Just over 50 years ago this week I witnessed an unlikely triple bill in New York’s Central Park that backfired somewhat: Canadian MOR/country singer Anne Murray headlining over Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band with Brewer & Shipley as the opening act. This was precisely 12 months before Born To Run would be released, the third time I’d seen Bruce and I was already a fan. Here’s what I wrote for Melody Maker’s Caught In The Act page, dated August 17, 1974.
Three acts with little in common, Anne Murray, Bruce Springsteen and Brewer & Shipley, were together in Central Park last weekend for another concert in the Schaeffer Music Festival series – an unlikely combination, but one that appeared to satisfy the audience that each artist attracted. If Anne Murray was calm but professional, Springsteen was artistic and inspired, and Brewer & Shipley were dull but competent.
It was Springsteen’s night. Although he was second billed to Ms Murray, he received the biggest ovation and at least half the crowd didn’t stay when he’d finished. The concert was running well overtime but that, I feel, was a secondary factor. He’s all New York, full of songs about the city, while Anne Murray is fresh air and country: the Big Apple is her least likely market.
Springsteen has been deemed the future of rock’n’roll by US critics for over a year now, a burden that’s hard for any man to bear. His Central Park performance was probably his most important show to date and he rose to the occasion, bopping and rocking one moment and romanticising about his youth the next.
In his vest and black jeans, shades and wispy beard, he’s every inch the New York street kid, straight from West Side Story. He could probably get away with singing ‘Maria’ if he wanted, but his material stands up on its own. The utter helplessness he exudes shines like a light in the darkness and if the tough New York Westsiders could ever cry Bruce would be the man to make it happen.
If Bruce is unclean but emotional, Anne Murray is clean but unemotional. Bruce could harm but Anne is harmless, a true professional who does a good night’s work for an audience that’s less demanding from an emotional standpoint.
She’s managed by Shep Gordon, who also manages Alice Cooper, another unlikely combination, and I would question his wisdom in teaming up his client with Bruce. Another noteworthy factor about Anne is the high number of gay women she seems to attract. As the audience filtered down after Springsteen’s set, I couldn’t help but notice the female “couples” who took over the seats at the front. To them, at least, she means as much as Springsteen does to those who were filing out into the night.
Though Anne is aware of this phenomenon, she plays it down. She also ignored isolated, uncalled-for yells of “Bruce” during her set that, when stretched out, sounded like boos. Her songs are fresh and crystal clear, her band (including a string section) polished and professional and her songs are delivered in a heavy, rather deep voice that is more noticeable on stage than on her records.
The girls clapped and cheered and Anne did a couple on encores. When it was all over lots of them were waiting at the back with cameras. Although poles apart, Bruce Springsteen and Anne Murray mean a great deal to a great many.
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