BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TO RELEASE LIVE EP

Personally, I wish Bruce Springsteen would release a live album from every tour. I really wish he put out something from The Rising tour (although there was a pretty cool DVD) and especially from his Devils & Dust tour (the VH1 Storytellers DVD was great, but too short). 

The Magic Tour Highlights EP will be available digitally on July 15 and will feature four tracks: "Turn! Turn! Turn!" with Roger McGuinn, "Always A Friend" with Alejandro Escovedo (that song is the first single from Alejandro's just-released album, Real Animal; he's also managed by Bruce's manager Jon Landau), "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" with Tom Morello, and, movingly, from Danny Federici 's last appearance with Bruce and The E Street Band (from March 20) "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)." I wish more artists would release their one-off on-stage collabs digitally. Of course, what I and many other Springsteen fans really wish is that he would release live albums from all of his shows a la Pearl Jam. 

BRUCE REMEMBERS DANNY

E Street Band member Danny Federici's funeral was last week, and Bruce Springsteen spoke. You can read the text of his moving eulogy at his web site.

DANNY FEDERICI 1950 - 2008

I was away for the weekend, and upon returning, I read the sad news that E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici succumbed to melanoma.   

It's easy to get overshadowed in The E Street Band - there are lots of colorful characters and celebrities. But to me, Danny was kind of like his beloved instruments - the accordion and the organ: helping to create a sound, a tone, a vibe. Not necessarily being flashy and calling attention. But when he got the spotlight, he made it count: as I write this, I'm listening to Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's Live 1975-1985 box set, disc 1: you can kind of hear what Danny added to the sound on "Spirit In The Night," "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," and the instrumental "Paradise By The 'C'." He had a great solo on "Hungry Heart" and on "You're Missing" and "Ramrod." 

Back in my interviewing days - during the era that Bruce wasn't working with E Street - I often interviewed the guys in the band, and had the privilege of interviewing Danny a few times - at the time, he had just started doing solo accordion based records. At that time, a few of the guys didn't really like discussing the "Bruce thing" - they weren't really sure that they'd ever work together again, and there had been a few one-offs, but nothing to indicate that they'd ever record or tour again. But Danny was cool with talking about it: he indulged me and was more than happy to talk about not just his days with Bruce in the E Street Band, but also in Child (a Zeppelinesque band they were in together) and Steel Mill.  He told me about Steel Mill opening for Grand Funk Railroad, if you can imagine that. He told me about wanting to be in a rock and roll band as a kid, but he only had the very un-rock and roll accordion. So, he laid it on a table, it looked like an organ, and viola, he was a rocker! I wish I still had that tape.  It's worth mentioning that he and bassist Garry Tallent have been with Bruce longer than anyone. The authorized biography, Greetings From E Street: The Story Of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, the book starts not with Bruce, but with Danny. 

When I interviewed Danny, as all the E Streeters always are, he was a bit cagey about any speculation about when he might work with Bruce again. I interviewed him once when he was getting together with Bruce for a benefit - it may have been a Christmas concert type deal. He'd denied knowing anything about it. After the interview, I walked him to the elevator. He gets in, and as the doors were closing, he winks and says, "You know, I may be seeing your friend Bruce tonight..." 

Thanks for indulging my questions, Danny. Thanks for the music. And by the way, if you want to make a donation in his name, you can donate to The Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. 

DANNY'S BACK (SORT OF)

Last week in Indianapolis, Danny Federici joined the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band on stage for the first time since leaving the tour due his melanoma treatment. 

He didn't play the whole show, just a few songs, but it's good to know he's in shape to perform. Here's hoping he makes a full recovery soon, and that he is with the band when they play Giants Stadium this summer. 

(Photo from RollingStone.com) 

LITTLE STEVEN: "DANNY'S DOING GREAT"

RollingStone.com (where I got this photo from) has a great interview with the great Little Steven. Most importantly, he says that keyboardist Danny Federici is "doing great." He says that Danny will hopefully be back in the band within a month or two. I gotta think that he wants to be on stage when Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band play Giants Stadium this summer.

He also says that this tour will probably go through at least October, but I think that they'll tour through the election.

BRUCE - BACK ON THE ROAD, PREPARING NEW MUSIC?

I recently asked a friend of mine, who goes to tons of Bruce Springsteen shows, if he was going to go to opening night of the second leg of the Magic tour. He said "Nah, I've learned my lesson about opening night."

For those who aren't Springsteen fanatics, lore has it that opening nights don't tend to be the best shows. I've been to a few, and it's true, they usually aren't great compared to what is to come. But apparently, that rule didn't hold this week when Bruce and The E Street Band played Hartford, Conn. (That's where this picture was taken - and I got it from Backstreets). Sadly, keyboardist Danny Federici wasn't back with the band. He is being treated for melanoma, and missed the European leg of the tour, but supposedly he will try to make it to some of the U.S. dates on this leg. Charlie Giordano, who played in Bruce's Seeger Sessions Band is still filling in.

In happier news, Bruce was recently interviewed by USA Today, and he revealed that he has been in the studio lately, both with The E Street Band, and also working on a solo acoustic record. Supposedly, Bruce has full albums that he recorded but never released though, so who knows when we'll hear anything new from him. But it's cool that he's been working on new stuff.

It's kind of a bummer that it seems as if he is "only" doing three nights at Giants Stadium this summer. Last time Bruce and The E Street Band did a summer tour, they did ten nights, followed by three more at Shea. (Of course, very few artists these days could even play Giants Stadium once).

I attribute this to a few things:

(1) In 2003, Bruce was touring for The Rising, an album that really resonated with people post-9/11. Magic is a great album, and is as relevant to this moment in time as The Rising was to 2002-2203, but there was just something about that album that make Bruce seem as big as he was during the Born In The U.S.A. era.
(2) Since The Rising era, Bruce has alienated a lot of fans, due to his politics.
(3) He has also toured a lot: for a while, Bruce would take long breaks between projects, he's been fairly prolific and has toured often since that tour ended, on The Vote For Change Tour, plus the tours for Devils & Dust and The Seeger Sessions album, We Shall Overcome.
(4) His management usually strategizes his career so perfectly, you'd wish they could run the music industry (or the country). But putting tickets that cost $65 - $100 dollars each on sale during the Christmas season for concerts that are a half year away probably wasn't the best idea. Yes, Bruce tickets make a great Christmas gift, but they went on sale only days after the shows were announced, and these days, most Americans don't have an extra couple of hundred bucks lying around, especially during Christmas.
(5) People expect that he'll be doing more shows there, so once the "good seats" sold out, people are waiting for more shows to go on sale, so they can get better seats.

Whatever ,I have tickets for one show, and if he only does these three, I'll try to get for one of the others, if not both of the others. Right now, it looks like his tour is ending right after Giants Stadium, when he plays a Harley Davidson festival. But I bet they'll tour again in the fall, around election time. I bet Bruce is still bummed that the biggest rock stars in the world weren't able to push John Kerry to victory in the last election, but that doesn't mean that they (or he) shouldn't try again this year, hopefully with Obama.

GET WELL SOON, DANNY!

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band have kicked off the European leg of their Magic tour, and, sadly, keyboardist Danny Federici is taking a leave of absence, to receive treatment for Melanoma. Until Danny rejoins the band they're using Charles Giordano, who played with Bruce last year in The (Seeger) Sessions Band.

Back in my days as an interviewer, I had a few occasions to speak with Danny. He was always really cool. A few of them were before Bruce reunited with The E Street Band. Like the rest of the group, he was trying to get a new career going (he was recording solo albums of mainly accordian-based instrumental music)... and of course every interviewer asked about Bruce. Danny was very gracious about it. I was really happy for him when Bruce got the band back together. Anyway, get well soon, Danny, it won't be the same without you.