William Price King meets some Legends – Bruce Springsteen – Part Four – 1990’s to 2006

We are now entering the 1990s and Bruce Springsteen would later acknowledge that the 1990s were a “lost period” for him: “I didn’t do a lot of work. Some people would say I didn’t do my best work.”

I will now hand over to William Price King to explore the changes in Springsteen’s career during the decade.

Following Bruce Springsteen’s move to California in 1991 there was a change in the mood and tone of his music. He was clearly much happier in his personal life, and the rawness and intensity in his music that had propelled his career to such success in the previous decade, was evolving into a more measured delivery. Part of this was that he no longer recorded with the E Street Band, which to many of his fans, was a disappointment. He still continued to work with pianist Roy Bittan and Springsteen added studio musicians including Randy Jackson on bass guitar and Jeff Porcaro on drums to work on his next albums.

He released two albums on the same day on March 31st 1992 – Human Touch and Lucky Town. Springsteen had been working on Human Touch since the late 1980s with the intention of releasing in 1990. As he had shelved the project in 1991 as he began recording Lucky Town coming back to it the following year.

Human Touch featured mainly love songs and received critical success with some considering that the title track was amongst some of his best work, however his fans were not as enthusiastic. Lucky Town had a different folk theme and focused on specific events in Bruce Springsteen’s life rather than his love life. Living Proof for example was about the birth of his first son.

However, there was good news in 1994 when the multiple Grammy Award winner also won an Academy Award for his song Streets of Philadelphia, from the soundtrack of the film Philadelphia.

This haunting ballad captures the pain and the loneliness that accompanied the AIDS crisis. It was also a comeback for Springsteen, earning him a spot in Billboard’s Top 10, four Grammys as well as the Oscar. The vocal track from the video was recorded live during the shooting, using a hidden microphone – a new modern day technique at the time which was quite appropriate for emotionally intense songs.

His next release in 1995 followed a temporary reunion with the E Street Band to record a handful of new songs for his first Greatest Hits Album. This was followed by his second predominantly solo guitar album, The Ghost of Tom Joad which was inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and by Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass, a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael Williamson.

Although Springsteen’s first guitar solo album Nebraska had done fairly well, this second album did meet with some criticism for the poor melody and vocals although some praised it for giving a voice to immigrants and others who rarely featured in American Culture. The extended Ghost Tom Joad Tour which was performed in small venues also included some of his older and popular tracks, stripped back in a new acoustic form.

However the decade did end on a high note when Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 by Bono of U2. To the delight of his fans, 1999 also brought Springsteen and the E Street Band together for a year long Reunion Tour. The final two shows were recorded for HBO and the corresponding DVD and album were released as Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live in New York City.

In 2002, Springsteen released his first studio effort with the full band in 18 years, The Rising, produced by Brendan O’Brien.  This record became Springsteen’s best-selling album of new material in 15 years. Kicked off by an early-morning Asbury Park appearance on The Today Show, The Rising Tour commenced, barnstorming through a series of single-night arena stands in the U.S. and Europe to promote the album in 2002, then returning for large-scale, multiple-night stadium shows in 2003.

Waiting on a Sunny Day is from the album The Rising, which predominantly deals with themes of relationship struggles, existential crisis, and social uplift, in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks. But this particular upbeat song is a reflection of a much simpler world, before the terror attacks. For Bruce Springsteen, this song was “a good example of pop song writing,” which he wrote in the style of Smokey Robinson.

Springsteen’s fan base both in the USA and in Europe had remained loyal throughout the 1990s but there had definitely been a cooling off in his popularity in the central and southern states due to his political leanings. Now however, The Boss was definitely back, and this was demonstrated by the 10 nights the band played in the Giants Stadium in New Jersey that has seldom been equalled. The Rising Tour finished with three nights in Shea Stadium with a guest appearance by Bob Dylan.

This successful album and tour was followed in April 2005 with the release of Devils and Dust, recorded without the E Street Band. Another low key acoustic album it did feature more orchestration than Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad albums. The title track is about an ordinary soldier’s feelings and fears during the Iraq War and the rest of the album reinforced Springsteen’s anti-corporate sentiments. The album entered the charts at #1 in ten countries including the US, UK, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

In April 2006, Springsteen released We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, an American roots music project focused around a big folk sound treatment of 15 songs popularized by the radical musical activism of Pete Seeger. This was Springsteen’s first album of cover songs and his second consecutive non-E Street Band and non-rock music project.

