Counting Down Bruce Springsteen: His 100 Finest Songs, by Jim Beviglia (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), is hot on the heels of Jim’s last book which covered the catalog of Bob Dylan.  The last tome spurred heated debate among fans as to the ranking of the finest installments of Dylan’s work, and this effort is doing the same for Bruce.  Beviglia begins with the E Street Shuffle, and works his way to Born to Run residing in the top slot.  For a full accounting, you will have to peruse a copy of the book.  Jim was kind enough to share some thoughts on Bruce, and how he drew his conclusions. Laura Balducci also chimes in, taking time from her administrative duties at the Springsteen Facebook fan club extraordinaire Boss Talk.

L4LM: Was it harder to ponder the Springsteen Top 100 songs, or the Dylan songs in your previous offering?

Jim Beviglia: I suppose it was a bit of a longer process for the Dylan book (Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs), simply because he had more songs that I had to rank. But both present the same basic issue for a project like this, in that they both have so many great songs that you have to make nearly impossible choices to come up with a final list.

L4LM: As Boss Talk sent me as a messenger to ask: How long of a process was it to whittle out Bruce’s finest, and how did you go about it?

JB:  The process began with me listening to his entire recorded catalog from earliest to most recent, although High Hopes came out a little too late for me to include its songs for consideration in the book. As I listened, I made notes and gave each song a preliminary rating, which allowed me to eventually separate the songs into smaller groups. Next up was the first draft of the list, which I then went through closely to see if I could find any instances of songs that I might have overrated or underrated. That led to the final list. The total time for that process was probably about three of four weeks. The actual writing then took about three more months.

L4LM: Boss Talks’ head honcho also wants to know: As time has passed since you completed your tome, would any songs change position on the list?

JB: I’m sure if I went through song by song I might second-guess my putting one song maybe a spot or two ahead of some others. But I tried to be so thorough in my process that it wouldn’t be too much of an issue. I can say pretty certainly that I’m pleased with the list in its final form, and there certainly wouldn’t be anything but minor changes if I went through it all again.

L4LM: Would Bruce’s list change if we did one for live songs, and one for studio tracks?

JB:  I suppose it would. The difficulty with including live tracks is deciding which version to include. Would you include only officially released live takes or would you include stuff you can find in bootlegs or on the internet? There’s no doubt that certain live versions of songs can bring out nuances or shadings not found in the original takes. But this project was really about highlighting the genius of Bruce’s studio work, so I only considered live versions if they were the only ones available.

L4LM: Would you describe the big controversy of where you placed Thunder Road on the list?

JB: Of all the songs in the list, my placing “Thunder Road” at #17 probably caused the biggest ruckus among the Springsteen faithful. First of all, #17 among Springsteen’s songs is high praise indeed because of how amazing his catalog is. My justification for the ranking is that, while the lyrics are impeccable, I think that the song loses something when it switches into full-on rock mode in the second half. To me, it’s a ballad that’s sort of force-fed into a rock arrangement at that point, which ever so slightly dulls the impact of the lyrics. When you’re choosing among five-star songs, such subtleties come into play.

L4LM: Can you talk about how Bruce’s live performances may overshadow his studio catalog, and how critics may sometimes undervalue stellar studio work? 

JB:  One of the main objectives for me with this book was to really shine a spotlight on Springsteen’s studio work. He is the preeminent live artist of his generation and deserves all the credit in the world for that, but none of that would be possible without the songwriting and record-making that came first. This is not a guy who tosses off albums just so he can tour. He is meticulous about the records and his studio work which, for me, ranks with the greats of the genre. I just don’t want fans to lose sight of any of that or for the live performances to somehow overwhelm his reputation as a recording artist. It’s probably me just looking too far into this stuff, but those albums and songs mean a lot to me in their original form, and that’s what I’m celebrating in this book.

L4LM: What are your top two choices for studio albums, and what makes them your favorites?

