Sites of Note

With the kudos I got from the official Springsteen site traffic on my blog is hitting an all time high. I must say I'm very humbled by all of this. Like I mentioned this site is a labor of love, so this is possibly the biggest compliment I could get. But I'm not alone in my fan boy madness. There are quite a few sites out there that are worth mentioning. Though you can find them all in the links section, I like to point out a few favorites of mine. Sort of the top five in fan based websites in my book.

Gina's Live Collection
A great site where you can listen to quite a few of the shows reviewed here and a bit more.

Blogness on the Edge of Town
A great news site with a twist. Also offers fun stuff like the cover of the week. You'll be bound to find takes on Springsteen's music there that are sometimes mind boggling but always fun to listen to.

BruceBase
The number one set list database on the web. If you've never visited this site before, you're missing out! Don't let the vintage lay out fool you, there's a wealth in information on this site you won't find elsewhere.

Jungleland
Without this fan based I couldn't run Boss Tracks. This is my main source, together with the BTX mp3 index, for bootlegs.

Springsteen Lyrics
An awesome database of every imaginable Springsteen lyric out there. This site has the lyrics of stuff that has never been released! Always with some nice background info on the songs.

Boot Tracker, August 16th 2008, Charleston

Helping me catch up with the bootlegs from the Magic tour I missed Charleston is reviewed today by guest writer Nightfishing from BTX. The same Nightfishing that brought you that excellent compilation of the earlier legs of the tour.Check it out here if you haven't already.

"Lost In The Flood" might be a good title for the Charleston boot. Amid the epic nature of the last few shows of the tour, the chatter over Charleston came and went pretty rapidly, but, make no mistake about it, August 16th was a fine example of what this final leg of the tour was all about and jb's recording is excellent. There is a bit more crowd on this tape than on the fine bakerstuff recordings of recent, but the clarity is great and the balance is a notch above the boots we received for Missouri et al. I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about the performance; anyone who has the pleasure of seeing any of these "Reunion Part Deux" shows knows that the band is at the top of it's game and Bruce is having an absolute blast as the tour winds down.

Double Shot is a perfect opener for a late summer show and coupled with Radio Nowhere and Out In The Street, the show takes off as well as any show on this leg. Two Hearts gives Stevie a chance to sing and you can decide for yourself if that is a plus or a minus! (I love the vox, Steve.)Spirit In The Night gives Bruce a chance to catch his breath before the sign brigade begins. Spirit has been a bit rote, to my ears, over the past few weeks, but this one has some real bite to it. Light Of Day, Growin' Up and Janey win the lottery and while they are not the best three pack we have seen, they get the job done. Growin' Up pales a bit in comparison to Nashville due to the lack of the G-D guitar story, but with every play of this classic being the potentially last time to see it, who's going to argue.

No Surrender kicks things back up (and has gotten new life in the middle of the set vs. it's opening block spot during much of the tour). Atlantic City seems out of place in this type of show (as did Devils & Dust a few nights later). Because The Night is owned by Nils, as usual but (as been the case a number of times) there isn't anyplace to go to follow it. She's The One into Livin' In The Future is possibly my least favorite coupling from this leg of the tour. I would have loved to see Gypsy Biker or Devil's Arcade get back into the set instead of LITF, but it's Bruce's world, we just live here. Mary's Place does it's job, as usual. The crowd gets frenzied while Bruce gets one last chance to catch his breath for the 5, err 4 pack. Charleston gets a little Hungry Heart before The Rising and at this point I have trouble writing anything about the 4 pack. If it's your first show of the tour you're gonna love it. 'nuff said.

Streets Of Fire is a nice surprise to open the encore and Jungleland, Born To Run and Rosie are perfect. Thank god (and that sign in Rochester) for bringing Rosie back to her rightful home in the encores. DITD has absolutely rocked this entire tour, but if you don't get it by now, there's no saving you! A post American Land Twist & Shout caps off a great night of classic E Street. With the embarrassment of riches we have received the past month, it's hard for a boot to stand out, but I think Charleston will be in heavy rotation, for me at least, for quite sometime.

"Double Shot (of my baby's love)

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here, part 1 and part 2
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3- out of 5
Show: 4,5 out of 5
Artwork: none

Get the review from the Courier here

Boot Tracker, August 19th 2008, Hershey (Bakerstuff)

The second Bakerstuff tape to surface today is almost equally as impressive as the St. Louis tape. Next to that stellar show this recording testifies how consistent the quality is the band delivers night after night. Listening to them back to back, it is funny how different things suddenly stand out. High lights of this tape aren't necessarily the rarities and covers, even though Hershey got a few choice selections, the tracks that grab me most on this recording were the "Reason to Believe" and "Prove it All Night" double shot and the joyous audience participation during "Waiting on a Sunny Day." For some reason those tracks transported me to the show most. That is not to say there isn't a whole lot next to that to enjoy on this recording. The biggest surprise here is without a doubt "Part Man, Part Monkey." Though the song is a far cry from the best he's ever written, on this particular night it the song where Springsteen's voice shines through most as it is extremely well sung.

