Several people have emailed saying that Bruce Springsteen once again mentioned my Woody Guthrie biography during his recent keynote speech at the South By Southwest festival. I finally got around to reading the speech this morning and thanks again, Boss. I’ve had my work touted by some pretty amazing people, but Springsteen’s enduring love of the first book I ever wrote has to be the most gratifying. I’ve loved his music ever since I almost fell off the balcony of the Harvard Square Theater listening to him sing “Rosalita” in 1974.
Enough about me, though: Springsteen’s speech is extraordinary, joyous, profound, rambling and raunchy, nothing less than the history of rock and roll in a couple of thousand words–it contains all the qualities that make me love rock, folk-rock, alt-country, blues, funk, you name it. He is humble, as ever. He says his gift is only slightly above average. Yeah, right.