BRUCE IS 60-HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUCE

Leave it to a good friend of mine to write this perfect tribute in words also perfect on Bruce's 60th birthday--- i added my own follow on at the end---this was an email exchange but is now part of the blog, because this "freedom" tour, or this "world" tour, and this path, this camino, would have been very very different these last 38 years (his album's on the boardwalk are my first memory so its 38 years ago for me)----

By Stevie D....


Subject: bruce is 60 - a reflection at this milestone in bruce's life i think of the effect he has had on me, my friends and family. the songs, the shows, the albums, the videos, the memories we have all had and created and shared and remember, set to his music. the images he created which are now the background, even the foreground to so much of what we do and have done. his music and lyrics are the fresco to the walls of who we are - one with them, interwoven and inseparable. do any of us drive with the sunroof open, on a flat stretch of highway, with the windows down, on a sunny day, in excess of the speed limit, without hearing Thunderroad, BTR, or Backstreets? can we ever leave for a night out, with the stars high in the sky, in anticipation of what the night holds, the possibilities, the desires and the blood racing through our veins like we are 16 again ,without hearing Night in our head? do we ever ride down route 37 past the "for rent" signs at what used to be bradlees, or the old hess station and not hear My Home Town? and is it possible to cross a bridge to a beach, anywhere on the planet and not hear Sandy in your mind? and are the initial three chords of Rosey ever, really, that far from the next piece of good news we will receive? no, i think not. and his version of Follow That Dream always brings me back to one of the greatest days ever.

So i think back to the august night in 1976 when my sister took me and some others to the show in red bank, at what is now the count basie theater where we have seen so much and had so much fun. and i remember she was in the 4th row, on the left, a seat i would have many years later when tommy and i had the opportunity to see a show when bruce performed, (i am not kidding) a version of "achey breakey heart." and i remember, like it was yesterday, that hot august night in red bank, the band coming out in the dark and kicking off with Night with blinding machine gun-like lights flickering to the opening, and i could not believe the energy and power emanating from the stage. it was to be a show that indelibly marked me as a disciple of bruce, preaching the word of the sheer, unadulterated power and fun which is derived from our beloved rock n' roll, to all who will listen and even some who won't. one of the great and memorable experiences which i continually re-live. and for that, among other things, i owe dor an immeasurable debt of gratitude.

I also think of all the shows in between - from red bank to birmingham (england, that is), to portland (oregon, that is). and when someone tells me they are a big bruce fan, and have seen a lot of bruce shows, i always like asking "on how many continents?" just to see the response. and you were all there with me - either physically or in spirit. it does not really matter. literally over a hundred shows - i stopped counting at 96 which was back in the early part of this century. and there is nothing like bruce springsteen and the e street band live - no matter the city or the continent. and the things we have done to actually get to the shows - well , that is an entirely separate dissertation which will remain for another day. another shining example of what his music means to us.

We are older, maybe wiser, and likely a little more thick waisted. but we still harbor the joy and memories which his music has provided. where it comes from, i don't know. but i hope it provides the same joy, pleasure and meaning for the next generation, our children and their children. they should be so lucky. keep rockin'.

to bruce - wishing him all the happiness and peace that heaven will allow.


and my follow up to Stevie's note---

You see, I was busy working making a call in Newark, NJ, so my thoughts were all convoluted and stuff and I hadn't written anything on this day when I received stevie's note--- and then I took the train into NYC and wrote this, the follow up, to Stevie's note--



Steve:

Powerful stuff- well delivered and so much reflection that it takes one back to the moment, and takes us away from this one-

For a moment--

Then again, we reflect, holy cow, we have come this far, and he with us, and we with him-

From hartford, to boston, to phili, to cleveland, to cincinnati, to Orlando, to Columbus!!, TAMPA, and don't forget Portland, or Seattle, or Los Angeles, or DUBLIN, or Madrid , to SANTIAGO!!!! And of course if we are remembering all of these then we can't possibly stop without saying BIRMINGHAM, England, a mere 10 years ago, to Pittsburgh, to Minneapolis, to Milwaulkee, to Chicago, to OAKLAND, to DENVER!!! And Washington DC, and DETROIT, and Baltimore, and Landover, to Richmond, To Phoenix,

(i'm still going!!!),

to Long Island, to Providence, to New York City from 6/12-7/1/00 (12 of 14 shows) and all the other days from 1976-11/2009!!

Have I remembered them all?

I think not.....,

to Asbury Park, to Red Bank, to East Rutherford, to SEA BRIGHT, to Homdel, ......

to NEW JERSEY!!

Yeah, i'm remembering it all, and it all is part of me, and us.

I have most of the ticket stubs, and yeah, its been so much and so many and for SOOOO long I probably missed a city or two,

BUT I just have to say,
and I just have to say,
and I just have to say....

Happy Birthday Bruce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRRRRUUUUUCCCCCEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

AND RAISE YOUR HANDS!!!!!!

To many more, for as long as its lasts and wherever it takes us, I am THERE!!!


TommyT