A few weeks ago I subscribed to the Apple TV+ streaming service so I could watch Bruce Springsteen’s documentary of his new album “Letter to You”. The documentary was shot in gorgeous black and white in November 2019 at Springsteen’s home studio in central New Jersey. Bruce’s narration, eloquent as always, over beautiful aerial shots of his house in the woods, sets the stage for each of the musical segments.
The songs are among his strongest in years, marking the end of what I would call Bruce’s memoir period that started with his 2016 book “Born To Run”, then the two year run of “Springsteen on Broadway” through last year’s “Western Stars”.
The E Street Band does their part bringing these songs alive. This is the first album with the band since 2009’s “Working On A Dream” and they have never sounded better. These sessions feel like a family reunion, the band in high spirits with Bruce as the father figure. We see Bruce running down the songs on his acoustic guitar with the band around him taking notes. Long-time producer Jon Landau drifts in and out of the sessions in his role of eminence grise.
Since the passing of Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici, the E Street Band has been rounded out by saxophonist Jake Clemons (Clarence’s nephew) and organ player Charles Giordano. In the credits these two are listed separately from the E-Street band. The E Street Band is a closed brotherhood and has been since the “Born To Run” tour in 1975. The exceptions being Nils Lofgren[1], who replaced the temporarily departed Steve Van Zandt, and of course Mrs. Springsteen, both invited into the fold during the “Born In The USA” tour.
The documentary showcases a good portion of the new album. The strongest of the new songs include “Last Man Standing”, “The Power of Prayer” and the soaring “Ghosts”. The songs taken together feel like a testimony to the power of music to change people’s lives and all those Bruce encountered on his musical journey (e.g., “House of a Thousand Guitars”).
Mixed into the set are three songs from the early seventies. They are instantly identifiable as being from his pre-Landau period[2]. The songs are long (six minutes plus) with dense, almost Dylanesque, lyrics. Any of these songs would have fit seamlessly onto his first album. It is interesting that they were included here. Perhaps as a bow to the past and the recent passing of the last member of his first band The Castiles. I like “If I Was The Priest” and “Song For Orphans” the best, but “Jeannie Needs A Shooter” is also solid.[3] These older songs create an interesting contrast between the young Bruce writing about his struggles to find his future versus the current Bruce looking back and making peace with his past. It reminded me of that Joan Didion essay about staying on good terms with our former selves.[4]
One criticism I have is that the instrumental sections on a number of the songs tend to repeat the main melody (either the guitars or Roy Bittan’s piano). This part of the arrangements could have been a bit more varied. Also despite the overall strength of the set “Rainmaker” doesn’t seem to fit. But these are minor trifles. There is no getting away from the fact that this is one of the more inspired albums that Bruce and The E Street Band have put out in a long time. That an artist as accomplished as Springsteen can put out a record like this at this stage of his almost 50 year career is astonishing. The acid test I have for new music is do I want to hear it again after the initial listen. I want to hear “Letter To You” again.
ARTS ROUNDUP
Books: “Squeeze Me”, Carl Hiaasen. A python is loose in the privileged town of Palm Beach, Florida. After it is sighted at one of the town’s gala events animal control expert Angie Armstrong is brought in to remove the intruding snake. It also seems that one of the rich dowagers from the party has also gone missing. Thus starts the latest over the top sunshine state saga from Hiaasen. This time he spices up the adventures by including the town’s most famous resident and his wife. Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction never read anything by Carl Hiaasen.
Streaming: “The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix). This is a seven-episode miniseries about a female chess prodigy. Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) learns chess in the basement of her orphanage from the custodian. Beth also has her introduction to drugs with the tranquilizers that the orphanage uses to control the girls. After Beth is adopted she begins her climb through the ranks of competitive chess on her quest to be the world’s greatest player. As her chess prowess grows so do her emotional and substance abuse problems. Taylor-Joy is hypnotic in her portrayal of Beth and the supporting cast also shines.
Podcasts: “Song Exploder”. The premise of this podcast is to interview musicians about how they wrote and recorded a specific song. The podcast has been around for a number of years and a few of the episodes are now available on Netflix. I watched the episode on REM’s “Losing My Religion” which was really interesting and included interviews with all the band members about the creation of the song. Interesting side story: The record company didn’t want to put out a single with a mandolin as the featured instrument. We know how that turned out. I also listened to Sleater-Kinney discuss “The Future Is Here” a song off their most recent album. Perfect show for music nerds like me.
[1] This is the second time in the past year that Nils’ has appeared in a documentary by a rock icon recording a new album. He also appeared in Neil Young’s film of the recording of his latest album “Colorado”. Nils was again replacing another long standing guitarist, Frank Sampredo, who seems to have retired after being in Neil’s band Crazy Horse since 1975.
[2] Landau, Springsteen’s longtime producer starting with “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”, influenced Bruce’s move away from the longer, cinematic songs of his early albums.
[3] A version of which was covered by Warren Zevon in the early eighties.
[4] The essay “On Keeping A Notebook” comes from Didion’s 1968 collection “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”.