membership in The Vibra-Tones could sometimes have its privileges, too, as Robert Batson and Orlando Spry recently recalled amidst some laughter on the edge of tears. In the 1960s, as the Vietnam War raged on, Maryland State required its male students to take Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) courses, as so many colleges and high-schools did, during their first two years of college. It was yet another covert way to prepare the next round of potential draftees. "I was so glad to get out of it," said Spry about the end of his required two-year ROTC run, "that I didn't know what to do." But in Year Two of Batson's training, when one Clarence Clemons became an ROTC Flight Commander, and all of The Vibra-Tones' members still in ROTC ended up in the same Band Flight, to quote Batson, "Oh, we took advantage of that!" Suddenly, some previously mandatory tasks became a bit more... er, optional at times for Vibra-Tones members. The Vibra-Tones even managed to do a bit of professional recording "up North" in Baltimore and New York City. Even if none of what they recorded ever saw any serious or even regional chart action, having a 45RPM vinyl single or two that could be handed easily to a local disc-jockey, venue owner, or promoter still could be an effective aural calling-card in helping to secure some more and better gigs for the band. The Vibra-Tones, featuring founder Robert Batson on bass, Clarence Clemons on sax, and Orlando Spry on trumpet - image courtesy of Robert Batson In the mid-1960s, Clarence Clemons participated in one of those New York City Vibra-Tones' recording sessions, and even played a sax solo on the song they recorded in that session, "I'm Begging You Baby," sung by the late George Johnson, who is given the official songwriting credit on the record (though Orlando Spry maintains that he actually was the writer, gladly allowing George Johnson to take the official credit out of a desire to avoid any potential music-business hassles.) The result, released by Candi Records in 1965, is the earliest known recording to feature a Clarence Clemons saxophone solo, and right now - on Clarence Clemons Day 2025 - you can click below to enjoy it, as embedded from our SoundCloud platform : IMPORTANT NOTE: Just as we did last month with our special "Santa Big Man" Christmastime streaming treat , we are again asking our readers and listeners to, in lieu of paying anything to hear this music, please instead donate whatever you can to HomeSafe , a Florida-based child-abuse/domestic-violence-prevention organization that was strongly supported by Clarence Clemons for many years. Please click this link to learn more about HomeSafe and to make your donation. The Vibra-Tones ended as the late 1960s approached. Orlando Spry continued his career as a social-studies teacher (which he had begun after graduating Maryland State in 1963, while still occasionally playing and recording with The Vibra-Tones through the rest of the band's duration,) and Robert Batson (Maryland State, Class of '65) eventually became a longtime, beloved music educator and bandleader for Maryland's Cambridge-South Dorchester High School. Of course, readers of this website are already well aware of what Clarence Clemons (Class of '64) went on to do in his post-college, post-Vibra-Tones years. Happy Clarence Clemons Day 2025, everyone! Big Man forever!

December 31, 2024 Just as we did last year , and now hope to continue doing as an annual year-end tradition, Letters To You editor/publisher Shawn Poole, contributing writers Caroline Madden and Joyce Millman , and Set Lusting Bruce: The Bruce Springsteen Podcast host Jesse Jackson recently got together to review and discuss how the year 2024 shaped up for Springsteen fans. We spoke for almost three hours, and Jesse had the unenviable job of editing our yakking down to a more manageable and listenable two-hour podcast. (If, however, you're a Patreon supporter/subscriber of Set Lusting Bruce or wisely sign up to become one, you can click here to hear our full, unedited conversation.) Click on the image below to hear the edited two-hours version of our conversation, which was recorded on December 19, 2024 and is now available to everyone for free listening: Also, for your easy reference here's a handy-dandy time-marker listing of various selected highlights in the conversation: 01:10 Countdown to the New Year 02:16 Meet the Hosts and Panel 04:21 Springsteen Tour Highlights 06:01 Reflecting on Set Lists and Performances 10:49 Adele Springsteen's Passing 15:26 Greatest Night in Pop Documentary 22:32 Bruce on Curb Your Enthusiasm 25:24 Collaborations and Guest Appearances 46:47 Springsteen's Return to Touring 64:19 Reflecting on Bruce Springsteen's Decisions 65:12 Theories on Born in the USA , Live Performances 66:21 Stevie Van Zandt: A Fascinating Career 72:06 Bruce Springsteen's Future and Health Concerns 77:40 Tribute to Charles R. Cross and Backstreets Magazine 82:07 Jesse Mallon's Tribute Album and Road Diary 90:02 Bruce and the E Street Band's special Sept. 16, 2024 Asbury Park show 95:16 Bruce@75 97:03 Bruce Springsteen's Political Involvement 104:02 Howard Stern Interview and Stand Up for Heroes 111:49 The Return of the King Elvis doc, the Santa-hats Surprise, and Final Thoughts While you're at the Set Lusting Bruce site, be sure to also check out its many other interesting new and archived conversations (currently 1300 of 'em!,) all hosted by Jesse Jackson. Jesse is apparently inexhaustible, regularly discussing all things Springsteen-related with a variety of interesting folks holding many different perspectives and opinions. One of his more recent and most impressive undertakings was his "30 Days of Springsteen" series, recording at least one Bruce-related podcast discussion per day during last November for National Podcast Month 2024. Happy listening and Happy New Year to all! And here's to whatever lies ahead for all of us fans on E Street in 2025. We'll be seein' ya there, fellow fans; lookin' forward to it!

