> I was up to my neck in work (and taxes) this week, so I didn't even
> get to pay too much attention to the response here. I tried to confirm
> that it was Mike Voss, maybe, who had the idea I mention toward the
> bottom; if that's right, I'll certainly adjust to give him credit for
> the eight people who read this on the blog.
>
> Otherwise, I'm sure this has some points in common with other
> postings, but hey, a lot of us recognize the things that made Danny
> and his work special. (I may have even gotten a detail or two wrong or
> slipped into overt fanboy mode, forgive me.) So if you feel like
> reading another one, here you go. I suspect a lot of us did some
> writing just to make ourselves feel a little better, and if other
> people like it, then great.
>
> - rcb
>
>
http://middle8.blogspot.com/
>
> I WALKED OUT THE FRONT DOOR with my dog this morning, with the busiest
> workday of the month ahead. Sunny and not too chilly -- pleasant
> enough. But then the first two songs out of the day's dogwalk shuffle
> were "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Exit Music (For A Film)", and I thought,
> Hmm, that's an interesting start. Then the iPod proceeded to another
> Radiohead song, "Lucky", where ironically, the unit froze, paused, and
> then shut down, impervious to reset. At that point, iPod possibly
> dead, I felt like I had a grip on the nature of the morning.
>
> I was wrong -- although I later resuscitated the unit, I wish I
> could've ponied up for a new iPod and called it a day. After replying
> to a couple of e-mails, I swung by Pitchfork, where I found out that
> Danny Federici had died. Danny had left the current Bruce Springsteen
> & The E Street Band tour with a few shows go to on last year's U.S.
> leg, so he could receive treatment for melanoma. He sat in on
> accordion for "Sandy" in Indianapolis last month, but what many took
> as an encouraging sign in retrospect was likely an effort to give him
> a last moment to bask in the adulation of his fans and the love of his
> bandmates at the end of a full but sadly truncated career.
>
> WHAT A CAREER IT WAS, THOUGH. As Springsteen notes on his site, the
> two Jersey kids met and started playing together when they were 18,
> going through a few different bands before the E Street lineup came
> together. The two grew up together, going from swimming pool and tiny
> club gigs to piling in a van and playing the circuit. And by the time
> they hit 30, they were playing arenas in Europe, and then stadiums in
> America. A true rags to riches story, spanning almost exactly 40
> years.
>
> The band has swapped out and accumulated members over the years; even
> the "new guys" (Nils Lofgren and Mrs. Springsteen) joined the band
> over 23 years ago. Still, it's worth remembering that Federici was one
> of only three current members (with Tallent and Clemons) who had been
> with Bruce in the original lineup.
>
> In the early days, the band was funkier, and jazz/rock pro David
> Sancious handled duties on piano. During the making of Born To Run,
> Sancious' departure led to the arrival of Roy Bittan, who had been
> working in a Broadway pit. Federici and Sancious had sounded good
> together, but the Federici/Bittan axis created a much more distinct
> contrast in styles, in turn forming a core component of what would
> become the familiar E Street sound.
>
> AS WHAT YOU COULD CALL an intermediate-level pianist, I admire
> individual playing in two ways. The first way is because I more or
> less understand what the player is doing; his basic sensibility is
> similar to mine, and he is really, really good at what he does. That's
> Roy Bittan -- technically awesome, not without feeling by any means,
> but with a more structured, classically influenced approach.
>
> I admire other playing precisely because I have no idea how the guy is
> doing it. I hear it, and I can't get my head around what's going
> through his brain, which is perplexing, mystifying, and a little
> enchanting. That's what Danny's playing could be like. He had a
> vocabulary full of grace notes and melodic fills, and a bag of tricks
> pertaining to playing the organ as opposed to the piano, that made for
> great performance, not even counting his solos.
>
> While it's amazing how many of his real signature parts he had
> recorded before he was 25, it's more impressive to realize how much
> musical knowledge he had absorbed before he ever met Springsteen.
> Yeah, he knew classical, too, but he had a variety of ethnic and
> regional riffery down cold, stemming in part from his accordion
> education. Add a genuine desire to rock, stir in the willingness to
> make music your life, don't forget the luck of having a world-class
> rock star in waiting growing up in your neighborhood, and you have
> something special.
>
> FEDERICI BY ALL ACCOUNTS was a humble guy, and that carried over to
> his role in the band. Bittan and his parts were often higher profile;
> on top of that, Roy was further downstage, better lit, literally more
> visible. I listened to nothing but the E Street Band today, and there
> was even one passage where I thought gosh, Danny isn't even playing
> right now. Then I realized he was playing -- there was so much going
> on elsewhere that he was somehow creating less notes than texture,
> finding his space and contributing to what the listener enjoyed almost
> subliminally.
>
> More noticeable was his glockenspiel work. Listen to a stripped-down
> old version of "Thunder Road", and the instrumental star is the piano.
> But what provides the unmistakable E Street stamp is the glockenspiel
> in the supporting role. Its sound, part Swiss watch and part bell, is
> what joins the vocal and brings the song to life. That is the sound of
> the wind chimes on the porch as Mary walks past them to get in the
> car. And that is the sound of the lightning-struck feeling in the air
> (and in their stomachs) as the two kids drive off.