It was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians including only Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and The Miami Horns from past efforts. In contrast to previous albums, this was recorded in only three one-day sessions, and frequently one can hear Springsteen calling out key changes live as the band explores its way through the tracks.

A tour began the same month. The tour proved very popular in Europe, selling out everywhere and receiving some excellent reviews. Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Life in Dublin, containing selections from three nights of November 2006 shows at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, was released the following June.

Old Dan Tucker is from the album, which won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2007. This song is largely Anglo-American in nature but has black influences and falls into the idiom of minstrel music, relying on rhythm and text declamation as its primary motivation with a very simple melody and a simple harmonic base.

Additional material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen

For concert schedules and news: http://brucespringsteen.net/

Buy Bruce Springsteen’s Music: https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Springsteen/e/B000AQ2ZLQ

The previous Bruce Springsteen posts: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-meets-some-legends/

About William Price King

William Price King is an American jazz singer, musician and composer. Originally he studied classical music and opera but over the years his style has evolved to what many refer to as the ‘sweet point’ where music and voice come together so beautifully.

His vocal mentors are two of the greatest giants in jazz, Nat King Cole and Mel Torme. His jazz album, ‘Home,’ is a collection of contemporary songs and whilst clearly a homage to their wonderful legacy it brings a new and refreshing complexity to the vocals that is entrancing.

His latest album Eric Sempe and William Price King is now available to download. The repertory includes standards such as “Bye Bye Blackbird” (a jazz classic), Sting’s “Englishman in New York,” Queen’s “The Show Must Go On”, Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and other well-known jazz, pop, and rock classics.

William and Eric Sempe have also brought their own magic to the album with original tracks such as Keep on Dreaming and Red Snow with collaboration with Jeanne King
Download the new album. http://cdbaby.com/cd/williampriceking

William is currently in France where he performs in popular Jazz Venues in Nice and surrounding area.

Connect to William

Website – http://www.williampriceking.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WilliamPriceKing
Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – http://cave-wilson.com/
ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/william-price-king/id788678484

You will find the previous artists..  Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Kiri Te Kanawa in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/classical-music-with-william-price-king/

And for the Jazz in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-jazz-and-music-series/

Thank you so much for stopping by and your feedback is always very welcome. Thanks Sally

William Price King meets some Legends – Bruce Springsteen – The 1980s

Welcome to this week’s post on the legend that is The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. There are few of us in our 50s and 60s who do not know his music and in particularly the iconic songs such as Born in the USA and Dancing in the Dark.  This week William Price King takes us through the 1980s and the success that it brought for Bruce Springsteen after a frustrating start to his career.

Bruce Springsteen was seen as the advocate for the hard working Americans who also gave up their lives to fight for freedom. This was reinforced with his double album The River which was released in 1980. It was an eclectic mix of rock and roll and ballads that were delivered with intensity and emotion. It was also an album that hinted at the direction that Bruce Springsteen was headed both intellectually and musically.

The album was also cause for celebration as it yielded the first Top Ten single for Springsteen with the releases of Hungry Heart. The album itself became Springsteen’s first #1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and he followed it up with an extended tour through to 1981 across Europe and multi-night arena performances in key US cities.

Springsteen originally wrote Hungry Heart for the Ramones but was convinced to keep it for himself by his manager and producer Jon Landau. This was Springsteen’s first top 10 hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1980. The song is about a guy who walks out on his wife and kids. The lyrics are pretty dark, but you’d never know it from the bright melody and arrangements. Furthermore, Springsteen’s voice was sped up a little on the recording which produced a higher pitched vocal. It’s a great song.

The album that followed in 1982 was a definite contrast to The River.  Springsteen had recorded a demo tape at his home on a simple four-track tape deck and studio sessions expanded on the resulting tracks. However both Bruce and his producer decided that the songs worked better as solo acoustic numbers and the original demo tape was released as the album Nebraska. Although not as popular with the fans as his previous three albums it did receive high praise from the critics and was named Album of the Year by Rolling Stones magazine.

The fans had a very different reaction to the Born in the USA album released in 1984 and it propelled Bruce Springsteen into musical super stardom.  Selling 15 million copies in the US and 30 million worldwide it became one of the best-selling albums of all time with seven singles in the Top Ten.

