Few actors in modern pop culture have a voice, or, you know, 30, that’s as instantly recognizable as Hank Azaria. For more than three decades on The Simpsons, he’s been the guy behind some of Springfield’s most iconic misfits.

From perpetually grouchy bar-keep Moe Szyslak, to the ever-smug Comic Book Guy, to the lovably clueless Chief Wiggum, Azaria’s characters have delivered lines that live rent-free in the cultural zeitgeist. But step off the Fox soundstage and into a dimly lit club, and Azaria isn’t reaching for a script; he’s grabbing the mic, ready to front his band.

​In recent years, Azaria has been channeling another American icon, paying soulful, full-throated tribute to Bruce Springsteen with a reverence that goes far beyond impression. Backed by a powerhouse band lovingly dubbed the EZ Street Band, Azaria is careful not to parody The Boss and is quick to point out that this tribute comes from a place of passion.

​“I am an obsessive vocal geek,” says Azaria. ​“This is a new way to express that. I'm a mimic at heart. This is the first singing impression I've really worked hard on in my life, and all the more reason I'm loving it. I've had to sing often in my career, but I never cared enough to try to sound all that good. Usually I'm just singing comedically.”

With a grin, he seamlessly switches into the voice of Wiggum, “When Chief Wiggum sings, nobody really cares how nice it sounds as long as it's funny and it's fairly on key,” he says with a laugh. Shifting gears to Moe, he says, “Same for Moe, you know, nobody cares how nice Moe sounds when he's singing. For Bruce, you want it to sound nice, or at least soulful, so working on that has been really fun,” he tells us.

We’re breaking something of a golden rule for Guitar World here, as Azaria does not play. However, from his rock connections to his custom ‘Moe’ Petillo guitar and what it was like to share the stage with Slash and Joe Bonamassa at the same time, he has plenty of insight to keep guitarists entertained. Worst. Interview. Ever? Not a chance.​

We join Azaria in his home office, and having seen a photo of him holding a rather striking custom Petillo guitar, we ask about his own relationship with the six-string.

“I tried to play as a teenager and failed miserably at it,” he says with a laugh. “I discovered that my left hand and right hand can’t do two different things at once, which is a real detriment for any musical instrument!”

​He reaches off-camera and grabs a Telecaster-esque guitar. “The only reason I have this beautiful guitar is because I’ve been doing the Springsteen thing.” Transforming into a dead-on impression of Bruce, he continues, “Now, vocally, I can do a lot of things that I can’t do with my hands and feet.”

Holding the guitar to the camera, Azaria proudly shows off the sheer amount of detail that covers the entire length of the instrument.

“We played the Stone Pony, which you know is the Mecca of Springsteen fandom. Springsteen’s actual guitar maker, Dave Petillo, surprised me and gifted me with this unbelievable guitar, which is exactly Bruce’s guitar to his specifications. He just made it purple in honor of Moe’s Tavern.”

Looking at the guitar’s bridge and making his way along the neck, Azaria says, “He did all these incredible mother-of-pearl inlays.” Landing on an impressive inlaid recreation of the Simpsons bartender, he can’t help but slip into character, saying, “There’s Moe right there. Baked right in there.”

​Flipping the instrument over reveals a striking psychedelic symbol. “On the back, that design is Steve Van Zandt’s. I'm inspired by Steve Van Zandt [and that’s a] sign he uses a lot,” says Azaria. He also points out a line from the Bruce Springsteen classic, Thunder Road, ‘We got one last chance to make it real, trade in these wings on some wheels.’

Making the Moe guitar

Guitar builder Dave Petillo on the creation of Hank Azaria’s Simpsons-inspired custom build...

“The features are inspired by the Fender Esquire my father, Phil Petillo, sold and customized for Bruce Springsteen, helping shape his signature sound.

“These elements include Bruce’s actual neck-shape specifications, Petillo Triangle Frets, and a piece of the original Palace Amusement Park inlaid into the tone knob. The historic Palace is referenced in the lyrics of Born to Run.

“When I spoke with Stevie Van Zandt about incorporating the paisley pattern I created for his Petillo “Soulfire” guitar, along with his purple Om symbol, he was gracious in allowing Hank to feature an exclusive element inspired by one of his instruments.

“The rear pickguard design evokes a wheel rolling down the highway, referencing the lyric from Thunder Road. At its center is Stevie’s purple Om symbol, with his paisley motif integrated into the hubcap windows.

“The body is finished in a translucent purple nitrocellulose lacquer over a flame maple top. The color choice nods both to the nighttime palette of The Simpsons where Moe’s Tavern often appears in purple tones and to Stevie’s personal aesthetic. The maple’s top edge was carefully masked to create the illusion of natural maple perimeter binding, framing the body shape.

“On the headstock, within the Petillo & Buell oval logo, is an etched rendering of Danny Clinch’s 1949 Pontiac “Silverstreak,” complete with his signature red lightning bolt on the door, set against a Paua abalone background."

Head to Petillo Guitars for more information

As we continue to inspect the guitar, more and more details become apparent. “Look, it says ‘Down In Jungle Land’ right here,” says Azaria, pointing at the pickguard. There is even a duo of holograms of Bruce in concert that move as you angle the guitar.

“Those are Bruce playing to the crowd,” he says. Over at the tone controls, Azaria points out a curious little figure. “This little weird guy, that’s an icon that appears on the beach in Asbury Park a lot. He’s a little logo.”

​Now, as well as the Moe inlay, the actor’s Simpsons connection is also represented in more ways.

“The three-eyed fish is from The Simpsons,” says Azaria, flipping the guitar round to show off even more intricate inlay work. As well as Blinky, there’s even a burning pint glass to represent the Flaming Moe, from the fan favorite episode in season three of the show.

​“I wish I could play it,” declares Azaria. “Our guitarist, Alden Harris-McCoy, plays this on stage quite a lot. And it has a beautiful, authentic Bruce sound because it is, in fact, Bruce’s guitar.”

​When asked if he knew Petillo was making him the instrument, Azaria says he had no idea it was coming.

“[It was a] complete surprise to me. Dave Petillo, who builds these guitars for Bruce and many other people, takes tremendous pride in custom-making them and putting a ton of thought into the designs.”

Now, when quizzed if he thinks he’ll ever learn to play now that he has a guitar of this caliber, he’s quick to shut down the idea. “God no,” he says with a laugh. ”I’ve tried a lot as a teenager and failed. I’m fortunate I can sing; you know that’s where we leave it.”

Azaria’s journey into the world of Springsteen tributes began, like so many great stories, with a milestone birthday and a sense of mischief. Turning 60 and not wanting a grand, traditional celebration, he hatched a plan to do something a little different.

