Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (W/Dvd)

Not only does We Shall Overcome feel different than his other work; it also feels different than Seeger's music. Most of Seeger's recordings were spare and simple, featuring just him and his banjo; his most elaborately produced records were with the Weavers, whose recordings of the '50s did feature orchestration, yet that's a far cry from the big folk band that Springsteen uses here. His combo for the Seeger sessions has a careening, ramshackle feel that's equal parts early'60s hootenanny and Bob Dylan and the Band's Americana; at times, its ragged human qualities also recall latterday Tom Waits, although the music here is nowhere near as selfconsciously arty as that. Springsteen has truly taken Seeger's music as inspiration, using it as the starting point to take him someplace that is uniquely his own in sheer musical terms. Given that, it should be no great surprise that he also picks through Seeger's songbook in a similar fashion, leaving many (if not most) of Seeger's wellknown songs behind in favor of a selection of folk standards Springsteen learned through Seeger's recordings. (Author/critic Dave Marsh researched the origins of each song here; there are brief introductions in the album's liner notes and thorough histories presented on the official Springsteen site.) While the songs featured here adhere to no one specific theme there are work songs, spirituals, narratives, and protest songs it is possible to see this collection of tunes as Springsteen's subtle commentary on the political state of America, especially given Seeger's reputation as an outspoken political activist, but this disc should hardly be judged as merely an oldfashioned folk record. We Shall Overcome is many things, but a creaky relic is not one of them. Springsteen has drawn from Seeger's songbook which he assembled in the '40s, '50s, and '60s from traditional folk songs and turned it into something fresh and contemporary. And even if you have no patience for (or interest in) the history of the songs, or their possible meanings, it's easy to enjoy We Shall Overcome on purely musical terms: it's a rambunctious, freewheeling, positively joyous record unlike any other in Springsteen's admittedly rich catalog.

[We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions was released in the U.S. as a DualDisc, containing a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. The CD side only contains the album. The DVD contains the album in PCM stereo (there's no 5.1 mix, although given the bigband nature of this session, this album would have sounded great in Surround Sound), along with two bonus tracks, the rollicking "Buffalo Gals" and the moody, soulful "How Can I Keep from Singing." Both bonus cuts are excellent and should have been on the album proper. There is also a 30minute video program that chronicles some of the recording of the album, but it's not a documentary: it's more of a performance film with commentary, and while it could have been longer or had more commentary, it's still quite enjoyable. Finally, We Shall Overcome also was released separately as a vinyl LP.] [This Deluxe Edition features extensive bonus material in the form of bonus tracks, video performances, live tour footage and a 40minute "behind the scenes" documentary.]

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide