Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
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CD Details
Artist: Bruce SpringsteenBrand: Sony
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Dual Disc
CD Release Date: 2006-04-25
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Old Dan Tucker
- Jesse James
- Mrs. McGrath
- Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep
- John Henry
- Erie Canal
- Jacob's Ladder
- My Oklahoma Home
- Eyes On The Prize
- Shenandoah
- Pay Me My Money Down
- We Shall Overcome
- Froggie Went A-Courtin'
- Buffalo Gals (bonus track)
- How Can I Keep From Singing (bonus track)
Music reviews of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
Music Review: Springsteen Makes Folk Rock That Actually Rocks.
Rating: 4 Stars
"Turn it up, put on your danicin' shoes, singin' shoes, and have fun... It[s] a carnival ride, the sound of surprise, and the pure joy of playing. Street corner music, parlor music, tavern music, ... church music, gutter music... it rocked, it swung, it rolled."
-Bruce Springsteen, 3/6/06, describing the music on this album in a letter to the listener on the inside cover.
I have seen plenty of skepticism from people here at Amazon regarding everything from a new folk album coming out in this day and age to Bruce doing a folk album. Can he pull it off? Does he have any right to try? Most importantly, is he right about what he says in the above quote?
The answer is a resounding, and surprising, 'yes!'
Bruce is right on all counts.
No doubt I feel this way because I am a big Bruce fan, however I am not a big folk fan. And I am not a Bruce fan who feels he can do no wrong and will simply defend anything he puts out. I will however try it. The fact that I usually love it is a testimate to Bruce's great musical chops and insights, not my devotion to him.
All that said, will others like this? That depends on how you approach it. If you are some folk purist who thinks it is sacrilege for a rock star to attempt this, there is probably no convincing you. If you are a casual Springsteen fan who thinks the man's legacy begins and ends with "Born In the USA" and a handful of other singles, this is not gonna be you're cup of tea. If you are not a Springsteen fan, this probably won't convert you (although, it is different from his arena-rock anthems, so if that's what turned you off to "The Boss," this may be more you're cup of tea - also, then, see "Devils & Dust").
The truth is though, this album was probably not made for any of those people. It wasn't made to win new fans or convert people to folk music. It wasn't made with the pretence of selling millions of copies. If it ultimately accomplishes any, or all, of those things, great, but all that is all no doubt gravy to Bruce. This is a passion project for him. Something he's wanted to do since at least '97 (according to the liner notes, that is when he first started considering material for such a release as this; after recording "We Shall Overcome" for a Pete Seeger tribute album). As he says several times in the notes and on the DVD content, he just really loves listening to and playing this music.
Don't misunderstand though, that doesn't mean he's gone on some radical experimental trip of self indulgence. He made this record to be heard. Often with passion projects they come off as heavy handed, self-important, self-indulgent, and issue-laden preaching. As Bruce wrote, this was a passion of fun - rock and roll, swing and dance. He obviously didn't lose sight of that goal through-out the recording.
The best stuff is at the top of the order. "Old Dan Tucker" and "Jesse James" are great, but "Mrs. McGrath" begins trifecta of tunes (including "O Mary Don't You Weep" and "John Henry") that are as listenable and addictive as anything on the rest of the album. "Erie Canal," "Jacob's Ladder," and the funny, but tragic "My Oklahoma Home" (in which a tornado takes a man's home and woman, but spares his mortgage) are almost as good. Will most listeners be able to listen to all 13 tracks back to front over and over again? That's up to the listener, but I'd wager one could find six, seven or eight songs here they can listen to pretty regularly. Some may have to let this record grow on them. Although it is possible to be captivated right away; I've only heard it all the way through once (as of this writing) and I love all the tracks I mentioned - and the ones I didn't I certainly have nothing against . "We Shall Overcome" and "Eyes on the Prize" are done a great service by Springsteen's respectful, passionate delivery. And, yes, he pulls off "Froggie Went a Courtin'."
The pace slows a bit in spots and some of the songs start to sound the same, which I guess is a trapping of folk music and folk instruments. But the point of this album was to play rootsy music, with rootsy production and rootsy instruments (this album was done live, not in front of an audience, but in a studio with all songs done in one take with no overdubbing or effects - just all the musicians playing together). Bruce makes this music just modern enough though, to make one wonder what these songs would sound like if he gone ahead and gave them a full rock treatment. I suppose that would be against the point of this project, but you can't listen to "O Mary Don't You Weep" without picturing the ESB hammering that song home live. That song, with lyrics like "Brothers and sisters don't you cry/there'll be good times by and by," would not sound out of place on "The Rising" album (the subtext and themes there, after all, are the same), especially next to a track like "Lonesome Day" in which he pledges, "This to shall pass/I'm gonna pray... Let kingdom come/I'm gonna find my way." In fact, Bruce has basically been writing these types of songs his whole career. Not only are their folk roots most obviously in anything from "Nebraska," with the likes of "Atlantic City," "Johnny 99," and "Reason to Believe," but even his anthems that seemingly couldn't be further from folk are as folksy as anything here. Just look at the lyrics to "Born In the USA," "The Rising," "Into the Fire," "Adam Raised a Cain," "The Promised Land," "Seeds," "Lost in the Flood," and the long list can go on. Mentioning anything from "Devils & Dust" and "Tom Joad" may be as obvious as linking these songs to those on "Nebraska," but consider the opposite; Springsteen's own "All I'm Thinkin' About" from "Devils" could just as easily been grafted onto this album and we'd be none the wiser that the song wasn't penned 100 or more years ago and traded down through generations. So, he is not in anyway in over his head or out of place here, as some have skeptically suggested.