“I got this insane idea, and I honestly don’t know where it came from”, says Azaria. “I’m going to throw this huge party and create reunions, like a college reunion, a high school reunion, and a Broadway reunion, so that all my friends have each other and I don't have to really host.

“Most of them are huge Springsteen fans. So I told them that I had this incredible Springsteen tribute band coming that I found,” he says with a grin. “But I did not tell them that I had put together a band that I was working on for months to front!”

When the moment arrived, Azaria introduced the band, only to remain on stage, belting out Springsteen classics as his friends looked on in shock and delight.

“I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it. I gave myself genuine joy on my 60th birthday, seeing all the people I’d loved all through my life and knowing what this music meant to them,” reflects Azaria.

What started as a lark for his birthday blossomed into an ongoing project. “Now I’ve fallen down a complete rabbit hole of being very obsessed with developing as a singer and sounding more and more like Bruce,” he admits. “It’s become a third-act career.”

Mimicry, of course, has long been Azaria’s calling card, but singing as Bruce presented a new challenge, as he realized that to do justice to Springsteen required a level of vocal commitment beyond anything he’d done as a comedic voice actor.

“The mimicry part came easily to me because I can sort of mimic anything. The singing mimicry part was harder,” he reflects. “I realized a few months into it, ‘Oh, I just need to develop as a singer,’ because you can’t sound like Bruce unless you're really singing.”

In true Azaria fashion, the edges of his influences blur and overlap. When asked if there are any Simpsons voices that are closely linked to that Bruce impression, he explains that most of the voices he is famous for performing are linked in some way.

“Like a lot of the impressions I worked up as a young man, they were out of hero worship,” he says. “I love Bruce, so I would listen to his talks in concert, and I tried to imitate him.

“Another hero of mine growing up was Al Pacino,” he continues as he slips into the unmistakable voice of a young Pacino, “his voice was kind of high, you know, from Dog Day Afternoon or Godfather,” he then quickly transitions from Pacino, to Springsteen.

“If you take young Al Pacino on one end and Bruce Springsteen on the other, in the middle there, that's Moe the bartender. He's a mash-up of those two voices.”

Next, Azaria slips into the voice of Kirk Van Houten, Milhouse’s awkward dad, to demonstrate that even this unassuming character is linked in some way to Bruce.

“You know, in some ways, my Bruce sounds sort of like Milhouse's father from The Simpsons, kind of,” he says with Kirk's signature downbeat tone. “Although Milhouse's father is much more nerdy and insecure, and less soulful, funky, and cool.”

Azaria’s circle runs deep in musical comedy, but he hasn’t sought advice from his Simpsons co-star Harry Shearer, bassist in Spinal Tap, at least, not yet. He laughs at the prospect of bringing Shearer’s alter ego, Derek Smalls, up for a guest spot with the band.

“That’s a very good idea, actually,” he muses, imagining future gigs in the UK where Shearer might join them on stage if they could get the stars to align.

“You know, Harry's really playing bass. I am not ever playing a guitar. I’m developing my own frontman moves,” he says, laughing. “But if Harry’s there, that is a very good idea, actually, to have Harry sitting on bass with us in a couple of songs.”

Now, sharing the stage with legends is already a reality for Azaria. At a recent Soho Sessions charity night in New York, he found himself singing alongside none other than two guitar icons, Joe Bonamassa and Slash, at the same time.

“It was like an out-of-body experience,” he marvels, remembering the thrill of watching the guitar titans trade lead lines on Prove It All Night. “To look over and see Slash and Joe Bonamassa taking turns on the guitar solos, I kept grabbing my head, going, ‘I can’t believe this is happening!’”

Even more surreal was learning they’d arranged their parts according to the EZ Street Band’s specific live version.

“I think they knew the song, but did have to learn it,” says Azaria. “If you look at Prove It All Night, you'll find, I'm not exaggerating, 11 different live versions of that song over the years.

“Often, we’re mish-mashing them, but for this one were going off a very specific recording from like the late ’70s. They took our recording of that, Slash and Joe Bonamassa, and they arranged it exactly to it. It was really fun. It’s crazy,” he says, smiling ear to ear.

Of course, for a lifelong Simpsons star and Bruce devotee, inviting Springsteen himself onto the animated streets of Springfield remains the ultimate dream. Azaria admits to geeking out when meeting The Boss and hopes one day he’ll say yes to an appearance – although he has turned down offers in the past, revealing his role went to Sting in the episode Radio Bart in season three.

“I met Bruce twice, and I geeked out so hard twice that I barely got any words out. So I might not be the best advocate for this – but yeah, I hope someday he joins us.”

For now, he treasures a video message from Springsteen – perhaps recorded under duress.

“I have a buddy who's a dentist in New York and he’s a big fan of Bruce,” explains Azaria. “One day, I get a text from him, and it’s a video of him in his office. The camera pans over, and Bruce is in his dentist chair. He says, ‘Hey Hank, Bruce Springsteen. I got a pretty bad toothache, but while I'm sitting here, I've been fabulously entertained by your version of Prove It All Night, which I got to say, you do a pretty good job of it.’

​“So I was on an aeroplane when I got that, and I started crying. I was so happy. And the guy sitting next to me thought I was absolutely out of my mind!”

Azaria sees his tribute show as “almost a one-man show about how I feel about this music and how it affected me, plus us trying to recreate his songs as best we can.” It’s a loving homage, and the fact that Springsteen himself is flattered by it means everything.

Does he ever see a day when Bruce will share the stage with him? “That would be a dream come true for him to somehow join us. Maybe when we’re playing The Stone Pony again, one day, maybe Bruce will get word, or we’ll figure it out, and he’ll come up and do a song or two with us. That’s my hope.”

Ending our interview, we wanted to see which of the many, many characters he has given a voice to he would invite into the band. Azaria pauses and thinks, “That’s a good question – yeah, that is a good question,” he says with a grin. Cycling through voices in rapid-fire, he says in character, “It wouldn’t be Professor Frink, I don’t think he enjoys that sort of music. It wouldn’t be the police chief Wiggum”, he says in Wiggum’s trademark nasal tone.

Without missing a beat, he’s into the gravely, surly tone of Szyslak, “Oh, it would be Moe. You know, Moe had Aerosmith in his bar. I feel Moe understands the rock ‘n’ roll thing. It would definitely be Moe.”

If you're looking to catch Azaria and the band live, head over to ezstreetnyc.com for all their upcoming tour dates.

The 2026 Grammys took place last night (February 1) and proved to be something of a guitar music love-in. From Justin Bieber wielding a 1988 Yamaha RGX 612S, to Turnstile winning both Best Rock Album and, perhaps more controversially, Best Metal Performance, pop stars and quintessential rock bands alike were out in full force this year, flying the flag for the instrument.

