Two days ago (June 4) marked the 35th anniversary of the release of Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen, so it felt right to celebrate the occasion with this great live clip of Bobby Jean. Recorded with The E Street Band, Springsteen’s seventh studio album remains his biggest commercial success to this day, with more than 30 million copies sold as of 2012.
Yes, this is The Boss at his most mainstream/pop-oriented and stylistically couldn’t be a bigger contrast to predecessor Nebraska. While it’s not my favorite Springsteen album, Born In The U.S.A. was my introduction to him, and I remain fond of it. Unlike many other records from the same period, I also feel it’s holding up pretty well.
Like all tracks on the album, Bobbie Jean was written by Springsteen. It’s among the tunes I like the most on the record, in part because of the great saxophone solo by Clarence Clemons. The Big Man just was a beast of a sax player. I was fortunate to see him in action live during a 1988 Springsteen show in Frankfurt, Germany – an unforgettable experience!
Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube
One of my favorite songs from that album- maybe because it wasn’t played to death =wasn’t issued as a single.
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You’re certainly right about overexposure. It was the same situation back in Germany where you couldn’t switch on the radio without encountering “Born In The U.S.A.“, Cover Me”, “Dancing In The Dark” and “I’m On Fire.”
I used to like Phil Collins in the 80s but eventually got tired of him due to overexposure. In Springsteen’s case there’s enough 60s style rock influence in these tunes that I continue to dig them, especially live. Having said that, I could probably do without “Born In The U.S.A.”!😀
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I’m not overly familiar with this one, but it’s a good tune. Though I don’t dislike the album at all, it never made too much of an impression.
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I can see why not all folks listening to Springsteen dig that album. It was pretty pop-oriented, after all, plus many of the tunes were overexposed on the radio.
I guess in my case part of my ongoing affection reflects that this album was my intro to Springsteen. From there, I went to Live/1975-85. It was that live set that led me to his earlier songs – and the realization that certain Manfred Mann tunes like “Blinded By The Light” and “Spirit In The Night” were actually written by the Boss. Or “Fire”, which before then I had only known by the Pointer Sisters or “Because The Night,” which I had always assumed was a Patti Smith tune!😀
While I know a good deal of Springsteen songs, I don’t know each of his albums front to back. Based on what I’ve listened to, if I had to choose, I think “Born To Run” would be my no. 1. I also like “The River.”
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This was my first Springsteen album and I decided he wasn’t for me. That was during the mid to late 90’s.
It wasn’t until 2005 that a work pal said to me that The Boss was the best. He gave me Born To Run and said I would change my mind. The CD sat for ages, and when I got to it I was sold. So for that reason Born To Run is always my number 1.
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The other thing about Springsteen is he’s one of the most incredible live performers. Have you ever seen him?
His energy is just incredible, and the E Street Band is a kick ass rock & roll band.
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I’ve never seen him – tickets don’t tend to be available for very long and I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t like to buy tickets months in advance.
However, I have pals who have seen him a few times and they tell me it doesn’t get better than The Boss live.
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Great song off a really good record that broke it open for him in a lot of areas. Full of other good tunes. If I’m not mistaken this was written for Miami Steve. ‘Goin’ Down’ is just a great tune also.
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