Bruce and Chris

By Craig ONeal via Wikimedia Commons

In 1975, I met the Boss, a blue-collar Italian-American with long hair and a beard.

That’s where the fairy tale parts with reality because my Boss was a returned Vietnam vet, still wearing an olive drab shirt that said US Army above one pocket and Verderosa above the other. Charlie Verderosa ran the local Long Island Press office and is the last guy I ever called Boss and maybe the only one who ever earned the right to be called that.

Which brings me to the gentleman pictured above. Bruce Springsteen has been all over the media I consume lately and I’m not quite sure why. But enough ink and pixels have been spilled for me to start seeing patterns.

NJ Governor Chris Christie by Bob Jagendorf of Manalapan, NJ, USA [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I could probably start with any one of a dozen statementsthat would be deemed heretical by adherents of the Church of Bruce.  So let me start with what is sure to be the worst thing an acolyte could hear:

Chris Christie is more honest about who Bruce Springsteen is than the man himself.

Consider David Remnick‘s  profile of Bruce in the July 30 issue of The New Yorker (subscription required). We

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Anthology 3: Best Music Writing 2009

Best Music Writing 2009
Guest Editor, Greil Marcus; Series Editor, Daphene Carr

I’m showing my 1970s southern rock roots with these anthology posts; Skydog’s ghost must be stalking me. In any case, it’s time to step back from retail, marketing, history and what not to touch base with what really matters–music. Yes, I’m cheating because my subject is really a book about music. But indulge me, it’s August.

The 2009 version of this series marks the 10th anniversary and for the occasion a big gun was brought in