Hershey was a bit Little Steven's show. Springsteen allowed him to drag the audience down to his underground Garage by letting him pick a few request. Silvio van Zandt went for "Boom Boom" Animals style followed by a rousing version of "Darlington County." Though the second wasn't as surprising, it isn't less exiting because of it. Same goes for tour staples "No Surrender" or "Because the Night," there's a reason there staples after all. As final blow out for this Hershey night Joe Grushecky was invited on stage. As special guest Joe is almost a staple in itself. Instead of going for "Code of Silence" however, Joe tore into "Gloria" with the Boss in a competition whose voice has the most gravel and guts. Few rockers are as rowdy as Gloria and I can imagine this rendition left Hershey in a frenzy once more, especially since it followed an already high energy encore that started with rockabilly monster "Seven Nights to Rock" and allowed Rosie to come out to play. Bakerstuff captures captured all of this on a very nice recording that is fairly even. It seems like Bakerstuff is bringing the power night after night to our stereos for the final nights of the tour. In the notes he announced his version of Kansas City. So with the rumored Crystal Cats coming in September as well, I suspect that the Magic will continue through our stereos and iPods for just a little while longer.

"Part Man, Part Monkey"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3+ out of 5
Show: 4,5 out 5
Artwork: none

A review from the show by the Patriot News.
The picture in this post are by David Bernstein and Backstreet Bev

Boot Tracker, August 23rd 2008, St Louis (Bakerstuff)

St. Louis is without a doubt contender for best show of the tour. It is both representative for the Magic tour's earlier and the later legs. Where quite a few shows of the last two legs were awfully short on Magic material, St Louis featured six songs from that album embedded in the structure of the later legs, filled with rarities from his own catalog and some price covers. Counting the "Not Fade Away" intro to "She's the One," the show held a whopping six nuggets from R&R's rich past. Albeit that the intro was more of a tease, a reminder of the '78 intros to the song, than a full blown recreation of it. With a near perfect "Then She Kissed Me" as the opener and "Little Queenie" rousing up the encores it are the covers that give this show its edge. Though Springsteen seems to have taken great pain to give every fan what he or she wants by including choice cuts like "For You" and "Drive all Night," cemented by later leg staples as "Mary's Place."

I have great difficulty of making sense of these add on dates. The great thing about them is that he managed to keep an element of surprise for the last three legs of the tour. Ever since Anaheim, which seems like an eternity ago, Springsteen has been throwing curve balls all over the place. The Magic tour started out as very much set in stone with quite immobile sets for the Boss, but morphed into one of the diverse tours he ever did. These last few shows especially the Jack seems to be out of the box. In a way Springsteen has been looking back, showing how versatile his catalog has been. This could be interpreted as a farewell tour filled with one last time moments. If so the E- Street Band is going out with a bang. Should Springsteen decide to let the band bid its final farewell it would be totally understandable in the light of events that marred the Magic project. After loosing Terry Magovern July last year, Springsteen and the Band lost one of their founding members with Danny Federici in April this year. Even though Charles Giordano is doing an excellent job filling in, Danny's passing must have been confronting in the sense that it made tangible the finite aspect of the band. The E-Street Band have always been a mythical yet very real band of brothers, so Danny's passing was a tremendous blow to the band.

Yet the way the band has adapted to that loss by playing with a youthfulness that is so astounding that it almost seems unreal from time to time, this current leg doesn't feel like it could be the end. Where a band like the Stones come off like geriatric rock, held afloat by pompous shows, relying on nostalgia only, the Magic tour has given us an E-Street Band that was at the same time fresh and relevant by supporting a new album and reinterpreting old material while giving us our bitter sweet tours down memory lane. If the band is stepping out after this tour, it is leaving us with a sense of great possibility of the future, making them possibly the first band that has been around for as long as they have to do so. Springsteen warned us at the start of the tour that the band was as good, or better, as it ever was. A show like St. Louis serves to prove his point. Bakerstuff capture the Band's triumph nicely on tape. A bit muddy and bass heavy and, though not nearly the best bootleg of the tour, a highly enjoyable listen.

"Mountain of Love"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3+ out of 5
Show: 5+ out of 5
Artwork: none

Read the review from the St. Louis Dispatch here

Boot Tracker, August 24th 2008, Kansas City (Travitz)

The Kansas City bootleg was made available at neck break speed again. Hardly giving me time to catch my breath from California. I'm still trying to figure up a way to catch up with the shows I miss, which will probably be reviewed in one big swoop. In the mean time I'm just jumping back on the train at its current station. Being Kansas City, from this time on known as city of the squealing Farfisa. The funny thing with Charles is how he keeps surprising me. Because of his affiliation with the Seeeger Sessions band I had him pegged for a keyboard player who's more versatile in all the different folk styles. In Kansas City he proved to be able to give Peter Zaremba, Garage Farfisa God from the Fleshtones, a run for his money. In the two weeks I have been away, the E-Street Band has been working its way back to where they once started, to being the most overqualified bar band in the world. Covers and rockers from the Garage have been flying through the set and that Farfisa seems right at home in the current phase of the tour.

Like a garage show, the current E-Street shows have a delightful messy appeal. Though the structure of the show is still carried by "Spirit in the Night" and "Mary's Place" as its pillars, it is a far cry from the tight Rock attacks that the tour started out with. The first legs of the tour proved that the E-Street Band is still the tightest band in the business. I guess with that reputation solidly in place, they feel confident enough to show the world they can still be the most surprising act in the field of Rock. What other band of their status would pull out three surprise covers in one set with some assorted rarities from their own catalog thrown in. The covers and request may compromise the theme and tightness of the Magic tour somewhat, especially with some of the covers being quite messy affairs (Just listen to Max tear into "Boys" on this one), I don't think there is another band out there, touring for this long that is quite as thrilling and exiting as the E-Street Band because of it.

