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The Boss 'still learning'
22/07/2005 12:41 - (SA)
New York - Nearly three decades after Born to Run, with a dozen Grammys and an Oscar to show for his song writing skills, Bruce Springsteen says he's still learning things about his music each time he steps on stage.
"I'm once again in search of different and exciting ways of voicing the material," he said. "If you've written good songs, sturdy songs, you find you've just scratched the surface."
Springsteen's string of hits
From Rosalita through The River and into The Rising, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has consistently produced songs with such resonance. On the current solo tour supporting his Devils & Dust album, Springsteen has revitalised rarely played favourites such as Point Blank or Wreck on the Highway by backing himself on banjo, electric piano or pump organ.
Springsteen said about his live shows: "As you go along, you're bringing the music and all these characters to life every night.I'm not going to come out and just run through some songs, or play favourites.
"I'm in search of some life essence. That's why people come."
Something old, something new
Besides reinventing his classic songs, Springsteen said he's creating some new music.
"I spent quite a bit of time sitting and writing," Springsteen said in a telephone interview. "It was a pretty fruitful time."
Along with new music comes something completely different for Springsteen: a longer, more detailed version of his VH-1 Storytellers appearance at a Jersey shore theatre. The one-of-a-kind solo performance will show up in stores on September 6, with a running time more than double the hour-long version that already aired.
It will include a previously unseen question-and-answer period between Springsteen and some fans.
"That was quite a thing," Springsteen said about the evening spent deconstructing eight songs, offering a rare glimpse into his method of melding words and music. "I never did anything quite like it before."
"I felt it was something very singular. And it was a lot of fun."
Talks about extending the tour
Springsteen, 55, began his second solo acoustic tour earlier this year after releasing Devils & Dust, which hit No. 1 on the charts in the United States and nine countries in Europe.
Springsteen suggested the tour could be extended to include a few more dates in cities with "longtime supporters", which typically includes East Coast strongholds like Boston, Philadelphia and New Jersey.
But there was no official word yet on extra shows: "We may do a little more."
Over the years, Springsteen has divided his time between band and solo records. In the last two decades, he's done just a single record with the E Street Band, while releasing the solo albums Tunnel of Love, The Ghost of Tom Joad and Devils & Dust.
Attention later this year, though, will turn to his seminal band album.
Born to Run was released in September 1975 - putting the 30th anniversary of its debut at the end of this summer. Springsteen, who was just a 25-year-old Jersey shore kid destined for bigger things at the time, seemed somewhat perplexed at putting that number into perspective.
"Yeah, I don't know what to make of that, except here it is," Springsteen said. "Who woulda thunk? It's kind of funny. In some ways it doesn't seem that long, but when I look back at old (film) footage it's ..."
Springsteen paused and laughed.
"Well," he finally said, "time flies when you're having fun."
- AP
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South Africa