The Ozzy Osbourne tribute (or should that be tributes?) took center stage across the weekend. Machine Gun Kelly and Jelly Roll both honored the Prince of Darkness at record executive Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammys gala on Saturday night – with MGK opting for 2007's I Don’t Wanna Stop and the country star giving a heartfelt rendition of 1991's Mama, I’m Coming Home.

The award show’s own tribute took place on the actual Grammy stage, with an all-star lineup that included a Les Paul-laden Slash and Ozzy producer Andrew Watt brandishing an SG, Duff McKagan on bass, and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith on drums.

Post Malone – who collaborated with Ozzy on Take What You Want and It’s a Raid from Osbourne’s first new album in a decade, 2019’s Ordinary Man – took up vocal duties on an abbreviated rendition of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, a version that visibly left the Osbourne family fighting back tears.

Aside from the Prince of Darkness, this year's In Memoriam segment kicked off with a voiceover from Bruce Springsteen, paying tribute to Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson: “The last of the Wilson brothers may be gone, but he leaves behind so many great songs, and good vibrations.”

John Mayer also paid his respects to Dead & Company bandmate and Grateful Dead legend Bob Weir, also in a voiceover: “He understood songwriting to its core, having written and performed some of the most enduring music in American history.

“Bob was a messenger, not only for the music he made with the Grateful Dead, but for the tapestry of influences that birthed it … Bob has left us, but the songs he sang will remain a road map for a better, more meaningful life. See you down the road, Ace.”

Neo-soul pioneer D'Angelo was honored by a host of artists and contemporaries: Lauryn Hill – marking her first Grammys performance since 1999 – Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, Leon Thomas, and Jon Batiste.

And while guitar stars, including the likes of Ace Frehley were included in the segment, Mastodon fans pointed out that Brent Hinds was noticeably omitted, with Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert and Zappa Plays Zappa bassist, Pete Griffin, taking to social media to call out the institution: “Shame on @grammys for not including my brother (and fellow Grammy winner) Brent Hinds in their ‘in memoriam’ segment.”

The omission seemed particularly odd, given Hinds had been nominated for no less than six Grammys, and won one in 2018 – Best Metal Performance for Sultan's Curse – during his tenure with Mastodon.

Yungblud, Ozzy’s mentee and part of the new vanguard leading rock into the future, won his first-ever Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for his career-making rendition of Changes at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning concert.

“To grow up loving an idol who helped you develop your identity, not only as a musician, but as a man, is something that I’m truly grateful for,” he said in his acceptance speech.

“But then to get to know them and to form a relationship with them, and to honor them at their final show, and receive this because of it, is something that I and I think we are finding a bit strange to comprehend.

“We fucking love you, Ozzy,” he continued. “We would all like to thank Sharon, Jack, Kelly and Aimee [Osbourne] for this opportunity, and everyone at the Back To The Beginning show. Six generations of rock musicians came together in the name of our genre, in the name of Sabbath and in the name of Ozzy Osbourne.

“I deeply love this genre, it’s all I’ve ever known. I want to dedicate it to everyone in the guitar shop that I grew up in, and everyone in a guitar shop or in a bedroom with a dream. Rock music’s fucking coming back – watch out pop music, we’re gonna fucking get ya.”

And speaking of rock music's comeback, Turnstile bagged Best Rock Album for last year's triumphant album, Never Enough.

Accepting the award, frontman Brendan Yates commented, “The community we found through punk and hardcore music has given us a safe place to swing in the dark and land somewhere beautiful. So to our family, our friends, our partners, our peers, and to Baltimore, thank you. We love you.”

Perhaps more surprisingly, the genre-blending band also managed to win Best Metal Performance for Birds, beating the more metal through-and-through acts Dream Theater, Ghost, Sleep Token, and Spiritbox.

More standout guitar moments came by way of Bruno Mars, who, together with K-Pop star Rosé, delivered an overdriven rendition of their global hit APT.

Armed with a black Les Paul – as opposed to his signature Fender – Mars added some extra grit, as well as a squealing guitar solo, to the pop-punk-inflected track as the duo, who were nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, opened the show.

And it very much seemed like Justin Bieber went full-on Mk.gee with a stripped-down, guitar and looper performance of Yukon – from last year's album Swag (which, fun fact, included the contributions of both Mk.gee as well as his frequent collaborator Dijon).

Bieber’s guitar of choice was a left-handed purple 1988 Yamaha RGX 612S that definitely stood out on stage – an off-kilter choice that continues the trend of pop and indie stars à la Kesha and Phoebe Bridgers opting for ’80s and ’90s guitars more typically associated with metal or hardcore, whether for aesthetics or tone (or both).

Here's the full list of winners and nominees in the big four categories – and the guitar-adjacent ones:

Song of the year

Billie Eilish - Wildflower

Lady Gaga – Abracadabra

Doechii – Anxiety

Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.

Bad Bunny – DtMF

Hunter/x – Golden

Kendrick Lamar feat SZA – Luther

Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild

Record of the year

Kendrick Lamar feat SZA - Luther

Bad Bunny – DtMF

Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild

Doechii – Anxiety

Billie Eilish – Wildflower

Lady Gaga – Abracadabra

Chappell Roan – The Subway

Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.

Album of the year

Winner: Bad Bunny – Debí Tirar Más Fotos

Justin Bieber – Swag

Sabrina Carpenter – Man's Best Friend

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Lady Gaga – Mayhem

Kendrick Lamar – GNX

Leon Thomas – Mutt

Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia

Best new artist

Olivia Dean

Katseye

The Marías

Addison Rae

Sombr

Leon Thomas

Alex Warren

Lola Young

Best pop solo performance

Lola Young – Messy

Justin Bieber – Daisies

Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild

Lady Gaga – Disease

Chappell Roan – The Subway

Best pop vocal album

Lady Gaga – Mayhem

Justin Bieber – Swag

Sabrina Carpenter – Man's Best Friend

Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful

Teddy Swims – I've Tried Everything But Therapy Pt 2

Best pop duo/group performance

Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande – Defying Gravity

Huntr/x – Golden

Katseye – Gabriela

Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.

SZA With Kendrick Lamar – 30 For 30

Best traditional pop vocal album

Laufey – A Matter Of Time

Laila Biali – Wintersongs

Jennifer Hudson – The Gift Of Love

Elton John & Brandi Carlile – Who Believes In Angels?