This Travitz tape is unfortunately as messy as some of the songs in the set. Like a Garage record, it is highly enjoyable when played loud! But overall, the tape is a bit dark and muddy. Though I think with some remastering it could sound a lot better. Since the show was littered with rarities like the never before played "Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own" and the rarely featured Bobby Womack and the Valentinos (or more likely Rolling Stones) cover "It's All Over Now" with Soozie on vocal, I don't think there will be a lot of fans out there complaining about this tape.

"It's All over Now"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Show: 4,5 out of 5
Recording: 3- out of 5
Artwork: none

Read the Kansas City Star review here

Boss Tracks, Have Love Will Travel, Richard Berry

Richard Berry made his fortune with his sole hit record "Louie, Louie". Not the most sophisticated piece of music ever written but somehow it became R&R's anthem, maybe because of its simplicity. I don't think a song was ever covered as much as that three chord monster. Almost to this day playing "Louie, Louie" stands for the exam an aspiring Rock and Roller needs to pass. My favorite Berry song though is "Have Love Will Travel" performed by him and his pharaohs. Though it never became as big as "Louie, Louie" the song is another testimony that R&R doesn't always need to be complicated to be effective. R&R doesn't always need to be intelligent, nor does it need to have that many layers. Part of the beauty of R&R is that just about anybody can tap into it.

The great paradox of "Have Love Will Travel" is that despite its seemingly inane content its a delightful piece of musical sophistication. It opens with the bass of the song, a voice simply going "Bow Pop Pop Bow" through out the song, over a dragging shuffle beat. Nothing complex here. But if it hadn't been so perfectly timed it would never have been a song that would have gained such an lasting attraction. Though not nearly as much "Louie, Louie", this gem had the knack of surfacing from time to time over the years. Mostly performed by artists with a strong sense of R&R history or looking for material that matches their limited three chord capacities. "Have Love Will Travel" tends to be recorded by R&R buffs who know that Berry was the uncredited lead singer of "Riot in Cell Block #9" from the Robins or who know that the song was likely inspired by the Western series "Have Gun Will Travel". Those who know he started out in Doo Wop group the Flairs. Still these are artists and bands of a wide variety from the Sonics to Bruce Springsteen, from Tom Petty ( who reworked the song) to the Black Keys and not forgetting Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd of course who briefly gave the song a second life in their Blues Brothers project. The artists who reworked "Have Love Will Travel" were sometimes overly familiar, other times wildly obscure themselves, does anybody remember the Olympic Sideburns or failed Turkmenistan glam-rockers Crazyhead?



Even though compilations with obscure Berry material will from time to time appear on the market, "Louie, Louie" and "Have Love Will Travel" will always be his only songs that matter. Both have become such a part of the R&R conscious that Berry himself is nearly inconsequential. Although he wrote the songs, he doesn't own them. They are songs that nobody really owns. These two Richard Berry classics are testimonies of R&R's democratic powers. Write a R&R song and you risk it being taken away from you, risk it becoming bigger than you, adopted as anthems or soundtracks to a life. R&R has a universal appeal. "Have Love Will Travel" even crossed the mighty oceans and ended up in Moscow (for now) in the hand of the delirious Cave Stompers. Not bad for something that lasts three minutes and takes as many chords. "Have Love Will Travel" was a staple during the Tunnel of Love Express tour. This fan boy wouldn't mind seeing this gem pop up in Milwaukee for what appears to be the final night of the tour.

Richard Berry


Available on Birth of Soul, Vol. 3

Bruce Springsteen

MP3 File

Back in Town

After two weeks of going some 2000 miles down those Californian highways I'm back! I've been out of touch with what's been going on for the past two weeks, but it seems like Springsteen and the band have really been tearing it up. Rare covers have been flying all over the set lists, so I hope to catch up on my diet of bootlegs soon. To my pleasant surprise somebody in the Springsteen organization decided to link my site up to the official site for coverage of some of these rare gems. Many thanks to whoever is responsible for that. I'm not affiliated to the Springsteen organization in anyway, Boss Tracks is purely a fan going mad on the covers and bootlegs. So to find myself on the official web site is a major kick for this fan boy!

California was 45 heaven! I found myself flipping through boxes and stacks at the Amoeba record stores, plus many more little ones, that litter the great state of California for hours in a time, uncovering many gems I never thought I'd find at such bargain prices. Of course I'll be scrambling to review some of them in the next few weeks.

Going Cali!

The Castiles post will be the last one for a while, I'm going for a well deserved vacation under that warm Californian sun! I'll be back around the time the Magic tour wraps up. With the pace the bootlegs have been coming out, I'll probably fall hopelessly behind in reviewing them. In the mean time I have put the "Born to Run" studio album on top of the pile for the road trip. I figure I'll hear that album plenty of times Between San Fransisco and L.A., especially since I'm detouring through the Sequoia forest and Joshua Tree park.

Till I'm back I'll leave you with an appropriate tune that Springsteen didn't exactly cover, but he did play a snippet of during Light of Day on October 23rd 1999 in Los Angeles, "California Sun".

Written by Henry Glover and Morris Levy, first performed by Joe Jones, popularized by the Rivieras and covered by just about everybody from the Ramones to the Chris Isaak, I could fill a stack of CDs with just this song for the road trip. I haven't found a vinyl version yet, but I'll leave you with the Richardo Ray Orchestra version from Vampi Soul's excellent In Search Of Cool compilation.