photo by Dan Reiner (Toronto; November 6, 2024) - used with permission December 24, 2024 Well, it's not Easter, and it's not Thanksgiving, so it must be... CHRISTMASTIME! Whatever you may celebrate or not celebrate this month, if you're a fan of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, this has turned out to be a very good time of year indeed. In the past week, Bruce, Stevie, and the rest of the E Street Band have delivered some choice musical treats to help get many of us through the winter days ahead, along with a promise of some more "never-before-heard material" coming in the new year. Let's review... Last Wednesday, Stevie Van Zandt got things started on the Christmastime musical treats front by reassembling Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul to back Darlene Love for her triumphant return to the tradition of singing her classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on late-night tellyvision, this time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . Darlene, Stevie, and the Disciples were joined by special guest Paul Shaffer, who led all of the backing bands for Love's original set of annual late-night performances of "Christmas..." on David Letterman's NBC/CBS shows, spanning from 1986 through 2014. Click below to watch (or re-watch) this year's performance (and yes, as per Darlene , she's already been invited back for Christmastime 2025:) Then on Friday, another annual yuletide tradition continued, with this year's special holiday release from Bruce Springsteen's ongoing live archival series: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Toronto 1975 . Jon Altschiller & Co. deliver yet another superb mastering of Jimmy Iovine's professional recording of Springsteen's first-ever Toronto show, performed on December 21, 1975 at Seneca College's Field House. It's a real kick to hear Bruce and the band slowly win over 3,000 or so politely curious Canadians, most if not all witnessing their first Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert. Among the highlights: a version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" featuring the band hilariously feigning some truly bad guesses - Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. - when asked by Bruce, of course, what time of year it is. Check out the official YouTube posting of "Santa Claus..." below: And click here to purchase your copy of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Toronto 1975 , as well as here to read archivist Erik Flannigan's essay about the release . On that same Friday, in the evening, Springsteen called in to Jim Rotolo's The Wild and the Innocent weekly request show on E Street Radio . In memory of rocker and ex-Replacements member Slim Dunlap, who died last Wednesday , Bruce shared a yet-to-be-officially-released recording of Dunlap's song "Girlfiend" (misidentified by both Rotolo and Springsteen as "Girlfriend,") excellently performed about a year ago by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band for what Bruce called a "covers record." They also briefly discussed last Wednesday's Shore Fire Media press release , which ended as follows: "Upcoming releases in 2025 will include a look back at Springsteen’s storied recording career, featuring never-before-heard material." Surprisingly, while Springsteen confirmed that there will indeed be some new music to hear next year, he also told Rotolo, "I didn't know they [Shore Fire] put anything out about it. I read it in the papers myself and I said, 'Oh...' I don't want to get into it too much, because we're not ready to completely talk about it yet, but there will be... yeah, we've got a nice release... for next year." (SiriusXM subscribers can listen to the entire brief conversation, including the on-air debut of "Girlfiend," on-demand in the E Street Radio section of the SiriusXM app .) And so, fellow fans, "we've got a nice release... for next year" is certainly a promise even sweeter for our Christmastime dreams than even visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads. Happy Christmahanukwanzakah to all, to all a good night, and here's to whatever lies ahead for us in 2025. See y'all a bit further on up the road!

December 24, 2024 Hands down, thanks especially to his crucial role in "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" over the years, the immortal Clarence "Big Man" Clemons remains and will forever be the greatest representation of the spirit of Santa Claus on E Street. Clearly, he was destined for this role, having received his first saxophone as a childhood Christmas present from ol' St. Nick himself. Heck, even Big Man's middle name was A nicholas ! (The name for his credits on the back-cover of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle reads, "Clarence 'Nick' Clemons.") This holiday season, thanks to the generosity of our friend Mark Fromm , we're pleased to welcome back exclusively for our readers "Santa Big Man" in a... well, a BIG way, of course. Earlier this year, for Clarence Clemons Day 2024, Mark, who is a California-based psychologist and musician, shared with us the very interesting story of how he and Clarence came to collaborate on some of Mark's music back in the 1990s. (You can click here to read more about that.) One of the tracks they recorded together was "What Can I Give For Christmas?", which also featured the late, great Rick Danko - with whom Clarence previously had worked in the original lineup of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band - and Maria Muldaur. It's a fun, upbeat song about how giving can be just as important and rewarding as receiving during the holidays. In addition to lending some of his powerfully stellar sax-playing, Big Man also provided the singing/speaking voice of Santa Claus, of course. "What Can I Give For Christmas?" was released on a 2002 CD-EP entitled What Can I Give? , which has long been out-of-print and hard to find, and the track hasn't been made available officially in any other form since then. Until now, that is. For this 2024 holiday season, Mark has agreed to allow Letters To You to present an exclusive limited-time streaming EP of "What Can I Give For Christmas?", along with two other Mark Fromm tracks featuring Clarence Clemons and two previews of new Mark Fromm tracks that have yet to be released officially. Furthermore, "What Can I Give For Christmas?" is presented here in never-before-heard form, with a special "Happy Hanukkah" message from "Santa Big Man" - recorded during that same recording-session - tagged on to the end of the track. The other tracks in the EP are: "People Come Back Home", which also was part of that 2002 What Can I Give? CD-EP. It's a song that, much like Springsteen's "Long Walk Home", has grown greatly in its meaning and relevance, given current events. And just as he did on "Long Walk Home", Clarence Clemons delivers another crucial saxophone solo that gives the track such an intense emotional punch. Next up is "Keys", a track from Mark's 2023 album Preparation of the Bridegroom that he also shared with us as a limited-time download earlier this year. It again features Maria Muldaur along with Clarence, who provides a bit of a rapping-style vocal along with his sax work. Finally, Mark allows us an advance listen to two tracks from the album on which he's currently working: "Telegram" and "Something That Matters". Here for your holiday listening pleasure is the embedded What Can I Give For Christmahanukwanzakah 2024? 5-track EP, presented as a playlist on our SoundCloud platform : For this holiday season, Mark Fromm has generously shared all of this music for our readers to stream free of charge through early January, but is also asking all of us who are streaming to please donate whatever you can to HomeSafe , a Florida-based child-abuse/domestic-violence-prevention organization that was strongly supported by Clarence Clemons for many years. Please click this link to learn more about HomeSafe and to make your donation. Remember, good people, the important question that Santa Big Man reminds us to ask ourselves, this year and every year... "What can I give for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.?" Happy Holidays, peace, love, fun, and good will to all. All images above courtesy of Mark Fromm and used with permission; to learn more about Mark Fromm and his work, including his music, visit MarkFromm.com Special thanks to Gayle Morrison of the Clarence Clemons Trust

