Bruce Springsteen released hisWestern Stars album in June, and in September, Little Steven Van Zandt became the first E Street Band member to perform one of its songs, live, singing “Tucson Train” at a show with his Disciples of Soul band at Tucson’s Rialto Theatre. Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul have performed the song at other shows since then, too, and have now released a live version as a single. You can listen to it below.
It’s a somewhat different interpretation of the song from Springsteen’s. While “Tucson Train” is one of the most optimistic songs on Western Stars, Springsteen still sounds a bit world-weary and restrained on it. Buoyed by his big Disciples of Soul band, and especially its powerful horn section, Van Zandt’s version is more exuberant.
Springsteen released “Tucson Train” on his 2019 album, Western Stars. It was also released as the album’s second single, two weeks before the album itself came out.
“Tucson Train” is No. 14 on NJArts.net’s list of the Top 70 Springsteen songs of the last 30 years (the second highest-ranking Western Stars song, after “Moonlight Motel”.
Bruce Springsteen’s first new studio album in five years takes his music to a new place, drawing inspiration in part from the Southern California pop records of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. It was recorded primarily at Springsteen’s home studio in New Jersey, with additional recording in California and New York. “This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements,” says Springsteen. “It’s a jewel box of a record.” Introduced by lead single “Hello Sunshine”, the 13 tracks of Western Stars encompass a sweeping range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope. Ron Aniello co-produced and plays bass, keyboard, and other instruments. Patti Scialfa provides vocals and contributes vocal arrangements on four tracks. The musical arrangements include strings, horns, pedal steel and contributions from more than 20 other players including Jon Brion (celeste, Moog, farfisa), as well as guest appearances by David Sancious,Charlie Giordano, and Soozie Tyrell.
A new Bruce Springsteen record is always an event, but we haven’t had a new album of original material since 2012’s Wrecking Ball and we haven’t had a solo album since 2005’s Devils & Dust, so this feels extra special.
Here is everything you need to know about The Boss’s new effort Western Stars…
Though it’s been a little while since we had a new album proper from Springsteen, he’s not exactly been idle. He’s undertaken three world tours, grossing over $700 million between them, published his hugely acclaimed autobiography and headlined a Broadway show, appropriately named “Springsteen On Broadway”.
Originally intended to run for just six weeks, demand for tickets was so high that the show was extended again and again, finally reaching its conclusion in December last year after a staggering 14-month run. A live album was released to celebrate the show, which has also sold handsomely.
Somewhere, at the end of that process, Springsteen began to talk up plans for his new album, an album that arrives in store today (June 14th).
Ron Aniello, who has worked with Springsteen on 2012’s Wrecking Ball and 2014’s High Hopes, is back at the mixing desk for this new record. He co-produces with Springsteen himself.
Over 20 musicians have helped Springsteen out on this album, including original E Street Band keyboard player David Sancious and violinist Soozie Tyrell and organist Charlie Giordano.
Also featured is Jon Brion, whose credits include Kanye West and Fiona Apple. Springsteen’s wife and E Street bandmate Patti Scialfa has also helped out, providing a series of vocal arrangements.
As well as this, Aniello’s playing is all over the album, he provides bass, keyboards and more besides.
Western Stars finds Springsteen in a reflective mood and a long way away from the bombastic colour of High Hopes. Springsteen has talked up his love of Burt Bacharach and the pop music that came out of California in the late 1960s and early 1970s and it’s all over this album.
This is elegant, reflective Americana. It’s delicate, windswept pop, buffeted by Springsteen’s biting lyrics.
This isn’t a record for the casual Springsteen fan. There are no romping anthems or stadium fillers, but it’s a delightful record, one that will demand repeated listens and yield more and more every time. Devotees, of which there are millions, will adore it.
The march towards Bruce Springsteen’s 19th studio LP release continues. Bruce has shared another track from the upcoming album “Western Stars” “Tuscon Train,” an expansive ode to escapes that don’t leave everything behind. After outrunning his “darkness,” our narrator now finds himself pausing, waiting for his love to catch up—”I’m wailing down at the station,” he sings, “Just praying to the five-fifteen/I’ll wait all God’s creation Just to show her a man can change”—while our 69-year-old rocker leans, again, into his Western influences.