The title track Born in the USA is a protest song. It’s patriotic chorus is an ironic counterpoint to the verses which tell a heartbreaking story of a Vietnam vet, and casts a shameful eye on how America treated its Vietnam veterans. This song was originally entitled Vietnam, but when Springsteen received a script for a movie called Born in the USA, (from movie director Paul Schrader) about a rock band’s struggle with life and religion, he changed the title of the song to Born in the USA. Later, when the movie was finally made, the title Born in the USA was too associated with the song. So, to make up for that Springsteen provided Schrader with the song Light of Day, which became the new title for movie and the feature song in the film.

 

Born in the USA made a huge political statement that reverberated around America. His name was on the lips of prominent politicians including Ronald Reagan who said “America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire—New Jersey’s own, Bruce Springsteen.”

This commercial success was followed by a more unsettled time for Bruce Springsteen’s personal life. There was a short-lived marriage to actress Julianne Phillips in 1985 followed by his relationship with one of the E Street Band’s back up singer Patti Scialfa, both sharing similar working class New Jersey roots. However, Springsteen was very affected by his failed marriage and he released a much more toned down and refective album in 1987. Tunnel of Love explored the rollercoaster of love, loss and heartbreak of relationships.

In Tunnel of love Springsteen tells quite a sentimental story about two people taking their first “sweethearts’ ride” together, the promises they make to each other, and their dreams. But then the tunnel becomes a metaphor for a romantic relationship which slowly sinks into the abyss. It is thought that Springsteen is referring to his own failing relationship with his wife in this song. On Tunnel of love, Springsteen plays most of the instruments and is backed by Roy Bittan on synthesizers, Nils Lofgren on lead guitar, and Max Weinberg on drums. His future wife, Patti Scialfa sings the background vocals.

 

On July 19, 1988, Springsteen held a concert in East Germany that attracted 300,000 spectators. Journalist Erik Kirschbaum has called the concert “the most important rock concert ever, anywhere”, in his 2013 book “Rocking the Wall! Bruce Springsteen: The Berlin Concert That Changed the World.”

Later in 1988, Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International. In late 1989 he dissolved the E Street Band, and he and Patti Scialfa relocated to California, marrying in 1991.

Additional material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen

For concert schedules and news: http://brucespringsteen.net/

Buy Bruce Springsteen’s Music: https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Springsteen/e/B000AQ2ZLQ

The previous Bruce Springsteen posts: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-meets-some-legends/

About William Price King

William Price King is an American jazz singer, musician and composer. Originally he studied classical music and opera but over the years his style has evolved to what many refer to as the ‘sweet point’ where music and voice come together so beautifully.

His vocal mentors are two of the greatest giants in jazz, Nat King Cole and Mel Torme. His jazz album, ‘Home,’ is a collection of contemporary songs and whilst clearly a homage to their wonderful legacy it brings a new and refreshing complexity to the vocals that is entrancing.

His latest album Eric Sempe and William Price King is now available to download. The repertory includes standards such as “Bye Bye Blackbird” (a jazz classic), Sting’s “Englishman in New York,” Queen’s “The Show Must Go On”, Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and other well-known jazz, pop, and rock classics.

William and Eric Sempe have also brought their own magic to the album with original tracks such as Keep on Dreaming and Red Snow with collaboration with Jeanne King
Download the new album. http://cdbaby.com/cd/williampriceking

William is currently in France where he performs in popular Jazz Venues in Nice and surrounding area.

Connect to William

Website – http://www.williampriceking.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WilliamPriceKing
Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – http://cave-wilson.com/
ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/william-price-king/id788678484

You will find the previous artists..  Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Kiri Te Kanawa in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/classical-music-with-william-price-king/

And for the Jazz in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-jazz-and-music-series/

Thank you so much for stopping by and your feedback is always very welcome. Thanks Sally

An invitation to an exclusive World premiere of “Irish Weather – The Virtual Musical” written for St. Patrick’s Day

I am delighted to invite you to Ireland tomorrow for the world premiere of a new stage show. Irish Weather … The Musical here exclusively on Smorgasbord Invitation.

And to get you in the mood the wonderful cast of Take The Floor in 2013. You never know what will greet you when you arrive in Dublin.

The show starts early in the morning here on the blog and will entertain you throughout the day.. much like the Irish Weather!  Bring your virtual brollies, put on your dancing shoes and lubricate your vocal chords with appropriate lubrication (Guinness and Margheritas work well).

 

William Price King meets some Legends – Bruce Springsteen – Part Two

Welcome to the second post in the new series from Jazz singer, musician and composer William Price King.

William has informed and entertained us for the last three years with wonderful behind the scenes and insightful posts about some of the most iconic artists in jazz and classical music.

