1/28/2024 0 Comments Fallon e street shuffleBy sticking to Springsteen's recording sessions, live performances (especially in the early years of the E Street Band), and his records, official and otherwise, Heylin winds up giving us the most extensive look yet at his art. While there's a certain attractiveness about the Springsteen myth, there's only so much of that I can stand to read, and Heylin deflates the myth by focusing on Springsteen's creative process and framing his career as a series of botched attempts, second-guesses, failures, near-misses, and the flashes of brilliance that make his work so frustrating. Who's to say he can't be both, and that the result can't be illuminating and worthwhile? Predictably, the reaction seems to have been evenly split between those who think Heylin's brand of criticism is a breath of fresh air and those who think he's a biased curmudgeon with an axe to grind. I've always enjoyed Heylin's take on Bob Dylan, which he's parlayed into a mini-industry of written work, so I was curious to see what he thought of Bruce Springsteen. Coinciding with the forteith anniversary of Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, drawing on interviews and access to new recordings and shows, Heylin paints a bold picture of The Boss. Fans will also learn another side of Springsteen, one punctuated with his clashes with studio executives seeking a commercially viable, radio-friendly album, and his temporary disbanding of the E Street Band to pursue projects like the eerie acoustic of Nebraska. The band’s players-most notably saxophonist Clarence “Big Man” Clemons, guitarist “Little” Stevie Van Zandt, and drummer Max Weinberg-became Springsteen’s comrades in concert, helping him find the elusive sound and sonic punch that highlighted The Boss’s most creative period, including Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born to Run, and Born in the USA. Clinton Heylin’s revelatory biography, E Street Shuffle, chronicles the evolution and influence of Springsteen’s E Street Band as they rose from blue-collar New Jersey to the heights of rock stardom. An intimate look at one of rock’s brightest stars and his legendary backing bandīefore he was the swaggering, stadium-packing megastar, Bruce Springsteen was a brooding introvert, desperate to strike a balance between his nuanced songwriting and the heft of his backing band.
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