Weds Morning Rock N Roll: "Rosalita" Live at The Hammersmith Odeon 1975

Early Springsteen is such a different beast from later Springsteen. Almost unrecognizable when compared with the (largely) by-numbers stuff he's been putting out this past decade. Yet, even though the breathlessness of his first couple of records may come off a tad too Dylan/Morrison derivative at times, the energy and melodrama are all vintage Bruce. "Nebraska" notwithstanding, I prefer his first three records, hands down, to the rest of his catalog, with "E Street Shuffle" on par with "Born To Run" as his best. This is pre-muscles Bruce, pre-BRUUUCE Bruce for that matter - he's just this slinky street-rat hipster with a silly hat, backed by a bunch of 'New Jersey cats' in leisure suits. If you only grew up with the former (like me), it's a bit of a leap to accept him as the latter. But without that period, his legendary reputation simply doesn't make sense.

If you've ever been to a Springsteen show, you know that, next to U2, it's as close to a worship experience as one can get, a fact which is not lost on the man himself. In fact, he courts it happily, launching into faux-preacher speak constantly and talking endlessly about "the gospel of rock n roll." Of his early rave-ups "Rosalita" is the one that apes gospel music most successfully, with its multiple key changes, call-and-response vocals, extended dramatic passages and revival-like tempo shifts. "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirits In The Night" probably take second and third place in this regard. But all the seeds of the Springsteen gospel are there in Rosalita (Rosalita's parents representing the Law obviously), and nowhere is this more evident than in his 1975 performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Enjoy:



While we're at it, from the same concert, the Mbird-friendly titled "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" off Springsteen's overlooked and terrific debut record, "Greetings From Asbury Park." High time for that one to be reissued, btw: