MY FAVORITE JULY 4TH SONG - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN "AMERICAN LAND"

(this image is from Wikipedia commons, anyone is allowed to use it, so I'm using it!)

It's hard to write about America and do a good job at it.  Obviously, it's easier to rebel about things that you don't like than it is to celebrate America, and that's often the rub with art. Rebelling is easier than celebrating. But I think that July 4 is a good time to be thankful to live in the U.S.A., without getting too flag-wavvy about it.

In recent years, there's been a few attempts at writing what could be referred to as "The Great American Song." U2 wrote "The Hands That Built America" for Martin Scorsese's 2002 film Gangs Of New York. Good song, but not a great one.  Bruce Springsteen took a few whacks at it: "This Hard Land" from his 1995 Greatest Hits album felt like an attempt, as did "Land Of Hope And Dreams" which he started playing on the 1999 reunion tour with The E Street Band. The latter stayed in Bruce's setlists for a long time, but I didn't feel the song was as good as he seemed to think it was.

During Bruce's tour with The Seeger Sessions Band for the 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, he started playing a new song "American Land."  I felt he nailed it. Bono has talked about how America isn't just a place, it's an idea. I don't think the idea of America has ever been better expressed in a rock song than in "American Land." He romanticizes the idea from the perspective of immigrants ("There's diamonds in the sidewalk the's gutters lined in song/Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long/ There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man /Who will make his home in the American Land?") in a way that can make all of us proud that we do call this place home.  It also points out that a fair immigration policy is one of the things that made us great. At the same time, he expresses some of his core values: the plight of blue collar workers ("They died building the railroads worked to bones and skin/They died in the fields and factories names scattered in the wind/They died to get here a hundred years ago they're still dyin now/The hands that built the country were always trying to keep down").  And also the fact that everyone deserves a shot, no matter their race or color ("The McNicholas, the Posalski's, the Smiths, Zerillis, too/The Blacks, the Irish, Italians, the Germans and the Jews /Come across the water a thousand miles from home/With nothin in their bellies but the fire down below").

That's why I choose the above photo for this post.  No matter what you think of The President, when Bruce was growing up, or even when *I* was growing up (I'm much younger than Bruce), the idea of an African American president seemed unlikely to say the least.  The fact that Bruce worked so hard for President Obama - who campaigned on a platform of hope and change, some of which has arguably been fulfilled - makes this photo really powerful.

Bruce has nothing to prove anymore. The fact that he still works so hard to fulfill what he sees is his responsibility to himself, his audience, and his country, is inspiring.  Like any other great artist, sometimes his reach exceeds his grasp, but on "American Land" he hit a grand slam.  It's not just a classic that stands up next to his catalog, it also stands next to Woody Gurthrie's.

("American Land" was the only song from The Seeger Sessions that Bruce played with The E Street Band, and you can see their version - played in Hyde Park, in England, here. )

NEIL YOUNG AND DAVE GROHL "COLLABORATE"

Without much fanfare, a new version of Neil Young's "Sign Of Love" from last year's Le Noise has been released as a single on iTunes. It's a slightly different take of song, with Dave Grohl on drums.  If you have the album or are familiar with it, you'll recall that there's no drums on the album - it is a true solo album, it's all Neil on vocals, guitar and keyboards, with producer Daniel Lanois and his guys adding some effects.  I liked the concept of the album (although I wish some of the songs were stronger), but Dave Grohl's drums add some muscle to the song.

This is the second re-imagining of a Le Noise track: right after the album came out, Pearl Jam covered "Walk With Me" at the Bridge School Benefit, with Neil joining them on guitar and vocals.  It sounded cool as a band song.   There are lots of bootleg videos you can see one here. It reminds me of how cool it is when Neil and Pearl Jam play together. I hope that one of these days, they do a U.S. tour together.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: CLASSIC ROCK: OZZY, IGGY, NEIL, PAUL, LEVON

I don't know if your average classic rock programmer would consider all of these artists "classic rock," but it's my blog, and they are all classic rock to me!  I'm going to be talking about some great releases this week on SiriusXM OutQ's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick.

First off is Roadkill Rising, a 4 CD box set of Iggy Pop bootlegs, which includes his entire solo career, as well as The Stooges' reunion shows.  The sound is a bit muddy in places (it is all bootlegs, although supposedly Iggy helped to choose what songs were used), but it is really cool.  The earliest performances on the box feature his great '70s band that included David Bowie on keyboards and backing vocals, Tony Sales on bass and Hunt Sales on drums.  Bowie and the Sales brothers went on to form Tin Machine many years later.  Anyway, each disc covers a different decade, I like the '70s and the '00s stuff the best.