"Santa Dave" Marsh and "Head Elf" Greg Drew doing what they did best at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for more than twenty years - photo by Ali Oscar - used with permission December 24, 2024 EDITOR'S NOTE: Last year, we had the pleasure and honor of publishing "The Amazingly True Adventures of 'Santa Dave' and His 'Head Elf' (featuring 'that nice boy' from NJ)" , Greg Drew's memories of serving as his (and our) good friend Dave Marsh's "Head Elf/Dresser/etc." for more than two decades during the many Christmastimes Past in which Dave used to play Santa Claus for the Kristen Ann Carr Fund 's holiday events. Their adventures together included many encounters - humorous, heartbreaking, and heartwarming - with many fellow passengers along the way, including a certain well-known musician from the swamps of Jersey. Since the essay received such a powerful and positive response from so many readers, Greg has been kind enough to gift us all with an expanded version of his essay (below) for this holiday season, accompanied by a "bonus gallery" of plenty more photos, courtesy of Jon Landau Management's Ali Oscar. Enjoy, Dear Readers, and Happy, Healthy Holidays to all! "My daughter Kristen dying changed everything. My heroes had been rock stars, mostly. But the patients - the kids - became my heroes. And the doctors and everyone at Sloan Kettering. We started the Kristen Ann Carr Fund  to try to support them. "The most important thing I did in that period of time - to me - was when I played Santa Claus for the kids at Sloan Kettering. ’Cause here are kids confronting the most profound despair. And kids are smart; kids know that they’re dying when they’re dying. Kristen was twenty-one; still pretty damn young. No, everybody doesn’t lose eventually. And no, everybody doesn’t die at thirteen. And yes, you have every right you care to have to be and act furious. "My wife Barbara [Carr, former co-manager of Bruce Springsteen,] essentially had her entire raison d’être torn out of her body, and she got up the next morning and she did what she had to do. And the reason she did was, if she hadn’t, she would have betrayed Kristen and violated her in some fundamental way. We kept trying. And that’s a lesson about politics and about a lot of other things." -Dave Marsh, "Introduction to Section 2 - The 1990s" in Kick Out the Jams: Jibes,Barbs, Tributes, and Rallying Cries from 35 Years of Music Writing Forget your professional athletes, TV personalities, rock stars, and even Popeye. They can't hold a candle to the man in the red suit. You've just read Dave Marsh's perspective, so here's my holiday story about what became my two favorite days of the year, every year, for more than twenty years. Because I was Santa Dave's Head Elf/Dresser/Security/Gift-Bag Delivery-Boy/Consigliere. Let’s begin with a little background on my relationship with Dave Marsh. Initially, much like many of you, I became a fan of Dave’s writing in Rolling Stone Magazine – and I still think that 1978 cover story on Bruce is about as good as it gets. I first met him at his legendary NYC B Dalton’s book-signing for Born to Run and I continued to semi-stalk him at various music industry events, and book signings for the next several years, all the while becoming friends. Besides pursuing a career as a musician, I was also working at HBO. That came in handy when, while assisting at a Rock & Roll Confidential (later Rock & Rap Confidential ) event in 1984, I happened to mention to Dave that we would be getting the new Elvis Presley special One Night With You (the acoustic set from the 1968 special) delivered in a day or two. He indicated to me that he was going to be flying out to Los Angeles to see some Springsteen shows at the L.A. Sports Arena, and asked if I could get him a copy before he left. Well, I called in a few favors, broke several union rules, and was able to get him a VHS copy before his trip. About ten days later, I received a phone call from a somewhat sheepish Dave - definitely not his usual tone. He told me his tale of woe... Apparently upon his arrival at the Sports Arena, he played it for the gang backstage pre-show. Several days later, prior to his return trip to NYC, he went to retrieve his copy and was told, in no uncertain terms by the powers that be, that the Elvis tape wasn’t going anywhere. So he asked for, and I got him, another copy a few days later and at that point, our friendship was solidified. Later, when vocal coaching became my full time job, I was always eager to get his thoughts on people I was working with, while also learning from him and his wife Barbara Carr (Bruce Springsteen's co-manager at the time) about the workings of the music business. (How lucky was that!) I also would make occasional research contributions to his books and Rock & Rap Confidential , as well as continue assisting on a variety of RRC events, and even attend the occasional Yankees game with Dave. I'm not sure I would call him my "mentor" - I doubt he'd like that title - but the knowledge and insights I gleaned from him and Barbara were invaluable to me and to my vocal clients, in turn. When Kristen got sick, it was devastating for all of us who knew her and Dave and Barbara. I had first met her when she was very young, and I knew that she was the one who got Dave to listen to the first album of one of my vocal clients, Corey Glover/Living Colour, in a favorable light. When she was fighting through her illness, I once again broke some rules and got her an advance copy of their second album, Time's Up . I was later told she found great comfort in the song "Solace of You," which was also a personal favorite of mine. Her funeral and burial are still the saddest I've ever attended, and that includes each of the ones for my parents. I knew the family was determined to fight back, so it made total sense that the Kristen Ann Carr Fund (KACF) was established soon after her passing, with its first major public event being Bruce Springsteen's fundraising benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in 1993, and the fund was off and running. In 1994, Kristen's friends began organizing their own fundraising events, including the first "A Night to Remember" benefit, and I was able to help Michael Solomon (Kristen's boyfriend) organize a benefit preview performance of Fallen Angel , an off-Broadway musical about an up-and-coming band. The fact that the show starred my dear friend Corey Glover helped to "grease the skids" more than a little, and we were able to get a great deal and raise a lot of money. So with all of that, when the Fund decided to throw a Holiday Party for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) pediatric