JOIN USBruce Springsteen is a hero of the working class, a champion of the underdog (largely in America). But he has been a popular artiste in India too.
‘Chapter and Verse’ is the companion album to his memoir ‘Born to Run’. It’s not a compilation album of best songs or hit songs of his career. The songs selected for the album tell his story as he progressed from his garage band struggle to his glory days.
The first five songs in the album were recorded but unreleased. The album begins with Baby I, the earliest song he recorded in 1966 with his garage band, The Castiles. You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover is a Willie Dixon blues standard that he recorded with his band in 1967, but was previously unreleased.
He’s Guilty is an unreleased song he recorded in 1970 with his then band Steel Mill. ‘Henry Boy’ is an acoustic demo. Perhaps the best of these recorded but unreleased songs by The Bruce Springsteen Band is Ballad of Jesse James, an American folk song about the outlaw of the same name. The rest of the songs, all of them released under various albums from 1972 to 2012 trace his growth as an artiste. Growing Up stars a rebellious New Jersey teen; it also featured in his 1972 album ‘Greetings from Ashbury Park’. Born to Run (1975) has been brought from his third album of the same name, which then was a commercial success. Badlands (1977) is a song about a man down on his luck and angry at the world, and who wants a better lot in life.
The River (1980), from the album of the same name, has a haunting harmonica part. Also included is his popular song, ‘Born in the USA’ (1984), which in part is a tribute to Springsteen’s friends who had experienced the Vietnam War. Some of his recent songs like Long Time Coming (2005) and Wrecking Ball (2012) also find a place in this album.