Then, there are the reissues of the first two Ozzy Osbourne solo albums, 1980's Blizzard Of Ozz and 1981's Diary of a Madman. Both albums featured what was probably his best post-Sabbath band: the late Randy Rhoads on guitar, bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake. There's an interesting story behind these reissues which you can read a bit about here. Diary comes with a bonus live disc - that band featured Ozzy, Randy, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums and is pretty rocking.

Paul McCartney continues the reissuing of his catalog with 1970's McCartney and 1980's McCartney II. McCartney was his first release after the breakup of The Beatles (and in fact was released shortly before Let It Be) and definitely comes off like a reaction to it.  It doesn't have an epic sense of self-importance, it's just Paul enjoying himself in the studio. He plays all of the instruments - it's a true "solo" album - and the songs are simple, but lovely.  "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Every Night" are on that album.  I don't like McCartney II: it was supposed to be a short break from Wings, but Wings never ended up getting back together.  I love "Coming Up," but I don't like the rest of the album.

I just wrote about Neil Young's A Treasure. It's a great document of his foray into hardcore country music from the '80s.  This isn't Eagles-like, soft-rocky country-rock, but actual country music. It's also a great tribute to Neil's longtime musical partner, steel guitarist Ben Keith, who passed away a few months ago. I really dig this album, and this side of Neil.

Finally, Levon Helm's new album, Ramble At The Ryman, where he takes his traveling version of his "Midnight Ramble" shows to Nashville's legendary venue.  As is often the case with his Rambles, he was joined by a few great artists: Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt and Buddy Miller. I think the album is a lot of fun, and reminds me that I have to go see Levon when he plays Central Park Summerstage later this summer. But I really want to go up to one of his Rambles at his place in Woodstock.

I hope you guys enjoy some of these.  By the way, if you aren't a SiriusXM subscriber, go here for a free online trial subscription.

OZZY OSBOURNE "BLIZZARD OF OZZ" AND "DIARY OF A MADMAN" REISSUES

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post about how Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albums - 1980's Blizzard Of Ozz and 1981's Diary Of A Madman (both classics) - were going to be reissued.

Both were recorded with the late, great Randy Rhoads on guitar, bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake. Daisley and Kerslake were beefin' with Ozzy over royalties in the '90s, and Sharon Osbourne smacked them down by reissuing the albums with new bass and drum tracks recorded by the guys who were in Ozzy's band at that time (Robert Trujilio and Mike Bordin). Sharon doesn't play around! She is definitely not someone you want to mess with. On the other hand, I hated that she did that, she was messing with two seriously classic albums, that should be more important than personal beefs.

Whatever.  The two albums are now back out in their original form, with remastered sound (which was definitely needed, I still have the original CD releases, which don't sound great). The albums are total classics.

Blizzard  features a few bonus tracks, including a song I hadn't heard before, "You Looking At Me, Me Looking At You."  It's fine. But the real deal is you're hearing these incredible songs by the guys who played them with incredible sound. Period.  Diary is a bit more bonus-riffic.   It's two discs: the first disc is the original album, the second disc is a concert from the tour (the band featured Ozzy, Randy, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Adlridge on drums) which features songs from both albums and a few Black Sabbath classics. Both of these albums, in this form, are essential to hard rock, heavy metal and classic rock fans.  They also make a great argument for Randy Rhoads being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman.

NEIL YOUNG - A TREASURE (WELL TITLED!)

Neil Young just released A Treasure, release #9 from the Neil Young Archives Performance Series (but only the sixth to be released, go figure). This one features a bunch of performances from his mid-'80s era when he went country in a big way.  He used a bunch of great Nashville musicians, he called them The International Harvesters. His label at the time - Geffen Records - weren't into the idea of Neil going country. He wasn't doing country rock like The Eagles or Poco, but real country music.

In a way, you can't blame them. They didn't know he was going to do country music when they signed him, they didn't have a country music department, and oh yeah, the country audience probably wasn't too eager to embrace the guy who wrote "Southern Man" and "Ohio." On the other hand, he's Neil Young, he does what he wants.

The album serves as a great epitaph for Neil's late long-time collaborator, steel guitarist Ben Keith.  Ben  started working with Neil on the Harvest album, and played on most of his non-Crazy Horse albums (and some albums with the Horse) since then. He played lots of instruments, but he was most at home playing country steel guitar, and he really shines on this record.

