Capsule Music Review - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

The title is misleading - these are not songs written by Seeger, they are recordings of traditional and other songs inspired by Seeger. Bruce's sincerity is of course beyond reproach, and I have no doubt these songs really were recorded in one take, but no matter how spontaneous these recordings were they don't sound spontaneous (Bruce's shouting out changes on the fly notwithstanding). Perhaps it's the seriously annoying Southern accent affected by Bruce. Perhaps it's the realization that these "informal" recording sessions were undoubtedly facilitated by state-of-the-art equipment and some top-notch catering. Perhaps it's the inherent contradiction in a guy as obviously well-off as Bruce singing about what he would if he do if he had as much money as Bill Gates.

These flaws make the record not as great as it should have been, but it's still lively and enjoyable. "Old Dan Tucker" and "Jesse James" are jaunty and catchy, and Seeger's "Bring'Em Home" is genuinely moving under the circumstances. The record shares two tracks with the recent sea chantey album Rogue's Gallery ("Mrs. McGrath" and "Shenandoah"; the version of the latter is inferior to Richard Thompson's).