Bruce Springsteen: New Music, Same Great Performer

If you were into music back in the glory days of the 80’s, you know who Bruce Springsteen is. Bruce Springsteen is considered the Boss of Rock music. Now he is back into the music scene singing a different type of music. His newest album is considered more of a folk type music. Like many artists, the plight of the people in New Orleans has been in his thoughts and has influenced his music.

Bruce Springsteen’s first single of his newest Album “WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS, ” is entitled: “HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE.” The song was originally written by Blind Alfred Reed about the Great Depression in 1929. Bruce Springsteen kept the original first verse of the song and rewrote the last three verses thinking about the ordeal the people in New Orleans were facing after those horrible hurricanes in 2005.

Bruce Springsteen started off his current tour in New Orleans on April 30, 2006. He performed at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival. The people in Louisiana were treated to a Bruce Springsteen show one would never dreamed of back in the 80’s. His show consisted of an eighteen piece ensemble which included instruments such as the banjo, acoustic guitars, accordion, fiddles, mandolin and even a Dobro. The audience at the Jazz Festival seem to enjoy it. They jumped up to their feet and began singing along during the choruses, without being cued.

This type of musical event is a long way from the New Jersey born Bruce Springsteen fans are used to hearing.

Bruce Springsteen was born in Freehold, New Jersey on September 23, 1949. His first album was released in 1973. But it was his second album BORN TO RUN that was released in 1974 that made him a bona fide rock star and gave him the title ‘THE BOSS’. In 1984, he released his biggest album BORN IN THE USA and the single with the same title. This song BORN IN THE USA is probably the most recognizable of all Bruce Springsteen’s hits and will be sung for generations to come. The fact that it also held the number 1 slot for 7 weeks in 1984 doesn’t hurt any, either.

Bruce Springsteen is known for singing and writing songs for and about the hard working class people of America. He has been doing this for three decades now.

Will he make new fans with his change in music style? What will his old fans think? Do numbers talk?

The Washington Post, reported on May 5 about how record sales were lagging this year. They pointed out the fact that this time last year, Bruce Springsteen’s album DEVILS & DUST was Number one on the best selling record charts and sold 222,000 copies that week. This year, Bruce Springsteen’s newest album WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS came out the same time and made it to number three on the charts and only sold 149,000 copies.

But that is just the first week. Bruce Springsteen has just started his tour. More and more people will begin to hear his new sound. Soon he could be considered THE BOSS in folk music as well as in Rock. Time will tell.