Happy belated birthday, Bruce. Sorry, I didn’t get around to congratulating you on time but you know how it is.
And I feel, since we’re close friends, you won’t hold it against me.

Yep, folks, the Jersey bard and I are tight. You know this theory of six degrees of separation? Well, between Bruce and I, there’s only two degrees cause I am (or was) good friends with (the late) Duane Jarvis and with Bob Delevante who have both worked closely with Garry Tallent who is, of course, the E-Street-Band’s bass player. So there.

As a belated birthday present to Bruce (and whoever else might be interested), here’s a little home-recorded version of “You’re Missing”, a beautiful song from “The Rising”.

Listen!

And while I got your attention, let me turn you on to some of my personal favorite albeit lesser known songs by Bruce Springsteen:

1. The Line (from The Ghost Of Tom Joad)
The tale of an ex-military man who works as a border patrolman and falls for a Mexican girl wanting to cross the border. Guthrie-esque.

2. Backstreets (from Born To Run)
Passion captured on vinyl and the definitive lesson in piano-organ interplay.

3. You’re Missing (from The Rising)
See now, in my mind this song works a lot better than grandiose statements about 9/11 bravery or whatnot cause it zooms in real close. Unusual pseudo-Chinese stuff on the piano.

4. If I Should Fall Behind (from Lucky Town)
Granted, Lucky Town may not be the highlight of Springsteen’s career but this song is a real treasure!

5. My City Of Ruins (from The Rising)
I’m a sucker for a descending bass line.

6. Blood Brothers (from Greatest Hits)
I love the documentary on the E-Street Band getting back together. I love seeing how they work in the studio and I’m awed at how Springsteen keeps rearranging this song until it finally works. And then when they get a good take and Bruce says something like they’re on the right track and are going to do it again, engineer Chuck Plotkin steps in: “You got this baby here!” Of course he’s right on the money.

7. Roll Of The Dice (from Human Touch)
As far as I know the only ever released Springsteen-Bittan co-write. Boy, do I love this piano riff and the exuberant performance.

8. Walk Like A Man (from Tunnel Of Love)
The opening lines and the whole imagery is so so beautiful: “I remember how rough your hand felt on mine on my wedding day”. Lots of very nice stuff on this album.

9. I’ll Work For Your Love (from Magic)
This has yet to stand the test of time. It may not be an all-around perfect song but I still find myself wanting to hear this over and over.

10. Terry’s Song (from Magic)/The Wrestler (from The Wrestler soundtrack and Working On A Dream)/Dead Man Walking (from Dead Man Walking soundtrack)
I know everybody always goes on and on about Nebraska. Sure, two thirds of it are fantastic but I hardly ever want to listen to the album in its entirety. To me, Tom Joad is a much more complete piece of work. And these solo recordings want to make me hear much more in that vein. Devils & Dust, advertised as a follow-up to Tom Joad sure had its moments (Reno!), but also had some abominable booming drums and over-produced tracks.

While I’ve been enjoying Springsteen releasing material much more frequently in recent years, I frankly feel that the Seeger Sessions was the only utterly convincing album since Tom Joad. Sure, there’ve been standout tracks on all those albums since then but the four new songs on Greatest Hits promised so much more than what Bruce & The E-Street Band eventually delivered. Seems to me when working with the band, Springsteen feels compelled to write bombastic. Personally, I tend to like the more intimate stuff much better. Then again, when the band gels like it does on “Mary’s Place”, they’re damn hard to resist.
Keep pickin’, boys. After all, tramps like you aren’t born to retire.

Thanks for everything,
Markus