"California Sun"

A Boot Tracker and This Train Double Shot; The Castiles

"Marion and Tex Vinyard... They opened up their home to a bunch of rock and roll misfits and let us make a lot of noise and practice all night long." - Bruce, at his 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech

Tex Vinyard is the man responsible for kick starting Springsteen's career or at least got Bruce in the recording studio for the first time. At the time Bruce met Vinyard, Tex was a factory worker on strike who had just kind of stumbled into managing the Castiles. Tex alledgedly lived next door to George Theiss, lead singer and guitar player of the Castiles, named after a brand of soap Theiss used for his hair. Tex went over to ask them to turn the noise down, but wound up becoming their manager. The first thing Tex did was whip the band into shape and started firing members who failed to show up for practice, opening up a few spots in the band. George told Tex that there was this kid playing guitar at his school and promised Tex to ask if he was interested. That kid was Bruce Springsteen. As it turns out Theiss wasn't all that interested in the skinny little guitar slinger, but had an eye for his sister, Ginny. Theiss was so smitten with her that he forgot to tell Bruce the Castiles needed a guitar player.

By the time Springsteen finally joined the Castiles he was a 15 year old kid, obsessed with R&R in a way his peers were obsessed with cars and girls. As the story goes a copy of the "Introducing the Beatles" had made it into the Springsteen household which caused Springsteen to bully his mum into buying him an $18 guitar at the pawnshop for Christmas. By the time the Beatles appeared at the Ed Sullivan show, the little skinny kid was already strumming along. Bruce tried his hands at the R&R group thing shortly after that for the first time with the Rogues, this group was short lived however. So when Theiss failed to ask Bruce, the zit infested kid took matters in his own hand and knocked on George's door offering his services. By that time Tex had already 'hired' the 25 year old Frank Marziotti who had an important edge over Springsteen, he owned an amp, a hot commodity for a starting band. So Tex turned Springsteen down, telling him to come back when he had mastered five new tunes. Bruce was back the next day and baffled Vinyard by playing lead on five songs he had heard on the radio and mastered over night. Springsteen blew Tex and the Castiles away. Frank was asked to pick up the bass and Springsteen got the lead guitar spot. An intimidated George Theiss had to specifically ask Tex if he was still the lead singer in the band, afraid he might be sacked.

Soon Tex had the kids booked for their first gig at the West Haven Swim Club. Tex had whipped the band into shape by allowing them to practice in his living room. The Vinyard home became sort of a refuge for the young Springsteen, "[a] place where I could sit down and play, play the guitar and get away from the house" he recounted some thirteen years later during his first Madison Square Garden gigs. Through hard practice the band was more than ready for the Jersey shore club circuit, where R&R bands like the Castiles were quickly becoming an important means to fight of the boredom. There was one last glitch however, Frank's amp broke down. Tex, already deeply into depth because of the continuing strikes, came to the band rescue by hocking an amp at $11 a month. The band found themselves playing their first gig, all three guitars plugged into a a beautiful new Danelectro 310 complete with reverb. The gig made the band their first $35 dollars. Part of the set were the popular tunes of the day like Glen Miller's "In the Mood," first betraying the jazzy approach Springsteen would take to R&R on his first two albums.

Aside from doing the popular covers of the day, the Band soon started to write their own material. A Rock & Soul type number called "Sidewalk" got so popular in fact that the local teenagers were petitioning for a recording of the song. Oddly enough when the band stepped into the studio for the very first time, the song didn't make the grain. Around the time the band penned "Sidewalk" the Mad-Lads had a hit with "Sidewalk Surf." I have often wondered if part of the reason why they elected not to record the song was because of the Mad-Lads' success with a similar (named) tune. I have no way of knowing if it was. no recordings of "Sidewalk" have ever surfaced. The songs the Castiles did record at Mr Music studios on May 18th 1966, "That's What You Get" and "Baby I," betray little of what was to come. Both tunes are R&R throw aways George and Bruce allegedly wrote in the car on their way to the studio. "That's What You Get" sounds like the boys' take on the Byrds, who were then one of the hottest bands around. "Baby I" was an odd mix between the Beatles and surf guitars. The songs were recorded in an hour for a mere $50, but were never released. The only sources that survived are an unknown number of acetates. Allegedly there was no master tape, the songs were cut directly to disc, hence the weak sound.

There is very little known about the recording sessions. But the line up had already changed that that time. The original drummer of the Castiles, Bart Haynes , had already been replaced by Vinny Maniello, when the first was drafted for service in Vietnam. Bart would not make it back, he died there October 22nd 1967. His death in the service is often viewed as a key moment in Springsteen's life and would later become an important factor for his open support Bobby Muller's organization the Vietnam Veterans of America. The bass player who had brought in the Castiles first amp was replaced by Curt Fluhr. It does seem however that the Castiles had yet to add an organ to the line up in May 1966.

Doc Holiday, who was an engineer at Mr. Music at the time, later said he never expected much to come of the band or its members. However he does remember Springsteen fondly, saying he was one hell of a guitar player. It was the guitar playing, not the song writing, that hinted at bigger things to come. Doc recently recounted a scene on the Backstreets forum that possibly later became the basis for "Jungleland." The experiences Bruce soaked himself into in those very early days found their way to his first three albums and would prove instrumental in his later career. To stand out on that Jersey shore you better had to be good or they'd cut you up, Doc remembers.

