Tuesday November 07 09:15 PM EST
Bruce's "Nebraska" Springs
Eternal
dailynews.yahoo.com
When Bruce Springsteen first released Nebraska in
1982, many considered it to be career suicide. Just two
years earlier, he had released The River, a sprawling
double opus that left him poised on the brink of
becoming rock's biggest superstar. But Springsteen felt the stark, intimate nature
of songs like "My Father's House," "Atlantic City" and "Johnny 99" were best
expressed minimally, and he successfully insisted Columbia Records release
Nebraska in its original four-track, demo state.
The record was a critical smash, and thanks to Springsteen's diehard fans, it
debuted in the Top 10, but it failed to match the mainstream success of The
River or the blockbuster Born in the USA two years later. Falling between those
two mammoth statements, Nebraska has often been viewed as an odd detour in
Springsteen's career, occasionally even ignored. "I've seen books and biographies
of Springsteen on TV and none of them even mention Nebraska," marvels fan
Damien Juardo, a Seattle-based singer-songwriter. But for Springsteen fanatics,
Nebraska is often counted amongst the Boss's finest hours. Massachusetts-based
producer Jim Sampas, who produced the Jack Kerouac tribute disc, Kerouac
Kicks Joy Darkness, is one of those people.
Sampas is the mastermind behind the just-released all-star tribute album
Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" (Sub Pop). "I felt it
might be interesting, perhaps even a little bit more interesting, to have various
artists recording songs of one body of work that was written and recorded at one
time," Sampas says. The idea, hatched in spring of 1999, was to have the
participating artists each record their songs in the no-frills manner that
Springsteen did the originals.
The roster of talent on Badlands is an impressively eclectic one. Ben Harper,
Ani DiFranco, Chrissie Hynde and Adam Seymour, Los Lobos, Dar Williams,
Aimee Mann with Michael Penn, Johnny Cash and the aforementioned Juardo
are just a few of the artists paying tribute to Springsteen.
Mavericks frontman Raul Malo, who contributes a version of "Downbound
Train" to the set, admits that he's usually not much for tribute albums but was
nonetheless lured in by the focused approach of Badlands. "This album seemed
like it was going to be a really cool thing because it's not a tribute to Springsteen
per se," he says. "It's a tribute to a specific piece of work." ("Downbound Train,"
like "I'm on Fire" -- covered here by Cash -- both appeared on Born on the USA,
but they were included on Badlands because Springsteen wrote them during the
Nebraska sessions.)
Harper, who tackles the moving "My Father's House," says his fondness for
Nebraska dates back to his childhood. "I heard Nebraska when I was ten, eight
maybe. My mom had it in the house and just played it constantly," he says. "I
appreciated it then because among my family's records, which ranged from
Stevie Wonder to Little Feat, I would play Nebraska on my own. So he was in
my childhood A-list."
Not all of the artists featured on Badlands were diehard Bruce fans, however.
Take Los Lobos, for example. "We just got a call and we thought it was a pretty
cool idea," says guitarist Louie Perez. "It sounded like a pretty eclectic bunch of
people. So we said OK." Perez notes that it was the process of recording "Johnny
99" in the four-track manner that Springsteen did that Los Lobos became
genuine fans. "At that point, when we recorded, it got us to really appreciate and
respect what he's all about. Not that we had any disrespect for him before. But to
really just get in his head was kind of cool."
The talent involved in Badlands is a testament to Springsteen's influence, and
particularly the admiration his peers have for Nebraska, which Jurado says is the
Springsteen album underground and indie artists identify with most. It was only a
few years ago though that the thought of any indie musicians praising
Springsteen seemed about as likely as professional wrestling finding a permanent
home on MTV. There was, as expected, an inevitable backlash against
Springsteen, who has always worn the mantle of rock & roll artist proudly.
That seems to have ebbed with time, and as Sampas found, it is once again cool
to admit to liking Springsteen. "There wasn't anybody who was hesitant to do
this project," Sampas says. "I got great response from artists and managers alike
immediately." He then adds that if they could've waited a few more months to do
the album, Beck, Tracy Chapman and Counting Crows would've also been part
of the Badlands CD.
"I think that [Springsteen] started writing in a very different style with this
album, a sort of new style for him, which was a bit more personal and detail
oriented," Sampas says when asked about the secret of Nebraska's enduring
appeal. "Every single song on that album is just as good as the other and they're
all quite extraordinary."
Or, as Harper puts it, "He's telling a haunting story in a rare way that only a few
people in a generation can do and get away with."
STEVE BALTIN
(November 8, 2000) |
