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Thread: Bruce Springsteen & Prog?

  1. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by pbs1902 View Post
    - When Vini Lopez left The E Street Band, Bruce famously advertised 'no Ginger Baker types) for a drummer. Now I know that Ginger is not prog, but he probably could have been if we wanted to.
    I remember the precise wording was "no junior Ginger Bakers." Presumably he didn't want a drummer who was expecting to take a ten minute solo every night.

  2. #27
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    Apparently Vinnie Lope had a temper. He had a few altercations. He was a dumbass.

  3. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerjo View Post
    Bruce had a flair early on for big epics, not necessarily prog but certainly big cinematic pieces. That kind of went away when Jon Landau entered the picture. Bruce didn't return to that style until the Working on a Dream album thirty years later and even then, there was only one epic piece.
    I am actually right at the point in the book when Landau comes into the picture and Bruce talks about Landau reigning in Bruce’s songs to make them shorter and more concise. From most people on this board’s point of view that was probably a mistake, but from a commercial standpoint it turned Springsteen into a superstar.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pb2015 View Post
    I remember the precise wording was "no junior Ginger Bakers." Presumably he didn't want a drummer who was expecting to take a ten minute solo every night.
    Yup, he talks about the Ginger Baker quote in the book. Indeed the axing of Lopez appears to be a mix of wanting to change musical styles and the fact that Lopez appears to have had a rather violent temper with altercations within the band (and crew, and promoters) not uncommon.

  5. #30
    Bruce Springsteen is full progressive. He shills shamelessly for the criminal Hillary Clinton and corrupt democrats.

  6. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by The Crimson King View Post
    Bruce Springsteen is full progressive. He shills shamelessly for the criminal Hillary Clinton and corrupt democrats.
    Not in here please, if you don't mind.

  7. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Halmyre View Post
    Not in here please, if you don't mind.
    Okay. But musicians selling out their integrity to become pawns for politicians (of any party) pisses me off majorly. It soils the music, which is a damned shame.

  8. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    Yup, he talks about the Ginger Baker quote in the book. Indeed the axing of Lopez appears to be a mix of wanting to change musical styles and the fact that Lopez appears to have had a rather violent temper with altercations within the band (and crew, and promoters) not uncommon.
    From what I've heard of Lopez, I think Bruce needed a better drummer.

  9. #34
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KerryKompost View Post
    I've always considered Bruce's epics to be completely progressive in scope, so I would not be surprised if he was into '70s prog in real time.
    Not aware that Bruce had a real career before Asbury Park, soooo I'll check out his Steel Mill stuff, which I guess was probably ùore or less in tune with the late 60's and early 70's times

    But I never heard much "prog" in his early albums

    Quote Originally Posted by Svetonio View Post
    Only connection with prog which I see is that that in 1977 the Manfred Mann's Earth Band were released a cover of Bruce's amazing song Blinded by the Light from his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
    Btw, I'm a big fan of him.
    That's the one I can see (and I much prefer Spirits In The Night on the Nightingale & Bombers albums)

    Actually, MMEB probably made more money from that Absury album than Bruce did for a while, since MMEB also scored a minor hot with For You, from that same album. MM's flair was to take a rather raw/bare song and build total arrangements on the songs, like he did the same with Dylan songs.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jerjo View Post
    Bruce had a flair early on for big epics, not necessarily prog but certainly big cinematic pieces. That kind of went away when Jon Landau entered the picture. Bruce didn't return to that style until the Working on a Dream album thirty years later and even then, there was only one epic piece.
    Could you name some from his 70's albums (outside Steel Mill that is) please, because I don't see/hear what I would call an "epic"

    I guess one could say that the song BtR is epic, but but not in the sense we progheads would call it. you mean the longer stuff on E-Street Shuffle or Jungleland?? (I don't fond rosalite prog at all)

    at first listen, Steel Mill sounds prog enough to be featured on PA, if they had a real album out.

    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    I am actually right at the point in the book when Landau comes into the picture and Bruce talks about Landau reigning in Bruce’s songs to make them shorter and more concise. From most people on this board’s point of view that was probably a mistake, but from a commercial standpoint it turned Springsteen into a superstar.
    I'm not an expert on BS&tESB, but around what time would've Landau come into Bruce's songwriting?
    Last edited by Trane; 10-04-2016 at 09:16 AM.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  10. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Dark Elf View Post
    I really like Springsteen's versions of "Starless and Bible Black" and that Van der Graaf Generator medley he used to close out shows with.
    And don't forget the time he brought Magma on the road as his opening act.
    The Prog Corner

  11. #36
    Prog or not, I would love to hear David Sylvian cover his Secret Garden.

  12. #37
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Crimson King View Post
    Okay. But musicians selling out their integrity to become pawns for politicians (of any party) pisses me off majorly. It soils the music, which is a damned shame.
    Only if you disagree with them.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  13. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post


    I'm not an expert on BS&tESB, but around what time would've Landau come into Bruce's songwriting?
    Basically during the making of the "Born To Run" album.

  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    Never heard The Boss and prog mentioned in the same sentence before.
    Nor should you ever hear it again. You must have been channeling an alternate universe. To paraphrase Frank Zappa, Human Resources wouldn't know prog if it bit him in the ass!

  15. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Bails View Post
    Only if you disagree with them.