For those of us of a certain age – there are certain contemporary artists who have weaved their musical magic over the last 50 years or so. In this series William will be exploring the lives and music of those artists and in this series we are exploring the life and music of  The Boss.. Bruce Springsteen.

Last week we looked at Bruce Springsteen’s early life and career and you can find that post here. https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-meets-some-legends/

Now over to William for part two.

His prolific song writing ability, with “More words in some individual songs than other artists had in whole albums”, as his future record label would describe it in early publicity campaigns, brought his skill to the attention of several people who were about to change his life: new managers Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, who in turn brought him to the attention of Columbia Records talent scout John Hammond, who auditioned Springsteen in May 1972.

Although this was a huge turning point in Bruce Springsteen’s career it would get off to a somewhat slow start. His first studio album with Columbia Records, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ brought critical acclaim but was slow to catch on with the buying public. Comparisons were being made between his lyrical style and that of Bob Dylan but that did not sell records. This experience was to be repeated later in the year when Springsteen and the E Street Band followed up their debut with The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle in January 1973. Again the critics found little fault with the album but sales were slow.

“Blinded by the light” was Springsteen’s first single from the “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.” album in 1972. He admitted in interviews that this was the first time that he used a rhyming dictionary to write a song because he was under pressure to come up with a “hit” from his record label. He described the song as a sort of coded autobiography: “I wanted to get blinded by the light, I wanted to do things I hadn’t done, see things I hadn’t seen.” The track was later covered by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1977 and reached number one in America and Canada.

In 1974, music critic Jon Landau wrote, after seeing a performance at the Harvard Square Theater, “I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time.” Landau helped to finish the epic new album Born to Run and subsequently became Springsteen’s manager and producer.

The album took 14 months to record with six months of that spent on the title track Born to Run. Despite the time spent on the album, Bruce Springsteen was not happy with the finished product and told his new manager that he wanted to cut it live at his regular venue The Bottom Line.

In mid August 1975 the E Street Band began a five night, 10 show gig at the club which attracted a great deal of media attention. It was broadcast live on WNEW-FM and many years later Rolling Stone Magazine recognised that gig as one of the 50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll. The album was released two weeks later and went to #3 on the Billboard 200 with the single Born to Run reaching # 23 on the Billboard charts.

“Born to Run” is Springsteen’s signature song. This song is what rock-n-roll is all about – escape, romance, redemption, and the hope of something better. In this performance Springsteen expresses the hunger, doubt, courage, and fear one has in stepping out into the world for the first time on his own, and he does it with an irresistible force.

After struggling for recognition from the buying public for a number of years the floodgates opened and Bruce appeared on the covers of both Time and Newsweek the same week on October 27th of 1975. Despite the wait, the new found fame did not sit easily on Springsteen and he found the promotional aspects of their first overseas tour in London challenging.

There was also trouble on the home front with a dispute with former manager Mike Appel that kept the bank out of the studio for a year. Bruce kept the E Street Band together by touring across the US but fans did notice that there was a darker edge to his performances than before. A settlement was reached with Mike Appel in 1977 and Springsteen and the band returned to the studio to record Darkness on the Edge of Town which was released in 1978.

The album did not produce high charting singles but stayed in the album charts for 97 weeks and was certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA. Reviews were positive with critics noting a new maturity in the lyrics. The fans certainly approved of the album and many of the tracks have become performance favourites to this day.

“Racing in the Street” is a mournful – like ballad which begins with a slow, graceful, and elegant introduction on the the piano played by Roy Bittan. This is a song which celebrates a man’s desire for freedom from responsibility, which is symbolized by the ability to drive to freedom in a fast car, thus using a fast car as a means of escape. This is Bruce Springsteen at his best.

Musically, this album was a turning point in Springsteen’s career. “The whole force of “Darkness” was a survival thing,” he said. “After Born to Run, I had a reaction to my good fortune. With success, it felt like a lot of people who’d come before me lost some essential part of themselves. My greatest fear was that success was going to change or diminish that part of myself.”

In order to promote the album, Springsteen and the E Street Band embarked on a cross-country tour that would make them famous for their marathon performances (three or four hours per show), boisterous behavior and infectious energy, captivating audiences from California to New York. During this time, Springsteen also became famous for his integrity and pride as a performer, as stories of his exhausting performances and perfectionism in the recording studio became legend.

Not only was Bruce Springsteen seen as a consumate performer but he was rapidly earning a reputation in the pop world as a songwriter. Apart from Blinded by the Light which was a hit for Manfred Mann, in 1978 Patti Smith reached #13 with Because the NIght and The Pointer Sisters hit #2 in 1979 with Springsteen’s so far unreleased Fire.