Springsteen hasn’t released a new collection of original material in seven years but the rocker’s hardly been resting on his laurels. The past several years have seen him celebrate the 35th anniversary of his 1980 LP, The River, with a massive tour with the E Street Band as well release his highly regarded memoir, Born to Run. He then adapted the work for a lengthy stint on Broadway, which kicked off in October 2017 and stretched halfway through the following year.
So far, he has also shared the forlorn “There Goes My Miracle” and the reflective “Hello Sunshine,” named one of the best songs of 2019. Western Stars is due out June 14th, and while thematic details remain sparse, Springsteen seems to be steadying his gaze on the grittier, more difficult corners of his mind and personality—something he’s comes to terms with throughout his life.
“I have come close enough to [mental illness] where I know I am not completely well myself,” the singer and songwriter confessed in 2018 . “I’ve had to deal with a lot of it over the years, and I’m on a variety of medications that keep me on an even keel; otherwise I can swing rather dramatically and . . . just . . . the wheels can come off a little bit. So we have to watch, in our family. I have to watch my kids, and I’ve been lucky there. It ran in my family going way before my dad.”
Western Stars is Springsteen’s first album since 2014’s High Hopes. Expanding on his upcoming album, Springsteen said, “This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements. It’s a jewel box of a record.”
Bruce Springsteen is gearing up to release his first new album in five years, Western Stars, due out on June 14th via Columbia Records. The solo album marks Springsteen’s first collection of new, original songs since 2012’s Wrecking Ball. He had previously released an album of covers and re-worked originals, High Hopes, in 2014.
Following the release of the album’s lead single, “Hello Sunshine”, Springsteen has shared “There Goes My Miracle”, the second single from his forthcoming Western StarsLP. “There Goes My Miracle” features some impressive vocal arrangements from The Boss along with a lush string section. “There Goes My Miracle” features a lush and orchestral arrangement, with melodic detours more reminiscent of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds than Glen Campbell, even though some electronic drums show up midway through the bridge.
Much like Springsteen’s previous two albums, Ron Aniello produced the project in addition to playing bass, keyboard and other instruments during the tracking sessions. Western Stars also features work from over 20 musicians, including original E Street Band keyboard player David Sancious and violinist Soozie Tyrell, as well as organist Charlie Giordano, who currently plays with the group. Jon Brion, who’s best known for his work with Kanye West and Fiona Apple, also contributed in playing celeste, Moog, and Farfisa to the album. Springsteen’s wife and E Street bandmate Patti Scialfa is responsible for the vocal arrangements on four songs and contributes her vocals on several others. It’s uncertain whether Springsteen will tour in support of his forthcoming album. Recently, while chatting with Martin Scorsese at a Netflix event in Los Angeles, Springsteen revealed “I wrote almost an album’s worth of material for the band. And it came out of just … I mean, I know where it came from, but at the same time, it just came out of almost nowhere. And it was good, you know?”
He noted that it woke him out of a seven-year stretch where he was doubting the prospect of any new music. He said was relieved after the “little daily visitations” of creativity. “You go, Fuck, I’m not fucked, all right?” he said. “There’ll be another tour!”
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band have been off the road since their Working on a Dream tour wrapped in 2017.
Bruce Springsteen will release “Western Stars”, his first studio album in five years, on June 14th.
Springsteen has said he drew inspiration in part from pop records that emerged from Southern California in the late ’60s and early ’70s. “This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements,” he noted in a news release. “It’s a jewel box of a record.”
Sessions were primarily held at Springsteen’s home studio in New Jersey, with additional work in New York and California. Western Stars will be available for pre-order beginning tomorrow. “Hello Sunshine,” is the advance single,
Though presented as a solo project, Western Stars has several intersections with the E Street Band. Patti Scialfa provided vocals and vocal arrangements on four tracks. Other guests included David Sancious (who was with the E Street band in the early ’70s), Charlie Giordano (an adjunct member of the group following the death of original E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici in 2008) and Soozie Tyrell (a longtime touring collaborator).
Ron Aniello returns as producer. He earlier worked with Springsteen on 2012’s Wrecking Ball and 2014’s High Hopes. He also co-produced the 2014 EP American Beauty, which capped a period of renewed studio activity.
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