Lady Gaga – Harlequin

Barbra Streisand – The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume 2

Best rock performance

Yungblud ft Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, II – Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning

Amyl and The Sniffers – U Should Not Be Doing That

Linkin Park – The Emptiness Machine

Turnstile – Never Enough

Hayley Williams – Mirtazapine

Best rock song

Nine Inch Nails – As Alive As You Need Me To Be

Sleep Token – Caramel

Hayley Williams – Glum

Turnstile – Never Enough

Yungblud – Zombie

Best rock album

Turnstile – Never Enough

Deftones – Private Music

Haim – I Quit

Linkin Park – From Zero

Yungblud – Idols

Best alternative music album

The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World

Bon Iver – Sable, Fable

Tyler, The Creator – Don't Tap the Glass

Wet Leg – Moisturizer

Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party

Best alternative music performance

The Cure – Alone

Bon Iver – Everything Is Peaceful Love

Turnstile – Seein' Stars

Wet Leg – Mangetout

Hayley Williams – Parachute

Best metal performance

Turnstile – Birds

Dream Theater – Night Terror

Ghost – Lachryma

Sleep Token – Emergence

Spiritbox – Soft Spine

Best country solo performance

Chris Stapleton – Bad As I Used To Be

Tyler Childers – Nose On The Grindstone

Shaboozey – Good News

Zach Top – I Never Lie

Lainey Wilson – Somewhere Over Laredo

Best country duo/group performance

Shaboozey & Jelly Roll – Amen

Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton – A Song To Sing

Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson – Trailblazer

Margo Price & Tyler Childers – Love Me Like You Used To Do

George Strait & Chris Stapleton – Honky Tonk Hall Of Fame

Best country song

Tyler Childers – Bitin' List

Shaboozey – Good News

Zach Top – I Never Lie

Lainey Wilson – Somewhere Over Laredo

Chris Stapleton – A Song To Sing

Best contemporary country album

Jelly Roll – Beautifully Broken

Kelsea Ballerini – Patterns

Tyler Childers – Snipe Hunter

Eric Church – Evangeline vs The Machine

Miranda Lambert – Postcards From Texas

Best R&B performance

Kehlani – Folded

Justin Bieber – Yukon

Chris Brown feat Bryson Tiller – It Depends

Leon Thomas – Mutt (Live From NPR's Tiny Desk)

Summer Walker – Heart Of A Woman

Best African music performance

Tyla – Push 2 Start

Burna Boy – Love

Davido feat Omah Lay – With You

Eddy Kenzo & Mehran Matin – Hope & Love

Ayra Starr feat Wizkid – Gimme Dat

Best Latin pop album

Natalia Lafourcade – Cancionera

Rauw Alejandro – Cosa Nuestra

Andrés Cepeda – Bogotá (Deluxe)

Karol G – Tropicoqueta

Alejandro Sanz – ¿Y ahora qué?

Best música urbana album

Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS

J Balvin – Mixteip

Feid – Ferxxo Vol X: Sagrado

Nicki Nicole – Naiki

Trueno – Eub Deluxe

Yandel – Sinfónico (En Vivo)

Jeremy Allen White has revealed the incredibly generous gift – and gracious show of support – that he received from Bruce Springsteen while he was getting into the role of the Boss for his now-released biopic.

For Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, White was tasked with portraying Springsteen on the big screen – a rather daunting task, especially when one remembers The Bear star had never picked up a guitar before he got the role.

However, he had plenty of help getting to grips with the instrument. Not only did White get guitar lessons from session ace J. D. Simo, he was also given an acoustic guitar by Springsteen himself. It wasn’t just any ol’ guitar, either – it was a vintage Gibson acoustic resembling Springsteen’s own.

“I got a text from someone saying, ‘Bruce would like to send you something,’” White remembers in a promo clip for the film. “They said, ‘You have to be there to receive it.’ It was a 1955 Gibson J-200.”

“It was as close as I could get to the original guitar that I played,” Springsteen says of the gift. “I said, ‘This is just some good voodoo for the film.’”

It was good voodoo indeed, as White was able to get to grips with the instrument ahead of the movie.

“That's the guitar I learned to play,” he asserts. “I think it's the nicest guitar anybody's ever learned to play the guitar on. I have it in a very special spot in my home.”

In the lead-up to the release of Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere – which charts the making of Springsteen’ seminal acoustic record, Nebraska – White has spoken at length about the responsibility he felt in stepping into the role.

To prepare for the job, he took guitars to the set of The Bear to practice in his spare time. Understandable, really, given he called the experience “the most frightened I’ve been in my work life”.

“Picking up a guitar for the first time when you've never held one before, and knowing in six months you have to be playing it, that was humbling,” he said recently.

Greta Van Fleet are making a big screen cameo in the highly anticipated Bruce Springsteen biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

Spoiler alert – there's a scene in which Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen joins a ‘local’ band at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Turns out, that band is actually made up of an all-star lineup, curated by the film's producer, Dave Cobb.

Jake Kiszka and Sam Kiszka from Greta Van Fleet are the fictional band's guitarist and bassist, while keyboardist Bobby Emmett from Jack White's band and Nashville drummer Askel Coe round up the line-up. The band delivers its own rendition of Little Richard’s Lucille and John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom – performed alongside ‘Bruce’ – which are also included in the movie soundtrack.

“It’s interesting. It began through Dave Cobb; he produced the last Greta album (2023’s Starcatcher) and was helping me produce this current Mirador record,” Jake Kiszka explains in an interview with Billboard when asked about how the opportunity came about.

“We were sitting around on the dock out by the water at his house in Savannah (Georgia) and he said, ‘I’ve just been working on this Deliver Me From Nowhere film about Nebraska and Springsteen,’ and he said the director, Scott Cooper, was looking for a young band who could be the house band for the Stone Pony during this era of Springsteen.

“And Scott said, ‘I’m really looking for a young, sort of hop rock ’n’ roll band like Greta Van Fleet.’ And Dave’s like, ‘Well, I know someone… Why don’t we just ask those guys?’ He asked me, and then he needed a bass player and guitar player, so Sam and I sort of stepped up to the plate. That’s how it began.”

Kiszka asserts that the cameo was “completely unexpected, but there’s been so many opportunities like this that come across through the grapevine”.

He continues, “A lot of this stuff it’s like, ‘OK, that’s cool, but we’re touring’ or doing a record, whatever we’re busy with at the time. This came through, and it was like, you definitely can’t say no to this because Bruce Springsteen is such a big influence on us.”

He went on to explain the recording process with White as Springsteen, which included going to the Power Station in New York, where the Boss actually recorded.

“Jeremy came in as well,” Kiszka relates. “It was really rough and tumble; we maybe got two or three passes on each song. The idea was we were gonna record (more) at the Stony Pony while we were filming, so we were under the impression of, ‘OK, let’s give this a go, give it our best,’ and ultimately have another go at it when we’re on the set and filming.”

