Are you a Springsteen fan?

Here’s a quiz for you today:

  • Can you sing all The Boss’ songs by heart?
  • When the weather warms, do you feel the urge to roll down your car windows and blare “Born in the USA”?
  • Do you remember where you were and who you were with the first time you heard “Thunder Road”?
  • Have you danced/jumped to “Rosalita” at a Springsteen concert?
  • Did you pause for a moment of silence when you heard Clarence Clemons had passed?
  • Do you think Bruce is a sexy 64-year-old?

 

OK—I score three out of six.  (OK—maybe four out six…I’ll let you guess which ones.)

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Well, my sister would be batting a thousand here.   She is the quintessential Bruce Springsteen fanatic.   My mom and I have tried to pinpoint when we saw this begin.

We think it might have been 1984 when Born in the USA came out.   She would have been a freshman in high school, a very impressionable age.

It might have been at that talent show where she sang “My Hometown” as I attempted to accompany her on an out-of-tune upright piano.

Regardless, she has totally gone over to the Bruce-side.

I wrote about my foray into a Bruce odyssey with her in September 2012.   Bruce is a showman and I have to say that seeing him at Wrigley Field was a once in a lifetime event.  If my sis’ schedule would allow, she would make every U.S. date on his tours.   Who am I kidding?  She would become a full-time groupie if she could.

Four summers ago, my sister made an eight hour trip to our house.  She drove by herself and only spent the weekend.   Why?  Because our local independent art-house movie theatre was one of only a few in the nation that showed Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: London Calling – Live in Hyde Park.      Yes, she drove all that way to see the premier of this concert film (even though she had already pre-ordered the DVD).

In early April of this year, she alerted me that the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa would be hosting a exhibit of photographs of Bruce.

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I actually took this photo last October. Our recent visit was the first time I had ever been inside the center. They host some pretty good concerts as well.

Since it was right before her finals week (although I am sure her students would not have minded her missing class), she was sick she would not be able to attend.

door

 

What could I do as the empathetic sister I am?   I got tickets to the opening so I could nab her an autographed (by the photographers, not Bruce) copy of one of the photo books.

Photographs that are on exhibit are from an esteemed group, many who owe their fame to photographing Springsteen:

Danny Clinch (a musician in his own right) who earned a Grammy nod for directing the video Devils and Dust.

Ed Gallucci, one of the first to photograph Springsteen.

Eric Meola who photographed the cover of Born to Run.

Pamela Springsteen, Bruce’s sister.

Frank Stefanko whose photos appear as album covers for Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River.

Barry Schneier who shot photos at one of the pivotal performances, May 1974 in Cambridge, MA.

All of the photographers were on hand that night with the exception of Pamela.

This was a very informal gathering and I was surprised to see the photographers roaming around with the rest of us during the preview opening. GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli moderated a round table discussion with the artists which was really interesting.   A few of these guys had been there at the beginning of Bruce’s career.   I kept thinking that my sister would have known every reference they made.

Stefanko

That would be Frank Stefanko in the doorway.

Finally, there was a book signing.

photags

We nabbed a couple of books, one for our library and one for The Sis’ upcoming birthday.

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Truly, I am astounded she did not make the eight hour trip for this.  I really wish she would have because she would have been in heaven.

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The rest of the family acknowledges it is way too late for any sort of intervention at this point.

Good news for you AND The Sis:   This exhibit will be at the center for about a year so you have ample time to see these photographs.

More good news:   The Woody Guthrie Center most recently became an affiliate of the Grammy Museum.

 

Please record your quiz score below in the comments.  🙂

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