The difference between these songs and Springsteen's own classics essentially comes down to a lot more banjo and a hootenanny feel. It may be too much for some. As I said, this is a different sound, especially if you are not familiar with folk music, and may take a while to get used to. If you approach this album by sticking it in, listening to a few seconds of each song, shrugging your shoulders and then skipping to the next track you are never going to enjoy it, nor are you giving it its due - it's in the choruses and lyrics, and Springsteen's impassioned delivery that these songs come alive.
You need to listen for it.
If you need a rocker turned folkie-for-a-day comparison to give you an idea of this, the way a lot of this is played, it sounds like some of John Mellencamp's stuff - he even did a similar album, albeit of mainly his own material, called "Rough Harvest (2000)" and a folk/blues cover album in 2002 called "Trouble No More." Like Bruce, even Mellencamp's rock stuff has plenty of roots in folk and often uses violins, fiddles, and banjos in his music, but he also felt the need to cover some true folk standards.
The DVD side of the album, which is still playing in the background as I write this, is fun. The footage is well edited together. I liked the way they show "Erie Canal" coming together and Bruce's comments on folk music. Why the producers wanted to give you the impression Bruce is getting hammered during the performance of "Pay Me My Money Down" I'm not sure - they start the song with him asking if anybody wants a drink, telling the band he wants them all lose and singing like they're drinkin'. Then through out the song they show Bruce sipping wine, dancin' crazy, and stumblin' about. I'm sure this is all exaggerated with editing for comical effect. Or its true. In any case, it's fun.
The DVD screens, as well as the packaging and booklet (which includes Bruce's informative descriptions of where these songs came from) have a beaten and worn look; the photos are all either under or over developed, like they are dusty or have been sitting out in the sun too long. Hell, they even got the cardboard to smell like the album has been pulled out of some cabin or attic. Sony/Columbia/Bruce did a good job with this product. The only way this would sound and look better or more authentic is to get it on Vinyl.
Is this Springsteen's best album? Of course not. But it is a great experiment and a better way to mark time in between the next true Boss album than simply recycling another hits package or live album (not that I would ever turn my nose up to a live album). And judged on its own merits (not compared to "Born to Run," or whatever), for what it is, it's an excellent effort.
I like this record, and as much as I loved "Devils & Dust" and the extraordinary, intimate tour that album spawned, hopefully Bruce has gotten the side projects and labors of love out of his system and will bring on a new ESB record shortly. If for no other reason than to get them all back on the road a few more times before they pass the 60-year mark. I'm looking forward to his short tour with this band this summer - I'd Love to see these guys tackle some classic Springsteen.
Description of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
VIDEOA 40-minute film about the recording of the album with artist commentary. Includes filmed performances of:
John Henry Pay Me My Money Down Buffalo Gals Erie Canal O Mary Don?t You Weep Jacob?s Ladder Froggie Went A Courtin? Shenandoah
Plus four bonus live tour videos:
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live (Bruce Springsteen Version) Bring ?Em Home American Land Pay Me My Money Down
The premise was simple. Bruce Springsteen invites a dozen or so New York City musicians--packing banjos, fiddles, accordions and the like--to his New Jersey farmhouse for a three-day hootenanny, and tape is rolling. The results are sublime, his 21st album featuring their versions of songs harvested from Springsteen's dog-eared LPs by Pete Seeger. Not all written by Seeger, the songs are how the American folk icon interpreted them, and these organic recordings, with no rehearsals or overdubs, pay tribute with the simplicity and spontaneity he intended. It's not hard to link Springsteen's dissatisfaction with American politics to the protest song "We Shall Overcome" or even the Irish ballad "Mrs. McGrath," where he alters the lyrics to read, "I'd rather have my son as he used to be/Than the King of America and his whole navy." But the beauty of these Seeger Sessions are pieces that underscore the mood of the bandleader, which borders on down-home amusement: the bluegrass outlaw ballad "Jesse James," the Dylanesque "Pay Me My Money Down" and the euphoric "Jacob's Ladder," a gumbo-and-whiskey-fueled romp that could pass for the closing hymn at the Church of Asbury Park. --Scott Holter
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