However, the plans changed slightly when the Power Station recordings were approved (and lauded) by Springsteen himself – a dream for the Kiszka brothers.

“What happened is Bruce heard what we had recorded (in the studio) and he was so enamored with it and loved it so much that Scott Cooper decided we were gonna use those recordings from the Power Station in studio, which is quite cool,” Kiszka says.

And like every other music biopic in recent years, White had to put in the hours to learn guitar à la Springsteen – with a co-star revealing in a recent interview that he was lugging his guitar to other sets and secretly practicing.

Jeremy Allen White is starring as Bruce Springsteen in the brand-new biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere – a role which required him to learn the guitar for the first time in his life.

Naturally, biopics about musicians mean actors have to go through the growing pains of learning guitar in the style of the musician they’re embodying in order to convey a faithful portrayal.

Timothée Chalamet–turned–Bob Dylan did it, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez waxed lyrical about the process, and now it’s White’s turn to look back on the trials and tribulations of learning guitar in preparation for becoming the Boss.

“I have a job where I kind of get to learn from these masters and learn these things,” he tells Hot Ones' Sean Evans.

“I think the physicality of wrestling, that stuff came a bit more naturally to me [referring to his role in the 2023 pro wrestling movie, The Iron Claw]. It was scary, but it was fun and physical. The training for the chef stuff [for his role in acclaimed series, The Bear], everything outside of the knife work, there was nothing that scary.

“But picking up a guitar for the first time when you've never held one before, and knowing in six months you have to be playing it, that was humbling and the most frightened I've been in my work life.”

Elsewhere in the interview, White gives his two cents on Nebraska, Springsteen's sixth studio album, which, like the stuff of rock ’n’ roll legends, was recorded on a four-track recorder in the bedroom of his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey – and whose conception is dramatized in the biopic.

“There's a real intimacy to Nebraska,” he observes. “I was a really big Springsteen fan and stuff. Prior to Nebraska, a lot of it had this Phil Spector sort of inspiration.

“There's a lot of this wall of sound idea where it was really, really grand, and the lyrics were still really specific and detailed and, you know, Dylan-esque, but sometimes the lyrics would get sort of overshadowed by the sound of music.

“With Nebraska, it's just Bruce and a guitar – very few chords. You feel like you're in the room with Bruce and the storytelling – while his storytelling has always been excellent – is kind of particularly beautiful and inspired in Nebraska.”

Elsewhere in the Springsteen biopic universe, White's guitar teacher, J.D. Simo, shared his own experience of being approached for the role – and the advice he gave the actor to play like the Boss.

2025 has quickly become the year of the music biopic, with Jeremy Allen White set to continue the trend by taking up the mantle of Bruce Springsteen in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere – a new movie that documents the making of Springsteen’s beloved 1982 album Nebraska.

Now, in a new interview, his co-star from the hit comedy-drama The Bear, Ayo Edebiri, has raved about White's in-depth preparation for the high-pressure biopic role.

“He is a man of secret talents,” she tells Gayle King on CBS Mornings. “Jeremy likes to be like, ‘Oh, me? I'm a regular guy.’ And then you're like, ‘What are you doing, tap dancing in a corner?’ And then he's like, ‘Oh, yeah. I used to take tap dance lessons.’ You're like, ‘What?’

“Then even when he was prepping for the [Springsteen] movie, he brought a guitar. And we'll run lines with each other when we're not working, because we just shoot so fast.

She continues, “Then I remember, Ebon [Moss-Bachrach, another co-star from The Bear] and I were like, ‘What are all these guitars?’ And he's like, ‘Oh, it's nothing.’ And then it's like, he's playing Bruce Springsteen-level guitar, and is actually amazing.”

White worked with session guitar guru J.D. Simo – who has worked with the likes of Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, and on the Baz Luhrmann Elvis biopic – to sharpen his guitar chops.

In a recent interview, Simo talked about the pressure he felt as a mentor and guitar teacher to set White up for success – and the one piece of advice that helped the actor play like the Boss.

Following the rise of the biopic genre in recent years – spearheaded by Bob Dylan's A Complete Unknown, the confirmed four-part Beatles movie, and another that's set to star Lizzo as Sister Rosetta Tharpe – it comes as no surprise that Bruce Springsteen is also receiving the Hollywood treatment.

Starring in the titular role is Jeremy Allen White, and like Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown, the role requires him to sling a guitar or two as the Boss.

To get ready for the role, White worked with session guru J.D. Simo. Having worked with Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Samantha Fish, Joe Bonamassa, and on the Baz Luhrmann Elvis biopic, Simo was tasked with teaching White guitar and helping him transform into Springsteen.

“I've never taught in my life,” admits J. D. Simo in an interview with Gibson Gear Guide.

“Once in a blue moon, somebody would ask me to give them a private lesson, and once in a blue moon, I'd be like, ‘You know what? Okay, yeah, sure,’ because it made sense and or I was available.

“But last year, working on the Springsteen movie, they asked me if I would teach Jeremy Allen White to play guitar. And my honest thing was, I have no idea. I think I can, yeah, but I mean, I'll do my best. I had to really step back, because I understood the pressure of wanting to set him up to win.”

Once Simo accepted the job and took on the mammoth task, “it just became evident very quickly that there's just no fast way”.

“I think it was the first week of us working together or something where I was like, ‘Dude, I want to be honest with you and say that it's all on you and how many hours you're going to put into it,’” Simo says matter-of-factly.

“Because you will sit as a guitar player, and play a phrase for days like a total lunatic, and then it finally clicks, and finally you can do it.

“And then you gotta move it around and figure out how to apply it to a bunch of different keys and all this stuff. So, the application process of learning one nugget then opens up into a bunch.”

Simo shares that he didn't “mean to overwhelm” White, but wanted to make the actor aware of the challenges that came with the role.

Of the advice he imparted, Simo continues, “It's an ocean. Just relax and take it one step at a time, because the better your foundation is – the better your hand strength is and your finger control – the better you know how to use the least amount of vocabulary and be able to actually make music with it. It's only going to make you that much better.”

In Simo's own words, “If you start stacking a bunch of stuff on top, you're just making a shit sandwich. You're not doing yourself any favors. You're actually doing yourself a disservice, where, if anything, you're going to have to unlearn something to be able to right the wrongs of it.”

Speaking of guitar mentors, Chalamet's guitar tutor for the Bob Dylan biopic, Larry Saltzman, revealed how, despite the movie offering an enviable roster of Gibsons, the actor opted for a budget Yamaha to start his deep dive into all things Dylan.

Bruce Springsteen electric guitar sideman Steven Van Zandt is in danger of missing the final three dates of the Land of Hopes and Dreams tour after undergoing emergency appendix surgery.

The operation took place in San Sebastián, Spain, after Van Zandt missed the E Street band’s show at the 40,000-capacity Reale Arena the night before.

Van Zandt, 74, says he pulled out of the show having experienced “a sharp pain in my stomach”.

“I thought it was food poisoning,” he says in an Instagram post. “Turned out to be appendicitis.

“I got lucky with an exceptional hospital in San Sebastian,” he continues. “The operation was a complete success, and I’m hoping to get back on stage for at least one of the shows in Milan. Thank you all for all the good vibes. See you soon.”

The final two dates of the tour, at the San Siro stadium, take place on Monday, June 30, and Thursday, July 3, meaning he faces a race against the clock to be fit to return. He will be absent from the band’s penultimate country stop, at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

The guitarist is notable for playing a relic'd 1957 Stratocaster with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, as seen in their 1980 concert film, No Nukes. However, he's revealed that his relationship with Fender started with the Telecaster, which also became Springsteen's preferred axe.

In fact, he only swapped because of his bandleader’s pivot to the Tele, which came after he didn't want the pair being associated with the same six-string.

Van Zandt initially left the E Street Band in 1984, and, looking back on that decision, he says he harbors regrets over missing out on the group's glory days.

“All my life I’ve carried with me this guilt and feeling of jeez, if only I could have stayed in the band and yet done all these other things. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful?” he asks.

However, he accepts that such thoughts are fanciful and that leaving the band at a time when his professional life was at a crossroads would have meant his solo star and acting careers would not have blossomed.

“I don’t know what I would have done. I would have perhaps produced a few things, and who knows where I would have went?” he concedes. “But if I’d continued to dedicate my life to Bruce Springsteen’s vision I would never have realized my potential. I still haven’t, obviously, but I got a few things done and I think they wouldn’t have gotten done if I’d stayed.”

Guitar World wishes Steven Van Zandt a speedy recovery.

Even though he’s written loads of iconic guitar bits with the Nazz, Utopia, and as a solo artist, Todd Rundgren often defers to other players when he’s on tour these days.

“I’ve got something of a balance,” he says. “I don’t feature the guitar as much as I used to. My show is just me singing at least half the time – I’m not playing anything at all.”

He’s clearly had a change of heart about guitar theatrics. “I’m somewhat of a limited improviser,” he claims. “I never took lessons, and I never took music theory, so there are techniques and modalities that I have little experience with.

“I could improve as a guitar player pretty easily if I studied, but at this point in my life, I just don’t. My strengths have always been figuring out something memorable that other players could play.”

He’s working on a new record to follow 2022’s Space Force. But don’t rush him – his live work has his focus for the moment. “Nowadays, me as a guitar player encapsulated,” he says. “Whatever style that I have, it’s on full display.”

What gear are you using on your latest tour?

“Right now, I’m down to pedals. The rack that I usually travel with is pretty small; just one unit. I’m not the guitar player I used to be in the sense that I don’t feel obligated to cover everything. That’s why I have players who are likely better than I am!”

Some would say you’re being modest.

“Every once in a while, I take a solo for fun. I mostly play sort of rhythm stuff. So I don’t need a whole range of sounds like the players in my band need.”

Your career has been about producing as much as guitar. What’s the trick to merging those worlds?

“I did start out as a player, so it was a heavy emphasis on guitar. But when the Nazz broke up because we didn’t have any radio success, I didn’t want to be in a band anymore. I put the whole guitar thing in limbo.

“I was kind of living on the street in the West Village and I got tracked down by the partner of the Nazz’s manager, Michael Friedman. He’d gone to work for Albert Grossman. They weren’t looking for a musician; they were looking for someone to help modernize the recordings of their legacy artists.

“A lot of Albert’s artists had been signed in the folk phase. By the late ‘60s and post-Beatles, a lot of them weren’t getting any FM play; they seemed to be of another era. So they called me to apply something to the recordings. It didn’t entail guitar at all, but the guitar brought me to that point.”

One of your earliest production credits is The Band’s Stage Fright. What was it like working with Robbie Robertson?

“I was working with Robbie, but also working with the whole band. If you notice on the credits of the record, they don’t credit a producer because there isn’t one guy who was in charge. You’d think it was Robbie, but he had to kind of walk on eggs with the other guys. He’s writing all the material and making all the money – he doesn’t want to piss them off!

“He’s gotta be very solicitous and accepting of their input and stuff. That’s why the project took so long; there wasn’t one guy making the decisions. There were five guys, each with an opinion about it. The mixing process was torturous!

“But Robbie was definitely driving everything. The other guys had their own demons that prevented them from taking that responsibility. It was a sad fact that they went under the radar – and suddenly, you wake up and find yourself the biggest band in the world. Everything you’ve ever dreamed of is now yours, including all the excesses.

“But Robbie was kind of a straight arrow; he always kept himself together and was always the last one to lose it. And as a guitar player, he’d sometimes fade into the background. You’ll notice that on a lot of Band albums – there’s not a lot of guitar solos.”

What did you notice most about Robbie’s playing?

“He could be very terse; he didn’t go on noodling a lot. Also, from my standpoint, he had a somewhat difficult sound to capture. It’s straight out of the Fender Twin, no pedals or other kinds of sounds. It could be very piercing at times; almost grating.

“Trying to get control of that was, for me, something of an issue. But he liked the sound. He wanted it to sound that way and it was his record!”

You produced three diverse ‘70s records in Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re an American Band, The New York Dolls’ self-titled record, and Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell.

“Not everybody needs a producer. The degree of production required for one project is not the same as for another. It’s got to be apropos of what the act is doing.

“I always considered myself like the caulk in the process: where there’s a gap, that’s what I fill in. I don’t try and make the band do things my way. If they want to sound a certain way, I may not agree – and yeah, I may battle them over it – but in the end it’s their record.

“People may look at my production credits and say, ‘Oh, okay, this guy had something to do with it.’ But the greater public doesn’t pay attention to the production credits. If the record is bad, they’re going to blame the artist. So, my thing has always been, ‘It’s gotta be the record that the artist wants.’”

So, with Grand Funk, New York Dolls and Meat Loaf, was there a common thread?

“Each of those artists had a particular identifiable issue. Once I identify the issue I can usually devise, if not a solution, at least an approach to dealing with it. In the case of Grand Funk, they were like a B or C-level jam band. A lot of it was based on their live antics and an occasional bit of radio exposure.

“But they were just writing songs to noodle over, so the records were critically lambasted. At a certain point, that started to bother them. They said, ‘How can we be this popular, yet nobody likes us?’

“But they’d realized what was going on, so they got rid of their management and devised a new plan: ‘We’re going to write songs now.’ The difference with We’re an American Band is there’s no noodling on that record.

