SPRINGSTEEN'S ELEVENTH-HOUR VISIT TO THE ROCK HALL
Eleventh hour? Actually Bruce Springsteen, who had yet to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land," waited until the midnight hour — yesterday, the exhibit's final day — to pay a visit. Toward the end of the day on Sunday, February 27, Bruce arrived to view the holdings and get a tour from curator Jim Henke just before the official closing.

St. Louis's Riverfront Times music editor Annie Zaleski (that's her above with Bruce) describes the scene:

Springsteen, museum curator Jim Henke, several other Rock Hall employees and what looked like pals of Bruce walked around the exhibit, checking out the photos, song lyrics, articles, guitars and other bits of ephemera. (Several patrons did double-takes when they realized who it was walking around.)

It's a testament to Springsteen that the exhibit wasn't closed off just for him, and he didn't arrive after hours to check it out; he walked around the memorabilia just like anyone else. (Well, somewhat: He understandably had comments to make about several of the items on display, which is, you know, kind of mind-blowing.) Before the exhibit closed, he took time out to take photos and shake hands with fans, who had kept respectful distance as he toured.

Backstreets reader Jim Sheahen was among the exhibit's visitors yesterday:

I absolutely love the exhibit, and I decided I was going to spend my entire day at the Rock Hall — there are over 100 pages of handwritten lyrics on display, and I can spend an entire hour analyzing one page. There are also hours of interviews and rare recordings that I can listen to over and over. Around 4:45, I was listening to an interview on the fourth floor about the creation of the Nebraska album. Then all of a sudden, I looked up and there he was. Bruce had come to the Rock Hall to see his exhibit.

I was in shock. He noticed that I had my E Street sweatshirt on, so he came over and shook my hand and asked how I was doing. He then continued to the fifth and sixth floors to see the rest of his exhibit. He was commenting as he went, telling stories about several of the items — he laughed when he saw his surfboard from the 1960s on display. Later, after he posed for pictures, I shared the story of how I proposed to my wife at this exhibit. He was impressed and even wrote a congratulatory note to us.

See more photos from Springsteen's visit at rockhall.com.

And if you missed "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land" during its lauded run at the Rock Hall, Backstreets #89 has many a page devoted to the exhibit, including a detailed walk-through, pictures of many of the artifacts on display, and the full text of Springsteen's highly enlightening interview with Henke.
- February 28, 2011 - Thanks to Jim Sheahen and Matt Wardlaw

ASBURY'S NEW HARMONIES CONCERT TIX ONSALE TODAY
In conjunction with the Smithsonian's traveling roots music exhibition's stop in Asbury Park [see below], the Paramount Theatre is hosting a New Harmonies Concert on Sunday, March 13. Produced by the Grammy Museum and The Asbury Park Music Heritage Committee, the bill includes Max Weinberg, Bobby Bandiera, Steve Forbert, Billy Hector, Nicky Addeo and more. Tickets go on sale today at noon through Ticketmaster.
- February 28, 2011

FIRST LISTEN:
PEG O' MY HEART,
I LOVE YOU!
Want a new Bruce fix? Tune in this weekend to 101.9 WRXP-FM's Anything Anything with Rich Russo (streaming worldwide at 1019rxp.com) for the world premiere of the the Dropkick Murphy's "Peg O' My Heart." With Springsteen sharing lead vocals, it's a barnburner. Russo's show airs Sunday night from 9:00 to 11:00 Eastern.
- February 25, 2011

“THE PHILLY ELVIS” LIVES….TO FIGHT LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA
Many Philly-area fans who attended the 2009 next-to-last-ever E Street Band concert at the Spectrum arena (R.I.P.) will recall the hilariously surreal onstage appearance of a certain jumpsuit-clad former Elvis Presley impersonator. Dubbed "The Philly Elvis" by Springsteen himself, Nick Ferraro — the ex-impersonator in question, who is a longtime fan of both Bruce and Elvis — got to check off a major item from his bucket list when his sign-request asking "Can The King sing with The Boss?" was fulfilled. Ferraro-as-Elvis got pulled from the audience that night to perform "All Shook Up" and "Blue Suede Shoes" with Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Since that magic moment, The Philly Elvis, much like the original Elvis, has refrained from making further physical appearances (though remaining ever-present via many viral videos)... until now. Nick has just launched his own official website, thephillyelvis.com (of course), and is preparing to pull the jumpsuit back out of the closet. This time, it's for a good cause, to boot: fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Check out Nick's website to learn more about his upcoming “If I Can Dream” tour, his new song “Now It's Time For Love” and how you can support the ongoing campaign to name The Philly Elvis as LLS Central Pennsylvania's "Man of the Year." Thankyouverymuch.
- February 25, 2011 - Shawn Poole reporting

