Puritans & Parrotheads

[parrotpartygod]

Puritans and Parrotheads

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Jimmy Buffett played Jersey last week. I'll bet you saw the glowing reviews. All of the critics praised the show as an example of the unsurpassed talent of a true American original, a man whose stories of American archetypes reveal him as the second coming of Mark Twain.

Just kidding. I couldn't find any reviews at all in the major newspapers. But when Bruce Springsteen was in town a few months ago singing some stale folk songs, all the critics of Christendom united in showering praise on him.

The same phenomenon occurred earlier in the year, when both Buffett and Springsteen played the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Springsteen's appearance made national news. Buffett's performance, meanwhile, was barely mentioned.

I wasn't there, but if history is any indication Buffett's audience at that festival was louder, more enthusiastic and more appreciative than Springsteen's. And I'm equally sure that his performance was more original in every respect, since he comes from the Gulf area and his songs are populated with realistic local characters and stories. Yet that counts for nothing to the critics compared to Springsteen's rehash of a handful of songs popular among a small circle of Greenwich Village illuminati in the early 1960s.

How does one account for this discrepancy? I for one chalk it up to the lingering puritanism that lurks in the heart of what passes for an intelligentsia in America. This has changed little since 1919, when H.L. Mencken observed that the critics of that era judged the artist "not by his originality and artistic courage, but simply and solely by his orthodoxy. If he is what is called a 'right thinker,' if he devotes himself to advocating the transient platitudes in a sonorous manner, then he is worthy of respect."

That insight certainly describes the critical reaction to that CD and concert tour of Springsteen's based on the work of Pete Seeger, the New England-educated social realist who is perhaps the single most puritanical presence in American popular music. A New Yorker cartoon captured this perfectly. A middle-aged man is shown strum ming a guitar in bed. Next to him is a woman with a frustrated look on her face. "How many verses of 'Froggie Went A-Courting' are there, Jay, before your pill kicks in?" she asks.

Many a truth is said in jest, and that particular jest by cartoonist Michael Crawford captures the puritanical nature of Springsteen's recent oeuvre perfectly. Like that unfortunate woman, his fans must suffer through such songs as "Froggie" in hopes of some fun afterward.

I was shown that cartoon by such a fan who employed it to warn me against attending the Springsteen shows at the PNC Arts Center a few months ago. I was glad I took the warning. A few days later, the same fan urged me to check out backstreets.com. This is a Web site for Springsteen fans.

Unlike the critics, they weren't happy about what they saw at the arts center. One chastised two female fans. "The problem was they were not going to be content unless Bruce played 'Froggie' for them. They kept screaming this over and over and over." Another complained about "a couple next to me that needed a room." A third termed it "the most annoying show I have ever attended" and said "people around me were beyond rude. Talking, yelling at each other, cell phones on constantly, drinking to the point of falling down."

And then there was this question: "Why would you pay good money to see a show, and then drink that much, so that you won't remember a thing the next morning?"

Hmmm, I thought to myself: That last one sounds like a typical Buffett concert. The audience starts gathering in the parking lot around noon. By the time the great man comes onstage, many have attained that presence in the moment -- achievable only through either alcohol or Zen -- that permits one to instantly forget what has gone before.

The difference is, at Buffett concerts no one complains. During the fast songs, the entire crowd is so loud that no one voice could possibly have an effect. And during the slow songs, the whole crowd quiets down, even the raging drunks.

Why is everyone so content at a Buffett concert? Perhaps because he plays songs they actually want to hear. Buffett is both a more original and a more prolific songwriter than Bruce, but he somehow manages to get through a concert without trying to impress the audience with his insights. He is certainly as tired of playing "Margaritaville" as Springsteen is of playing "Rosalita," but he plays what the fans want to hear.

Perhaps this is because Buffett, raised in the French Catholic culture of the Gulf, lacks the puritanical impulse that infects the rest of America. He's even been known to get publicly drunk on occasion, a character trait not shared by Springsteen, who is noted for an abstemious approach to alcohol.