“The New York Dolls had never made a record before – in fact, they hadn’t been a band for more than a year. They were just part of a scene I’d been living in. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do a record out of this scene,’ and they were the biggest band in that scene, so I did their record.”

What was it like working with a player like Johnny Thunders?

“That was like herding cats! It was logistical more than anything. There’d be no point in making suggestions about what anybody was going to play – their range was not great. They purposely kept the range really narrow. Otherwise, you look like a poser. You look like you’re trying too hard.

“So that was crowd management more than anything. Just trying to get anything done, being the only sober person in the room at some points, was just completely different. But they didn’t jam and they very rarely soloed.”

Surely, Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell must have been very different.

“By the standards of the time, Meat Loaf was just a plain weird act. No producer could figure out what to do with them because the songs were so long. They were just trying to imagine this big, fat guy; for most of them, it was a bridge too far.”

Why did you take the job?

“I was in a certain frame of mind at the time, and making that record represented a certain revenge to me. I’m very much about progress, and I know things are cyclic, especially in the music business – we go through phases. Every once in a while we’re due for a change, and God, at this point, Bruce Springsteen was like all over, you know?”

So, you produced Meat Loaf because you weren’t into Bruce Springsteen?

“He was on the cover of Time magazine, as the ‘savior of rock ‘n’ roll.’ And I listened to these long songs, all about the ‘50s, and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute… we have to go through this again? The motorcycles? The switchblades? The leather jackets? We’re going to do this again? Oh, hell, no!’

“So, when I saw Meat Loaf, I said, ‘This is a spoof of Bruce Springsteen, and that’s why I’m doing it.’ And the rest, as they say, is history.

“I don’t think I mentioned it while I was making the record, but I’ve done it enough in public. Meat Loaf must have known that’s what I was thinking. I didn’t care if it succeeded or not; I just wanted to make fun of Bruce Springsteen!”

As far as your many solo records, do you have a favorite from a guitar perspective?

“Those are the questions I never answer! The world is not made of absolutes. It’s a quantum world, but nothing is absolute. There’s never any ‘best’ or ‘favorite’ or anything like that.”

Your most recent record is 2022’s Space Force. Are you working on new music?

“I’m working on it. I have several balls in the air which are nagging at me. I’ve got a tour coming up, and in the fall, I believe, I’ll be going to Europe, and within the next six to eight months, I’ll probably get back to Japan and Australia. So, I’m going worldwide here. I’m staying busy.”

• Check out Rundgren’s confirmed tour dates.

You may know Todd Rundgren as the six-stringer and founder of Nazz and Utopia, or from his celebrated solo catalog. However, the multi-hyphenate guitarist also has an accomplished string of production credits under his belt. That includes Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell – the conceptual, “Wagnerian rock” debut album that, perhaps puzzlingly, was often compared to Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.

“Meat Loaf was just plain weird. By the standards of the time, he was just a plain weird act,” says Rungdren in a new no-holds-barred interview with Guitar World.

“And every producer couldn’t figure out what to do with them because the songs were so long.”

The album was originally developed from a musical, Neverland, conceptualized as a futuristic rock version of Peter Pan, which composer Jim Steinman wrote for a workshop in 1974. Meat Loaf, who was active in theater circles, met Steinman, and the two eventually began working on what would become Bat Out of Hell.

Alongside producers struggling to understand the project, record labels were also hesitant to take on an album that was so off-kilter – especially for that era. So what convinced Rundgren – whom Steinman later called “the only genuine genius I've ever worked with” in an interview with Classic Rock – to get involved?

“I was in a certain frame of mind, and making that record represented a certain revenge to me. I’m very much about progress, and I know things are cyclic, especially in the music business, you know, we go through phases. Every once in a while, we’re due for a change.”

Another reason that led Rundgren to Meat Loaf was The Boss – and his immense popularity, and, in the polymath's opinion, his overexposure at the time. “He [Bruce Springsteen] was on the cover of Time Magazine, and, Jesus, was the ‘savior of rock ‘n’ roll.’ You know, he looks like Jesus, he’s gonna save rock ‘n’ roll.

“And I listen to Bruce Springsteen, and it’s these long songs, they’re all about the ’50s, and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute… we have to go through this again? The motorcycles? The switchblades? The leather jackets? We’re going to do this again?’

“I thought, ‘We’re going to rebuild rock ‘n’ roll from the beginning? Oh, hell, no.’ So, when I saw Meat Loaf, I said, ‘This is a spoof of Bruce Springsteen, and that’s why I’m doing it.’ And the rest, as they say, is history. I didn’t care if it succeeded or not; I just wanted to make fun of Bruce Springsteen.”

Spoof or not, the groundbreaking record would go on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time – selling over 43 million copies worldwide – and redefining what a rock icon looks like along the way.

For more on his work with Meat Loaf, The Band, Grand Funk Railroad and (attempting to produce) the New York Dolls, read Guitar World's full interview with Todd Rundgren.

The 2025 American Music Honors, presented by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, honored some bona fide legends with a star-studded event saluting guitarists and singer-songwriters from across the musical spectrum.

Among them was Tom Morello, John Fogerty, Joe Ely, and Emmylou Harris, as well as the multi-hyphenate crooner Smokey Robinson. All honorees were in attendance, except for Ely, who could not make it to the ceremony due to health issues.

Bruce Springsteen himself and members of the E Street Band were also present, with the Boss playing host and wielding his Fender Tele to perform with some of the honorees.

“If I hear my name again, I’m going to fucking throw up,” Springsteen joked when he took podium. “Let’s talk about someone else.”

And with that, the spotlight shifted to the veritable list of honorees. Tom Morello graced the audience with his take on Springsteen’s Woody Guthrie-inspired The Ghost of Tom Joad – using his Arm the Homeless custom guitar – and delivering a searing, rage-filled solo reminiscent of Hendrix's iconic Star-Spangled Banner Woodstock performance.

“That is called ‘playing the shit out of the guitar!’” commented Brian Williams, the evening's official host, right after the Rage Against the Machine guitarist’s performance.

Fogerty performed Creedence Clearwater Revival classics Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary, and Fortunate Son on a rented black Gibson Les Paul Custom – a performance made even more emotional by his long battle to reclaim the rights to his catalog.

“Inside I knew I loved music, and the rest of it just kind of burned me out," he asserted. "The worst part about it was I didn’t own my own songs. So, it became a lifetime battle… For a long time, I didn’t even sing my own songs because I was so angry or bitter about the whole thing. But I still loved music. Music is my best friend.”