THE SMITHSONIAN COMES TO ASBURY PARK
This spring, the Asbury Park Public Library will host a roots music exhibit developed and implemented by the Smithsonian Institution's Museum on Main Street program, which pools federal, state and local resources to develop and execute traveling museum exhibits that highlight America’s diverse cultural heritage.

The exhibit, titled New Harmonies, is the brainchild of Grammy Museum executive director (and Backstreets associate editor) Robert Santelli, whose passion for American roots music drove him to develop this unique multimedia exhibit for the Smithsonian.

New Harmonies will run from March 12 to April 17. Asbury Park is also using the exhibit as the springboard for a yearlong series of cultural events related to the city's unique music history. An illustrated volume exploring Asbury Park's music history is planned, as are panel discussions, lectures, photography and memorabilia exhibits, and dozens of concerts at various area venues. See the city’s event site "Where Music Lives" for a full schedule.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Santelli has also developed an oral history project in which local students will interview residents about their memories of growing up in Asbury Park. The results will be archived at Monmouth University, which is lending audiovisual equipment for the project.
- February 23, 2011 - Lisa Iannucci reporting

CLARENCE: "I'M A GAGA-ITE"
Rolling Stone's Andy Greene has the story of the Lady Gaga/Clarence Clemons collaboration from the mouth of the Big Man himself. "I play sax through the whole song and I have a solo," Clemons says of his appearance on the new Gaga track "Hair." "I would have done it for free.... She's the real deal. All the craziness and stuff, there's a purpose to all of it."

Read "Exclusive: How E Street Band Saxophonist Clarence Clemons Ended Up on Lady Gaga's New Album"

THIS WEEK ONLY: 20% OFF ALL SHIRTS!
We're up to our necks in Springsteen tees... and now there's a new one on its way, for Darkness on the Edge of Town. Great! Where do we put it?? Help us clear out some space on the shirt shelves: now through Sunday, 2/27, save some hard-earned dough on all shirts in stock!

We currently carry 24 different designs of Bruce, E Street Band, and related tee-shirts, including Mens, Ladies, Toddlers and Youth styles — see all designs here — and they're all 20% off this week, while sizes last.

Regular Price:	Sale Price:
$17	$13.60
$18	$14.40
$20	$16
$22	$17.60
$25	$20

NILS TO PLAY MARCH 10 TUCSON BENEFIT
For Nils Lofgren, who hangs his hat in Scottsdale, Arizona, the shooting last month in Tucson hit close to home. On March 10, Nils will co-headline a benefit concert — along with Jackson Browne, Alice Cooper, Sam Moore, David Crosby and Graham Nash — at the Tucson Convention Center to help those affected, raising funds for the non-profit Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, benefiting the Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding. Tickets go on sale Saturday, Feburary 19, at 10 a.m. See azcentral.com for further details about the concert and onsale, and keep up with Lofgren's other doings (including May dates) at nilslofgren.com.
- February 17, 2011

BIG MAN'S FAR EAST
"In a country where no one knows his name... In the midst of millions... On the other side of the world... A portrait of a journey begins." So proclaims the trailer for the forthcoming documentary, Who Do I Think I Am? As listed on IMDb, the 2011 film is directed by Nick Mead and follows "Clarence Clemons' journey to China in search of himself." Watch the trailer now.

Back in the states, everybody knows his name... including Lady Gaga, who recruited Clarence to play on her upcoming album Born This Way. Talking to Ryan Seacrest on the radio yesterday (listen at the 5:00 mark), Gaga revealed the Big Man's involvement:

One of my favorite songs on the album is called "Hair."... It's really uptempo, it's a club record, but it's sort of got this Bruce Springsteen vibe to it — and I actually had Clarence Clemons from the E Street Band come in, he played saxophone on [the song]. And it's really interesting, because it's putting saxophone on this really huge electronic record... The lyrics are: "Whenever I dress cool my parents put up a fight / And if I'm a hotshot Mom will cut my hair at night / And in the morning I'm shorn of my identity / I scream, "Mom and Dad, why can't I be who I want to be?"

