The Ten That Made Springsteen: 2. Twist and Shout - the Beatles

"the first record that I ever learned was a record called "Twist and Shout", and if it wasn’t for John Lennon, we’d all be in some place very different tonight" Springsteen December 9th 1980.

The second major influence on Springsteen were the Beatles. During 1963"Introducing the Beatles" made it into the Springsteens' household and rekindled Bruce's interest in the guitar. Although the reports are somewhat conflicting, Bruce first got a guitar when he discovered Elvis at age eight to nine. At that time Bruce's hands were to small to even begin to play. The instrument sat in the corner. After hearing the Beatles Bruce wanted to pick up the instrument again. His mother, Adele Springsteen, got him one for Christmas. Close to thirty years later Springsteen would thank his mother when he wrote "the Wish". "Twist and Shout" is allegedly the first song Bruce learned to play, at least he admitted as much during a show the night after John Lennon got shot. It is highly possible that Bruce was already strumming along when the Beatles performed the song on the Ed Sullivan show early in 1964. Lennon's clunky strumming on his Rickenbacker and his strained belting caused a tilde wave that would cement R&R and make it an art form to be reckoned with.



As Bruce recently affirmed once more during a recent interview for German television, radio was at the time Bruce grew up his main source for music. Other than today, radio in the late fifties and early sixties did bring the best in music, or at least in R&R. At the Springsteens' house hold Adele had the radio on through out the day as her escape for her dreary live into the romantic world of Pop. It is therefore likely that Springsteen heard the Isley Brother's version of "Twist and Shout", originally a lack luster early Phil Spector production for the Top Notes, well before the Beatles issued their album in the United States. The cross over success the Isley Brothers enjoyed at Wand records with the song early in 1962 directly led to them being signed at Motown. During the sixties the sound of young America was omni present on the radio and would ultimately be a big influence on Springsteen as well. But it were the Beatles that proved to be at the nucleus of what Springsteen would become.

The Beatles first broke in the US with "Please, Please Me", a mid tempo bluesy song that according to John Lennon was inspired by the singles of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby. Seeing how heavily the Beatles success was derived from Black American culture it does seem fitting now that the Black owned VeeJay got to break the Beatles in the American market when everybody was still underestimating the impact the Beatles would have. After all what were they but a bunch of middle class white kids from Liverpool recycling American music. As an independent label VeeJay probably jumped at the opportunity to distribute to make a quick buck, as the Beatles had already scored a minor hit back home with "Love Me Do". What record companies failed to realize at the time was that with Elvis in the army and Jerry Lee Lewis caught up in the scandal surrounding his marriage to his 13 year old niece, R&R had a gaping void. The market was dominated by Black acts and what white acts there were had gone over to sugar cane pop. White teenagers really hardly had any reference, as far as they were concerned R&R was something exotic performed by wild Black acts. Suddenly there were the Beatles proving you and your friends could be in a R&R band and make it big. Exactly the type of R&R mythology the E-Street Band still thrives on today.

Aside from what is now called the British invasion, the success of The Beatles caused a tilde wave of Garage bands to storm the scene. Amongst those bands were big Springsteen influences such as The Young Rascals, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, the Animals, the Rolling Stones and of course the Kingsmen who immortalized "Louie Louie" and did a mean version of "Twist and Shout" themselves. Part of this scene, albeit very minor, was a band Springsteen joined in 1965, the Castilles. If there was any doubt on the influence the Beatles had on the then zit infested Springsteen one only has to look at the hairdo of choice in that particular outfit. The Castilles would prove to be Bruce's first important school of R&R. It was with this band he did his first show, wrote his first songs and would ultimately record his first single "That's What You Get" with the flip side "Baby I". The single never saw the light of day. The band performed on some local dances and even at an insane asylum, what better place for R&R to thrive, but ultimately disbanded in 1967 at the dawn of the Summer of Love.

