Bruce Springsteen: Self
Photos
Quotes
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Bruce Springsteen : We're ready to go on. "So, Chuck, what songs are we gonna do." "Well, we're gonna do some Chuck Berry songs." That was all he said.
[laughs]
Bruce Springsteen : So, we go, "Okay." Get out on stage, the crowd's going insane, they can see him. He walks on, opens up his guitar case, tunes his guitar. Lights are up. The place is going nuts. And, we're going, like, you know, "What are we gonna start with?" And he's kind like not paying attention to us. And then all I see is: da-da-da da-da-da. That's it!
[laughs]
Bruce Springsteen : You know, and I'm like - the band - we're in a state of total panic. We're trying to figure out what song are we playing. What key is it in? And Chuck plays in a lot of strange keys, like B flat, E flat. And our bass player was - he's kind of the historian of the band, you know. So, everybody runs to him and he has the right key. And so, we pick up the key and we're doing pretty good, I think, I forget what song it was. But, we're playing away and Chuck runs back and says, "Play for that money, boys!"
[laughs]
Bruce Springsteen : We forgot to tell him we're not getting any money. We're doing this for free.
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Bruce Springsteen : I met Chuck Berry once. When my manager said, "Gee, you're going to open on a bill for Jerry Lewis and Chuck Berry." We thought this was - forget it. I was 23 or 24. These guys were my heroes. And, so, we're real excited and the guy said, "We're gonna get a band, its gonna back Chuck Berry." And we said, "No, no. Don't. Tell him don't get one of the local bands. Tell him, you know, we'll back him up."
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Bruce Springsteen : The night ended. There was a big brawl in front of the stage. And the lights came up and I think his amp blew up. We're kind of - I guess we're doing "Johnny Be Goode" by now. You know, we're just playing that rhythm. And, he just kind of walked off stage, right to the side of the stage, packed his guitar in front of the entire auditorium, they're going crazy. And he waved and that was it. He walked out. Walked back into his car and he was gone.
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Bruce Springsteen : Probably like most musicians of my generation, I first really heard Chuck Berry through The Rolling Stones. I think I learned my first Chuck Berry lead from Keith Richards, probably. And that first Rolling Stones record, when I think they had "Oh, Carol" and a few other Chuck Berry songs on it. And then from them I kind of looked back and I got his records. I guess the funny thing was that his influence on my own writing came out more later on when I wanted to write the way I thought that people talk. Cause that's how I felt, that's how he writes. You know, right before - you know, if you listen to one of his songs, it sounds like somebody's coming in, sitting down in a chair, and telling you about - a story about their aunt or their brother or describing some girl. Descriptiveness. And his eye for detail. Like Nadine: She was standing on a corner, I saw her on a corner, She turned and doubled back, Started walking to a coffee colored Cadillac. You know, it's like, I've never seen a coffee colored Cadillac, but, I know exactly what one looks like.
