Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Rob is SURE You'll Like Springsteen's Seeger Sessions

I don't know why, but I've never been a Bruce Springsteen fan. I blame my age. I grew up with 60s rock and and I've been slow to appreciate any rock music produced after say, 1972. And unfortunately for Bruce, his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park NJ came out in 1973. I knew that Springsteen had recorded an album of Pete Seeger's folk songs (We Shall Overcome: the Seeger Sessions) and I was mildly curious, but I somehow never got around to listening to it. But now that I have heard it, I want everyone to have a listen.
Bruce Springsteen got together with a bunch of other musicians at his farm and had a blast putting a rollicking spin on a bunch of traditional folk songs sung by the (now) 92-year-old Pete Seeger. I can pretty much guarantee that you've never heard versions of John Henry, Old Dan Tucker or Pay Me My My Money Down like this. With trumpet, trombone, tuba and some great drumming, you'd never know that these songs spent their whole lives in the company of guitar, banjo and fiddle! Springsteen et al have a lot of fun in playing the songs and their enthusiasm helps make the album a lot of fun to listen to.

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