Rage Against The Joad

I've always had a love/hate relationship with Bruce Springsteen's Ghost Of Tom Joad album; There are some great songs on it, but musically it's so stark and bare that it's hard to listen to and, quite frankly, depressing.

I remember being quite surprised when I heard that Tom Morello's Rage Against The Machine had covered the title track. I can't say that I really enjoyed their version, to me it seemed too noisy and lacking in subtlety, but the fact that RATM had done it was interesting - and, as it's turned out, it has proven to be an old desert signpost to what happened when Springsteen's Magic Tour stopped off in Calfornia last week. For two nights in Anaheim, Tom Morello joined Bruce on stage for a gob smacking new take on the song. The guitar solo by Morello at the end is just mind-blowing...

The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band with Tom Morello
April 8th 2008, Anaheim, California

It's always nice to see a guest or two singalong with Bruce. Last night in Houston Alejandro Escovedo sang his new song Always a Friend and then fellow Texan Joe Ely joined in the fun with one of his oldies, All Just to Get to You.

See Backstreets.com or brucespringsteen.net for more info.
Alejandro Escovedo - Always a Friend (Quicktime Video 30MB)