Rewind to the mid-1980s. Suburban New Jersey. The needle catches the record, the first track plays and comes to an end. A boy in jeans and a T-shirt, and perhaps a red bandana in his back pocket, demands “Born in the U.S.A.” one more time — so he could sing along with Bruce, again. Thirty-five years later, I can still see the Marantz receiver and speakers in the corner by the windows.
Bruce Springsteen is one of the most important people in modern American music. For more than fifty years, Springsteen has been selling out arenas, dropping epic rock albums and pushing a no-bullshit agenda of kicking ass while standing up for the little guy. His storytelling, coupled with the unrelenting sound of the E Street Band, is singular in the pantheon of popular music.
If the Boss launched today, he’d likely find himself squarely in the Americana space. There are several songs on U.S.A. that could easily have found their way onto country radio with the addition of some twang — many include references to mama, trains, trucks, prison and getting drunk.
When you bring the sound and the themes together, it’s unsurprising that Springsteen and his music have found fans deep in the heart of left-leaning country music enclaves like Los Angeles.
Born of the 1980s
On June 1, a group of local artists—most of whom make country and Americana music—will play a tribute show to the Boss in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Born in U.S.A.
“Hotel Americana,” which hosts events around LA, including at the indie music venue Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, will celebrate the album and its lifetime of impact. Will Hawkins, a regular in the scene who plays squarely in the Americana rock-folk-country sweet spot, is hosting the party to highlight his favorite aspects of Springsteen that might be covered up by the heavy production of the era.
“As popular as the album was, the sheen 80’s production always bothered me and felt betrayed by everything that I had come to love about The Boss,” he said. “Especially after the Nebraska release, Born in the U.S.A. was too slick for me.”
A self-proclaimed Springsteen super fan, Hawkins wanted to present more straightforward versions of these songs, taking them “down to their bones and reimagining them in an Americana sound I always heard in them.”
“I’m thrilled to have the best Americana musicians in LA to help perform these songs in the style that they should have been recorded in the first place,” he said.
Ted Russell Kamp is one of those musicians and will help run the “pretty slammin’” house band. Kamp has been writing, playing and producing music in LA for two decades.
Kamp told me that he didn’t grow up listening to this album, but as he’s started working on this event, he’s gained an appreciation of what he calls Springsteen’s most pop-forward album. The entire team on this record “were masters in all aspects” of making a rock album, he said.
But when you take a step back, he noted that Springsteen was making Americana music in 1984. “Very few people have ever figured out the balance of deep lyrics and pop hit making at the same time.”
Yet, without question, Springsteen delivers both on this album.
A deep dive into the lyrics of every song provides a complex, often devastating story about American life complimented by heavy synth and pop-rock sensibilities.
The Boss’ Staying Power
Over four decades, Born in the U.S.A. has influenced rock-n-roll, Americana and countless other genres and artists that make it — even with its overproduction. With seven number-one hit singles off the album, U.S.A. sold over 70 million copies.
While the production may be seen as over the top today, in 1985, it clearly hit the right balance — Springsteen’s seventh studio album was the top-selling record of the year and one of only two other albums to have so many chart-topping releases.
The album sparked countless covers and tributes over the years, including the wonderful 2015 Dead Man’s Town: Born in the U.S.A. Revisited, featuring covers by Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Blitzen Trapper, Justin Townes Earle and Trampled by Turtles. Holly Williams’ version of “No Surrender” is particularly powerful.
“The songs speak to universal themes of identity and everyday life in a way that is graspable for everyone,” said Ali Angel, an LA-based “soul and twang” artist who will play the Hotel Cafe show. “You can feel the passion and soul in the stories and melodies in a way that’s raw and authentic.”
Hawkins agrees, focusing on his power as a live performer. “Springsteen was and will always continue to be one of my biggest influences in that his best work is timeless, and his live performances are still ground-shaking. As a songwriter I want to tell the kind of stories that resonate with people and as a solo performer or fronting my band Nine Mile Station I want to always keep the audience dancing and singing along. .”
Johnny Marfa — an LA-based, Texas-raised honky tonker — explains that Springsteen has the power to enhance your experience today and your past simultaneously. He will be doing “Marfalized” versions of a few songs at the event.
“There’s something embedded in his music that is deeply immediate and at the same time supremely nostalgic,” he said. “Everything great has those two elements. It’s moving you now but making you long for something past.”
Marfa said that this forty-year-old album is relevant simply because “good rock-n-roll is always relevant.”