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May 24, 2005
If Dylan digs into the roots of the traditional music and old songs on The Basement Tapes sessions, as Marcus claims in his The Weird, Old America, then does Bruce Springsteen do this The Ghost of Tom Joad (1994) and the latter Devils and Dust (2005). Or does he reach back to Woody Guthrie? He has definitely journeyed back to his folk roots. But which roots are these?
I've never been comfortable with Springsteen's barnstorm rock performances and rock epics of the rebel working class rocker who is a millionare and says he speaks for the common folk on main street. It always struck me that Springston's tub thumping populism was about creating a rock mythology of authenticity and street credibility as opposed to facing himself, his country and his history in the conservative America of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush that re-interprets Born in the USA as a patriotic anthem.
Does the Springston who returns to his folk roots (gospel) reconnect with the Dylan of The Basement Tapes? If so what about Gram Parsons?
Or has the old music died?
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