I do remember that Eugene Gulash a guitar player for Joey Page and the Page Boys out of Brick town was always trying to out do Billy Ryan and then all of a sudden came this 16 year old kid out of nowhere that played guitar, named Bruce Springsteen, that blew Eugene's doors off, I can remember sitting in one of the halls or back of one of the clubs one night and Eugene was there and said to me & Norman "I'm gonna cut this kid up" meaning he was going to out play him and him & Bruce were just sitting there with guitars in their hands face to face and I remember Eugene saying to Bruce how about a little Hendrix, then Eugene played the riff from "Purple Haze" and Bruce played the solo and torn him a new asshole, then Eugene said how about a little Wes Mongomery and then Eugene played a little octave jazz run and Bruce came right back and once again torn him up, from that day on Eugene forgot all about Ryan and focused on Bruce, (Bruce , remember that night?) I'll tell you that kid (Bruce) was one hell of a guitar player back then, and of course Eugene never did cut him.

Doc stressed that above is a true story. Tapes of an early Castiles performance from September 16th 1967 seem to back up Doc Holiday's story. The set from that September 1967 show is mostly built up out of the popular rock songs of the day, your average cover band it seems. The Springsteen original in the set, written with new band member and organ player Bobby Alfano, "Mr. Jones," is nothing spectacular again, but his guitar playing is on fire. There is a considerable shift in sound from the '66 studio session however, the Beatles and popular R&B tunes started to get replaced by the power rock sound of Hendrix and Cream that were very much in vogue at the time. Springsteen was reaching into new territory. So even though according to Alfonso in an NPR interview the band was making good money at the time, the band fell apart because Springsteen was ready to move on. Alfonso moved on with him, playing organ in the short lived Earth. With Earth the emphasis would increasingly shift to original material. If the Castiles had been Springsteen's high school, Earth and later Child and Steel Mill would prove to be his university of R&R.

"That's What You Get"

MP3 File

"Baby I"

MP3 File

Download the '66 studio sessions and the '67 show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

With many thanks to Doc Holiday and Earthslayer.
Sources: "Two Hearts" by Dave Marsh and Castiles.net

Boot Tracker, July 3rd 2008, Southside Johnny Live at the Stone Pony

Southside Johnny has remained rock's best kept secret through out his career, operating on a level quite a few fans would have liked to have seen Springsteen operates. This year marked the 30th anniversary of Southside's greatest album, "Hearts of Stone." A birthday that was celebrated in much the same fashion as Springsteen celebrated the 30th anniversary of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" at the Count Basie theater. Though Rollingstone Magazine at one point elected the Miami Steve produced "Hearts of Stone" album as one of the seventies top 100 records, it never brought John Lyon the fame it should have. Together with Little Steven's "Man Without Women" it stands as one of the best blue-eyed Rock 'n Soul albums of all time. As Lyon commented during the show "Forever" winded up on Steve's album but was written for his. "Hearts of Stone" with most of its songs written by van Zandt, is as much vintage Miami as it is classic Southside Johnny. Though "Hearts of Stone" cemented Southside Johnny's reputation amongst hard core Jersey shore fans at the time, the album didn't sell well enough for Epic's tastes. Though I'm not sure how many copies Lyon actually sold of his album, I suspect that Southside Johnny got lost in the shuffle of the changing industry. By the seventies, local markets were no longer something major labels were interested investing in, Disco and mega sales were starting to dominate the scene, any artist failing to go gold was in danger of getting dropped.

Though "Hearts of Stone" has found a re-release on Legacy records, I doubt there will be a luscious 30th anniversary re-packaging from the people who own the masters to this fine album. So the Stone Pony performance with its broadcast on Sirius radio is probably going to be the only tangible mark of this fine album. But judging from this recording, Lyon gave one hell of a party. Though cynics may claim he swiped the idea from Springsteen's birthday batch for the "Darkness" album, this party was something else. Though it would be unfair to compare the shows, but from what I'm hearing Southside gave his audience a decidedly bigger cake. By playing a full show after the album 'recital' it sounds like Lyon wanted to stress that his brand of Rock and Soul has more than survived disinterest from the record labels. The taper of this show, Kathleen was kind enough to give me her impressions of the show;

The show at the Stone Pony was everything a Jukes fan could ask for. The weather cooperated - it was sunny and beautiful. There was an excellent opening act from Bob Burger. He was the perfect intro for the Jukes. He put on a good show. I knew he would break a string the way he was strumming.

Then came the main event and what felt like a marathon (officially 3 hours and 8 minutes according to the website). I knew that it would be special with the 30th anniversary of Hearts of Stone being played, but I didn't expect a beautiful acoustic section afterwards - and then a full concert after that. What a way to start the summer!

I personally was looking forward to the entire Hearts of Stone album being played after seeing the 30th anniversary advertised on the Jukes website. I was planning to go to the show anyway but that made it extra special. I am old enough to remember when that album came out and hearing it live and in person was a real treat. I didn't know if Bobby would be there but I hoped he would. Ralph is a great guitarist in his own right but, when Bobby hooked up to that amp,it made the show. He played like he had something to prove or he was just glad to be back home. His riffs were awesome.

Bobby is buried in the Bon Jovi band - he has an excellent voice but he doesn't sing as well as Jon - and his guitar skills are superb but his style is very different than Richie's. It's a no win situation for him - though I assume he's being paid well. His acoustic guitar work was superb during the acoustic set and his voice and Southside's blend together perfectly. He really shines with the Jukes where he simply can't with Bon Jovi.

Everything that these guys tried wasn't perfect. Ghost in This Town (with Bob Burger) is a George Jones song. About a minute and a half into it they figured out that they had started in the wrong key. John mentioned that they had only played it a few times - and he didn't want to hear any shit about it. It didn't work too well but it was really the only one that had major problems.

