Yeah This One's No Secret-Born To Run

Well, it certainly has been too long since my last article. Just been kind of lazy about this, but I wanted to dig into possibly the best known album I've written about so far.

Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run was a breakthrough. Before Born To Run, Springsteen was a regional star with some national following. He was a vibrant stage performer and his band was honing considerable rapport and skill. His first 2 albums had met with decent critical but limited commercial success. The story is, that this was Springsteen's last shot with the record company and without a real hit album, he could be back at the Jersey shore working the bar scene for his loyal local following. Well... as it turns out, this one was Springsteen's version of Kirk Gibson's World Series home run, Michael Jordan's "The Shot", or the 80 U.S. Hockey team's "Miracle on Ice" (sorry about the sports comparisons in a music blog).

As a 21 year old in 1975, my favorite radio station (WMMS Cleveland) would play the title song every Friday at 6:00pm to kick off the weekend. At that time, Springsteen's most faithful fans outside of his Jersey home base may have been in Cleveland and the record company helped the cause by getting an early pressing to WMMS. Springsteen had me hooked from the opening chords of this great song.

But the Album Listening Experience is about the album, not just the song and make no mistake about it, this entire album is great. The songwriting became more accessible melodically. The lyrics told stories that was/is identifiable by the average listener. The E-Street Band showed itself to be just about the best band in the business, and the production, channeling Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique made the tone powerful.

The album opens with Thunder Road. In my opinion, this is Springsteens best song ever. With an instantly recognizable harmonica and piano intro, followed by lyrics that are bursting with imagery, the song builds in intesity both in instrumentation and tempo til the saxophone/piano coda. This song is often (and deservedly) ranked very high on the list of greatest rock songs of all time. 10th Avenue Freeze Out loosely tells the story of Bruce and the formation of the E-Street Band. It features upbeat horns and highlight's Clarence Clemon's saxophone. The Night is a fine song who's theme is a popular one in Bruce Springsteen's catalogue. A hard working man who's labors during the day enable him to pursue his dreams of fast cars and the love of a good woman. Backstreets is a stately, powerful song about relationships. It represents further maturity in Springsteens songwriting and is an excellent closing song for side one.

Side 2 starts with Born To Run. As stated before, this one was the great song Springsteen needed to catapult his career and it delivered beyond even his lofty expectations. Once again, the imagery included motor vehicles and his desire of companionship and love with a partner who could share his vision. She's the One is a another favorite of mine (well...they're all great on the album...). This one carries a driving Bo Diddley beat throughout and once again hits the mark. Meeting Across the River is a stark depiction of the desperation of a drug deal. Once again, the imagery puts you close to the scene. With the featured instrumentation of the trumpet and piano, the musical theme mirrors the starkness of the lyrics. The album closes with the epic Jungleland. The scene is the street with music, gang life and love and desperation again as themes for the song. At 10 minutes, this is the longest song on the album and once again shows a maturity in Bruce's songwriting.

The cover of the album is also a classic and one of the most recognizable covers of all time. Featuring a black-and-white photo of Springsteen with his trusty Fender Telecaster leaning on his bandmate and friend Clarence Clemons, the cover is inviting the listener in to participate in the rock and roll inside the album. The cover is book style with Springsteen on the front and Clemons on the back. The back cover features the song list with musician credits listed for each song. The inside cover features a picture (B&W) of a smiling but tired-looking Springsteen...no doubt exhausted from the effort in creating this masterwork. The rest of the inside cover is the printed lyrics of each song. This is a cover designed for the Album Listening Experience...following along with the lyrics while listening and associating the musician with their performance.

I understand that Born To Run is not some hidden gem that few people know about. This is one of the great albums in rock and roll history. What I'm encouraging is to listen to the whole album. Hear the power in the music and lyrics of the songs that you may not know...the ones that classic rock radio doesn't play. This album brings you an artist meeting his moment. This is the career point where Springsteen became important to the medium and actually rose above it. Visit this album when there is the leisure time to listen undistracted. It is truly music of substance

Music Videos Have Been Slowly Killing Popular Music

"HAVE YOU SEEN (insert artist's name here) NEW VIDEO?"

For those who love music, that should be a fundamentally bothersome question. That's because music is first and foremost an auditory experience. This medium's basics involve sounds produced by singers and musicians who use their voices and instruments to produce pleasurable listening. I contend that since MTV and its offspring were thrust upon us back in 1981, the quality of popular music in general has been in steady decline.

