It’s obvious they had a lot of fun making the album. There really is joy in it. And it’s not all about Bruce. It’s a real jamfest. And there are the little jokes. I just cracked up about half way through Erie Canal when the music broke into Dixieland mode. That was way unexpected and so much fun. I *know* I’ve never heard that folk song done with a Dixieland twist!
Our musical heritage is like many other areas of education. A lot of us don’t have any. It really would be fun to see the shock if people expect E-Street and discover they’re getting fiddles and accordions...and washboards! 
I love Bruce Springsteen and am anxiously waiting for this to arrive (in order to get free shipping from B&N the other day, needed to add one more thing, sooooooo!!).
You might get a kick out of this. I was driving through the streets of Boston late afternoon yesterday (5ish), had the top down (of course--it was 80°+) and SPringsteen’s, “The Rising” cd playing fairly loudly. A horn was blasting away at me and I assumed I was probably just in the wrong lane or something (how can you drive through the Quincy market area without looking around as much as driving??), but no, it was a HAPPY horn--a truck driver finally got up close enough to give me a thumbs up and shouted, “hey, does it get any better than that, warm weather, top down and Springsteen?” Then he said “turn it up more, ok so I can sing along!!??” I cracked up--made my day!! (hey little things, ya know........)
Posted by cyn on 05/06/06 at 07:47 AM
I bought it a couple of days ago and love it also. I’m fascinated that one side is the music CD and the other is a DVD (which I haven’t had a chance to watch yet). I’m shopping for the latest Emmylour Harris and Mark Knophler right now.
That’s a great story, Cyn. The man had the perfect attitude and excellent taste! Did you turn the music up for him? I hope you like the new album. It’s really, really different.
I haven’t looked at the DVD side yet, either, Fred. No particular reason, I guess. Just saving it for later. I think it’s a cool idea, though.
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It’s a good album. Reviews around the Net were mixed and, as usual, riddled with factual errors (Pete Seeger wrote all of these songs?
).
What I like most about the album is that it’s (mostly) the happiest and most joyous thing Springsteen’s put out in a long time.
Still, I think many people are going to be disappointed when they expect the E-Street band live and get ... fiddles and stuff. I’d buy a ticket just to see the faces in the audience once the folk starts rolling off the stage.