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Bruce Springsteen is Determined to Record Every Musical Genre Imaginable

And he may just pull it off

Paul Combs
4 min readOct 11, 2022
The new album (Image: brucespringsteen.net)

Bruce Springsteen turned 73 on September 23, which was 18 days ago. That was also the last day I wrote a Bruce-centric article, making it the longest stretch since I’ve been on this site. Clearly I need to repent, recite the lyrics to “Thunder Road” 50 times while facing New Jersey, and write something new about the man. Fortunately, he gives me plenty to write about.

Exactly one month from now, Springsteen will release his 21st studio album, Only The Strong Survive, and in spite of the fact that he’s about to head out on the road with the E Street Band for the first time in five years, this is not an E Street Band record. Rather, it is an album of covers of 15 soul classics from the 1960s and 1970s. That’s right, Bruce recorded a soul album.

When I first saw the news about this, I was skeptical. There is no question that Southside Johnny could knock a project like this right out of the park; he is the very epitome of blue-eyed soul. But Bruce? Sure, he’s done rock, folk, and country, but soul? After hearing the first song from the record, “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do),” my doubts evaporated. Check it out below.

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Paul Combs
Paul Combs

Written by Paul Combs

Writer, bookseller, would-be roadie for the E Street Band. My ultimate goal is to make books as popular in Texas as high school football...it may take a while.

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