Catch Clarence live this weekend in Boca Raton, FL, where he and his band Temple of Soul will play a free show at Mizner Park on Febraury 19. As reported in the Sun-Sentinel, the Saturday night show "is a fundraiser for the Bicol Clinic Foundation, a nonprofit Boca Raton-based medical relief organization that has sent response teams to Haiti and other places facing health-care challenges around the world. 'Anything I can do to help the Bicol Clinic Foundation and their cause, I will do,' said Clemons...." Find full details on the Clemons-hosted "Rock'n the Hard Place" concert here.
- February 16, 2011

COVER ME: ALICE RIPLEY, "THUNDER ROAD"
Released today, Alice Ripley's Daily Practice Volume 1 features the Tony-winning actress's stark, acoustic interpretations of ten cover tunes, by artists such as U2, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams, and Bruce Springsteen, represented on the album by "Thunder Road." Watch her performing the song in the studio, above. Ripley describes her picks as "a selection of songs written by heroes I have yet to meet. The songs here are examples of excellent songwriting. I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of these writers for keeping me alive and giving me a reason to practice." Daily Practice Volume 1 is available now from Sh-K-Boom records.
- February 15, 2011

RACING IN THE STREET WITH REAGAN IN NEW HBO DOC
Springsteen fans remember a moment during Ronald Reagan's reelection campaingn in 1984 in which the president invoked Bruce's name and "Born in the U.S.A." during a speech in New Jersey. Bruce was quick to distance himself from Reagan's remarks, soon telling a Pittsburgh concert audience, "The President was mentioning my name the other day, and I kinda got to wondering what his favorite album must have been. I don't think it was the Nebraska album."

It probably wasn't the Darkness album, either, which gets a more knowing nod in Reagan, a new HBO documentary marking the 100th anniversary of the late president's birth. In the film directed by Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight), airing now, a moment illustrating the widening distance between Reagan and the working class includes images of closed factories in his birthplace, Dixon, Illinois; as a local cruises the deserted streets, the soundtrack is the opening of "Racing in the Street."

Reagan's "Born in the U.S.A."/Springsteen namedropping isn't touched on in the film, as Jarecki recently discussed with Mediaite.com:

I thought the "Born in the U.S.A." episode in general is a very poetic example of Reagan’s own misuse of Springsteen’s music, and more broadly, certain sort of folksy American ideas which were used to package what were otherwise programs that would be unattractive to the public. For him to use "Born in the U.S.A." for his candidacy was something that was quite the opposite of the song’s intent is very typical and demonstrative of the very concerns I have about Reagan.

Having said that, I thought the only way to tell that story would be to include Bruce Springsteen himself in the film. We did reach out to Bruce Springsteen through his management office, and we didn’t get anywhere in encouraging him to participate. Without that, I felt it would be an undertold story that could, perhaps, be told better in another way.

Fore more on the film, including airtimes, visit HBO.com

VALENTINE'S DAY PREVIEW: MIGHTY MAX MARITIME MONDAYS
Though Max Weinberg has recently announced he'll have a stripped-down seven-piece touring band, his Big Band remains a going concern — with a steady weekly gig in NYC, as a matter of fact. Soon you can catch the 15-piece Max Weinberg Big Band every Monday night, at the Hiro Ballroom in West Chelsea's Maritime Hotel.

"I had the pleasure of performing for a very special birthday party at Hiro in December," says Max. "A well-known film producer and seven hundred of his closest friends and family were in attendance. The drinks were flowing, the food was fantastic, and the crowd really got into the band. Someone said, 'hey — you guys should play here all the time,' and a light bulb went off!"

The residence opens with a preview on Valentine's Day, Monday February 14, and then begins a weekly schedule on Mondays starting with March 7, March 14, and March 21. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m., with two sets at 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Be sure to try the Mighty Max cocktail!
- February 10, 2011

TRAMPS LIKE US TO CELEBRATE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC 12/31/80 SHOW
Coming off their sold-out performances of the '78 Capitol Theatre show, the Springsteen tribute band Tramps Like Us is set to re-create yet another big night from Boss history. This time it will be the New Year's Eve 1980-81 concert from the River tour at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. This concert stands as the longest of Springsteen's career, with 38 songs taking the show past the four-hour mark.

