An Embarrassed American and Springsteen.

I came late to Springsteen. I heard songs here and there on the radio but by the time he was getting his big hits I was just in a very different place musically. It was not that I even liked or disliked him, he just wasn't part of my path. I knew people that I respected revered him, but that was about it for me. Back in the old school Record Service days I remember going to a listening party put on by his record company. The reps rented a hotel room (was it Jumer's?), filled the tub with ice and beer and wine and played the new album for everybody before it came out...I guess it must have been Born In the USA. To this day Ernie and I still wonder who stole the promo because we all thought we were too cool for that. We always figured it had to be one of the owners. We just went for the free drinks. I remember leaving the room with bottles of wine tucked under our jackets. Oh lord....what a long, long time ago.

Fast forward a decade or two. Ernie was working evenings at Record Service and I would feed the boys early. For some reason I particularly remember cutting food up for Owen in his highchair while playing a promo Ernie had gotten of a Springsteen tribute album put out by Sub Pop. Dar William's version of Highway Patrolman started to sink in and I began to really listen. And since then, slowly I have become more and more of a Springsteen fan. And damn, when he did the Seeger Sessions it did my heart good and I became a full fledged convert.

Right now I am reading his bio, an online copy that I borrowed from the library. I'm only about a quarter of the way through but I've decided I'll go ahead and buy it. If I finish it by the time it is due I will have rushed through it and the writing, and the images they conjure up like crazy, is too good for that.

Oh, and respect.