Orel Family

Bruce Springsteen with Robert Santelli, October 28, 2023 On Saturday, The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music held an all day symposium to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Springsteen's 2nd album, " The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle," at the  Pollak Theater on the campus of Monmouth College . Previously this year, the Center held a successful event to commemorate Springsteen's first Columbia record, "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." Released in November, 1973, "The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle" moved sharply away from the "singer-songwriter" approach that had been championed by John Hammond at Columbia, and to showcase Springsteen as a rock and soul songwriter, instrumentalist and band leader. The album was not a commercial success at the time, but it remains at or near the top of many fans' favorites. The main body of the program consisted of nine panel sessions, progressing...

Garry Tallent at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, MI. April 25, 2017 I confess: When I think of Garry Tallent , I am inevitably reminded of Bruce Springsteen's long-time introduction for him: "This man comes from a long line of talents: His mother was a talent! His father was a talent! His great grandfather was a great great talent!" That's Garry Tallent, sideman, Bruce's longest-term bandmate. Tuesday night, for the first time I got to see Garry step out to sing at the front mic, play lead guitar (who knew?) and lead a band. He's on tour supporting his album "Break Time", and he's pretty darn good in all of those roles. Garry has put together a first-rate 7 piece band, and he gave each band member space to take lead in spots. If you're hoping to hear a lot of Springsteen covers, forget it; there's only one in the setlist. They weren't missed; by the time of Garry's 3rd song, "Ooh La La," the show had taken off. ...

On September 2, 1995, I went with Lori and my friend Paul to the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We'd bought the "special" tickets that allowed us to tour the museum during the afternoon a few hours before the show. Well, ok, Lori and I had the tickets, and in true rock and roll form we managed to slip Paul in with us. We went downstairs to the museum, stopping first at the Chuck Berry exhibit. That was mandatory. We eventually found our way to the Springsteen exhibit. I was looking up at Garry Tallent's bass guitar when Paul blurted out, "That's Garry Fucking Tallent!"  Yes, it was a nice guitar! "That's Garry Fucking Tallent, right there!"  At which point I realized I was, in fact, standing next to Garry Fucking Tallent, under Garry Fucking Tallent's bass guitar. By this point, I knew that Garry, along with Bruce Springsteen and the rest of the E Street Band would be opening up the concert that evening by backing up Chu...