outpatients at the Hard Rock Cafe, I and several others were invited to celebrate and help out if needed. Little did I know... I already was aware that Dave owned a Santa suit, but I was under the impression that it had been used mainly for young relatives and family friends. Upon arriving, when I was told that Dave would be serving as Santa and handing out gift-bags at the end of the night, I really didn't know what to expect. As you might imagine, the Marsh-Carr team had a bit of pull, so among the guests to interact with the patients that night were three stars of the New York Rangers hockey team, fresh off their Stanley Cup triumph earlier in the year, the rap group Fu-Schnickens and, to photograph the festivities, the great Neal Preston. My assignment was to keep a bit of order in the autograph lines and provide the celebrity guests with any desired refreshments. Easy enough. After a bit, I saw Dave exit into the storage-area where he'd stashed his Santa suit and I figured he'd be out in a few minutes. But more than a few minutes went by, and Ms. Carr asked me to go see what was holding things up. So I went back to where Dave was and I saw him, about one-third dressed, fumbling around with his beard and wig, all the while joking with Neal and clearly not in a hurry. Given who had sent me, I felt I could speak more authoritatively than usual, and I said " Okay Santa, it's time to stop fooling around, get dressed, and get out to those kids. And I'm here to help." "Santa," aka Dave Marsh, chatting with "Mrs. Claus," aka Barbara Carr - photo from the Kristen Ann Carr Fund's Facebook page Now, at this point in my life, I had never helped an adult male to get dressed, let alone dressed as Santa Claus, but I was on a mission. And while the Marsh-Preston banter never stopped, I did manage to get the boots, wig, and beard on Santa Dave. The last thing needed was to get the red Santa jacket on and it was not easy, considering the beard hanging down and the non-stop chatter. Neal was taking pictures of this whole ordeal. As I grew somewhat frustrated, through clenched teeth, I spit out the following to Dave: "Will you hold your beard, so I can zip you up?!" I quickly followed that up with, "I don't believe I've ever uttered that sentence before, and I think Neal Preston took a photo of me saying it." Amongst much laughter, we finished our task, and Santa was ready for the MSKCC patients. Quite by accident, I had acquired a new duty with Dave and the Fund. And it was solidified after the event by the following exchange: After Dave had handed out the presents, we met up again. He asked me where I had been, and I commented that I’ve been hanging with my new friends Fu-Schnickens. At this point, I think the following information is important... While Dave grew up on the mean streets of Pontiac and Detroit, Michigan, I had spent most of my life in the less-than-mean streets of Westchester County, New York. However, having been trained by him for the better part of a decade, I had learned to be a Marsh-like smart ass, or so I thought. I said, “I've been hanging with Fu-Schnickens. You know, Fu-Schnickens, Corey, Lenny Kravitz (another of my vocal clients...) Let’s face it; I’m America’s coolest white guy.” With the timing of your favorite sitcom, Dave’s immediate response was, “Wait… I think you heard that wrong… You’re America’s whitest cool guy.” For years, I tried - unsuccessfully - to have that listed as my album credit on a client’s record. For the next couple of years, I assisted Santa Dave at the outpatient parties, helping him to get dressed and presentable, and assisting with the distribution of Santa's lavish gift-bags. The folks at MSKCC loved the parties and appreciated all that KACF was doing for the hospital. So after a few years, I got a call one November from Dave, saying that the Pediatric Department at MSKCC wanted him to be the Santa for their big in-house Pediatric Holiday Party, and he hoped I would be available to help out. "Absolutely," I told him, and we found ourselves at MSKCC a few weeks later. As we soon would discover, these two holiday parties were very distinct events. Over the years, the outpatient party was held in several different but festive New York locations, The Hard Rock Cafe and the wonderfully interactive Sony Wonder exhibit being the two most prominent. KACF volunteers were invited, and as a treat for the patients and their families, a number of celebrities would attend - star New York athletes, TV and movie stars, a bunch of music-business folks (particularly when the party was at the Sony building,) and, of course, a certain New Jersey-based rock star. (More on him in a bit.) Of course the in-house party at MSKCC was quite different. Other than the incredible pediatric staff of MSKCC, who are among the best people doing an incredibly difficult job I've ever been privileged to know, the only ones there were the sick children from all over the country and the world, their families, and me and Santa. I'm what's known as an "easy cry," and Dave's not far behind, but we were determined to bring at least a few hours of happiness to these folks. We got the suit on, I did my best to make Santa Dave look like the real deal. (Back then, padding was involved, less as the years went on.) and then the magic happened. My friend Dave Marsh, the occasionally biting and sarcastic rock critic/smart-ass, BECAMESanta Claus. (Maybe it shouldn't have been too surprising that the Christmas-music-loving co-author of Merry Christmas, Baby: Holiday Music from Bing to Sting would transform into such a successful Santa, but still...) The couple of warm-ups at the outpatient parties were nice; this was the real deal. While the age range of the patients ran from infancy to early twenties, Santa Dave found a way to relate to them all. photo from the Kristen Ann Carr Fund's Facebook page photo from the Kristen Ann Carr Fund's Facebook page photo from the Kristen Ann Carr Fund's Facebook page photo from the Kristen Ann Carr Fund's Facebook page For the younger true believers, they sat on his lap, he asked all the right questions, and he would talk with them for as long as they wanted. Their visits usually ended with a Polaroid photo of them (and often including their families) with Santa. For the older children, Santa would stand up to greet them and talk with them like grown-ups, which they clearly appreciated. I would hand out the age-appropriate gift-bags and stay close enough to occasionally give Santa some water - that suit can get pretty warm - and hear a bit of Santa's conversations, while staying enough out of earshot so as to not burst into tears every ten or so minutes. The MSKCC folk had told us we'd probably be there for "a couple of hours or so"; as we were approaching Hour Four with a line of guests still waiting for their turn with Santa, they worriedly approached me. I indicated that Santa was having the time of his life, a fact that Dave later confirmed. And that cinched it; me and Santa had two holiday gigs each year for the next twenty-plus years. Frank Caruso, the great artist/illustrator who collaborated with Bruce Springsteen on his OUTLAW PETE children's book, frequently offered fun art activities at the annual KACF holiday parties - photos from the KACF Facebook page Back to the outpatient holiday party... In addition to the Rangers, various Knicks and Yankees came throughout the years, along with Michael J. Fox, Miranda Cosgrove, Jimmy Fallon, Frank Caruso, and Popeye, to name a few. But after all, this is Letters To You , so let's talk Bruce, shall we? Mr. Springsteen