  16. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by zravkapt View Post
    I've been meaning to investigate Steel Mill but haven't got around to it yet.

    This is a German band...

  17. #42
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pb2015 View Post
    Of course on his first few albums Springsteen had David Sancious in his band, who went on to play with Jon Anderson and Peter Gabriel (who also had Roy Bittan play on his second album).
    as well as Sancious' own full-on Prog Jazz Rock albums
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  18. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerjo View Post
    Bruce had a flair early on for big epics, not necessarily prog but certainly big cinematic pieces. That kind of went away when Jon Landau entered the picture.
    I hadn't realized that was Landau's influence. Because, while Bruce is the absolute leader of the E Street Band, I can't imagine him making his music in a vacuum, unaffected by the people he works with. So I'd thought it might have been more a matter of David Sancious - an open-minded fusion jazzer - leaving the band, and Steve van Zandt - a noted garage-rock purist - joining it.

    I agree with the OP, though - there's a prog influence of some sort running through his early work. However, I see it as a different slant on rock "progression" than the one we're familiar with. For starters, his musical materials were always primarily bar-band rock 'n roll and R&B, far plainer and rootsier than almost anything we'd call "prog". Musically, the result seems like a grown-up version of Phil Spector's "teenage operas" taken further, combined with Dylan's extended story-telling ballads, and mixed with lyrical themes from country music, of the tragedy, desperation, and occasional triumphs of, not mythic Western outlaws, but the ordinary, struggling blue-collar guys he'd played for in bars. The result was a bit like Death of a Salesman - an epic tragedy about, not a king, but an American Everyman.
    Last edited by Baribrotzer; 10-04-2016 at 04:27 PM.

  19. #44
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baribrotzer View Post
    Musically, the result seems like a grown-up version of Phil Spector's "teenage operas" taken further, combined with Dylan's extended story-telling ballads, and mixed with lyrical themes from country music, of the tragedy, desperation, and occasional triumphs of, not mythic Western outlaws, but the ordinary, struggling blue-collar guys he'd played for in bars. The result was a bit like Death of a Salesman - an epic tragedy about, not a king, but an American Everyman.
    This is a great description.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  20. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by Baribrotzer View Post
    I hadn't realized that was Landau's influence. Because, while Bruce is the absolute leader of the E Street Band, I can't imagine him making his music in a vacuum, unaffected by the people he works with. So I'd thought it might have been more a matter of David Sancious - an open-minded fusion jazzer - leaving the band, and Steve van Zandt - a noted garage-rock purist - joining it.
    Isn't Jon Landau his manager? If I remember correctly, he was a former record critic who wrote a review of Greetings From Asbury Park, which began with the words, "I have seen the future of rock n roll, and it's name is Bruce Springsteen". Then after Springsteen parted company with his original manager (or at least the manager he had for the first two or three albums), somehow Landau ended up taking over.

    If I'm not mistaken, the change in management was accompanied by a protracted lawsuit that kept Bruce from recording for a couple years. Consequently there was probably a lot of money going out, maybe even more than was coming in, as it were. So it may have been decided that it was a good idea to to "hedge bets", as it were, and keep the music as radio friendly as possible, so as to help make the album more likely to sell a boat load of copies. It was probably the same logic as to why some of the songs on The Wall sound like they were aimed at dance club airplay (though in that case, it was because all of Pink Floyd's past royalties had gone up in smoke in bad investment deals).

  21. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Isn't Jon Landau his manager? If I remember correctly, he was a former record critic who wrote a review of Greetings From Asbury Park, which began with the words, "I have seen the future of rock n roll, and it's name is Bruce Springsteen". Then after Springsteen parted company with his original manager (or at least the manager he had for the first two or three albums), somehow Landau ended up taking over.

    If I'm not mistaken, the change in management was accompanied by a protracted lawsuit that kept Bruce from recording for a couple years. Consequently there was probably a lot of money going out, maybe even more than was coming in, as it were. So it may have been decided that it was a good idea to to "hedge bets", as it were, and keep the music as radio friendly as possible, so as to help make the album more likely to sell a boat load of copies. It was probably the same logic as to why some of the songs on The Wall sound like they were aimed at dance club airplay (though in that case, it was because all of Pink Floyd's past royalties had gone up in smoke in bad investment deals).
    Yes, that is basically the story according to the book. That is about as far as I have gotten so far. He is recording "The River" where I currently am in the book, which was the post lawsuit album.

  22. #47
    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    Yes, that is basically the story according to the book. That is about as far as I have gotten so far. He is recording "The River" where I currently am in the book, which was the post lawsuit album.
    Darkness On The Edge Of Town was the post-lawsuit album, The Rive was the followup thereof.

  23. #48
    Darkness isn't my idea of an album calculated for radio play. It turned out he had hits at that time with two songs not on the album ("Fire" recorded by the Pointer Sisters and "Because The Night" by Patti Smith) while "Prove It All Night" reached top 40 but was not as big a hit as those two.

  24. #49
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    Jungleland has always been a favorite of mine and I consider it at least loosely progressive rock.

    Darkness on the Edge of Town had 2 other radio hits besides "Prove it all Night" in "Badlands" and "The Promised Land." Badlands especially receives/d a lot of airplay on Classic Rock stations.

  25. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Darkness On The Edge Of Town was the post-lawsuit album, The Rive was the followup thereof.
    Oops....you are correct. I meant "Darkness".

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