I absolutely understand that music needs to be marketed and the music video is a powerful tool in that effort but at this point in time, the look of the artist and this marketing tool have completely overtaken the importance of song craftsmanship.

Once again, readers, those of you who are a bit younger than me will say that this is a rant of a geezer who can't move past the era of music he grew up with. I choose to say...BS! More and more, artists make their mark through casting calls where the "look" above the talent is the key. It is more and more rare that the artist hones his/her chops through constant touring, playing live to all manner of audience until they create their own unique style. And...even if they do, the record companies will force a change because each act must be sloted into a particular catagory or genre to maximize sales through downloads or CD sales.

Today, no one takes a chance on talent because the business trumps the talent. What we get is Britney Spears and the gaggle of the "next teen pop stars" dressed, drilled and cloned to take each other's place. The former ages beyond the target demographic so the next one has to be ready to emerge to replace (Miley Cyrus). We get boy bands put together through casting calls, one to sound like the other because that's what sells. We get county bands that are more pop than country and bear little in common with those that paved the way in that genre. And...this is all brought to us first by videos.

As I said, I understand marketing must be done. The most influential band of all time (Beatles) was heavily marketed. Keep in mind, there was substance to the talent before the marketing began. Hey, there was even a video...possibly the the most influential video of all time...A Hard Day's Night. Once again...look at the substance of this work.

My love of music really started with and remains based on the talent of the songwriter first. People like Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, James Taylor and of course Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richard were early favorites. As my tastes expanded and I listened to more music, I added Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Elton John/Bernie Taupin, Neil Diamond, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Ray Davies (Kinks), Bruce Springsteen, Henley/Frey, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, and Peter Townshend. This is a small list of some of the best of the era. What should stand out to you is that these people are responsible for writing, performing, and often have a major hand in what goes down in the studio that is eventually the final product. Who are the songwriters of today who's songs will continue to be played 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now?

The music produced by those I've named and so many of their contemporaries was first brought to the public on the radio, in record stores, or in through records/tapes/CD's played at your friend's house. It was heard first not seen. The test was...how did it sound, not how did it look. The next time someone asks you to watch the latest video by artist X, Y, or Z, close your eyes and just listen. Don't let the the dance moves, sexy video girls, special effects etc, fool you. Those thing can't make bad music good. Make the music stand alone. So much of it today does not.

The Who Sell Out-Great Album, Overlooked.

My introduction to The Who was seeing them perform a lip synch version of My Generation on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. The windmilling Towshend, manic Moon, and explosions and instrument destruction at the end of the song will never be forgotten. That is often people's notion of the Who but before Tommy, before, Who's Next, before they became old men who performed at the Super Bowl, before they actually sold out to allow their songs to used by the CSI tv shows, the brilliant Who Sell Out was there. Let it not be forgotten that Pete Townshend Is one of the greatest song writers and minds of rock/pop music. The Who Sell Out showcases Pete's versatility as the leader and creative mind of the Who.

Sell Out is a concept album that kind of sneaks up on the listener. The concept is that it was intended to simulate a programming day of the pirate radio station, Radio London. In between the unrelated songs are commercials and public service announcements all written and/or performed by the band. The cover is a preview of the commercials with each band member hawking one of the products from the album. For those looking for that power chording, and lead vocals of Roger Daltry, this isn't the Who album to find those things in abundance. That is not to say the music doesn't stand out...it certainly does.

The Music: As I said, this music doesn't have the big rock sound people think of from the Who. There was only one single from the album. It actually is the one song on the album that features big power chords, great Moon drumming, and Daltry's lead singing all together. topping out at #9 on the U.S. singles chart, I Can See For Miles may be the only song from the album many of you know. Many of the highlights of this LP feature Pete as lead (or at least sharing the lead) singer. My favorite song is Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand. Apparently, while the other girls mentioned in the song have talents, Mary Anne's manual dexterity make her a very popular date. Other fine songs include Relax, I Can't Reach You, and Sunrise. Sunrise is really a Townshend solo song. Just him and an acoustic guitar with a un-rock-like jazz arrangement.

This is a perfect example of an Album Listening Experience. Sure there are fine songs performed by one of the best bands of the rock era but to get the full effect of the album, it should be listened to start-to-finish. Skipping around is not allowed. While there are the apropos-to-the-time radio jingles between the tunes, songs like Odorono (deodorant) and Medac (acne treatment) get are actually noted on the album track list.

The Who is my favorite band and with albums like Tommy, Quadrophenia, Who's Next, and Live At Leeds in their catalog, Sell Out gets overlooked...it shouldn't. When you listen, take the time to listen it in it's entirety.