JB: Born To Run is #1 for me. It is such a triumph on a grand scale with such a high degree of difficulty. It’s one of those albums where, when I put it on, I have to listen to the whole thing all the way through or I feel like I’m missing out. It’s exhilarating and heartbreaking and makes you feel practically every emotion in the spectrum. Just brilliant. I think there’s an argument to be made for several albums as his second best, but if I had to make a choice I’d probably go with Nebraska. His songwriting there is so affecting and the performances are so primal and urgent. Plus he managed to infuse an all-acoustic album with great variety from song to song, which might be the most overlooked of the album’s many qualities.

L4LM: Tell us your thoughts on the song Outlaw Pete?

JB: Outlaw Pete gets a lot of grief from certain of the Springsteen faithful, but I personally love the sheer boldness of it. It’s a departure musically and the subject matter is a bit off the beaten path for Bruce, but great artists deserve the right to take chances. And, as wild and woolly as the song gets, there’s a strong message in there about the way our mistakes always live with us no matter how much we think we can outrun them. That’s why I ranked it so well on the list.

L4LM: How do you think Bruce’s more recent catalog stands up to his earlier releases?

JB: I would say that the recent releases can stand proudly with his classic stuff. He set the standard so high that it’s almost impossible to compare anything to those first eight albums, up to Tunnel Of Love. But the recent albums like Magic, Working On A Dream, and Wrecking Ball each contain a handful of songs that could easily fit, quality-wise, on those earlier albums. Several of those songs rank very well in my humble little list.

L4LM: Your first two books cover two of the greatest songwriters since the advent of rock and roll.  Can you compare and contrast Bruce and Bob Dylan as songwriters, and how the concept of ‘hits’ affect their prospective niches in music history?

JB: I think the main difference is that Springsteen has been able to harness his themes and obsessions and turn them into music that’s maybe more accessible to a wide audience. Dylan makes you work a bit harder, which is why he didn’t have the same kind of commercial and chart popularity, when such things were possible for guys like Bob and Bruce, that Springsteen did. That’s not to say that Dylan can’t write hits or that Springsteen can’t write challenging material. But overall Dylan’s allure is that sense of otherness and idiosyncrasy that he fosters without any effort, while what makes Springsteen such a fan favorite is how relatable he seems to everyday folks.

L4LM: Can you talk a bit on Tom Petty not realizing Bruce had a new release out, and what might cause that situation?

JB: In terms of why the newer albums don’t get the same acclaim as Springsteen’s earlier classics, a lot of it has to do with just the way music works now. Even artists as monumental as Springsteen don’t have the opportunity to have two or three songs from an album get lots of airplay to really allow the album to sink into the public consciousness. I read an interview with Tom Petty recently where he said that he didn’t even know that Bruce had released an album this year and that that shocked him. It’s a testament to the very brief shelf life that these albums have today, at least in terms of the impact they make on casual fans. Diehards will find the music of their favorites regardless of the exposure they may or may not receive.

L4LM: If you could only hear one album yet to be recorded, which artist would you bet on to author that release?  

JB:  That’s a tough one. My two book subjects so far, Dylan and Springsteen, would certainly figure into that discussion, but there are so many newer artists doing such wonderful things, like Vampire Weekend, The National, and Arcade Fire, that it could be someone from that generation. Or it could be someone who hasn’t been signed yet, just finishing their masterpiece and preparing to foist it on the public. That’s why I love music so much. The only thing you can predict is that it will be unpredictable.

Thanks to Laura Balducci and her excellent Boss Talk page for insights that gave L4LM ‘Bruce-bumps’.  For the record, her favorite 3 Springsteen tracks are Jungleland, Blood Brothers, topped off by Growing Up.  You can join Boss Talk on Facebook, and pick up the Top 100 discussion after you check out Jim’s book. Jim is a member of the page, and you can catch up with him there. The debate is good-spirited, and reminds us just how much fine music the Boss has given us.  For an encore, Jim adds his next best hundred Bruce songs just when you think you’re done.  Jump into the fray of the wild, the innocent, and the songs most memorable.     -by Bob Wilson

Beviglia

Jim Beviglia 

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