News:
JOINING IN AT NY GUITAR FEST, BRUCE HONORED „FROM MY ASS TO MY HEELS“
As the the New York Guitar Festival began with „The Nebraska Project“ on Saturday night, who should show up to wrap up the night but the architect of the original Nebraska project, Bruce Springsteen himself. After artists like Mark Eitzel, Michelle Shocked, Jen Chapin, and Chocolate Genius took turns covering the album song-by-song, Springsteen joined the ensemble for an encore of Woody & Jack Guthrie’s „Oklahoma Hills.“ John Oudens tells Backstreets:
This was in the World Financial Center Winter Garden, which is to say a huge covered atrium with a bunch of palm trees, so there was no curtain, no dimming of lights. As the musicians (about two dozen) gathered onstage for the encore, there were a few murmurs in the VIP seats up front, then a shout or two, and then a genuine roar when the audience recognized Bruce right there in the middle of the group, tuning an acoustic guitar. He looked giddy, smiling and laughing and thanking the musicians one by one.
The encore was one song, a strong extended version of „Oklahoma Hills,“ a Woody Guthrie song that some might think of as „Way Down Yonder,“ the first three words of the chorus. Bruce took over on lead vocal late in the song (in typical man-of-the-hour fashion), and then led the singing of the final refrain four or five times. His style was more growl than twang, amazingly.
When the song ended, the host, John Platt, of WFUV-FM, tried to engage Bruce in a little serious conversation (as he had earnestly, and at times awkwardly, throughout the show), asking Bruce whether the musicians‘ opinions and interpretations had been on the mark. I have to paraphrase somewhat here: Bruce replied that most of the exegeses were wrong, and that he’d written all the songs „to get women to pull their pants down.“ Most folks present probably hadn’t heard this line yet. Then Bruce said, „I’d just like to say I’m honored from my ass to my heels,“ or something very close to that, and pretty much blew off a question of why he thought the album „resonated“ so much after all these years. Then he returned to thanking the cast, shaking hands and engaging in hugs and so forth.
Not bad for a free show.
Bruce last played „Oklahoma Hills“ on April 28, 2005, a one-off Devils & Dust tour performance with Jimmy LaFave in Dallas.
Auf www.backstreets.com gibts auch noch ein pic dazu!
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