I personally loved the acoustic set - I wasn't expecting it and it was a real treat. Bobby's guitar and their two voices made a great interlude between the two main parts of the set. I assumed that the show was ended after the first encore - but no. John came back out and said something to the effect of having a great band when they wanted to come out and play some more - and they even made suggestions of stuff that had been missed. I have seen many Southside Johnny shows over the years - this one was extra special for many reasons and I'm very glad I didn't miss this historic concert.

Thanks to Kathleen's registration of the show we get to be part of the party. Now this recording will obviously not be of the same quality of the Sirius broadcast, but it is highly enjoyable none the less. The tape is extremely pleasant to listen to, especially considering it was taped outside, even though it is a bit rough and raggedy in some places. Kind of like a Southside Johnny show.

"Trapped Again"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 4- out of 5
Show: 5+ out of 5
Artwork: none

The show also saw a performance of Tom Waits' "Gin Soaked Boy" as an appetizer for Lyon's new album of Tom Waits covers. You can find Southside Johnny's new album, "Grapefruit Moon" through the Jukes store. Pick it up, you won't regret it.

August 2nd 2008, Gilette Stadiumd, Foxboro MA (Bakerstuff)

This new Bakerstuff tape is exactly the reason why I embarked on this crazy quest of reviewing every single tape on the Magic tour. Not only is this a fantastic show, it is a great tape. The first keeper since Paris and Amsterdam. Though it is not quite on that level, it isn't bad by all means. Excellent instrument separation, with most of what's happening on stage coming through quite clear, though a bit on the dark side. But for a stadium tape, this one absolutely doesn't disappoint. You can hear Clarence's honking in the back ground and his percussion better than on most tapes, which is nice since sometimes I tend to forget he brings much more to the fold than a killer saxophone solo here and there. Clarence adds these little colors to Springsteen songs, that help transcend them to that next level.

One of the things about this Foxboro tape that is so nice to hear is the high quality level Springsteen manages to keep this tour, even outside his key markets. Foxboro isn't New Jersey, there isn't that challenge of going legendary on our ass. Even though the Foxboro show was a whopping 30 minutes shorter than the New Jersey shows, the band does deliver the goods and then some. I've heard it said, by myself included, that this stadium leg lacks the cohesion the first Magic legs had. By cutting down the set with three songs, some of that cohesion returns. Though the Magic songs are still sparse, "Spirit in the Night" and "Mary's Place" have found there respective spots in the set as markers. Though shorter and more cohesive, Foxboro got plenty of that surprise element that marked the previous few shows. Most notably with "Little Latin Lupe Lu," a thoroughly prepared request, with the lyrics printed on the back. With the weather in Foxboro temporarily forgetting this is the summer season, "Who'll Stop the Rain" might not have been such a big surprise, but "Does This Bus Stop at 42nd Street" most certainly was. Judging from the "Youngstown" that followed it, that bus is nowhere near close to running out of gas. But for all my rambling, Pete over at "Blogness on the Edge of Town" puts it into words much better than I possibly can.

"Little Latin Lupe Lu"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 4- out of 5
Show: 5- out of 5
Artwork: none

Get the Berkshire Eagle review here
See more of Nanci's pictures here

Boot Tracker, July 31st 2008, Giants Stadium NJ (NYC Taper)

When I was reviewing the Bossman's tape of this show the New York City taper's version was rumored. Going on his excellent reputation and his past Magic recordings, I was looking forward to this show quite a bit. Unfortunately it is not the upgrade I had hoped for. Though there is little echo and the sound of the band is pretty much in sync , the tape has a fairly distant and dark feel. This taper has taken the effort to master his recording, so I doubt that the quality of this tape can be improved much by raising the audio levels. This version is the best one yet, but not all that much. Overall it is one of those tapes that benefits from cranking up the sound on your stereo. Another bonus is the relative absence of intrusive audience noise. The NYC taper seems to have placed himself strategically. Listening to this tape, there seem to have been less beer runs during "Pretty Flamingo" than there actually were. Though you hear quite a bit of chatter going on, it stays more in the background than on the Bossman tape I reviewed earlier. Still all those improvements are only slight ones.

What remains stunning to me however is the performance. Especially earlier mentioned "Pretty Flamingo," this song seems to have been thrown in to the set totally unrehearsed. If it wasn't for a cue here and there, there would way of knowing. Though this version can't compete with the classic '75 version, it is pretty cool to listen to the band pull it off so nicely. Though I realize taking those request is part show, some of them always turn out to have been on the set list anyway, the way he handles it is something I enjoy hearing every time as well. Just when the band thinks they have to play "Incident on 57th Street" for a few bald fans, the Boss stops and turns to notice another sign and shoots "Blinded By The Light" at the boys. I think it was the Star Ledger who pointed out in one of their reviews that doing a stadium show is usually something artists do with quite the amount of rigor. The Rolling Stones or U2 play tightly constructed set lists to bring the evening to a good end. Springsteen takes a complete opposite approach. While this sometimes seems like its bound to end in a train wreck, at a Springsteen show this is part of the thrill. It is exiting to see what he pulls from his hat next, there's suspense in watching him pull it of, thrilling to hear him add little things to set list war horses. Only an artist performing at the top of his game could pull it off. And that's exactly what the Giants Stadium got three nights in a row.

"Pretty Flamingo"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3+ out of 5
Show: 5- out of 5
Artwork: none

Read the Rollingstone review here
Visit the Star Ledger for more videos.

