December 29: Bruce Springsteen played Nassau Coliseum in 1980

BS - Coliseum 29 1980

Bruce played 3 concerts @ Nassau Coliseum at the end of 1980, and the New-year eve concert is the most famous. The concert bootleg “Nassau Night” (Crystal Cat) from the 12-31-1980 concert is one of the most famous (& best) Springsteen boots. BUT the concert he played on the 29th is also fantastic… and he played a heavenly version of “Incident on 57th Street” (only River Tour version – and next live version didn’t come until September 25th 1999 in Philadelphia, PA)

Incident on 57th Street – 1980-12-29:

“This is, uh…this is a song we haven’t done in a real long time…(?) …this is, uh, I hope I remember all the words, alright, I might not, I just learned them (?)…”
~Bruce intro for “Incident..”

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December 28: The late great Pops Staples was born in 1914

pops staples

The late great Pops Staples was born in 1914

Roebuck “Pops” Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000) was an American gospel and R&B musician.

A pivotal figure in gospel in the 1960s and 70s, he was a tremendous songwriter, guitarist and singer. He was the patriarch and member of singing group The Staple Singers, which included his son Pervis and daughters Mavis, Yvonne, and Cleotha, later just Pops and his daughters.

Pops Staples – Gotta serve somebody (Jools Holland, 1994(?)):

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December 27: The late great Scotty Moore was born in 1931

“When I heard Heartbreak Hotel, I knew what I wanted to do in life. It was as plain as day. All I wanted to do in the world was to be able to play and sound like that. Everyone else wanted to be Elvis, I wanted to be Scotty.”
– Keith Richards

Scotty Moore was born in 1931

Winfield Scott “Scotty” Moore III (born December 27, 1931, died June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist and recording engineer. He is best known for his backing of Elvis Presley in the first part of his career, between 1954 and the beginning of Elvis’s Hollywood years. He was ranked 44th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2011. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

One of THE greatest rock’n roll guitarists of all time

…he died in 2016 and he is sorely missed!

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December 26: Happy 51st Birthday Jay Farrar

As a founding member of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, songwriter Jay Farrar helped popularize the alt-country movement of the 1990s. He also launched a solo career during the following decade, making it plain that his musical ambitions stretched far beyond the retro-leaning twang of his contemporaries.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)

“Woody has always been a reference point for me, as well a source of inspiration along the way. I was brought up around his music at a pretty early age, … The reference in the song relates more to the way my own children have become fans, I guess (laughs). If there was no Highway 61, we may not have had Bob Dylan or Leadbelly .”
~Jay Farrar

Son Volt – Windfall (Austin City Limits, 1996)

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December 25: Shane MacGowan was born in 1957

Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic trad punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGowan and the Popes, as well as producing his own solo material and working on collaborations with artists such as Kirsty MacColl, Joe Strummer, Nick Cave, Steve Earle, and Sinéad O’Connor.

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