December 24, 2024
Well, it's not Easter, and it's not Thanksgiving, so it must be... CHRISTMASTIME! Whatever you may celebrate or not celebrate this month, if you're a fan of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, this has turned out to be a very good time of year indeed. In the past week, Bruce, Stevie, and the rest of the E Street Band have delivered some choice musical treats to help get many of us through the winter days ahead, along with a promise of some more "never-before-heard material" coming in the new year. Let's review...
Last Wednesday, Stevie Van Zandt got things started on the Christmastime musical treats front by reassembling Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul to back Darlene Love for her triumphant return to the tradition of singing her classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on late-night tellyvision, this time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Darlene, Stevie, and the Disciples were joined by special guest Paul Shaffer, who led all of the backing bands for Love's original set of annual late-night performances of "Christmas..." on David Letterman's NBC/CBS shows, spanning from 1986 through 2014. Click below to watch (or re-watch) this year's performance (and yes, as per Darlene, she's already been invited back for Christmastime 2025:)
Then on Friday, another annual yuletide tradition continued, with this year's special holiday release from Bruce Springsteen's ongoing live archival series: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Toronto 1975.
Jon Altschiller & Co. deliver yet another superb mastering of Jimmy Iovine's professional recording of Springsteen's first-ever Toronto show, performed at Seneca College's Field House. It's a real kick to hear Bruce and the band slowly win over 3,000 or so politely curious Canadians, most if not all witnessing their first Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert. Among the highlights: a version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" featuring the band hilariously feigning some truly bad guesses - Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. - when asked by Bruce, of course, what time of year it is. Check out the official YouTube posting of "Santa Claus..." below:
And click here to purchase your copy of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Toronto 1975, as well as here to read archivist Erik Flannigan's essay about the release.
On that same Friday, in the evening, Springsteen called in to Jim Rotolo's The Wild and the Innocent weekly request show on E Street Radio. In memory of rocker and ex-Replacements member Slim Dunlap, who died last Wednesday, Bruce shared a yet-to-be-officially-released recording of Dunlap's song "Girlfiend" (misidentified by both Rotolo and Springsteen as "Girlfriend,") excellently performed about a year ago by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band for what Bruce called a "covers record." They also briefly discussed last Wednesday's Shore Fire Media press release, which ended as follows: "Upcoming releases in 2025 will include a look back at Springsteen’s storied recording career, featuring never-before-heard material." Surprisingly, while Springsteen confirmed that there will indeed be some new music to hear next year, he also told Rotolo, "I didn't know they [Shore Fire] put anything out about it. I read it in the papers myself and I said, 'Oh...' I don't want to get into it too much, because we're not ready to completely talk about it yet, but there will be... yeah, we've got a nice release... for next year." (SiriusXM subscribers can listen to the entire brief conversation, including the on-air debut of "Girlfiend," on-demand in the E Street Radio section of the SiriusXM app.)
And so, fellow fans, "we've got a nice release... for next year" is certainly a promise even sweeter for our Christmastime dreams than even visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads. Happy Christmahanukwanzakah to all, to all a good night, and here's to whatever lies ahead for us in 2025. See y'all a bit further on up the road!