Berlin ist so gut wie sicher. Rest fiik.
Hier erster Report aus Houston:
I just got home from the „We Shall Overcome“ listening party at Waterloo Records in Austin. They billed it as the „world premiere“ showing of the DVD, outside of the Springsteen inner circle…I know that it was shown in NYC recently, but still…very cool to see it so early and hear the music.
A few thoughts…
Definitely folk music but done with lots of Springsteen energy and more variety of musical styles than I anticipated.
The DVD which was shown in its entirely looked like it was filmed at Bruce’s farm house studio. Like „Blood Brothers,“ it captured Bruce working out arrangements, his commentary on the music, and the requisite photo shoot posing, much of which was done outside.
(I don’t know the names of all the songs, so bear with me as I run down those on the DVD.)
„John Henry“ – heavy on the fiddle, accordian and banjo, the famous „Bruce twang“ in all its glory.
„Pay Me My Money Down“ – Bruce goes zydeco…will be huge at Jazz Fest. He tells the assembled band/backup singers „I want a beer drunk, whiskey drinking sound“ and he got it. Had some of the folks dancing in the aisles at Waterloo.
„Camptown Boys“ played over the photo shoot montage, taking place outside with everyone including the horn players.
Bruce holding forth at the bar in the studio: „Pop songs smooth out the edges..folk lyrics remain harsh.“
„15 Miles on the Erie Canal“ – maybe my fave so far, Bruce on acoustic guitar, with trombone, sax and trumpet coming in to set a slow jazzy groove. It sounded like a natural progression from some of his re-invented songs like „The River“…definitely wanted to hear it again.
„Mary Don’t You Weep“ – almost a 1920s-30s band sound with fiddle intro, lot of backing vocals, nifty false ending.
Hats, hats, hats…OMG, Bruce is wearing this fedora from the Sinatra collection. Hee. Talks about „recontextualizing“ the songs … the new „in some fashion,“ I think.
„Shenandoah“ – nicely „recontextualized“ with atmospheric arrangement, giving you the feel of the „rolling river“
Concludes with Bruce saying „The Hootenanny is done.“
Overall: I liked it, probably because of the novelty but also because of the energy, melodies, and enthusiasm. On the flip side, I thought that the cuts might start sounding the same, probably because the lyrics to the songs are repetitive, especially in the long refrains, and the songs follow the traditional form of folk music in structure and chords. But the differing arrangements tend to offset this…I guess that I’ll have to hear the entire recording before I make a judgement in this area.
I’m really glad that I had the chance to attend the listening party. I had to miss last year’s D&D debut, and I hope that Bruce/Sony continue to allow us the chance to get a sneak preview here in Austin (especially as we got skipped during the D&D tour..boo.)
Klingt ganz OK für mich.
--