RADIO ON THE TV
Back in November, when Springsteen answered questions posed by 20 lucky contest winners live on the air in the Sirius XM studios, Thom Zimny was there to capture the sights as well as the sounds. Next week we'll get to see it — some of it, at least — in a half-hour program called Bruce Springsteen: A Conversation With His Fans, debuting Friday, February 4.

The description on Palladia.tv: "Fans ask Bruce thought-provoking questions in an intimate studio setting. Bruce discusses the music of Darkness on the Edge of Town and his new album The Promise, in this special broadcast hosted by music critic Dave Marsh. Fan questions are intercut with highlights from the box set, The Promise documentary, the Paramount Theater concert, the 2010 Songs From The Promise concert and rare archival footage from 1978."

Conversation debuts on Feburary 4 at 9:00 p.m. on both Palladia and VH1 Classic (VH1C rebroadcast dates here).
- January 26, 2011

DKM: "YOU DON'T REALLY GIVE THE BOSS INSTRUCTIONS"
Following up on last week's news that the Dropkick Murphys' new recording of "Peg O' My Heart" will have a certain special guest, Andy Greene talked Bruce with DKM frontman Ken Casey for Rollingstone.com:

They only gave [Springsteen] minimal direction. "All we said was 'we thought it would be great to trade off on verses,'" Casey says. "You don't really give the Boss instructions."

Casey also talks about how they approached Bruce, how they approached the song, being a lifelong Springsteen fan, and how the band would "feel about recording an entire album as Bruce Springsteen's backing band? 'Who would say no to that?' says Casey, laughing. 'Bruce, we're ready when you are.'"

Read: How the Dropkick Murphys Got Bruce Springsteen to Guest on Their New Album

FIVE FEET HIGH AND RISIN'
In an effort to help victims of the devastating flooding in Queensland, Sony Music Australia put together a three-disc benefit album, Flood Relief: Artists for the Flood Appeal, with Springsteen contributing "Human Touch" to the cause. As Billboard.biz reports, "Proceeds from each sale will go to the Salvation Army Flood Appeal through the Sony Foundation, the charitable arm of the Australian Sony Group of Companies. All artists and songwriters have waived their royalties for the project, and Sony DADC Australia has donated the CD production." Read more about the effort at sonyfoundation.org.au; the full track listing is posted at Sting.com.
- January 25, 2011

THE BRITS ARE COMING, THE BRITS ARE COMING!
Bruce Springsteen has been nominated for a 2011 BRIT Award, the annual pop music prizes awarded by the British Phonographic Institute (sort of the "British Grammys"). In the International Male Solo Artist category, he's up against Cee Lo Green, David Guetta, Eminem, and Kanye West. The BRIT Awards will be held at The O2 in London on Tuesday, February 15, and will be broadcast live on ITV1. See brits.co.uk for more.
- January 25, 2011

SPRINGSTEEN'S SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON
After sharing his stage with them in their Boston hometown a couple years back (April 22, 2009 at the TD Banknorth Garden) Springsteen guests on the new Dropkick Murphys album, Going Out in Style, trading lead vocals with Ken Casey on "Peg O' My Heart." From a new press release (via kikaxemusic.com):

For Going Out In Style, Dropkick Murphys even enlisted the vocal talents of the legendary Bruce Springsteen — whom they first met at a DKM gig in New York and later collaborated with onstage at one of Springsteen's Boston shows. Springsteen swaps verses with [Ken] Casey for a spirited take on the old standard "Peg O' My Heart."  "It has a classic old fifties rock and roll feel," says Casey. "Both of my grandmothers are named Peg. One grandmother, Peg Casey, is always saying, 'When are you going to do that song? Your grandfather always sang it to me!' The time signature changed, so hopefully they still appreciate it when they hear it."

The collaboration is a perfect intergenerational bridge for fans and band alike. Dropkick Murphys have always strongly resonated with audiences young and old due to their working class ethos and cathartic sonic revelry.  "It links two generations," says Casey. "We're spanning a lot of years of music here, yet our songs share similar themes, stories, and values."