treated this with all precision and passion his fans would expect from him. When available to attend (I mean, he does have another job or three,) he would drive from New Jersey into midtown Manhattan during Christmas season...not at all a pleasant task. Upon arriving, he would take a few minutes to say hi to all the people he knew - which, as you might expect at the Sony building, was a considerable list - and then he would find a spot to post up and greet the patients and their families. He would talk with the patients, take pictures with them and their families, and generally spread some holiday love. And perhaps the coolest thing was that once Santa had made his appearance, and was handing out the gift bags, I rarely, if ever knew that Bruce had exited. No fuss, he would just quietly take leave. He knew who the real star of the show was that day. I have two favorite Bruce memories: First, Sony Wonder had an elaborate sign-in set up where they'd take your hand print and photo, then print out ID's for the guests (not unlike what one basically has to do to enter any Manhattan office building these days, but this was pre 9/11). After I had gotten Santa Dave dressed, he thought it'd be fun to get a "Santa" ID taken, so we snuck up to the entrance and went through. Not ten feet in front of us was Bruce, who had just checked in, and so Santa called out "There's that nice boy who sings that song about me!" As he's turning around, Bruce responded with that distinctive Jersey rasp, "Santa!! Good to see you! You gonna make it out to Jersey this year?" I think some of the younger patients within earshot who were on the fence decided that this was, in fact, The REAL SANTA. Well, blow me down and boop-oop-a-doop! Clowning with classic cartoon characters Popeye and Betty Boop, regular visitors to KACF holiday parties (thanks to Frank Caruso's King Features Syndicate connections) - photo from the KACF Facebook page The second memory is from many years later... I'm guessing the late 2010s. Bruce was once again holding court at Sony Wonder, though by this point, the parents of the teenaged patients seemed more interested in getting their time and photo with him. When it was time for me to collect Dave for his Santa transformation, I walked past where Bruce was and saw and heard the following: Bruce talking on a cell phone, with a teenage girl standing on either side of him... Cue that distinctive rasp... "Yeah, it's me... No, it's really me... I'm here with your niece and her friend, and they wanted me to call you... No, it's my pleasure. How you doin'?" autographing a BORN TO RUN t-shirt for a lucky fan - photo from the KACF Facebook page As the years went on, Santa and I took our job even more seriously... several new Santa outfits, improved wigs and beards, boots, gloves, etc. Every year at the outpatient party, which was always scheduled first, I'd open the Santa-suit sack to find additional upgrades. And along the way, we did have some special helpers. Dave's nephew James came along to MSKCC very early on. Although young, he was great with both the patients and their families. In addition, James was another person for me and Santa to talk with, if things were getting too heavy. We lost him when he began his full time career in NYC, but he would occasionally sneak by on his lunch hour when he could, and I'll always consider him my first "elf partner in crime." Another early helper was Kara, who worked with Dave and Jim Rotolo on Dave's weekly Kick Out The Jams radio show at SiriusXM. She had heard about our little adventure, and decided she wanted to see what all the fuss was about on her way to the office. Before I got Dave dressed, I gave her the basic instructions: 1) Once he's in the suit, he's only SANTA , not Dave, and 2) Don't expect him to be anything like he is at SiriusXM. I could tell she was more than a little skeptical about the last comment, but once we got Santa out to the playroom and interacting with the patients, it only took about three kids. She came over to me and said, "Who is this person in the suit, and what have you done with Dave?" I said something about a Christmas miracle, she laughed, and when she had to leave for work, I think she had a newfound appreciation for her co-worker. The last of the very special helpers was Lexi, the daughter of Ali Oscar at Jon Landau Management. When Lexi was quite young, less than ten I believe, we showed up at the outpatient party to find her dressed in the cutest outfit and ready to assist. While she looked like something out of a Hallmark movie, both Dave and I privately discussed if it all might be a little too much for someone that young, and we were a bit nervous. Boy, were we wrong! She was a total natural - great with the patients and their families, and always taking the best photos with them, as well as keeping me on my toes to make sure they all got the right age appropriate gift-bags, including ones for any siblings who were in attendance. After a number of years of being the belle of the ball, she outgrew the idea of the velvet outfit, and it was our loss. KACF thank-you card image courtesy of Greg Drew However, several years later, Ali and Dave decided she was mature enough to handle the intensity of the MSKCC inpatient party, and so she came along to that. (Don't know if they ever had a similar discussion about me; probably good if they didn't.) When you think about it, is there a worse place to be for a child during holiday season than a cancer hospital? If so, I'm hard-pressed to think of one. And for teens, I think it's even a bit worse. Most of the patients are much younger or much older, the staff is all older, and you're old enough to realize that you don't really have any connection to your fellow teens or fellow patients. So when a smart, charming, thoughtful and lovely teenage girl came to assist Santa, it was a treat, and the smiles she brought to the faces of the teenage boys and girls stay with me to this day. Thanks, Lexi! In the last ten or so years, our responsibilities at MSKCC grew. After the morning session with all of the children in the playroom, I was given a cart full of gift-bags to push around, and Santa visited the treatment area for those patients who couldn't make it to the playroom festivities. We then got a lunch break, hidden from view so that Santa could remove his beard and wig during this respite. We were usually joined by doctors from the hospital, often including that year's KACF Surgical Fellow . Dave, who was very active with the MSKCC community, would talk with them about medical issues and the progress being made fighting cancer. I would sit and listen, and understand about every third sentence being uttered, and be remarkably quiet for me. But soon enough, I would be back in my comfort zone, helping Santa with his wig and beard and helping him look "just so." After a few years of the hospital gig, it was explained to us that there were a number of patients who were too sick to leave their rooms and couldn't make it down to the playroom party. Santa Dave said, "Well, we can go to them." So after lunch, we would walk the pediatric floor, me pushing an overloaded cart or two full of gift-bags, and Santa visiting all of the room-bound children, even to the point of me helping Santa "gown up" for the quarantined. This was always the biggest emotional roller coaster of the day: milk and cookies, drawings, and wish lists left outside hospital doors; children too sick to even leave their hospital room lighting up when they realized Santa had "found them," even though they weren't at