Classic Rock Musings, Rants & Raves

As a ghoulish Halloween treat to loyal fans, Bruce Springsteen is offering a free audio download and streaming peek at the video for the previously unheard track “A Night With The Jersey Devil” on his web site, www.brucespringsteen.net. Both audio and video will be available on the site from 12:01am Friday, October 31 until 11:59pm Sunday, November 2. The creepy video for “A Night With The Jersey Devil” was directed by long-time Springsteen visual-collaborator Thom Zimny.

Springsteen posted the following note on the site:

Dear Friends and Fans,

If you grew up in Central or South Jersey you grew up with the ‘Jersey Devil’. Here’s a little musical Halloween treat. Have fun!

Bruce Springsteen
Happy Halloween!

The lyrics to “A Night With The Jersey Devil” are as follows:

Hear me now!
I was born 13th child, ‘neath the 13th moon
Spit out all hungry and born anew
Daddy drag me to the river tie me in rocks

Throw me in where it’s deep and wide
I go down, I don’t die
Hole in the river bottom, I crawl through
Come back kill six brothers and sisters, kill papa too

Sway down Mama, sway down low
They gonna know me wherever I go
Into my bed with her kerosene my mama creep
Set my flesh to burning, whilst I sleep

I burn, burn, burn, till my soul burn black
Black rains fall, I come back, I come back
Get down Mama, get down low
They gonna know me wherever I go

16 witches, cast 16 spells
Make me a guitar outta skin and human skull
Sing you a song like the wind in the sandy loam
Bring you baby out your happy home

Ram’s head, forked tail, clove hoof, love’s my trail
I sup on your body, sip on your blood like wine
Out world theirs, this world mine
So kiss me baby till it hurts

God lost in heaven, we lost on earth
Sway down Mama, sway down low
They gonna know me wherever I go
Wherever I go, wherever I go

Well I got a brand new lover
I love her yes I do,
She’s my one and only and her name is Baby Blue…

Click below to hear “A Night With The Jersey Devil”
DownloadA Night with the Jersey Devil

With the world’s economy in the dumper, Black Ice, the first new studio album in eight years from AC/DC, could be just what the doctor ordered. Think about it: When all else has failed, why not throw your cares away with wild abandon and rock till you drop. And no one can take you there better than AC/DC. For a band that isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel, it’s a revelation they’re as popular and well-loved as ever. Maybe it’s because they don’t over think their strategy. And that’s only if they have a strategy.

There’s certainly no shortage of good old reliable “rock” on this AC/DC disc. In fact, four of the 15 tunes on Black Ice have the very word ingrained in their titles. No further explanation is necessary. It starts the minute “Rock N’ Roll Train” (very much in tune with the opening bars of “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Back In Black” and probably every other AC/DC anthem) comes booming out of the speakers. You know the formula — guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young cock and load a hook-filled chord sequence, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams establish a simple and sturdy foundation, and the blood-curdling screech of Brian Johnson, which may not be as guttural as it once was, pulls you in for the kill. The same basic approach is routinely deployed on “Skies On Fire,” “Big Jack,” “”War Machine,” “Smash N’ Grab” and “She Likes Rock N’ Roll.”

Black Ice rarely strays beyond AC/DC’s crash-and-burn style. There are no ballads, no epics over five minutes long, and no esoteric, heavy lyrics to ponder. Even loose departures like “Anything Goes” and “Wheels” end up conforming to the familiar framework of sustainable, rank-and-file riffs built to bounce the noggin and pump the fist. By keeping it simple and stupid, AC/DC effectively spit in the faces of all those “artists” who push the envelope and aspire to greatness. Few bands can avoid change or trends and expect to stay afloat, but AC/DC has mastered the art of utilitarianism to a tee. It makes prefect sense the only big-box retailer selling Black Ice is Wal-Mart. Both are easy, well-stocked and good for the economy.

From roughly 1970 to 1980, Classic Rock (which wasn’t actually called “Classic Rock” at the time) reigned supreme, filling the void left by the Fab Four (The Beatles broke up and separately sauntered down their own long and windy roads) and Tragic Trilogy (Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison, RIP), among other denizens of those wacky ’60s. Indeed, the peace and love vibe may have dissipated and perhaps the dream really was over, but the music continued to thrive and cultivate.

In fact, rock became far more diverse and began to broaden its horizons in new and wonderful ways. David Bowie, Alice Cooper and Kiss turned glam rock into theater, while Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull treaded the mercurial waters with elaborate, conceptual musical spectacles. FM radio spawned album-oriented rock (AOR), displacing the three minute hit single with such diverse epics as “Stairway To Heaven,” “Freebird” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”