re: Is Springsteen the ultimate “you had to be there” musician?

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for my money, I also connected better with guys who came after, Bob Seger

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Amusing, b/c Seger came before BS. He actually had a hit single as early as 1968.

Once BS combined John Fogerty's working-class-hero with The Rascals' R&B and created his Joizy Mook mythology/persona, his commercial success inspired imitators.

Seger began redesigning his public image as Beardo Bruce. Cougar copied BS as blatantly as an Elvis imitator does The King. (Petty was more of a Roger McGuinn imitator. Ironically he became far more successful and longer lasting than the original).

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Billy Joel

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Originally a wimpy singer-songwriter imitator of Elton John, after BS he pivoted and became the Wimp Boss, full of top 40 non-rock and roll calling itself rock and roll (sort of the same principle as "country music" today).

Most interesting thing about BJ is that according to a HS classmate (Bill O'Reilly) he was a juvenile delinquent near-criminal as a youth. But his music is the epitome of wussy.

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I find a lot of Springsteen's big hits are mediocre but if you dive deeper into his early work, there's some really good music there.

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Well said

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Originally a wimpy singer-songwriter imitator of Elton John, after BS he pivoted and became the Wimp Boss, full of top 40 non-rock and roll calling itself rock and roll (sort of the same principle as "country music" today).

Most interesting thing about BJ is that according to a HS classmate (Bill O'Reilly) he was a juvenile delinquent near-criminal as a youth. But his music is the epitome of wussy.

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Dude you're way off. At least if you are a hater, get your facts straight. I've read 2 or 3 biographies of him, nowhere is mentioned that he was a juvenile delinquent. Actually b/c of his short stature (5'6"), he got bullied a lot in HS, so he decided to get into boxing classes and eventually became an amateur boxer to defend himself. I think that he won 22 bouts and lost several, and quit until his nose got broken.

And your ignorance is even more obvious when you mention he's a EJ imitator. As a fan of both artists and owning most of their discographies, their sound is totally different. Elton's piano just sounds different, a more classical sound, Billy's sound is what they called in the 1970's Tin Pan Alley (NY sound). shite even their voice techniques and vibrato sound totally different.

"A New York icon and one of the most successful singer/songwriters of the late 20th century, Billy Joel rose to success in the mid-'70s with a melodic piano-led pop sound that merged Beatlesque hooks with elements of rock, jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and even Broadway."

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I respect you hate the guy, but at least make the story right.

Yes I'm a big fan of both, even Springsteen.

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Palomitz

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I’m On Fire, Glory Days, Brilliant Disguise, One Step Up, My Hometown are all great songs.

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I would add Rosalita, Racing in the Street and his version of Atlantic City

I’ve always appreciated his political takes but his music is a pile of garbage

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BJ tried both blue eyed soul with The Hassles and "psychedelic bullshite" (his words) with Attila. The huge success of EJ in the early '70s was not lost on him, and was clearly his commercial template for this period

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Yes, Billy himself is quoted as saying that his early bands were just terrible, the music and the musical style that he tried to portray was horrible.

Actually, the success that Elton had in early 1970 was almost overnight, having to endure and survive a couple of years or so until he made it with "Your Song".

Around that time (1971) Billy was just getting started as a solo artist with the release of his 1st album "Cold Spring Harbor", but his intention was to write music for other artists. He was advised to record his music and release albums so other people would interest in his music and cover his material. He ended up releasing 3 more albums, was about to get dropped by Columbia Records due to below average record sales until his break through album The Stranger in 1977. It took him 6-7 years as a solo artist "to make it". So, his commercial template was not even similar to Elton's. Billy had to endure lots of pressure to become successful.

You are probably relating these 2 icons b/c they are gifted pianists, singer/songwriters and the fact that they toured together in the mid 1990s until the mid 2000's. That's the only similarities in see in them.

I don’t loathe many bands or singers, but two that I absolutely cannot stand and have never gotten the fandom of is Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. Nothing will make me change the channel faster than when one of their songs comes on. It’s been that way for me since I was in high school in the early 80s. It’s not changed.

soringsteen is the ultimate “i don’t want to be there” musician.

I'll grant you Neil Young . He's way overrated. But Springsteen has a sound that is pretty unique and to be honest, few can match him as a songwriter/ storyteller. I think Southerners , in particular just have a knee-jerk reaction to him due to his " New Jersey" perspective and politics. Listened to Greetings From Asbury Park over the weekend. I had forgotten how good it is. Growing Up always makes me smile....
It just captures the ethos of an 8-9 year old boy....the Night Brigade, pirate ship captain . A jukebox for a first mate.