home; parents, in the midst of dealing with their worst nightmare, smiling through tears at their young ones' delight at the sight of the man in the red suit. But perhaps my favorite memory of all from this part of the visit came from a very unexpected source. As you might imagine, there were a number of Jewish patients at the hospital, and so sometimes Santa and his gifts were not really appropriate. Santa and I would smile, wave, and quickly move onto the next room. Except this one time... A Hasidic father met us at the doorway and indicated that, while they would not accept the gifts, his daughter had a few questions for Santa. A young girl, I’m guessing between ten and twelve years old, was propped up in her hospital bed when Santa walked in and sat down. I was expecting a few cute questions and a fairly quick exit. The young lady proceeded to give Santa Dave a 60 Minutes -style grilling worthy of Mike Wallace, Nora O’Donnell, Maggie Haberman, Jake Tapper, etc. “How did you get here?” “Where are the reindeer?” “What do you feed the reindeer?” While it was interesting to see Dave Marsh getting a taste of his own medicine, Santa Dave answered all of the questions in this five-to-seven-minutes grilling with answers that seemed to satisfy the budding journalist, and Santa was summarily dismissed. The father, who had been watching with an ever-increasing smile, gave Santa a "Thanks" and a pat on the back on his way out. Me and Santa quickly ducked into a staff room to recover and rehash, and knew that we’d remember that patient for a looooooong time. Even though we were passing out the presents, those parties were truly a gift to me and Santa Dave. Every year, Nina and Jill from MSKCC would thank us, as would all the staff we interacted with - and let's face it, everyone wanted to interact with Santa - for doing this. And every year, we would thank them for the privilege of being allowed to be a part of it. We also began to notice, as our annual visits continued, that each year there were fewer kids who were severely ill. It was a very encouraging sign that the medical research funded by The Kristen Ann Carr Fund and other organizations was making significant breakthroughs in treating various cancers, including the kind of cancer that Kristen had. photo by Ali Oscar - used with permission The pandemic did a number on these types of gatherings, so Santa Dave and I now find ourselves retired. Dave and I remain close, of course; we worked together on Live from E Street Nation and Kick Out the Jams SiriusXM radio shows, as well as my assisting on what I hope will be his soon-to-be-published memoir, something the younger me waiting in line at B. Dalton’s would have never imagined. But every December, I miss terribly those two special days, especially the part when it was just me helping Dave transform into Santa. Things got a lot smoother after that first Hard Rock appearance, but it still took some time to make Santa look his best. So there was time for us to catch up, talk music and life, and all the while, I knew I was about to participate in the best thing I'd do that year, EVERY year. And in case you think I'm being a bit over the top with my praise of Santa Dave, one year, Nina and/or Jill told Dave that the folks from Macy's had called. They had heard about the Pediatric Holiday Party and wanted to know if MSKCC wanted to use "their Santa..." - you know, the one from the Macy's Thanksgiving parade every year on TV... " the Santa" - for the party. Macy's was told, "No, thanks, we're good." When Dave told me, we both got choked up, exchanged a high-five, and he managed to get out, "I couldn't have done it without you." My answer then, as it remains now: "It’s my distinct honor and privilege." So you better be good, for goodness' sake... You can click here to donate in support of the Kristen Ann Carr Fund's important, ongoing work this holiday season. And below check out this year's special "bonus gallery" of plenty more photos to accompany this expanded edition, courtesy of Jon Landau Management's Ali Oscar. (Thanks, Ali!) You can begin to explore this special photo gallery by clicking on any of the thumbnail images below:

December 20, 2024 "Southside Johnny... One of the weirdest guys I ever saw. He used to dress just like my old man. He was definitely comin' in from the outside. First time I saw him he was playin' bass behind one of the early legends in Asbury, a guy named Sonny Kenn. Johnny was terrible. This was a person that could not play the bass. But he could sing and play harp and he knew a lot about the blues. Once I talked to him, I realized he wasn't as weird as he looked... He was weirder, and his general conversation consisted of insulting everyone within fifty feet. But he was the only white kid on the Jersey shore that you could stand to hear sing straight R&B five sets a night. "I brought up a lot of the past in these notes, and I hope Johnny don't mind, but I think it's time to bring it up before it's lost forever, because I know pretty soon it'll all be gone. So it's time to speak the names of the lost soldiers, 'cause the music on this album - Johnny's music - is something that grew out of those friendships and the long summer nights when there was no particular place to go and nothing to do... except play. -All night long." Bruce Springsteen, from his liner notes for I Don't Want To Go Home , the first album by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Countless thanks, Southside, for all of those great live performances over the years. Much health and happiness to you in the future, good sir.

December 16, 2024 Lookin' for last-minute Christmahanukwanzakah gift ideas for that Springsteen fan in your life, and/or maybe even yourself? If you and/or your intended recipient don't mind waiting a bit longer to enjoy your presents, here are two gift ideas that also will help to support some Jersey-Shore-based charities: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band x The Stone Pony Charity Tee - Calling it "the last drop of our 50th Anniversary collection," The Stone Pony has teamed up with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band for an officially licensed shirt based on an original 1970s design by DJ Lee Mrowicki, the Pony's original house DJ. All net proceeds from each shirt will go directly to Community Karma and Mercy Center , two Asbury-Park-based organizations dedicated to highlighting, investing and building the community through its youth. The shirt is available in both white-on-black and black-on-white designs. Click here for ordering information. IMPORTANT NOTE FROM THE PONY: "Due to an overwhelming response, these tees are now on BACKORDER. Any orders placed after December 4 will be processed, but may not be delivered in time for Christmas. Thank you for your generosity, it will go a long way to help the kids!" Light of Day Winterfest 25 tickets - You also can support another well-known Jersey-Shore-based charity, of course, by purchasing your Light of Day Winterfest 25 tickets, if you haven't done so already. Next month's multi-day series of events is shaping up to be another great mid-January lineup, with the recent addition of Jesse Malin and his band, coming off Malin's triumphant return to live performance earlier this month. All Light of Day Winterfest 25 performances and events will raise money and awareness for the continuing quest to end Parkinson’s disease and its related illnesses ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.) Click here and here for more details on lineups, performances, and ticket packages.

