As a young Black man from the South Side of Chicago, Bruce Springsteen was the first rock musician I 'heard'...the Marvin Gaye from the other side. I'd bought Born in the USA like everybody else, but it was Tunnel of Love that got me then and still does. Nebraska was a little too close to Grapes of Wrath but now I'm kinda ready for both...and Deliver Me from Nowhere
Love it Barron. I have to be honest--Nebraska doesn't appeal to me musically very much. It's so solemn! But I appreciate Springsteen's lyrics and am fascinated with the creation of the album and the way it was an artistic pause between the The River and the cultural explosion that was Born in the USA.
And like you, I loved Born in the USA.I practically wore out the cassette (there were many pencil rewinds with that one).
...the thing about Nebraska for me is how much it sounds like driving through Nebraska...whenever we used to tour through there we would put on that record and get somber and sloth the highway...an underrated aspect of music making is the tools people use to record...you get taught in music school how to do things the "right" way...but creatively doing anything only the "right" way is the wrong way to do it...you need to know your tools and not be afraid to break them and/or work with broken ones...the magic is in the performance, the content, the possibility, not the perfection...
Two good stories Matt, though I almost like the first one of you in a tiled bathroom enchanted by the acoustics as much as the 2nd story. Is there any of us who didn't wind up in a concrete stairwell or gymnasium or bathroom and been mesmerized by the sounds we could make? The grand and innocent voice of youth.
As a young Black man from the South Side of Chicago, Bruce Springsteen was the first rock musician I 'heard'...the Marvin Gaye from the other side. I'd bought Born in the USA like everybody else, but it was Tunnel of Love that got me then and still does. Nebraska was a little too close to Grapes of Wrath but now I'm kinda ready for both...and Deliver Me from Nowhere
Love it Barron. I have to be honest--Nebraska doesn't appeal to me musically very much. It's so solemn! But I appreciate Springsteen's lyrics and am fascinated with the creation of the album and the way it was an artistic pause between the The River and the cultural explosion that was Born in the USA.
And like you, I loved Born in the USA.I practically wore out the cassette (there were many pencil rewinds with that one).
...the thing about Nebraska for me is how much it sounds like driving through Nebraska...whenever we used to tour through there we would put on that record and get somber and sloth the highway...an underrated aspect of music making is the tools people use to record...you get taught in music school how to do things the "right" way...but creatively doing anything only the "right" way is the wrong way to do it...you need to know your tools and not be afraid to break them and/or work with broken ones...the magic is in the performance, the content, the possibility, not the perfection...
Totally agree that the tools are an underrated aspect, and one I know very little about.
Two good stories Matt, though I almost like the first one of you in a tiled bathroom enchanted by the acoustics as much as the 2nd story. Is there any of us who didn't wind up in a concrete stairwell or gymnasium or bathroom and been mesmerized by the sounds we could make? The grand and innocent voice of youth.
It was sooooo bad. But hey, I was creating something, and I remember doing it and enjoying it. That was what mattered.