Though the Beatles busted it all wide open for Springsteen, his influences didn't stop there. Springsteen was that kind of kid who absorbed it all, borderline obsessive an head ache to his parents, his father especially. For his live presence the Garage or Fraternity Rock bands and the great Soul acts would ultimately be more important. "Twist and Shout" would ultimately become something of a staple in his sets when he formed the E-Street Band. Notorious for their long shows from the beginning the E-Street Band was confronted with too little original material to fill out a set. Besides, Springsteen as learned with the Castilles a R&R band would go over much better when they played a few hits from the radio that would allow the crowd to really shake it on down. Maybe that's why covers would be featured so prominently near the end of the set, to really tear the house down. These were the days before Born to Run became a R&R classic in its own right, Springsteen needed to lean into the hits of others. In developing his stage act, the Isley Brother's version of "Twist and Shout", with them calming the audience down before firing it up again as to get the audience in a frenzy became the template to which the E-Street Band set their encores. The Beatles may have busted R&R wide open, over the years Springsteen would become instrumental in keeping R&R alive.

"Twist and Shout" - The Isley Brothers
"Twist and Shout" - the Kingsmen
"Twist and Shout" - Bruce Springsteen (live, august 20th 1975)

Bruce Springsteen in Arnhem: High Energy Magic

Bruce Springsteen shows are always something akin to going to church for religious fans. A sermon delivered right creates a transcending experience for those watching. Springsteen live in Arnhem last night was a very well performed R&R sermon. Springsteen likes to use R&R to exorcise personal demons but with Magic he's been going after real live demons as well. Springsteen is angry about the state his country is in, that anger in reflected in the current tour. Springsteen comes at you with high energy, hard rocking, vicious sets that leave you gasping for air.

The Arnhem shows were marred with a few problems. The legendary E-Street Band was set to play the Gelredome, a large soccer stadium. At first an "intimate" setting of 19.000 people people was chosen. When tickets went faster than Roadrunner crashing over the coyote a decision was made to expand the capacity to 33.000, leaving people in bad seats who had great ones at first. Then on the day of the show Springsteen was caught with a nasty virus, needing to postpone to the next day. Being an artist that attacks fans from all over the globe this meant some off them were stranded. Springsteen had something he needed to make up for, he did so in spades.

The Gelredome isn't a real intimate arena, seats are up high, no where near the stage, the floor a wide concrete spread. The pit was huge and held some thousand people. The stage itself was higher than it usually is, fans couldn't lean on the catwalk like is customary these days with Springsteen shows. Not an ideal setting to see the Boss. In effect this was his first stadium show in what's supposed to be a barn storming tour. But still, when the first notes of "Radio Nowhere" hit the crowd exploded in a feverish release, hardly relenting throughout the shows. European crowds are different from the American crowds in that way. They seem more fanatic when an artist like Springsteen hits Europe. We've got fewer possibilities to see the real thing and when we do we dive into it full force. It also means European fans are ruder when it comes to getting into the pit and cutting in line. I found the American crowds to be more relaxed, easier to hang around with. "I'm Alive" Springsteen joked before crashing into "Radio", as the show would proof the Boss being alive spoke for itself.

After "Radio Nowhere" Springsteen drove that train straight into "No Surrender", maybe the song that reflects his commitment to R&R best, "We learned more from a three minute record man, than we ever learned in school". With the base pounding in your ears and chest, those are the lines that make you feel like your heart is about to explode. It was the material from Magic again that allowed for some rest points in the frantic set. By the time he hit "Gypsy Biker" I felt like I had already witnessed a complete show. We weren't even 15 minutes in. With the material on "Magic" Springsteen tries to reflect the times were living in, the challenges we face as we experience the fall out from the so called "War On Terror". Reflecting the disoriented times where "The truth feels like a lie and a lie appears to be the truth" Springsteen said as he explained to us that the title song of his album was about tricks, not about Magic. Springsteen commentary isn't up front, never really direct, but the emotional layers of the show tell you where he's coming from. Springsteen is angry and tears into that anger with a sweaty fervor. His determined to be optimistic anthem "Promised Land" follows the somewhat ironic "Living In The Future", a song both about the denial of these times as their impending shadow hanging over us. Springsteen wouldn't be the Boss is he didn't signal us to take control of our own destiny again. To take our lives back from those "tyrants and kings".