Stevie Van Zandt in a Leonard Peltier shirt at a 1989 recording session photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns - used with permission November 29, 2024 It's Native American Heritage Day 2024. Native American activist Leonard Peltier is now eighty years old, in poor health, and has been in prison for almost fifty years. If you don't know who Leonard Peltier is or the significance of his struggle, below you can watch Stevie Van Zandt's 1989 music-video for his song "Leonard Peltier" - recorded and released as Little Steven - which distills the basic facts and history surrounding Peltier's unjust conviction. You also can click here to read our July 4, 2024 report on Peltier's most recent unsuccessful hearing before the U.S. Parole Board. The Free Leonard Peltier campaign is encouraging its supporters to contact The White House NOW and urge President Biden to grant clemency to Peltier before Biden leaves office in January, ensuring that Peltier finally can leave behind his imprisonment for a murder he did not commit, and spend the latter part of his life at home with his loved ones . Click here for more information and other ways that you can support the campaign, as well. [IMPORTANT NOTE/UPDATE: The "comments@whitehouse.gov" email address provided in the campaign's information is currently a non-functioning address. Use this link to contact President Biden online instead: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Please also note that this campaign is very much an international effort, so non-U.S.-citizens are welcomed and encouraged to get involved, too. ] "I am not intending to give up. And I'm hoping none of you give up." -Leonard Peltier, following the July 2, 2024 U.S. Parole Board denial

[Editor's note: You can click on the photo above or any other photo here to view a full, unobstructed slideshow-style presentation of all of this article's photos.] November 27, 2024 "For what are we without hope in our hearts...?" Bruce Springsteen, Across The Border Back in February 2023, when I bought tickets for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s November 2023 Vancouver, B.C. concert, I anticipated a lighthearted road trip from my home in the Western United States across the Canadian border, reminiscent of the Bruce-chasing sojourns of my youth. COVID-19 was over (sort of,) the Boss and the band were back... What could possibly go wrong? Fast-forward to November 2024. What was supposed to have been the first show of the 2023 Canadian tour had been postponed by a year due to Springsteen’s recovery from peptic ulcer disease, and was now the final show of the 2024 tour. I remember looking at the rescheduled date when it came out last year and realizing that the show would be right after the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. Like the meme of the oblivious cartoon dog in the burning house, I quickly replaced that troubling thought with the mantra, “Everything will be fine, just fine!” I have walked into Springsteen shows before carrying all kinds of personal worries, ailments, and grief, knowing that for a couple of hours at least, Bruce would be my faith healer. But I never expected to walk into a Springsteen show nearly paralyzed with existential terror for the future of my country. My heavy heart was lifted somewhat by being among ecstatic, vocal, well-lubricated Canadians in an old hockey barn not much different from the Boston Garden, where I saw my first Bruce arena show in 1978. (Venerable Rogers Arena also had clearer, warmer acoustics than the two new monuments to billionaires where I saw my previous shows on this tour.) The Bruce fans of Western Canada have had to wait longer than anyone else to see this show, and so it’s fitting that in Vancouver, Springsteen saved the best for last. As is customary for a tour-ender, Bruce and the band emptied the tank. At three hours and twenty minutes, Vancouver was the longest show of the Canadian leg and one of the longest - if not the longest - of the entire tour. (It's neck-and-neck with Night One in Inglewood, CA last April.) The mood onstage and in the audience was loose and festive; the entire pit surprised Springsteen by donning Santa hats at the first sound of the jingle-bells opening to “Santa Claus is Comin' to Town,” prompting him to say with laughter, “I’m impressed!” Dressed as he was so often on the tour in a white button-down shirt, dark tie, and charcoal suit-vest (maybe a nod to his uniform in his teenaged band The Castiles,) Springsteen was as playful as I’ve ever seen him. (“The things these folks are saying, I can’t repeat them!” he exclaimed about a group of four very excited women during the opener “Spirit in the Night.”) And he was more spontaneous and chatty than he was earlier in the tour. “This is one of my favorite songs; I hope you like it, too,” he unexpectedly shared before “Racing in the Street.” Um, no worries on that, Bruce. There were jaw-dropping surprises on the Vancouver setlist. A joyously ragged “Ramrod” made its 2024 tour debut, with Stevie Van Zandt fumbling the words as Bruce, across the mic from him, cracked, “Sing it, Stevie, sing it!” “Human Touch” and “Brilliant Disguise” were also ’24 tour debuts, Soozie Tyrell handling harmonies in the absence of Patti Scialfa. And on “I’m on Fire,” not played since Philly in August, Springsteen smoldered and hit those high notes on the fadeout like it was 1984. It wasn’t a surprise when Mark Pender’s trumpet signaled the opening of “Meeting Across the River;" Springsteen added the song to the set recently for the Asbury Park and Toronto shows. But it still gave me chills to hear it live after I-don’t-know-how-many-years, knowing that “Jungleland” was soon to follow. And, oh, what a performance of “Jungleland.” The slightly slowed tempo and Springsteen’s age-deepened vocals gave the Born to Run technicolor epic an elegiac feel, becoming more of a bittersweet memory of wild youth than an anthem of it. Jake Clemons, playing his uncle Clarence’s sax, beautifully rendered the song’s cathartic solo, as Springsteen listened with eyes closed and a smile on his face. Jake looked up to the heavens when it was over, emotionally overcome, and Bruce walked over to him for a long embrace. A word of appreciation for the E Street Band... During their performances in 2023 and 2024, despite a long, unforeseen interruption, the core band plus four horn players, four singers, and an added percussionist have jelled into more than simply a well-oiled machine. This is a band so in tune with one another that they’ve almost become a single-celled organism. The long, wafting outro to “Racing in the Street” is the best example of the E Street Band’s remarkable cohesiveness: organ, bass, guitar, violin and drums ebbing and flowing underneath Roy Bittan’s delicate, then muscular, piano riff. That outro is pure poetry, but there is one smaller moment that I’ve also grown to love over the course of this tour, and that also illustrates the band’s precision. Listen to the way Bruce and the core band, plus the horns and percussionist Anthony Almonte, gradually slow down the groove of “Bobby Jean” (played in Vancouver and many other shows) at the song’s end. It's like they’re expertly landing a jumbo jet. All of those setlist changes, plus “Santa,” meant that some staples of this long period of touring were dropped in Vancouver. Gone were “Prove It All Night,” “No Surrender,” “Rosalita,” and “Land of Hope and Dreams.” And the closing-night spiritedness meant that Springsteen’s carefully constructed story arc got somewhat diluted. I was lucky to have seen the show once early in 2023, once in early 2024, and now at the end of the year, witnessing the 2023-2024 show's evolution. The February 2023 show I saw in Seattle relied heavily on Letter To You songs; I don’t regret getting to hear one of the few performances of “Burnin’ Train,” an underappreciated track that smoked in concert. Bruce was noticeably in Springsteen on Broadway mode for this show, intent on presenting his life-summing yet universal story of friendship, love, aging, loss, and transcendent hope, from the scene-setting “I’m ready to grow young again” of the fixed opener “No Surrender” to the scripted gut punch of the “Last Man Standing”/”Backstreets” middle monologues to the “death is not the end” of the closer “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” What we didn’t know at the time was that Springsteen was somehow performing through the pain of his ulcer. When the postponed shows resumed, I caught Night One of San Francisco in March 2024. Bruce looked more relaxed and was