Bruce Springsteen wrote “Fire” for his idol Elvis Presley, after having seen him perform in Philadelphia. Springsteen said: “I sent Elvis a demo of it but he died before it arrived.” Following The Pointer Sister’s hit it was included in Springsteen’s “Live/1975-85” concert album and released as a single. It reached #46 on the Billboard Hot 100, #18 in Ireland, #54 in the UK and #82 in Australia.

Additional material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen

For concert schedules and news: http://brucespringsteen.net/

Buy Bruce Springsteen’s Music: https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Springsteen/e/B000AQ2ZLQ

About William Price King

William Price King is an American jazz singer, musician and composer. Originally he studied classical music and opera but over the years his style has evolved to what many refer to as the ‘sweet point’ where music and voice come together so beautifully.

His vocal mentors are two of the greatest giants in jazz, Nat King Cole and Mel Torme. His jazz album, ‘Home,’ is a collection of contemporary songs and whilst clearly a homage to their wonderful legacy it brings a new and refreshing complexity to the vocals that is entrancing.

His latest album Eric Sempe and William Price King is now available to download. The repertory includes standards such as “Bye Bye Blackbird” (a jazz classic), Sting’s “Englishman in New York,” Queen’s “The Show Must Go On”, Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and other well-known jazz, pop, and rock classics.

William and Eric Sempe have also brought their own magic to the album with original tracks such as Keep on Dreaming and Red Snow with collaboration with Jeanne King
Download the new album. http://cdbaby.com/cd/williampriceking

William is currently in France where he performs in popular Jazz Venues in Nice and surrounding area.

Connect to William

Website – http://www.williampriceking.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WilliamPriceKing
Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – http://cave-wilson.com/
ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/william-price-king/id788678484

You will find the previous artists..  Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Kiri Te Kanawa in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/classical-music-with-william-price-king/

And for the Jazz in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-jazz-and-music-series/

Thank you so much for stopping by and your feedback is always very welcome. Thanks Sally

New Series – William Price King meets some Legends – Bruce Springsteen – The Early Years

Welcome to a new series from Jazz singer, musician and composer William Price King.

William has informed and entertained us for the last three years with wonderful behind the scenes and insightful posts about some of the most iconic artists in jazz and classical music.

For those of us of a certain age – 39 plus VAT or Sales Tax… there are certain contemporary artists who have weaved their musical magic over the last 50 years or so. In this series William will be exploring the lives and music of those artists and we start with one of my all time winners.. The Boss.. Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen was born in September 1949 and is an American singer songwriter best known for his work with the E Street Band. He is known to his millions of fans as ‘The Boss’ as well as for his poetic lyrics which reflect his roots, history and at times his political sentiments. He is renowned for energetic and lengthy concert performances which require as much stamina from his audiences as he entertains for four hours of longer.

He has been performing for nearly 50 years and has released over 250 albums with two of his most successful being Born to Run in 1975 and Born in the USA in 1984. He is one of the best-selling artists of all time and has received many awards for his work. This includes 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2009 he was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient and in 2016 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Early Years.

Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949, in Long Branch, New Jersey of Dutch, Irish and Italian ancestory. His father, Doug Springsteen worked at a number of jobs including as a bus driver and prison guard whilst his mother Adele worked in an insurance office. His home life and in particular his relationship with his father was not always easy.  “When I was growing up, there were two things that were unpopular in my house, one was me, and the other was my guitar.”

It was a Catholic household and the young Bruce found this restrictive. However later in his career he did admit that if was his Catholic upbringing rather than the expected political ideology that had influenced his music. School, run by the nuns with its restrictive confines, was not a popular place for Bruce and he admits to getting into trouble frequently.

In high school his teachers said he was a “loner, who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar.” He also had the distinction of being the only altar boy knocked down by a priest during mass. He skipped his own high school graduation because he felt too uncomfortable to attend.

Music however offered no such restrictions and at an early age Bruce fell in love with Rock ‘n’ roll when he saw Elvis Presley performing on The Ed Sullivan Show.   “Elvis was as big as the whole country itself,” Springsteen later remembered, “as big as the whole dream. He just embodied the essence of it and he was in mortal combat with the thing. Nothing will ever take the place of that guy.”

Here is one of Elvis Presley’s performances on the Ed Sullivan Show – Don’t Be Cruel

That was the start of the legend that was to take the music world by storm. Bruce’s mother, who clearly saw that music was the only thing that interested her son, took out a loan and bought him a Kent guitar for his 16th birthday and he has played that instrument ever since.

