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Heart of ‘Darkness’ New box set captures Springsteen driven to the ‘Edge’ by G r e g Cahill
Clarence Clemons, with Springsteen, on the 1978 ‘Darkness’ tour. Clemons is in town this Friday for a show at the Woods in Mill Valley.
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ruuuuuuuce! Are you ready for a super-sized slice of Springsteen, a Kindle-ready multimedia experience that finds the heartland rock icon at his most introspective? This three-month career retrospective kicked off in late summer with the screening of the HBO documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, which premiered Sept. 14 at the Toronto Film Festival and debuted Oct. 7 on cable.
The captivating two-hour film, directed by Thom Zinny (an editor for the hit HBO series The Wire), reaches far beyond the typical rock doc as Springsteen bares his soul for a project that reportedly was conceived as a docuCOMING SOON ment for his three chilGet a taste of Springsteendren, now ages 16-20, to mania when E Street saxo‘Where no one asks any questions, or looks too long in your face—in the darkness on the edge phonist Clarence Clemons help them understand of town...’ and his band perform his roots and what has suit after a management cent urge to be free to the disillusionment that Thursday, Oct. 21, and Friday, driven his artistry. deal went sour. sets in when a young adult is confronted by Oct. 22, at the Woods, 19 To accomplish that “Darkness was my “dreams found and lost.” Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley. task, the film uses intimate ‘samurai’ record,” The film doesn’t gloss over Springsteen’s $25. Doors open at 8pm. interviews and extensive Springsteen has said, famously domineering personality as a band415/389-6637. vintage footage shot by a “stripped to the frame leader or the obsessive attention he paid to friend named Barry Reebo and ready to rumble.” his songwriting craft or the endless hours he during the marathon reHe spends a fair spent in pursuit of the right sound. cording sessions for the 1978 album as well as amount of time during the film’s on-camera It’s an insightful and candid look at an rare concert footage of the tour that followed. interviews perched behind a grand piano in artist at work. Darkness on the Edge of Town, one of the Supplementing the documentary is a his sprawling mansion discussing the three greatest rock albums of all time, found the free downloadable e-book that features two years between 1975’s Born to Run and Darkthen-27-year-old Springsteen wrestling with ness on the Edge of Town. Springsteen-penned essays: “Thoughts on his newfound fame (he had been touted in Those albums serve as bookends for the Promise” (from Springsteen’s 1998 book Rolling Stone as the next Bob Dylan) and Springsteen’s Jersey Shore mythology, ranging Songs) and “The Promise: The Darkness on adulthood while grappling with a messy lawfrom the unlimited horizon and the adolesthe Edge of Town Story” (from the upcoming CD anthology). The six-disc box set, scheduled for Nov. 16 release, includes a remastered version of the perfectly paced Darkness on the Edge of Town, a 21-track CD of alternate takes and other material from the sessions (which spawned no hit singles), a DVD of the HBO documentary, and three additional DVDs of concert performances from the Darkness tour. This is the mother of all reissues—the creative pinnacle of Springsteen as a singer/ songwriter and encapsulating the vision that has catapulted him into stardom. As the musician says in an on-camera interview for the documentary: “It was always about the bigger conversation, for me—that was the important thing.” In addition to restoring dignity to the Jersey Shore—which has been sullied by Snooki, the Situation and the other knuckleheads on the MTV hit reality series set in Springsteen’s old stomping grounds—the box set reintroduces a populist rock album that has gained new relevancy in the hard-knock economy. His tales of broke factory workers, the secrets folks hold in their hearts and people overcome by life’s circumstances are coupled with songs that serve as rallying cries. This is Springsteen—the greaser with the poet’s heart—at his urban-folk artist best. He’s still the boss. ✹ Promise Greg at gcahill51@gmail.com. Tune up to the Marin music scene at
›› pacificsun.com/music 24 PACIFIC SUN OCTOBER 22 - OCTOBER 28, 2010