Much of the album features songs that have never been released commercially, but there are a few familiar ones.  "Get Back To The Country" was from his studio album with the Harvesters, Old Ways, "Are You Ready For The Country?" was from Harvest, and "Flying On The Ground Is Wrong" is an old Buffalo Springfield classic. But unlike the Springfield's music, this isn't country-influenced rock, but  straight up country music. It's too bad that the country audience wasn't more receptive to Neil (despite the fact that both Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings guested on Old Ways - but even they were part of the "outlaw" movement anyway). But this album is a great reminder of yet another interesting part of Neil's career.

OUR WEDDING MIX

My wife and I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary in a few weeks, but given recent events, I thought it would be cool to post the tracklist from the CD that we gave out at our wedding.  OK, it was a double CD, it was really difficult to edit it down!

I'm so glad that our gay brothers and sisters are now allowed the same legal rights (in New York, and a few other places) that my wife and I take for granted. I won't presume to tell religions what they should recognize, but I do think that we should all have the same legal rights. I'll dedicate this one to my friend and former boss, Dane Hall, who I wish lived to see this day. Dane, if you're reading this, I still disagree with your theories on Susanna Hoffs. OK, onward!

Billie Holiday - "Come Rain Or Come Shine"
Billie Holiday - "They Can't Take That Away From Me"
Ray Charles - "Ain't That Love"
Buddy Holly - "Everyday"
Paul McCartney - "Every Night"
The Beatles - "Here, There and Everywhere"
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - "I Second That Emotion"
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - "You're All I Need To Get By"
The Temptations - "The Way You Do The Things You Do"
Stevie Wonder- "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)"
Stevie Wonder - "As"
Al Green - "Let's Stay Together"
Otis Redding - "That's How Strong My Love Is"
Ben Harper - "Gold To Me"
Neil Young - "Harvest Moon"
Chris Whitley - "Spanish Harlem Incident"
Joan Osborne - "To Make You Feel My Love"
Aretha Franklin - "Baby I Love You"
Bonnie Raitt - "Thing Called Love"
Prince - "Nothing Compares 2 U"
Sade - "By Your Side"
Ben Harper - "By My Side"
Ben Harper - "Not Fire, Not Ice"
Cowboy Junkies - "Angel Mine"
The Indigo Girls - "Least Complicated"
Emmylou Harris - "One Big Love"
Pearl Jam - "Thin Air"
Bruce Springsteen - "Prove It All Night"
The Ramones - "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
Elton John - "The One"
John Hiatt - "Have A Little Faith In Me"
Etta James - "At Last"
Bruce Springsteen - "If I Should Fall Behind"

CLARENCE CLEMONS - R.I.P. TO THE BIGGEST MAN YOU'VE EVER SEEN

I was waiting for Eddie Vedder to take the stage tonight when I heard the awful news that Clarence Clemons passed away.  It wasn't a huge surprise: he had a stroke last weekend. But still, really, really sad news.

I don't know what makes a good sax player from a technical standpoint. But I do know that his playing added something to Bruce Springsteen's music that added even more heart, soul and excitement. Listen to "Jungleland," "Night," "Secret Garden," "Pink Cadillac." Of course "Tenth Avenue Freezeout."

Clarence tried lots of other stuff outside of E Street: his solo career, playing with other people, smooth jazz, acting, writing.  I think he'd admit that things never clicked for him more than when he was onstage with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. I remember seeing the reunion tour in 1999, it was just electric.  Seeing those guys onstage together, it was larger than life.

I remember I interviewed Clarence during the long years between the breakup and the reunion.  I think it was around the time of Bruce's first solo acoustic tour for The Ghost Of Tom Joad. I told him that my prediction was, after that tour, he would reunite with The E Street Band. That made him perk up, and he asked me why I thought that.  I said that I thought that he just wanted to try playing with other people (the band he used in the mid-'90s), and, by appearances, he seemed to have been wanting to do a solo acoustic thing for a long time, and now he'd done that also.  I knew he'd go back to rock and roll, I doubted he would reassemble his '90s band, and I didn't think he'd put together a new rock band. So, my feeling was, his next project would be The E Street Band. That seemed to make The Big Man happy and he thanked me for sharing my theory.  I'm glad I was right and I'm glad I had that bit of time with the man.

It's weird that his last performance was playing sax for Lady Gaga on American Idol, but life is weird sometimes.  The fact that he played with Gaga turned a new generation on to his talents and he was probably grateful for that.

I wonder if Bruce can possibly have the E Street Band go on without Clarence. I guess it would be a shame if those guys never played together again, on the other hand, how do you replace a guy like that.  My suggestion: use an entire horn section, but retire "Jungleland" and "Freeze-out."