singing with more power and consistency. Not to disparage the static setlist of the earlier shows - static Bruce and E Street is better than none at all – but he was now loosening the reins a bit. Springsteen had started opening the show with a different song each night. (For "my" San Francisco show, it was a mind-blowing, out-of-left-field “Something in The Night.”) Strangely, the loosening of the setlist at the front end made the story arc even more powerful, because it no longer dominated to the point where it made the show more Broadway than E Street. Which brings us to the final 2024 show... The larger themes were still there in Vancouver. Mortality, the sacredness of memory, and the necessity of leaving nothing unsaid were all explicit in the show, because they were explicit in the four songs from Letter To You and the continued purposeful sequencing of one of them, “Last Man Standing," with "Backstreets.” But those themes also were palpable in Jake Clemons holding his sax aloft after “Thunder Road,” and in the “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” montage of Clarence and Danny Federici, absent yet present. In Vancouver, for the first time, Bruce made the absence of Patti Scialfa a part of the show, however subtly. Scialfa revealed in Thom Zimny’s recent Road Diary film that she has been living since 2018 with a blood cancer, which causes fatigue and a compromised immune system. The inclusion of two Springsteen-Scialfa duet songs in the setlist ("Human Touch" and “Brilliant Disguise") seemed like Springsteen’s poignant way of acknowledging her as an E Street Band member, and keeping her close, during this last show of the year. As the 2024 tour entered late summer and early fall, and the U.S. Presidential election loomed, Bruce added “Long Walk Home” to the core setlist. Recorded for the George W. Bush-era album Magic , “Long Walk Home” is one of Springsteen’s greatest political – no, patriotic – songs. Written about the lies told by a presidential administration and the erosion of civil rights and liberties in the rush to vengeance in post-9/11 America, “Long Walk Home” is a searing snapshot of a country slowly turning into something unrecognizable from the one we pledged allegiance to in grade school. Not many of us could imagine at the time where this was leading, but Springsteen did. On “Long Walk Home,” the narrator wanders through his old hometown, a metaphor for a United States falling into dystopian social and economic division and Constitutional chaos, and instead of seeing familiar places and faces, he sees only shuttered storefronts and “rank strangers.” The money verse, the one that has gained power in the years since the election of 2016, is this: “Your flag flyin’ over the courthouse/ Means certain things are set in stone/ Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t.” In Vancouver, as he has in every performance of the song this tour, Springsteen angrily, defiantly spat out those words. And as usual, he prefaced the song with, “This is a prayer for my country.” The E Street Choir’s buoyant work on the song, repeating the “It’s gonna be a long walk home” chorus a capella toward the end, is indeed prayer-like: Please let us get home again to those truths we hold self-evident. In Vancouver, Springsteen set up “Long Walk Home” with “Atlantic City,” a song about survival when morals are a luxury – “Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact/ Maybe everything that dies someday comes back” – followed by “Youngstown,” in which a laid-off steel worker confronts the mill owner with the brutal line, “Once I made you rich enough/ Rich enough to forget my name.” This three-song set told a story of shattered ideals, a widened gulf between haves and have-nots, crumbling illusions of the American Dream and American exceptionalism. That story meshed perfectly into Springsteen’s overarching theme of time’s changes and mortality, enlarging his vision to include the post-election reality in which Americans now find ourselves. “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” famously reads The Washington Post ’s masthead, and that newspaper proved it in the week before the presidential election by pulling an editorial board endorsement (of Kamala Harris) on the orders of the paper’s owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos. Well, everything dies, baby. That’s a fact. Around the same time he began adding "Long Walk Home" to his setlists, Springsteen also made a small change to his “Backstreets” monologue, which stayed in for the Vancouver show. Where he talks about the physical objects left behind by his departed friend, and how he will keep all the truly important things “right here,” patting his chest over his heart, instead of singing “till the end” he sings “till it ends.” Perhaps the word “it” is meant to be open-ended. “It” means whatever you read into it. So here goes... If we can carry departed loved ones in our heart, keep their spirits alive within us, doesn’t it follow that we can keep the spirit of a country alive inside us, too? Can’t we hold these vulnerable founding ideals of freedom and equality in our hearts, keep faith in a land of hope and dreams that “wraps its arms around you” where “nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone?" Does everything that dies someday come back? These were the questions I pondered on the long drive home to the U.S.A. For more from Joyce Millman, please visit joycemillman.wordpress.com You also can connect with Joyce on Bluesky @joycemillman.bsky.social

November 30, 2024 Happy 71st Birthday to the E Street Band's awesome former keyboardist - and just all-around amazing musician in his own right - David Sancious . Not surprisingly, the ever-active Sancious has some musical "birthday gifts" for us to appreciate on his special day. Recently David announced his newest solo album project The Ghost of Jim Crow , which he plans to release by spotlighting one album track at a time, beginning with "Why Must It Be So," which became available for download/listening late last month: "Why Must It Be So" and other David Sancious music (both past - including remasters/reissues - and present) can be purchased via his official website, TheRealDavidSancious.com That's also where fans like us can keep abreast of all of the latest news about his various musical endeavors. Happy Birthday, "Davey" Sancious, and best wishes for many, many more happy birthdays to come! Long may your music play.

November 27, 2024 It's that time of year when we're in the midst of WhyHunger 's annual Hungerthon drive to fight hunger. Bruce Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of WhyHunger, and for this year's Hungerthon, you can support WhyHunger's efforts by purchasing "The Promised Land"-inspired and fully authorized sweatshirts and tees. Click here for purchasing options , and those with deeper pockets can click here to bid on Charitybuzz's WhyHunger auction of a chance to sit in on SiriusXM E Street Radio's The Wild and the Innocent with Jim Rotolo in New York City .

November 25, 2024 Last Friday night, November 22, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed their final concert of the year in Vancouver's Rogers Arena. The penultimate song of the evening was "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town," with a sweet little visual enhancement that brought a smile to the face of "Santa" Springsteen himself. Before the concert began, as ticketholders for "the pit" were lined up waiting to be let in, venue personnel came by the line with boxes of Santa hats. Longtime fan Amy Marker, who had a ticket for the pit and provided the great photos above, informed us that the distribution of the Santa hats appeared to have been arranged by the Springsteen touring organization as a nice little surprise of sorts. Everyone in the pit line (about 125 people at the time) was given a hat and instructed to keep it hidden and not put it on until the appropriate moment in the show. "The venue security guy," relates Amy, "told us to keep the hats hidden 'until the right moment, and you all know when that is.' Everyone around me confirmed that we understood, and we all knew it would be right before 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.'" Letters To You soon will have a special report from contributing writer Joyce Millman on this very special final show of 2024, final night for the Canadian leg of this tour, and one of the tour's longest shows yet. It will be accompanied by plenty more great photos, as well. So stay tuned, faithful readers, and you'd better be good for goodness' sake!