That same anger is reflected in the relentlessly rocking version of "Reason to Believe", with Bruce belting over John Lee Hookers brand of road house blues. That anger comes back in "Last to Die", it is there again as "we spit in the face off these bad lands". If this would have been the complete picture Bruce would've have painted with his Magic show, his message would've been impressive enough. But the Boss never stops there. He wouldn't stop without offering promise and release. And there was release in abundance last night. There was the sexual release in "She's The One" with hip grinding Bod Diddley beats. There was the release in "Darlington County", an infectious R&R rave up compelling you in silly dance moves somewhere between the Monkey and the Penguin. There was the ultimate release in "Born To Run", that ultimate E-Street song which throws the audience in to R&R camaraderie.

The band seemed in prime shape last night. Clarence was slinging his tambourines looking like he was ready to kill, hardly missing a note on his saxophone. Little Steven was belting out his Soulful not so honey sweet moans on "Long Walk Home" as the band's guardian of R&R. Though Danny was sorely missed Charles did a great job replacing him. Springsteen himself was stirring up a storm, going in his trademark Gospel belting at one point, slinging his guitar, shooting raucous erratic R&R chords, leaving the audience drained yet screaming for more.

The show's high point this time came from an unexpected "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". A song he regularly pulls out in the States during the Holiday season but had never reached our side of the pond. He rechristened it to "Sinterklaas Is Coming To Town" after our version of the Holiday. An unlikely stadium breaker, but it did the trick.



"Living In The Future"
"Promised Land"
"Darlington County"

Phantom Dan: At The Heart and Soul of the E-Street Band

On November 21 an official press release was issued from the E-Street camp that Danny Federici has to take a leave of absence from the now rolling Magic tour. Danny has been diagnosed with Melanoma, a form of skin cancer. Sessions Band accordionist and organ player Charles Giordano will replace Danny Federici for the time being. Even though Charles will undoubtedly be up to the task at this stage in the history of the E-Street Band replacing members is tricky business. Ever since the band Reunited in '99 fans have been able to experience what I like to call the mythical incarnation of the E-Street Band. Even though the boys never played in that particular combination before, each one of the members on stage in '99 was an essential part of the history of the band. Danny's leave of absence now is different from earlier personal changes in many ways. It is true that Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez was replaced by Ernest "Boom" Carter in '73. Vini was fired on account of his erratic behavior. It is true both Boom and David Sancious left in '75, right before Bruce Springsteen would bust wide open. The band at the time wasn't making any money and both gentle men had the opportunity to build a career else where. Little Steven left the fold, in a temporarily lapse of judgment, right before the "Born in the USA" tour started. Steven wanted to pursue his solo career and there were some rumors he wasn't all to happy with his role in th band. Steven was replaced by the over qualified Nils Lofgren.

Both band members and fans were shocked when Springsteen disbanded the E-Street band in the late eighties. Springsteen needed a break from the band, needed to see if he had viability beyond the E-Street band. He was arguably going through a personal as well as creative crisis at the time. Touring with another rock band in '92, during the Luck Touch tour proved however what an essential ingredient the E-Street Band was to his Rock sound. As early as '95 Springsteen began researching a reunion with the sessions for the Greatest Hits album. At the time things didn't sit well. But after gaining critical acclaim with a solo tour promoting the "Ghost of Tom Joad Album", Springsteen was ready to get the boys back together. The band that reunited in '99 consisted of all the members that played an essential part in building Bruce's career and had become a legendary entity of it's own in the intermittent years. This was the Band that played on Springsteen's break through album, this was the band that rocketed Springsteen to unimaginable heights in '84.