Down The Tracks; The Glitter and Doom tour, Tom Waits (Stream on NPR)

Last week I was lucky enough to catch Tom Waits in Paris. One of the last truly hard tickets out there. Front row seats for the Grand Rex went for a whopping 140 Euros a pop. But because of a cunning ticket selling scheme, where tickets were printed with your name and entrance in the theater was only possible with valid ID that matched the name printed on the ticket, the black market was close to no factor in the sales this time around. The Grand Rex proved to be the perfect venue to see Waits. The big stage complete with curtains, lusciously decorated balconies and palm trees, the Grand Rex breathes the days of old. Getting comfortable in one of those big leather theater chairs you feel like you just walked into a relic of the twenties. The Grand Rex could have easily have been a scene in one of Tom Waits songs, which often sound like they would be better at ease in the roaring twenties than this globalized new millennium.

Watching a Tom Waits show on this tour is like stepping into a depression era circus or carnival. With Waits as the ring master you half expect guest spots for the bearded lady or the human snake. Dressed in a costume tailors stopped manufacturing about a century ago, sporting a bowler on his head Tom Waits aims to transport you from here to a dustier, more mysterious time. A time where fortune tellers were about as reliable as mad scientists, a time where a quack was just as likely to heal your paralyzed legs as the revivalist preacher. Tom Waits shows and songs are objet trouvés whipped into something deranged through his seemingly constant delirium, a left over from his whiskey years. Waits outlook on the world is delightfully unique, which makes his work somewhat hard to access, but once your able to look at you're surroundings through his eyes, he sticks to you like a rash.

After waiting in a over heated Grand Rex in tropical Paris, the dust sprang up when Waits started stomping his feet to a deranged rhythm. His gravel voice would gurgle and spit out the songs that would soothe and fascinate for the next two and a half hours. Waits doesn't sing his songs, he acts them out. Waits doesn't do shows he does theater. The band is there to support the theater and the songs sound like a crackling 78rpm record. Where his last studio album "Real Gone" leaned heavy into a guitar sound, on stage, this time around, Waits opened up the sound. While that meant that some songs didn't quite carried the punch you'd expect, it did make room for surprising arrangements of old fan favorites and the obscurities that litter his catalog. Show stopper "Make it Rain" was padded out with organ and sax, "Lie to Me" went back into the Western barrooms. Surprisingly the traveling circus that is a Tom Waits show made quite a few stops that his albums rarely make. Most notably on "Black Market Baby" with a brand new Reggae rhythm, but through out the show there were whiffs of Cuban son, pinches of Trinidad Calypso on "Hoist That Rag" and table spoons of Argentina Tango. Making the performance an especially tasty and spicy stew.

Somehow in Tom Waits hands all these weird ingredients, strange melodies and exotic hooks become the most natural singalongs. Throughout the evening Waits had the audience eating out of his hands, had them enchanted in his ringmaster command, being able to even direct his own applause without it seeming arrogant or jaded. For many the high light of the show was the moment Waits sat down behind the piano himself, accompanied by only a string bass. If anything Tom Waits has always been a beat poet born two decades too late. Behind the keys he seems to pull weird tales right out of his sleeve that could've come straight out of an old pulp magazine. In the context of the evening his yarns make perfect sense, it isn't until you walk out that you realize that it probably isn't possible to have bullfrogs living in your stomach.

Tickets sales isn't the only the only thing where the Boss could take a cue from the ringmaster. The recent Atlanta show is now available on NPR for streaming and in pod cast download. Recapturing the Magic this way kind of makes collecting bootlegs seem obsolete. Why dig through stacks of mediocre recordings if you can enjoy a show in all its sonic glory.

Boss Tracks, Jacob's Ladder, Doris Troy

"Jacob's Ladder" is the first song from the Seeger Sessions I'm picking up for this blog. Because of the folk nature of those songs, it allows me quite a bit of liberty as to which version to review. Most songs of the Seeger Sessions have been performed and recorded by multiple artists, not even considering the number of schools and churches they have been sung at. "Jacob's Ladder" is as good as any song to start. Aside from a song Jacob's Ladder is many things. Inspired by the original Bible tale from Genesis in which Jacob had a vision of a ladder reaching to heaven, the Jacob's ladder became one of the oldest toys found in King Tut's tomb, possibly dating back as far as 1352 BC. It also is probably one of the coolest electric science projects you can build at home. For travelers in the USA, the Jacob's Ladder is amongst the countries most beautiful trails located in Massachusetts. But above all Jacob's Ladder is a song.

As a Gospel Jacob's Ladder originated somewhere in the mid 19th century. Though the song was not exclusive to the Black Baptists churches, it did speak to the imagination of the African-Americans most. The song was song regularly on civil rights rallies, communicating to both the protesters and America that the Black segment of America would achieve its goal of equality, step by step, rung by rung. As such, the song's most famous interpretation is possibly by the Black tenor Paul Robeson. As a public figure Robeson was highly controversial in his alleged support of the communist party at the height of the McCarthy era, something he never denied nor affirmed, but also one of the first big African-American performers who put his career on the line in support of the civil rights movement. At the time Robeson chose to do so, speaking out could still cause an artist his or her career. So it is probably not without significance that Robeson became the first Black entertainer to play Shakespeare's Othello in the UK, while no American theater company would hirer Robeson for the job.