Keep your eye on dropkickmurphys.com for more on their new record, due out March 1.
- January 21, 2011

Springsteen performing "Your Own Worst Enemy" solo acoustic for Light of Day, 1/15/11 in Asbury Park.
- January 19, 2011

LISA LOWELL'S BEAUTIFUL BEHAVIOR
Holly Cara Price talks with one of our favorite redheaded women about her new CD, which features Bruce, Patti, and Soozie among its players
Most of us know Lisa Lowell from her backing vocals with various artists, perhaps most famously as a member of Bruce Springsteen's Sessions Band in 2006. Lowell's also honed her prodigious chops for the past several years with Garland Jeffreys, Sheryl Crow, Buster Poindexter, Jon Bon Jovi, Cissy Houston, Chuck Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Ashford and Simpson, Bobby Blue Bland, Percy Sledge, Stephen Bishop, and B.B. King, to name only a few.

Lisa is a self-described "journeywoman" vocalist, singer/songwriter and arranger, the daughter of a jazz singer and a jazz drummer from the Jersey Shore. For the past two years, she’s been working on a collection of six songs which have now been released independently under the title Beautiful Behavior. The record smokes and seethes with lush romanticism, love and loss. Produced by Lincoln Schleifer, vocal arrangements by Lincoln and Lisa with an assist from old friend Patti Scialfa, it's quite wonderful. Lowell's clear, strong alto is a joy. When she opens up and sings full-throated, well, step out of the way. Girlfriend can sing (and write great songs). She's joined by a spectacular cast of New York studio musicians like Hugh McCracken, Joel Diamond, Bill Holloman, Larry Campbell, Marc Shulman, and Adrian Harpham as well as some special guests (Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Soozie Tyrell).

"The Big Odd" starts the record off with a catchy hook-laden drive, backing chorus provided by her longtime friends Patti and Soozie (gypsy violin provided by Soozie). "A Love So True" could have been recorded by Gamble and Huff in the 70's; it's shot through and through with Philly Soul right down to the final sha la las. "For the Love of God" feels epic, anthemic — it's orchestral and richly nuanced and informed by a fantastic horn section, all played by one man, Bill Holloman. "Moulin Rouge" is a sassy strut, threaded through with Bruce Springsteen's electric guitar, Larry Campbell's mandolin, and harmonies (all sung by Lisa) that recall Labelle. "The Moon Borrows Light From the Sun" — about loving the wrong man — features Soozie Tyrell on violin and Marc Shulman providing spooky and shimmering guitar. In the final track, "Until You Come Undone," Lisa gets a lesson at the Coney Island Aquarium about life and death and learning how to let go of a dying parent.

Growing up in Long Branch, Lisa hung out at the Upstage and other Jersey bars in the mid-late 60's at the tender age of 14, encouraged by her jazz singer mother who saw she had a passion for music. She first met Southside Johnny at that time, back when Asbury Park was rife with little thriving clubs like the Hullabaloo Club, the Student Prince. "The Upstage was a coffee house, that’s how I got in. Albee (Tellone), and Bruce, Sonny Kenn, Steve (Van Zandt) were on the scene at that time and played in these clubs, and I went. I wore my little granny dresses with the matching purse. And I met Johnny, my girlfriend was dating Johnny at the time, and we were both music fanatics."

Southside turned Lisa on to early Van Morrison and Howlin' Wolf, as well as literature. He also taught her first Chuck Berry chords on the guitar. At the time she was eagerly listening to her parents' jazz records as well as the Kinks, the Beatles, the Stones, and Motown. "By the time I was 16 I had a real crush on Laura Nyro. I would make all the pilgrimages to Carnegie Hall to hear her with Labelle at Christmastime, and I had a real identification with her because she’s complex and she was a real composer. And she had all those classical and jazz influences, and she was being produced like an artist — not like a pop singer.

"When I got a little older, Bruce used to play at the Beachcomber in North Long Branch, I'd sit on a surfboard and watch him play. He was always the star. We always knew he was going places. There wasn't any question. And I watched him go through his various stages from being folk house singer to Season of the Witch, Steel Mill, Funky Dusty and the Soul Brooms.... I was so young, and it was a boys' club, so girls were more in the background. Girls were there to basically make them feel good about themselves. But they were always about the music.... I was quiet, I was in the shadows."

