I said Pete. Not Bob.
Bruce Springsteen
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
(Columbia)
On what’s probably the most alive Springsteen has sounded on record in at least 20 years, The Boss makes known his protest via Pete Seeger’s firebrand tongue.
The fact Bruce Springsteen’s voice cracks during “John Henry” proves he isn’t out to merely pay homage to one of America’s greatest folk performers. Going at the songs much the same way Billy Bragg and Wilco approached Woody Guthrie for the Mermaid Avenue sessions, the passion in the performances threatens to outshine Seeger’s heroic lyrics. Cut live in three separate, single-day sessions, “Old Dan Tucker,” “We Shall Overcome,” “Eyes On The Prize,” and “Jesse James” get the exact opposite of the coffeehouse treatment, opting instead for the gospel-like sway the originals had over worker’s and Civil Rights movements generations ago. That Springsteen’s best effort since Born In The U.S.A. contains neither his songs nor the E Street Band hopefully is just coincidence.
— Steve Forstneger
