How 'Bob Springs' Became Springsteen

Fan Fiction About the Seeger Sessions Tour, 2006

You might have heard that Bruce Springsteen has released seven previously unreleased albums in a single package, “Tracks II: The Lost Albums” today. This is not about that. Instead, it is a piece of “fan fiction” I wrote and kept mostly to myself (probably for good reason) in 2006, after seeing Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band at Madison Square Garden. I got a ticket from my Billboard colleague Thom Duffy. I enjoyed that show, and the loose, funky band playing hopped-up old American folk standards blues standards from his one-off “Seeger Sessions” album. It’s also the last Bruce show to which I could afford a ticket: It was only about $100.

Working my way—and it is a bit of work—through my downloads of the seven albums in “Tracks II,” I realized that some are heirs, or ancestors, of the Seeger sessions. I thought I’d blow the dust off this one from my old, unread blog and present it today, since I haven’t made it through all of the Lost Seven. I don’t like listening to music …