3/22/2023 0 Comments The e street shuffle![]() ![]() Amorous ballad ∴ th of July Asbury Park (Sandy) has Springsteen vying to reconcile the transience of interpersonal connection (Love me tonight/ For I may never see you again”), with a yearning for elusive permanence (Love me tonight/ I swear I will love you fuh-eh-eh-vahhh). After eliciting a boisterous call-and-response from the grandstands (everybody form a line!/ airy body forma lieee-ahnnn!), Bruce lets loose a cracking, pitchy yelp, “doin that E street shuuuuhfuhhhaallll! The scenes bumping, the crowd’s young, and everyones all smiles.īut nothing lasts forever. Leading with a jazzy New Orleans coronet and Gary Tallents funky bass, Springsteen populates the track with teenage tramps in skin-tight pants boy-prophets walking handsome and hot and blonde girls pledged sweet 16. Congregations of miscreants hoot and holler in the background, as the E Street Band rises above the din alongside Bruces scorching guitar riffs and Clarence Clemens naughty saxophone. On opening cut The E Street Shuffle”, Springsteen recalls the jaunty and waggish scenes of his youth. He knows the fun cant last, and, more importantly, that unless he acts fast hell end up a shell working double shifts at the Shell off Route 72. Springsteen, though cherishing his last lazy days with these childhood chums, is confronted by sadness and bittersweet nostalgia. Theyre the colorful, carefree kids that Springsteen loves with all his heart, but ultimately sees as doomed by socioeconomic shackles and the fast approaching burdens of adulthood. The former comprises Bruces buddies and flames. Theres the passionate, hyperactive, low class delinquents living their Jersey Shore lives to the fullest and those seeking to avoid a claustrophobic hometown future through exodus and cunning. WIESS champions two distinct character types. Its this haphazard blend of Black and White freewheeling riffs and deft arrangements naïveté and weltschmerz that drives Springsteens poignant portrait of escapades beneath the Jersey boardwalk and escapes to parts unknown. WIESS, which turns 40 this week, is the E Street bands most visceral and eclectic offering, and its no coincidence that the LP coincides with the band’s high water marks of spontaneity and heterogeneity. The impending departures of frenetic drummer Vini Mad Dog Lopez and piano man David Sancious rendered the ragamuffin sextet roughly two shades whiter, while the 14-month recording cycle of Born to Run traded youthful recklessness for seasoned precision. Not only does this snapshot capture the band at their most rowdy and jocular, its also their pinnacle of ethnic and racial diversity. Theres a pair of pasty caucasians, two beefy black guys, a lanky latino, and a scrawny, bronzed, struggling singer-songwriter that couldnt be called The Boss without a healthy dose of irony. Not a single E Street Band member is standing up straight, two sport provocatively unbuttoned blouses, and their footwear ranges from Cuban heeled boots to scruffy Hi Tops and dusty bare feet. Essential.The back cover of Bruce Springsteens The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle ( WIESS) reveals a motley crew. “New York City Serenade” is a beast, starting with David Sancious’ elegant piano intro and working its way to a dramatic conclusion. “Rosalita (Come out Tonight)” is archetypal Springsteen, complete with Clarence Clemons chasing the Boss with his ebullient sax while the lyrics tell of Bruce’s dreams of rock stardom. “Incident on 57th Street” is pure cinemascope, an elaborate tale that sweats like a classic early-‘70s film. “The E Street Shuffle” and “Kitty’s Back” are among the funkiest songs he’s recorded, while “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” and “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” are the warmest and most heartbreaking on the album. This is where Springsteen becomes an electric performer, with songs that invent new structures and court deep narratives. His second album, The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, added his stellar E Street Band. ![]() His first album, the excellent Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., presented a singer/songwriter with sharp lyrical skills and an emotional spectrum that could bring tears to the eyes of attentive listeners. ![]()
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