So here's my advice for Springsteen: Have a margarita and sing "Rosalita." The fans will love it, even if the critics don't.

Paul Mulshine is a Star-Ledger columnist.

[johnson2113]

Gread read, thanks.

[Quiet and Shy]

Good perspective and read. Thanks!

[cocotel]

Good reading PPG.

[RinglingRingling]

Gotta say tho, the Springsteen "Seeger Sessions" Tour was pretty incredible...

[ToplessRideFL]

I enjoyed it... thanks

[sonofabeach]

Rosalita?
Never heard it but Dancing In The Dark rocks!!

[ToplessRideFL]

Rosalita?
Never heard it but Dancing In The Dark rocks!!

You have heard Rosalita.... I promise.....

[LIPH]

Rosalita?
Never heard it but Dancing In The Dark rocks!!

You have heard Rosalita.... I promise.....

Not a very good comparison with Rosalita and Margaritaville though. Buffett does Margaritaville every show. I've seen Springsteen about 8 or 9 times and he's only done Rosalita twice.

[Pacinthecage]

I truly enjoyed the very intelligent and insightful, without being petty and juvenile, post. Thank you. You allowed me some good thought processes today. It is always good to get out of the box of the everyday thought routine from time to time. Thanks again, the post was very well written. Have a great day.

[trentonleonard]

Rosalita?
Never heard it but Dancing In The Dark rocks!!

GREAT SONG!!!!!!! ROSIE COME OUT TONIGHT

[trentonleonard]

the boss was actually raised catholic too

[Ova 40 Victim Of Fate]

They are my 2 most favorite performers. The Boss is THE Boss and Jimmy is Jimmy. I don't see how the two can even be compared. They are both great and have made their mark in the industry.

I have seen Bruce 15 times and I have seen Jimmy as many. When both tour through my area, I never miss either show if I can help it.

My 2 cents and my 2 cents only.

[ragtopW]

Rosalita?
Never heard it but Dancing In The Dark rocks!!

You have heard Rosalita.... I promise.....

Not a very good comparison with Rosalita and Margaritaville though. Buffett does Margaritaville every show. I've seen Springsteen about 8 or 9 times and he's only done Rosalita twice.

If I ever see the Boss and he misses that song I may need your
help..

[Quiet and Shy]

the boss was actually raised catholic too

Perhaps, but I believe the reference is more to the French influence in the gulf and delta region as opposed to the eastern seaboard -- along with so much of the rest of the country -- which decended from and was dominated by the British/Puritan traditions.

Until I visited that area a couple times and did some further reading, I didn't realize how truly different those influences were and how they've shaped things so. It's almost as though you started at very different places (geographically and culturally) but wound up in a similar spot (today's US).... You may be in the same place, but the road you've taken to get there (heritage and therefore perspective) has been very different.

Bigger picture, I think this is part of why to some, it's so important New Orleans rebounds as a significant US city; it's history and feel are so uniquely different than that of nearly the entire rest of the country....

[PeretHed66]

Rosalita?

You have heard Rosalita.... I promise.....

Best. Springsteen song. Ever.

[ragtopW]

Rosalita?

You have heard Rosalita.... I promise.....

Best. Springsteen song. Ever.

[LIPH]

Rosalita?

You have heard Rosalita.... I promise.....

Best. Springsteen song. Ever.

This may be urban legend but I heard a story once about why Springsteen doesn't do Rosalita live very much anymore. It's about an old girlfriend who he's kept in touch with over the years. Now that his wife is in the band, she doesn't like him doing the song. Like I said, I don't know if the story's true.

[CapnK]

whoa, PPG you were seriously inspired...

What you drinkin' over there, little pirate buddy?

[SMLCHNG]

whoa, PPG you were seriously inspired...
What you drinkin' over there, little pirate buddy?

PPG didn't write it, CapnK.. this was at the bottom..

Paul Mulshine is a Star-Ledger columnist.