A collection of candid conversations between the giant of rock and the 44th president of the United States, it includes handwritten lyrics, annotated speeches and exclusive photographs. The book is a spin-off of the Spotify podcast that the unlikely pair – who became friends when Springsteen supported Obama’s election campaign in 2008 – began in February of this year.
Obama has said: ‘On the surface, Bruce and I don’t have a lot in common. But over the years, what we’ve found is that we’ve got a shared sensibility. About work, about family and about America. In our own ways, Bruce and I have been on parallel journeys trying to understand this country that’s given us both so much.’
Bruce ‘The Boss’ Springsteen saw the Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, bought a guitar and has been singing about working class American life ever since. He has sold over 150 million records worldwide and has 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Oscar under his belt. Only the Beatles and Jay Z have had more No 1 albums than Springsteen. The man is a legend.
These eight clips show why we love him so.
Image: Bill Ebbesen
Appearance At 9/11 Memorial Concert, 2021
In his smart black suit and sober tie, The Boss was every bit the elder statesman during his performance of I’ll See You in My Dreams at the 9/11 memorial concert – marking 20 years since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre – last month. The harmonica, the gravelly voice, the poignant lyrics: it goes without saying that he brought the audience to tears. Watch it here.
An Early Interview With The Boss, 1978
With a run of sell-out concerts in New York and his face on the covers of Time and Newsweek, the kid from New Jersey had found his groove and had fans falling at his feet by 1978. In this interview, one of his earliest appearances on a US news show, he is awkward and endearing and very much less articulate than he will become. Watch it here.
Springsteen On The Graham Norton Show, 2019
The excitement is palpable when Springsteen arrives on set for the first time on The Graham Norton Show. If you’re a big fan of The Boss, you may even get goose pimples. Just saying. He is so earnest and self-deprecating and warm and twinkly eyed, you want to watch him forever. (Do bother to stick with the whole thing: with Sienna Miller, Robert De Niro, James Blunt and Paul Rudd in the line up as well, it is particularly excellent episode.) Watch it here.
Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, 1975
Here, on November 18, 1975, a now globally famous Springsteen takes London by storm. This spine-tingling rendition of Thunder Road was part of his European concert debut. In 1987, Springsteen’s biographer wrote: ‘The screaming intensity of those ‘78 shows are part of rock and roll legend in the same way as Dylan’s 1966 shows with the Band, the Rolling Stones’ tours of 1969 and 1972, and the Who’s Tommy tour of 1969: benchmarks of an era.’ Watch it here.
An Interview With The Boss’s Wife, 2007
Patti Scialfa is a muse, mother, musician and recording artist – and she has been married to The Boss since 1991. They have three grown-up children together and live on a huge farm in New Jersey. Here, backstage in Boston in 2012, she talks love, marriage and domestic life at the age of 54. Watch it here.
The Video For Dancing In The Dark, 1984
This video surely epitomizes all that is great about Springsteen. His rolled-up t-shirt, heavy boots, thick belt and terrible, static, 80s dance moves are a joy from start to finish. We defy you not to smile throughout. Also: be sure to spot a young Courtney Cox (with a woeful hairdo) jiving along. Watch it here.
The Rockstar And The President Make A Podcast, 2021
Watch as the two pals chat through life, interspersed with gripping photographs from their childhoods, home videos and concert videos, in the promotional clip for their hot new podcast. Watch it here.
The Boss Looks Back, 2020
Here, in his home studio in the Covid era, The Boss reflects on the many different lives he has lived. He holds forth charmingly on parenting adult offspring, celebrating with tequila shots and the ways he has kept buoyant in the pandemic. (Don’t forget to check out the kerchief around his neck and the number of guitars lined up behind him. You have got to love him.) Watch it here.
By Becky Ladenburg
September 2021
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