The Boss

Bruce Springsteen Gives SXSW Keynote Address

I never intended to make this a Bruce Springsteen blog; and, hopefully, after the Wrecking Ball album cycle starts to wind down I’ll be able to talk about something else.   Bruce’s funny, moving, profanity-laden keynote at this year’s South by Southwest Conference, though, deserves a mention.  He gave shoutouts to his old Monmouth County stomping grounds and he discouraged us from taking a rockist approach to our music appreciation.

Personally, I just loved listening to the guy ramble on about his musical influences.  He did a bit of that preacher schtick that he does on stage sometimes, but he toned it down quite a bit here for the much smaller crowd.

My favorite part has to be the section during which he discusses his love for the Animals.  I’ve always loved them, too; and I made it a point to steal all of my dad’s Animals albums after I got my turntable up and running.   And the bit where he reveals that the opening riff in “Badlands” is taken from “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” is just my kind of pop-musical geekery.

Thanks to his talk, on my trip out to the record store today, I’ll see if I can’t find some Charlie Rich.

Go watch the speech here.