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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: THE SEEGER SESSIONS LIVE premiered on July 12, 2006 on PBS (check local listings).
Recorded at St. Luke's in London's East End, Bruce Springsteen performs an intimate concert of songs selected from his new album, WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS, a collection of standards and spirituals popularized by the legendary Pete Seeger. Springsteen's UK concert performances have thrilled the critics, with THE INDEPENDENT raving, "an astonishingly rich evening ... his music has rarely sounded more spontaneous or vitalizing than this," and THE OBSERVER adding, "Springsteen and the Seeger Session band were an inspiring triumph." Among the songs featured are "John Henry," "O Mary Don't You Weep," "Pay Me My Money Down," and "We Shall Overcome."
Bruce Springsteen first recorded "We Shall Overcome" in 1997 for the Pete Seeger tribute album, WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE: THE SONGS OF PETE SEEGER, to which he and several other noted artists lent their voice. According to Springsteen, this was the impetus for his deeper exploration of Seeger's music that eventually led to this latest CD, WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS, released on April 25, 2006. He teamed with veteran musicians from New York City on instruments not often associated with his musical style -- fiddle, banjo, washboard, upright bass -- and cut the CD without rehearsals or formal song arrangements to achieve the sound he was after, "a bunch of people just sitting around playing."
Find out what's helped ensure the popularity and longevity of folk songs in the essay by contributor Ed Ward. See which tracks from WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS are included in the evening's program in the song list.
Top banner photos: Bruce Springsteen (photo courtesy Sony-BMG/BBC); Curtis King, Patti Scialfa, and Marc Anthony Thompson; and Springsteen's guitar. |
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Trumpeter Curt Ramm and trombonist Clark Gayton. |
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Bruce Springsteen |
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The CD is available from Amazon.com. |
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