She didn't get up the courage to sing until she was out of high school. "I wanted so much to be a singer since I was a tiny child that it took me until I was 17 to just get on stage, and it was this horrible band called Thunderchicken, out in Farmingdale, New Jersey. I was having conceptual arguments with the leader, so they canned me pretty quickly. I was willing to wear hot pants and go-go boots... but I had opinions, and I didn't really have a strong voice yet. So I took it as a sign and I moved to New England and I decided to play sax." She enrolled in the New England Conservatory of Music and studied the craft, then moved to New York City in 1977 to live the dream — becoming, eventually, a professional backup singer. A friend from the shore joined her there — Patti Scialfa. They sang on the streets and sometimes even made money doing it.

"Patti and I moved to the city in '77. And we met Soozie (Tyrell) that same year, it was almost magical the way it happened. I was quitting another band, a street group of girls that I had just finished up with, and I was just moving through and Patti said hey, this chick I've been working with is at this place called Puddings, a country bar, she's really cool. She had met Soozie through Hiram Bullock. And I said, well let's go hear her play, and we did.... We went to the Empire Diner and rehearsed, and we went out the next night as three." The three of them would tour soon after as backing singers for the Asbury Jukes, and they went in and out of each other's bands for years.

Beautiful Behavior was born of a very difficult period in Lisa’s life, starting with the death of her father, then two close girlfriends, and then her boyfriend of several years, Scott Beal. Beal had been her constant companion for a long time, and the plan was for this record to be released on his label, Gaff Music. That plan ended with Scott’s untimely death in 2008. He's "The Big Odd" on the record.

"He inspired that song. He was a label owner, he owned Gaff Music, and he came to town to try to take his small indie label to the next level. He came to me in a very classic southern male way and said, Lisa, you're my girlfriend, you can put out whatever you want to put out, so just write your little heart out, honey. I said, I've been really confused because for the last 20 years I've been trying to put out something I think America will buy so I could get a record deal, and now that I have a record deal I don't give a rat’s ass. I'm going to pretend I'm 18 or 20 and go back to that point in time when I was listening to Laura Nyro or just beautiful, really free-ranging type of chords and approach without giving any thought to what I'm writing. And I just tried to write from my voice in a way that I thought sounded honest. Not even pretty. Not even good. I wanted to get something artful because I didn't really think as someone middle-aged who'd had a long career as a backing vocalist I was going to sell a billion anyway, I might as well just make it as artistic as possible and bring all of my experience and my truth."

Before the album was finished, she'd been through a somber period of losing friends and family, losing Scott, and then a frightening bout herself with cancer which she was fortunate to catch early and beat. "Cancer is a link, it pushes you to the edge, you want your work to be what your epitaph would be. You realize you're not immortal, and you want to leave something beautiful behind.... After watching my boyfriend die, that gave me the courage to write the record. He was the muse, he was the Big Odd, he also got a lot of writing out of me, he was a classic wonderful bastard, the black prince. He put me in that space, and then when he died, the company died with him; I really think it was my own illness that made me say do or die. In the same way he was losing the label because people were hearing he was sick and funds were running out and they were dropping him and he was like balls to the wall. I finally got that balls to the wall which was: I have to leave something behind."

The title, Beautiful Behavior is actually a Freudian slip Lisa made in a conversation with Scott. "I was talking to my boyfriend and I meant to say 'bad behavior' and I said 'beautiful' and he laughed and thought it was really funny. And I said, you never hear those two words together — nobody ever says, wow that was beautiful behavior. And we both decided maybe that would be the album title."

The artwork, the photos — it’s all done in a very Laura Nyro New York Tendaberry kind of way, lovely and understated. The design was done by Fran Fresquez. Lisa brought in Hudson Valley photographer Ronnie Farley — known for her exquisitely unstudied, truthful portraits of women — to do the photographs for the cover. "I wanted to claim myself as a middle-aged woman who wasn't looking for an airbrush at this point, but as somebody who could be attractive and dramatic. I wanted it to be artistic, and the reason it's artistic is because nobody told me look this way or look that way, Ronnie just caught me live, candid. She does it quietly without saying a word to you, and she tricks you into it if you're self conscious, because as a girlfriend of mine once put it, molecules in motion — that's what we are — and every second is a different increment. And so I.m grateful that she was around for that.”

