Re: I don't really think Bruce gives a ***....

On 2006-03-03 13:34:08 -0600, "David in NYC" <dbillotti@xxxxxxxxx> said:

For me, the magical thing about Springsteen was that he could write an
album like Born in the USA and sell 15 million copies. You could
either dance to Darlington County or ponder the psychological and
social ramifications of a one-industry town collapsing when listening
to My Hometown.

I agree with this. That is exactly what's special and distinctive about Springsteen at his commercial peak. But it's still an artistic fact you're talking about. We shouldn't be under the impression that BITUSA changed the world just because it sold 15 million copies--or that those copies were bought by a terribly diverse audience. Nor should we be under the impression that Springsteen could sell 15 million copies today.

That's a real trick - to be thoughtful and intellligent and still
commercially viable. Itunes is filled with challenging records that
sold twelve copies. So what?

I work on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It's Friday. Tonight, I
could go into just about any bar within a ten block radius of here, and
come out with five, six, seven bands who could do an album of Pete
Seeger covers that would sound as good as Springsteen's.

There's no trick in that. It's just folk music, not a symphony.

But this is silly. It's all in the execution. Folk music may or may not be as challenging as a symphony. I can't fathom by what you mean by "as good." You're a Ramones fan, right? Anyone can play a Ramones song, too.

The burden's on Springsteen to make the songs his own. Most people *can't* do that in an interesting way.

Further, Springsteen is not just doing it because "he feels like it,"
he's doing it BECAUSE HE CAN. He knows, like you said, that enough
people will buy it to make it financially viable. But if he loved
roots music so much, he would have done it in 1975 or 1978 or even 1980
when he was still establishing himself.

Let me put this in a different light. You stay in decent shape when
the woman you're with is just your girlfriend and you want to seal the
deal. But a lot of guys don't give a crap about their weight after
they're married and let themselves go, because they know its not enough
to make her leave.

It's called taking advantage of a situation and Springsteen is taking
advantage of his fan base and his status.

Without question. But if he wasn't already commercially viable, he might have trouble getting a record deal at all today. It's impossible to imagine an album of his today that wouldn't be taking advantage (in the benign sense) of his fan base and his status. "The Rising," a mainstream rock album, did too--no one else would have gotten so much attention for that collection of songs.

And Landau is right at the heart of this. It's very fashionable among
hyper-educated, upper class people to like "roots music."

As it was in the 1960s, when Dylan did it. You're not talking about a new phenomenon here. And there's no reason to think Springsteen's interest in this music isn't genuine, and every reason to think the opposite. Finally, these folk songs aren't what I'd call "roots music."

-ez

.