By 1967 the draft was in place for 18 year olds and Bruce Springsteen found another cause that would inspire some of his most successful lyrics. His intention was not to go to Vietnam and fortuitously he failed his physical, apparently due to his ‘crazy’ behaviour and a concussion previously suffered in a motorcyle accident. This released him from his military obligation and allowed him to pursue his music career full-time.

By the late 1960s, Bruce Springsteen was honing his performance skills with a number of bands on the New Jersey Shore including The Castles. Soon it became apparent that this new musician on the scene had a unique vocal quality in his gravelly baritone voice that has been his trademark throughout his career. It was during this time that he acquired his nickname ‘The Boss’ as he would collect donations from the audience and divide it equally amongst his band mates.

The duet “Sam and Dave” had a No.1 hit with “Hold on, I’m comin” in 1966, written by Issac Hayes and David Porter. Bruce Springsteen with his group “The Castles” payed tribute to “Sam and Dave” by doing a rock/blues version of the song which became an immediate crowd pleaser for the group. The fervor and intensity of the song is caught in this video.

One of the bands that he performed with regularly between 1969 and 1971 was the group Steel Mill. He rapidly developed a dedicated following and even music critics began to sit up and take notice.

Bruce Springsteen is quite convincing as a rock blues singer in this piece. His appropriation of the “blues sound” is perfect and and his ability to translate both the form and content of the blues in a rock song is refreshing and reminiscent of blues singer Leadbelly in “House of the Rising Sun.”

 

The San Francisco Examiner music critic Philip Elwood gave Springsteen credibility in his glowing assessment of Steel Mill: “I have never been so overwhelmed by totally unknown talent.” Elwood went on to praise their “cohesive musicality” and, in particular, singled out Springsteen as “a most impressive composer“.

The next few years were intensive as Bruce worked solidly to build not just his career but establish his unique music and lyrical style. Some of the bands that he worked with included  Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom  the Sundance Blues Band, and the Bruce Springsteen Band . With the addition of pianist David Sancious, the core of what would later become the E Street Band was formed.

The music genres that these bands explored were eclectic and included blues, R&B, Jazz, early rock ‘n’ roll and Soul. They also explored and developed the influences of current artists such as Joe Cocker and Van Morrison.

Here is “Southside Shuffle,” which, acording to band member Albee “Albany Al” Tellone, was written by Bruce Springsteen to showcase Southside Johnny on harmonica. In this recording one can easily hear the different musical genres Springsteen explored including the blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and soul.

Apart from his growing fan base, who loved the combination of his music, lyrics, vocal and performance abilities, music executives sat up and took notice. His career and his life were about to change dramatically and in 1972 he began to be represented by two new managers. Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos brought Bruce Springsteen to the attention of a Columbia Records talent scout, John Hammond who auditioned him for the label in May 1972.

Additional material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen

For concert schedules and news: http://brucespringsteen.net/

Buy Bruce Springsteen’s Music: https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Springsteen/e/B000AQ2ZLQ

About William Price King

William Price King is an American jazz singer, musician and composer. Originally he studied classical music and opera but over the years his style has evolved to what many refer to as the ‘sweet point’ where music and voice come together so beautifully.

His vocal mentors are two of the greatest giants in jazz, Nat King Cole and Mel Torme. His jazz album, ‘Home,’ is a collection of contemporary songs and whilst clearly a homage to their wonderful legacy it brings a new and refreshing complexity to the vocals that is entrancing.

His latest album Eric Sempe and William Price King is now available to download. The repertory includes standards such as “Bye Bye Blackbird” (a jazz classic), Sting’s “Englishman in New York,” Queen’s “The Show Must Go On”, Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and other well-known jazz, pop, and rock classics.

William and Eric Sempe have also brought their own magic to the album with original tracks such as Keep on Dreaming and Red Snow with collaboration with Jeanne King
Download the new album. http://cdbaby.com/cd/williampriceking

William is currently in France where he performs in popular Jazz Venues in Nice and surrounding area.

Connect to William

Website – http://www.williampriceking.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WilliamPriceKing
Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – http://cave-wilson.com/
ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/william-price-king/id788678484

You will find the previous artists..  Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Kiri Te Kanawa in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/classical-music-with-william-price-king/

And for the Jazz in this directory.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-jazz-and-music-series/

Thank you so much for stopping by and your feedback is always very welcome. Thanks Sally