I just finished listening to the sneak peak (note: the sneak peak is only available until tomorrow, April 20) of Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions and am glad to report that I like it a whole lot better than after seeing the John Henry video a couple of weeks ago. Even the closing bonus track, Froggie Went A-Courtin’, which you probably remember best as a little kids’ tune, came off well.
The most significant reason I can put my finger on is that the band’s overall energy blasts out of the speakers from most of the songs. This isn’t another Nebraska, Devils and Dust or Ghost of Tom Joad, with stark, minimal musical arrangements underlying darkly negative lyrics; of the three only Nebraska really worked for me, mainly due to Atlantic City, State Trooper and Johnny 99. Seeger is much more of a feelgood outing though old Pete’s lyrics on tunes like John Henry can twist their tales back against the instrumental backing. Maybe it’s Greg Liszt’s banjo but I can picture this music driving people to the dance floor at an old time hoedown.
BillSaysThis 