Bob Seger recently joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on stage in Detroit during Springsteen’s current The River tour, which is promoting the release of The Ties That Bind: The River Collection. After playing some joyous tambourine on “10th Avenue Freeze-Out,” Seger also joined in on a performance of The Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” Although Seger-Springsteen collaborations are rare, it was not the first time Seger and Springsteen have performed together.
Seger had first performed with Springsteen during the opening night of the original The River tour back in 1980, when Seger helped out on “Thunder Road.” Below is the audio of that performance.
Although Rolling Stone reports that the two are good friends, after the 1980 concert Seger and Springsteen did not appear onstage together until December 2011 when Springsteen joined Seger’s concert for Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll.” Check it out.
That brings us to the most recent collaboration on April 14, 2016. From the energy of the performance this week, it was worth the four-and-a-half-year wait to see the two together on “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “Shout.” Hopefully we will see them together again soon.
Although Bob Seger’s Ride Out Tour with the Silver Bullet Band ended in March 2015, Springsteen still has work to do. The current U.S. leg of The River tour ends April 25 in Brooklyn before heading overseas to Europe for the summer.
What song would you like Seger and Springsteen to do together? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Bruce Springsteen fans have noted that the singer has been making some interesting song choices on his latest tour. Recently, a friend directed me to Springsteen’s February performance of “Spill the Wine,” originally a 1970 hit for Eric Burdon (the former lead singer of The Animals) and War on their album Eric Burdon Declares “War” (1970). This February 23 opening performance at the Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia was the first public performance of the song by Springsteen and the E Street Band. I am not sure there is a better song to open a show at a winery.
“Spill the Wine” is one of those songs you have heard a million times even if you may not recognize the song’s name. The tune often appears in movies set in the 1970s, like Boogie Nights (1997) and Remember the Titans (2000), because the song sounds like the 1970s. You will recognize it once you hear the opening riff. It’s a cool song too, and Springsteen does it justice (with some lyric changes for the Australian locale), here leading into his own song, “Seeds.” Check it out.
“Seeds” is about a family struggling to survive in the Southwest. As for “Spill the Wind,” you may read the different theories about the song’s meaning around the Internet. AllMusic, which gives its own interpretation of the song, notes that the song is so unique that few folks — like Springsteen and the Isley Brothers — have ever covered it. And, like a number of other one-off songs performed by Springsteen, so far he has only performed it once.
Although Springsteen’s performance is a lot of fun, it is of course impossible to top the original. The first album of two collaborations between Burdon and War created this song that became War’s first major hit and Burdon’s last. Watch this performance by Eric Burdon and War of the shaggy dog story, “Spill the Wine.”
What do you think? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Around the country, some people are paying off Christmas layaway accounts for people they do not know. In a cool act of random kindness, Good Samaritans are going to Kmarts and anonymously paying off a customer Christmas layaway account or two for random strangers. In one case, a woman in Indianapolis paid off the layaway accounts for 50 people, saying she wanted to do something nice in memory of her husband who had just passed away. Other individual acts are on a smaller scale but still make a gigantic difference to the aided family. The acts of kindness began in Michigan and has spread to many other parts of the country. While the Good Samaritans have appeared in other stores, most have occurred in Kmarts, apparently because of that chain’s history of offering layaways. I know what our cynical readings are thinking, but Kmart officials deny any involvement.
The story reminded me of the film, Pay It Forward (2000), which starred Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, and Helen Hunt. In the film, a teacher played by Spacey gave an assignment to change the world, and in response, Trevor McKinney (Osment) developed his “Pay It Forward” plan. Under his idea, a person does a good deed for another and then asks that person to “pay it forward” to three other people who need help. If the plan works, the good deeds in the world will multiply exponentially. The film follows a reporter investigating the effects of McKinney’s idea while McKinney, his mom, his grandmother, and his teacher all struggle with their own problems.
The film got mixed reviews from critics but did better with audience members as shown by the 40% critic rating and 82% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While the film has some flaws, it is a decent entertaining movie that also addresses some serious issues. I suspect many went to the film expecting either an uplifting happy movie or a light romantic comedy and did not get what they expected. While the movie is ultimately not a downer, it does pull at the heartstrings. The movie was based on a novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde, and there is now a Pay It Forward Foundation inspired by the book and film.
The Kmart holiday Good Samaritans do not appear to be asking anyone to pay their good deeds forward, but anytime someone does an act of kindness it involves a leap of faith that the deed will somehow make the world a little better place. And anytime someone else does an act of kindness it reminds us all that we should aspire to be better people too.
While speaking of layaway and good things, let’s do a good deed and listen to the best song about layaway, the 1972 song “Lay Away” by the Isley Brothers. Like the Kmart Good Samaritans, the Isley Brothers are putting some love on layaway.
Bonus Song of “Calling All Angels”: If you have seen the movie Pay It Forward, you probably recall the powerful use of a song at the end. I did not want to ruin the ending of the film for those who have not seen it, but you may see the ending along with Jane Siberry singing her song “Calling All Angels,” which she recorded with k.d. lang. Warning: If you have not seen the film, the link at the song title shows the movie ending. You may hear the song without ruining the ending here.