The songs, most of them, all hail from the same time period, from 2003 to 2005. One exception is "Moulin Rouge," from the mid-80's. "The song was written around the time when Soozie Tyrell, Ramona Jan, and I had a band called Venus Flytrap. We decided to do a busking tour of Europe for a full month.... We got stranded in Paris because we lost our connection for an apartment. We got picked up by an Algerian diplomat's son who was there on a chess weekend and we stayed up near the Sacre Coeur; we were watching the girls coming and going, and the people up in the Moulin Rouge, so that lyric was written then and the rest of the song was written when I got back to New York."

The tour de force, "For the Love of God," was written in 2007. Theme-wise it's very different from the other songs. "There's a lot of gutbucket on the record, a lot of deeply emotional songs, but that one in particular was like something I wanted on my tombstone, you know — stop the shit. It's an anti-war song... don’t kill what is essentially the feminine aspect of earth or its over, people. I was thinking of Laura Nyro's "Save the Country," Annie Lennox’s Songs of Mass Destruction, and I had just read an article by Norman Mailer about his relationship to God. It was typical Norman Mailer, it was tongue in cheek intellectual, and he was talking about religion. It's also not an anti-religious song but it's a song about forget being secular. We're taking about saving the planet, forget it, I mean religion is pointless. We're killing in the name of God, for the love of God, stop fighting. Love God, don't fight in the name of God."

What's next for Lisa? Any shows planned? She's totally for the idea, should the opportunity arise. She's also working on a book of memoirs, Life in the Shadows, inspired anew by recently reading Patti Smith's book Just Kids. Lisa still has all her journals, dating back to age 18. "I really think I could bring to life trundling around New York the past 40 years…'cause I was at CBGB’s for five minutes, I was at the Mudd Club for five minutes, but then I was in the jazz scene when I was a teenager. I'm a whore," she laughs, "I wanted it all."

Lisa Lowell is justifiably proud of this work. Her life in a very short period of time had become a baptism by fire. "My father died, my two best friends, Scott, my label died with him, and then I got cancer. And I said, holy shit, if I don't have the strength now... it's like a piece of coal under pressure, it turns into a diamond. If I don't do this soon I might as well just fade away. I'm not feeling sorry for myself — I'm kind of rising from the ashes."

Beautiful Behavior is available from lisalowell.com.

An abridged version of this article appears at huffingtonpost.com.

 - January 19, 2011 - Holly Cara Price reporting

A MAN POSSESSED
Springsteen performing "One Way Street" with Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers, 1/15/11 in Asbury Park.
- January 19, 2011

For the full setlist from this and other recent performances,
see our Setlists page

- updated January 16, 2011 - Lisa Iannucci reporting - photographs by A.M. Saddler

LATEST BACKSTREETS SHIRT BACK IN STOCK Some guys come home from work and wash up... and put on this Backstreets t-shirt! Now you can, too. As we continue to restock merch following the holiday rush, we've just received a new supply of our "Street Racing" shirt, in all adult sizes from medium through XXL. - January 14, 2011

See the full schedule at lightofday.org for further details.

Our pal Rich Russo, host of WRXP's "Anything, Anything," will be one of the hosts once again at the Paramount (along with Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore). Keep your eye on richrusso.net this week as he gears up for the big night by posting exclusive video clips from past Light of Day shows, starting with this one from the first-ever LOD in 2000:

- January 10, 2011

DON'T YOU LOSE HEART
When we started giving away these temporary tattoos a few months ago, it never occurred to us that it might engender a lifetime commitment! More power to Heather Reigle, who dug it so much she had it inked over for real and sent us this picture as proof.

We're still including these free with every order from Backstreet Records, so come shop with us now if you want one for your own — whether for a few days of showing your colors, or as a template for something more permanent, of course that's up to you.

Just in at the Backstreet Records shop: long out of print and out of stock, we've just discovered one last box of Bob Crane's fascinating book A Place to Stand: A Guide to Bruce Springsteen's Sense of Place, which runs down every real-world landmark — street, highway, small town, big city, river, you name it — in Springsteen's songs, from Jersey across the US and around the world. A worthy addition to any Boss bookshelf, exclusively available from Backstreets, and when these are gone, that's it!
- January 7, 2011