What I am doing this weekend

The only vinyl I never sent to the secondhand store.

I am listening (again) to Bruce Springsteen’s speech at SXSW and then downloading every song he references, familiar and obscure. And tracing, like he did, where I was in life when I first heard Dylan, Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, the Beatles, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Roy Orbison, Elvis, Woody Guthrie, Public Enemy … and Bruce Springsteen.

It is a poignant thing to be doing — reflecting on the songs of the times I grew up in, and on which ones grabbed me by the throat. Poignant but also joyful. Which is kind of a good way to sum up Bruce. Don’t you think?

Here’s a great NPR link that’ll help me out with my project: Listen: At SXSW, Bruce Springsteen On The Meaning Of Music : The Record : NPR.