The E-Street band became more than a band in '99. They became a symbol. The E-street Band signified the promise of R&R. A genre that has been band based since the British Invasion. R&R holds that romantic notion where you can get your friends together in your garage or basement and make your way up to the top. R&R success has to do with more than simply scoring hits, it has to do with the ties that bind, it is that idea of lasting friendship. The E-Street Band is one of those rare examples that such a bond is possible, one of the few bands that managed to stick together with everybody alive and well. Springsteen may have proved his merit as a solo artist but when touring with the boys he is as much a member of the band as he is the main attraction.

Danny Federici is at the heart and soul of that band. With base player Gary Tallent, Danny always played a background role. So its easy to understate his significance to E-Street. He isn't up front wailing his sax and doing silly dances with Bruce like Clarence Clemons, he isn't up blaring in the microphone with his arm around the Boss like Little Steve, nor is he dueling in solos like Bruce likes to do with Nils. Yet in more than a few songs Danny is an essential part of the foundation the Band needs for its theatrics. Listen to the band rip into "Glory Days" or "Ramrod" and hear Danny's raucous organ laying down the ground works. Listen to "The Fever" with the Band going into wailing blue eyed soul mode, Danny's there providing the essential texture. Listen to "Lost in the Flood" or the quintessential Danny song "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" and he's there to provide the the very heart of those songs.



Danny Federici is a rarity in R&R. He is one of the few examples of an accordionist working in a R&R bar band. Starting out on classical accordion from the age of seven, Danny was converted to the Gospel of R&R when he heard the Beatles. Like many boys from his generation Danny was pulled into R&R hearing "Twist & Shout" coming through the radio. For that generation R&R was a revelation. Even though initially he made the transition into Jazz and Blues from there, as admitted in a 2002 interview, he soon found himself playing in a New Jersey Garage band, the Storytellers. Through the Jersey shore scene he met Bruce Springsteen in '67, who was playing in the Castilles at the time. As early as '69 he found himself playing with the Boss in the short lived band Child. That band eventually evolved through Steel Mill and Doctor Zoom and the Sonic Boom into the E-Street band. It was in these early, pre-E-Street days that Danny would earn his nickname Phantom Dan. When a riot broke out during one of the Steel Mill shows sound equipment fell on the local chief of police. Danny fled the scene like a ghost.

Danny's affiliation with the Boss dates back for a rough 40 years. Few friendships survive that long a stretch, certainly not when friends form bands with all the tension the road brings. Listen to those early Springsteen albums today and it is apparent that Danny played an important part in Bruce finding his initial voice. "Wild Billy's Circus Story", "Sandy" and "Kitty's Back" are a few examples that stand out. Danny provided some of the jazzy and romantic touches that made those songs into the early Springsteen classics they are today. Danny would find himself playing an equally essential role throughout the history of the Band. Without him E-Street would have been a very different place in R&R indeed.



The Boston show of November 19th will be the last show Danny plays for a while as he goes into treatment. The set very featured a prominent "Sandy" with Danny shining on the accordion. I'm sure it wont be the last time around for Danny on E-Street. Dates for 2008 have already been announced. As I cannot imagine Springsteen and the boys continuing as the E-Street Band without Phantom Dan, I take it as a sign that Danny's recovery will be swift and to good health. My thoughts are with him and his family and I want to use this place to thank him for all he's contributed to the E-Street Band over the years. Take care and we'll see you on the road Danny.

Contribute to the Melanoma Research Foundation.

E-mail your best wishes to Danny at getwelldanny@cox.net

Listen to Danny live in action with the band here:

"Wild Billy's Circus Story from '74"
"The Fever from '78"
"Ramrod from '80"
"Glory Days from '03"