Bruce Springsteen fans are already awaiting the deluxe reissue his album Darkness on the Edge of Town in 1978 this fall, but even better news may be the documentary about the making of the album that will premiere on HBO in October. Called The Promise, at the Toronto Film Festival it will screen in September. Rolling Stone reported some details about the doc after speaking to Thom Powers, the Toronto fest’s documentary programmer. Powers told the magazine, “The strength of this movie is that it just concentrates on the making of just one album. There’s not even much concert pictures.”
What it does have, it appears, is plenty of rare vintage studio picture, original studio recordings, and extensive new interviews with, among others, the Boss himself, Patti Smith (who co-wrote “Because the Night”), and members of the E Street Band, including the late organist Danny Federici. After reading the news, I scrolled through Life.com’s gallery of vintage Springsteen shots and was reminded again just how much I love looking at pictures from ’70s-era E Street Band. Like just the ticket for me a whole movie about that time sounds. Are you tuning in? And do you agree as many do that Darkness is Springsteen at his best?
With the much-anticipated release of a commemorative box set for Darkness on the Edge of Town slated for this Christmas, Bruce Springsteen's classic record is getting renewed attention in the music world. Details on the project are scarce; however, in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Steven Van Zandt mentioned that about 10 unreleased songs will be included in the box set. Fans are surely hungry for any and all material they can get from the 1978 recording sessions and subsequent tour.
ReplyDeleteFor our own preview of what's to come, we contacted Dick Wingate, who was intimately involved in the launch and marketing of the album and tour. He offers an insider's view of what the Darkness era meant to Bruce and the band, while painting an often-humorous behind-the-scenes account of some of the tour's highlights.
Enjoy, and be certain to check out the book The Light in Darkness, which one fan said, "… would also make a great companion piece to the much anticipated commemorative Darkness box set…"