The version I picked up however may be closer to Springsteen's roots than Robeson's version. Though I'm not sure if the Boss is familiar with it. Doris Troy's version comes from her forgotten self titled album on the Apple label. Doris is still best known for her sole hit "Just One Look" from 1963. Though Doris Troy was an extremely talented singer, she never significantly broke the charts afterwards. Troy did however gain somewhat of a cult popularity in Brittain's Northern Soul scene, so she decided to move there in 1969. Her live shows back then featured one Reginald Dwight on piano. Who in turn would reach world fame once he adopted both funky glasses, outfits and the name Elton John. In London Troy also struck up an acquaintance with George Harrison when she was invited to sit in on a Billy Preston session George was producing. Harrison wanted to know if Doris was free to record and as it turned out, she wasn't tied to a record contract at the time. With the Beatles on the verge of splitting up Harrison was branching out, producing for himself and other artists. The sessions for the Doris Troy album became are star studded affair. Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton, Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills and Leon Russell all contributed to the record on which Doris takes a fair share of the song writing credits. Unfortunately though the record, released in 1970, got lost in the shuffle somehow. Though the results are fine indeed, it didn't quite fit between the fiercer, more funkier Soul sounds that were becoming in vogue in the States, nor did it appeal to the well defined tastes of the British Northern Soul scene. In the end all the album did was cement Doris' reputation of overqualified one hit wonder.

Jacob's Ladder - Doris Troy


Available on Doris Troy

Boot Tracker, July 31st 2008, Giants Stadium NJ (Bossman)

The final Giant Stadium show sounds like the best of the three night stand so far and also is the best bootleg I've heard of the three nights. Though I must admit, with all the versions coming out, I haven't been able to listen to all of them. For the first two nights I put my money on the Travitz tapes, but after hearing positive things on the first two Bossman recordings I figured I'd give him a try. I'm glad I did. This Bossman tape is decidedly clearer than the Travitz tapes of the first two nights, although marred by the same heavy bass. So I'm tempted to see if the other two Bossman tapes compare to this one in quality. That isn't to say that all is good however. There is some slight echo on this tape and the sound isn't as balanced as I'd hoped. Worse is the amount of audience chatter. The beer runs and inane social chatter completely ruin Springsteen's tour premier of "Pretty Flamingo" including a nice rap on his relationship with Patti and the Big Man's coming marriage. Probably the reason why the preacher shtick replaced the raps all together in the new millennium. You have to wonder how much of it came across in the stadium as well.

This third night came across as the most loosely constructed set list yet. Compared to the first two legs, this does tape the pace out of the show some, which was often at neck break speed in 2007. But when tightness and high speed R&R is replaced with a full hour extra show and rarities galore, I don't think many of us will complain about the relative loss in pace. Especially not when there are plenty of stadium wreckers like "Cadillac Ranch" to whip the show right back on track. And just listen to Charlie rip into his organ on "Light of Day," of high energy there's no lack. The loss of pace is relative anyway. At the age of 58 Springsteen still delivers R&R shows with an energy level that will make many 20 year olds go green with envy, even when the night is loosely constructed. The loose set lists of late also add an element of surprise that is arguably more thrilling than neck break speed shows. During the first two legs, the out line of the show was more or less set in stone. With the recent shows anything could happen, you never know what you'll get. Even during shows without debuts, you stumble from one surprise into another. This Giants Stadium show not only got two debuts with "Pretty Flamingo" and "Jersey Girl," choice rarities like "Blinded by the Light" remind you of why Springsteen used to be such a hard ticket to score.

"Blinded by the Light"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3+ out of 5
Show: 5- out of 5
Artwork: none

Read the review from Rolling Stone magazine here

Boot Tracker, July 28th 2008, Giants Stadium, NJ (Travitz)

An early birthday party for Patti this second Giants Stadium night. And I must admit, I am one of those fans who really likes having her up there on stage. There's a certain dynamic between her and Springsteen that is exhilarating. Sparks fly... maybe not as sizzling and intensely as during the Tunnel of Love Express tour, but there certainly still is a certain dynamic between them. It carries a certain erotic quality that comes across especially well in the "Tunnel of Love" songs, but doesn't stop at that quality. When the missus joins the Boss on a song, like title track of that album, it always sounds to me like they are reaffirming their relationship and aren't scared to ask the difficult questions that come with the territory. It is a dynamic that would hard to act out when their hearts wouldn't be in it, which is exactly why it is so thrilling to watch or to listen to. Though Patti's voice doesn't work as well in every song, there are a select amount of songs that gain something. Especially "Out in the Street" and "No Surrender" always seem to gain quite a bit of depth with the female voice added.

Ironically, or maybe a blessing for the people out there that aren't as big a fans, Patti's voice is one of the things that doesn't come across very well on this second Travitz tape. Her voice gets buried in a rather bass heavy mix. Though the recording is enjoyable once again, quite a bit of subtlety gets lost. So while we can enjoy Stevie's soulful belting on "Two Hearts," Patti gets drowned a bit. On an aside, I have always been curious how that song would sound as a duet with miss Scialfa. Maybe the song would a get too mushy, while right now it still stands as song that underscores the nearly mythical brotherhood that is such an important part of the E-Street Band's appeal. How much that sense of companionship and family is a part of the band perhaps became clear when Max's son Jay Weinberg was allowed to step in for his old man on "Born to Run." Let me tell you, from the sounds of it, mighty Max produced some thunderous offspring. And is it just my imagination, or are those 'Boom ' Carter fills less of a struggle for Jay?

"Born to Run"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Go to the Star Ledger for videos and reviews

Recording: 3- out of 5
Show: 4+ out of 5
Artwork: none