There is a smorgasbord of sports on tonight, but I suggest that you music fans carve some time/hard drive space for the HBO documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. The documentary details the studio effort behind the making of this 1978 album which spawned classics like Darkness on the Edge of Town, Prove it All Night, The Promised Land and the epic Badlands.Springsteen had released three albums at this point in his career, the last of which was the mammoth Born to Run, which skyrocketed him to worldwide fame. But after a year-long recording hiatus due to a lawsuit against an ex-manager, he was ready to get back to work. So we get to glimpse the life of a late 20's small-town guy who is struggling with an avalanche of fame, trying to stay connected to his blue-collar roots and, most importantly, trying to write some good tunes.
Early reviewers say that non-Springsteen fans may find the documentary a bit tedious, but I think you should watch it just to see the look the dude was rocking back in the day.
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TR is kicking ass of late. Your front-runner for Employee of the Quarter.
And people, don't skip over "Adam Raised a Cain," especially the live version. Bruce isn't known for rocking it that hard, but this song surely does.
Indeed. TR is more prolific than Travis Henry.
i think Good Eats is on tonight...sorry.
It's not hard to be the ass-kicking employee when I'm the only one posting. But I'm not sure that's the best strategy. Much like tequila shots and Willie Aames in Charles in Charge, I am most effective in small, controlled doses.
This comment, like the documentary, is geared more for avid fans of Spingsteen, but check this out. The HBO documentary airing is in tandem with a November box set of Darkness. Most of the time re-release box sets are rife with filler and total crap, just another means of bands getting cash from dopey, dedicated loser fans. (I'm looking at you, The Cult, and you, Mr. Truck.) In this case, not so much.
Athletes peak at various times in their lives, but for some reason 27 has been the age at which a great many superstars reach their absolute apex. Look it up. Rock stars often experience the same phenomenon; unfortunately for them, it's frequently the age at which they also die. I myself was at my peak at 27 -- athletically, comedically, and in terms of wowing the ladies. Ish.
When Bruce was 27, he was writing and recording material for this album. The box set highlights what a prolific songwriter he was in his heyday, and how at this particular age, he was crushing it.
During the Darkness sessions, Springsteen wrote or recorded many songs that he ended up not using on the album. This was to keep the album's thematic feel intact, even at the expense of not having hits on it.
Some of the unused material became hits for other artists, such as "Because the Night" for Patti Smith, "Fire" for Robert Gordon and The Pointer Sisters, "Rendezvous" for Greg Kihn, "This Little Girl" for Gary U.S. Bonds, and several tracks for Southside Johnny (including much of the Asbury Jukes' Hearts of Stone album). Other songs such as "Independence Day", "Point Blank", "The Ties That Bind", and "Sherry Darling" would turn up on Springsteen's next album, The River, while still others became bootleg classics until surfacing on Springsteen's compilations Tracks, 18 Tracks and The Promise. The Promise features 21 tracks from the Darkness sessions and will be released in November 2010 compilation (and also included in a box set). Some of these Darkness outtakes were performed by Springsteen in concert during his 1978 tour and later.
Feel feel feel feel feel, feel TR's heat.
Chris Christie obviously doesn't commute very far.
http://tinyurl.com/398qrbt
Wife just told me The Boss might be the focus of a Glee episode later this year.
The one-page Sports section of the Wall Street Journal (page A33) has a nice article on LaDainian Tomlinson and his trainer, ex-W&M QB Todd Durkin. I first heard about Durkin in an SI article a few years ago that mentioned how Durkin did wonders for LDT and Drew Brees. Durkin's star appears to be on the rise once again, as LDT's comeback gets more and more attention.
The tunnel project that Christie just suspended was likely to make the quality of my commute much much much better, if it was completed by 2017 and I was still commuting to NYC. He wants to avoid a Big Dig-like fiasco.
This is a dagger. The trains in NJ are horrendous. I may have to take my talents to South Beach.
durkin boys w/those tribesters i fraternize w/on occasion...a yearly invitee to vegas trip but never can swing it
yeah...name change
TR's threat to take his talents elsewhere reminds me of a scene on the back porch of Unit M circa May 1996.
Spec's mom: "So [TR], what do you plan to do after graduation?"
TR: "I plan to go to California and revolutionize the porn industry."
Spec's mom: "Oh."
Or was it kick boxing, I hear that's the sport of the future.
Ho-Ho says jai-alai is the sport of the future.
We need to send a delegation to Boston to report on this event.
http://tinyurl.com/2c8kbdf
dear igor--
do some people peak at forty-seven?
a concerned person who has hopefully not reached his peak . . .
p.s. love "darkness at the edge of town" maybe more than "born to run."
People should peak at 69, but many don't live that long.
Todd Durkin's chest hair was so thick he got a bumblebee stuck in it while we were drinking in the back of a pickup truck at the Apple Blossom festival in Winchester. Better times than it sounds like.
In temporarily typoing a word in that last comment, I mused: If you affix holiday decorations to your junk, would you call them "festicles"?
Festicles sound like festering testicles.
Sounds more like a testicle festival to me.
Can someone explain the Converse ad where people breakdance to "Hello Operator" while Dr. J walks in slow motion?
apple blossom, prounounced "al blom" by some of the locals, should be on everyone's bucket list. don't be a hater t.r.
gtb nation, if lucky, may someday be invited to one of the greatest festivals in virginia, if not the entire usa.
Survivor Pool help needed again...I am actually leaning towards Colts at home vs 3-0 Chiefs...
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