“I woke up feeling the sunshine, drift across my face, It took me back to emotions, from another time and place, those yesterdays Cruising in my Chevrolet, I had my baby in my arms, But my first love was always those songs, I’m talking about Soul days”
That could be Bruce’s mission statement for this, his 21st studio album record. It is an uplifting, fun-filled, emotion-driven, delightful homage to a genre that has produced so much classic music, and it could be argued, more instantly recognisable music than any other.
There are songs here, that are instantly recognisable, which have seeped into the consciousness almost by osmosis. ‘The Sun ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’, ‘Nightshift’, and ‘What Becomes of The Broken Hearted’ which the Boss covers with style and ease while remaining true to the real soul/Motown essence. It’s the lesser-known songs that really spotlight the boss’s voice and his love of the original material, and the artists who produced this amazing music.
There’s a crossroads, a common sonic area habited by soul and rock, and on the up-tempo numbers, Bruce is in his element. These are sounds he has delighted audiences with, playing them live for nearly 60 years.
I spent my working life, with my voice at the service of my songs, confined by my arrangements, my melodies, my compositions by my constructions, my voice always came second, third, or fourth to those elements.
This time around he leaves the music production to the rest of the ‘Nightshift’ team of Ron Aniello (Who plays almost all of the instruments on the album) and Rob Lebret, so he can concentrate on putting his vocals on some of the ‘most beautiful vocal music, ever written and recorded’, as Bruce describes it himself.
Bruce wrote in his autobiography ‘Born to Run’ in 2016:
About my voice- first of all, I don’t have much of one!
Well, it seems he has revised his opinion of his vocal prowess:
My voice is badass, -I’m 73 years old and I’m kicking ass, I’m a good old man.
It’s clear the man was having a ball in the studio. Check the outro on ‘Soul Days’, with the Boss name-checking the great and the good of Soul and Gospel in turns with Sam Moore
Bruce: I wanna hear some Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex. I wanna hear some Sam and Dave, Oh yeah. Hey, Sam, I wanna hear some Aretha.
Sam Moore: I wanna hear some Ray Charles.
Bruce: And some Soulful Sam Cooke now. I wanna hear some Arthur Conley,
Sam: Well what about Edwin Starr?
Bruce: Oh yeah
Roll call started, the album features cuts made famous by beloved artists such as Smokey Robinson, David Ruffin, The Supremes with Dana Ross, Levi Stubbs, Jerry Butler, William Bell, Tyrone Davis, The Righteous Brothers, with Bruce putting his twist and stamp on them.
Throw in the stirring sound of the E Street Horns, featuring the mighty Eddie ‘Kingfisher’ Manion, exhilarating strings arranged and conducted by Rob Mathes, and uplifting background vocals from the likes of Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, and Curtis King JR. and you have a mighty wall of sound, totally befitting the origins of the music.
Just listen to the infectious drive and commitment on ‘Do I love You (Indeed I do)’, from the opening glockenspiel to the celestial choir on backing. The compassionate almost despondent delivery on ‘The Sun ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’. From the hook and the contagious lift of ‘Hey Western Union Man’, to the disconsolate lost tone of ‘I Wish it Would Rain’.
The leader of ‘the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-makin’ E Street band’ has also been responsible for songs of amazing tenderness and vulnerability. His delivery on Sam and Dave’s ‘I Forgot to Be Your Lover’, is as sensuous and as affecting as almost anything in his back catalogue.
Of course, diehard fans will complain that this is not a real Boss album, without originals, and no E Street band, which kind of misses the point. This is Bruce’s homage to his heroes, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s fifteen slices of sweet soul music delivered with respect, compassion, and that voice!
And until the Boss comes around again, on record, or live, (the World tour kicks off in February), ‘Only The Strong Survive’ will do very nicely, thank you very much.