Coming on November 11th is Bruce Springsteen‘s soul covers set, titled Only The Strong Survive.
“The Boss” has released the video for the album’s first single, “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” a 1965 single by Frank Wilson on the Motown subsidiary, Soul Records. The album, which was recorded without the E Street Band, features two duets with Sam & Dave‘s Sam Moore — “Soul Days” and “I Forgot To Be Your Lover.”
Among the other covers on the set are the Walker Brothers‘ “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,” Jimmy Ruffin‘s “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted,” Jerry Butler‘s “Hey, Western Union Man,” the Temptations‘ “I Wish It Would Rain,” the Four Tops‘ “7 Rooms Of Gloom,” the Supremes‘ “Someday We’ll Be Together” — and even the Commodores‘ 1985 hit “Nightshift.”
Bruce Springsteen commented: “I wanted to make an album where I just sang. And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I’ve taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray, and Scott Walker, among many others. I’ve tried to do justice to them all—and to the fabulous writers of this glorious music. My goal is for the modern audience to experience its beauty and joy, just as I have since I first heard it. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it.”
In the video announcement for the set, Springsteen explained, “I decided to do something I had never done before: make some music that is centered around singing, around challenging my voice. Now, in my own memoir, I give my voice a little short shrift by saying I didn’t think I had much of one. But once I started on this project, after listening to some of the things we cut, I thought, ‘My voice is badass!'”
Only The Strong Survive was tracked at Thrill Hill Recording in New Jersey, produced by Ron Aniello, engineered by Rob Lebret and executive produced by Jon Landau.
The release will mark Bruce Springsteen’s first studio album since 2020’s Letter To You (Columbia Records), which debuted at #1 in eleven countries.
Springsteen will reunite with the legendary E Street Band in February for his 2023 international tour, which to date has sold over 1.6 million tickets across the United States and Europe and includes 3 nights at Dublin’s RDS on May 5, 7 & 9 2023.
The tracklisting to Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Only The Strong Survive‘:
“Soul Days” – with Sam Moore
“Nightshift”
“Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)”
“The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”
“Turn Back The Hands Of Time”
“When She Was My Girl”
“Hey, Western Union Man”
“I Wish It Would Rain”
“Don’t Play That Song”
“Any Other Way”
“I Forgot To Be Your Lover” – with Sam Moore
“7 Rooms Of Gloom”
“What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted”
“Someday We’ll Be Together”
