Bruce Springsteen reveals to Noel Gallagher the British band he loves.
From a British perspective, Bruce Springsteen is imbued with so much all-American characteristic that even picturing him simply conversing with Noel Gallagher is somewhat of an oddity.
In some ways, their discographies share an earthy kinship, but the evident division of the pond places them firmly on opposite sides of the same coin.
When Bruce Springsteen talks of jumping in a Mustang and driving through the night until the engine gives out, you can really get behind the sincere romanticism of the story.
The image of The Boss eating through the unspooling open road that spills out from New Jersey to the West in one huge rolling bulge of possibility to be plundered is as visceral and present in the song as the howling harmonica in the background.
However, the same story in northern England involves a lad getting behind the wheel of an economical family hatchback and driving two hours down the motorway, where he picks up an overpriced service station sausage sandwich, has second thoughts, and trundles on back home.
This makes it all the more remarkable when Bruce Springsteen and Noel Gallagher were brought together, and ‘The Boss’ revealed an unexpected British love.
“I met Bruce Springsteen about three or four years ago,” Gallagher revealed to Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson.
The host briefly mentioned Springsteen in passing, and Noel interpreted this as the perfect opportunity to unleash his secret weapon.
“We were out with a mutual friend of ours, in Ibiza, or Formentera at some restaurant, and somebodies phone goes. I know Mick Jagger’s kids, right. I know Jade Jagger, and she lives in Formentera,” the former Oasis man explains as he erupts into full storytelling mode reminiscing on his night with the blue-collar star.
“I’m not the biggest Springsteen fan, but I love his big tunes. But honestly, we had the best four-hour chat about music ever. He was like, ‘You’re from Manchester, right?’ I was like, ‘Yeah’, and he was like, ‘How about that fucking Stone Roses album, whatever happened to those guys?’ I said, ‘Let me pour you a drink and tell you the whole sorry tale,”
Gallagher recounts while drifting in and out of a miscellaneous American accent as the pair discussed their love of Promethean Manchester band and their masterful self-titled debut album.
Springsteen’s love of The Stones Roses is not limited to the meeting with Noel Gallagher either.
As he remarked on his home radio show:
“All right, before Oasis there was The Stone Roses. Out of Manchester, they started it all. And here’s one that’s every rock star’s dream: ‘I Wanna Be Adored’.’”
It’s an unexpected passion that seemingly resulted in one hell of a night for Gallagher, as he concluded:
“Honestly, one of my best ever meetings. This guy is a complete fan of music. He was a proper dude,”
Gallagher added before hilariously revealing that Springsteen tried and failed to convince him to write an autobiography.
Source: Farout Magazine
Image: Mitch Ikeda