Emmylou Harris was accompanied by Patti Scialfa – who called Harris “one of my favorite artists in the world” – in performing Red Dirt Girl, from the veteran artist's 19th studio album of the same name, while Steven Van Zandt honored Robinson and joined him for a spirited duet of Tears of a Clown.

“I have singer heroes, songwriter heroes, song arranger heroes, and music producer heroes, and when you have all of them in the same guy, you get Smokey Robinson,” said Van Zandt. “One can obviously connect a dozen of my songs to his influence.”

The encore saw Springsteen join forces with both Van Zandt and Robinson for their own rendition of The Miracles' Going to a Go-Go, before 2024's honoree Jackson Browne joined the supergroup for a raucous take on Take It Easy, the Eagles' debut single.

The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music aims to preserve the legacy of the Boss – while also celebrating the history and breadth of American music. The research center is currently located on the Monmouth University campus, with a new 30,000-square-foot facility scheduled to open in spring 2026.

In other Springsteen news, Shayne Fontayne recently opened up about the challenges of filling the shoes of Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren as the Boss’s guitarist during the 1992–1993 “Other Band” Tour.

Wizz Jones, the English folk icon best known for the role he played in the British folk revival and for being a consistent figure in the scene for the past 60 years, has passed away aged 86.

The news was confirmed by his son, Simeon, yesterday (April 27) on his dad's official social media platforms. “With an extremely heavy heart, I’m letting you all know that my beloved father, the great Wizz Jones, passed away early this morning, two days after his 86th birthday,” reads the statement.

“His loss has left a huge hole in the lives of our family and has robbed the music world of one of its precious treasures. His health declined rapidly this year and we thank Trinity Hospice for making his last few days as comfortable as possible.”

Born Raymond Ronald to a working-class family in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England, the young Jones earned the nickname Wizzy from his mother after the Beano comic strip character “Wizzy the Wuz” – because at the age of nine, Jones was a budding magician. The name stuck, and when he formed his first band, The Wranglers, in 1957, it became his stage name.

Inspired by the likes of Big Bill Broonzy and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Jones learned his guitar licks from contemporaries like Davy Graham and Long John Baldry while playing in coffee bars in Soho, London, in the late ’50s. This was followed by a busking stint spanning from the streets of Paris to the markets of Marrakech in the early ’60s, further developing his guitar style.

Despite releasing his only single in 1965 – a rendition of Bob Dylan's Ballad of Hollis Brown – it took until 1969 for Jones to release his first solo album, Wizz Jones. By 1988, he had ten solo albums under his belt – plus a host of collaborations, including playing on Ralph McTell's 1974 album Easy, briefly joining acoustic folk-rock outfit Accolade alongside “king of the buskers” Don Partridge, as well as traditional folk band Lazy Farmer in 1975.

Speaking about his trusty guitar, his 1963 Epiphone Texan – which accompanied his ventures since 1967 – in an interview with the Orpington Folk Club, Jones once said, “I nearly lost it recently. It was on a jet going to Milan, coming from Scotland, supposed to be changing planes to go to Germany, they canceled the flight and my baggage went missing. I lost it for ten days, so I borrowed a guitar from the shop. Whenever I borrow a guitar I realize just how good this one is.”

A key fixture since the very start of the folk scene and a keen collaborator, Jones has also been cited as an inspiration for Keith Richards, Thurston Moore, Eric Clapton, and Rod Stewart, to name a few – so much so that he's often included in their lore.

“I found out Eric used to come to a little club in Croydon and watch me play, but I didn’t know him. In a recent book about the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards said I used to teach him guitar in the toilets at Art College! Complete fabrication,” he clarified.

In the mid-’90s, Jones' career experienced a revival thanks to an appearance on the Bert Jansch TV documentary Acoustic Routes, which led to renewed interest in his work. In 2001, he collaborated with John Renbourn and other members of the folk-rock band Pentangle on his album Lucky the Man, followed by a reissue of his 1970 album The Legendary Me and 1973'sWhen I Leave Berlin in 2007 by the Sunbeam record label.

In 2012, another working-class hero – Bruce Springsteen – opened his sold-out Wrecking Ball tour date at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, with Jones' song, When I Leave Berlin. Fast forward to 2019, and Wizz finally received the recognition he deserved when he was presented with the lifetime achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Performing until the end, Jones played his final show at London's Ivy House on February 28, 2025.

“Always a humble man, these were his closing words at the end of his last ever gig earlier this year,” writes his son.

“‘Thanks to all the people – all over the world in fact – that heard my songs and my guitar playing, and came to my gigs for all those years. Thank you very much.’”

Shane Fontayne came to America in the ‘70s, aged 21, and once he’d befriended Mick Ronson he set off on an epic guitar journey. In the ‘80s he played with the Mamas & the Papas before hooking up with Lone Justice as they toured with U2.

Fontayne joined Mick Taylor, then quickly moved on to Bruce Springsteen's “Other Band,” which toured the world in 1992 and 1993. Later he became a member of the Kennedy Center Honors house band for seven years. notably backing Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson for a soaring cover of Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven as Jimmy Page watched.

“He was too cool to say anything about that,” Fontayne says of meeting Page after the show. “Just because it’s a staple, it’s almost like a nightmare to endure somebody else performing it! if it turns out well, maybe you’re more surprised than anything. I’m not trying to put words in his mouth – but they all seemed happy.”

Fontayne’s long-running gig with Graham Nash came to an end about a year ago, and he’s looking to get back on the road. “I’ve thrived on the trust of people I’ve worked with,” he reflects. “John Lennon said he was a primitive musician who’d had no schooling but learned enough to express himself. That describes me.”

How did you hook up with Mick Ronson?

“I met Mick and his wife Susie in late ’75 and told them, ‘I’m going to be going to the States in a few month.’ They said, ‘We live in New York – look us up.’ I got to New York in ’76 after hitchhiking around the US and called Mick.

“I went down to rehearsals with him and it just worked. I’d come to America to play with American musicians, but I found myself with Mick! It was life-changing. He was one of the sweetest men I’ve ever known. We went up to Woodstock, all lived in the same house and recorded together.

How did working with Mick shape you as a young player?

“I’ve never considered that. He implicitly trusted me to be a foil for him. He was the sort of player who’d say, ‘Don’t worry about the sound. Just start recording, because in 10 minutes you might lose your opportunity to capture the moment.’”

Why didn’t anything come out of those sessions?

“Mick probably was not a solo artist. His strength, at that time, was the big pop-rock mega-album. His manager was trying to push Mick in that direction. Ultimately, the material probably wasn’t strong enough and the focus changed. But our personal relationship endured – I saw Mick shortly before he died after at one of the Springsteen shows I did.”

In the ‘80s you worked with Lone Justice on their album called Shelter, which differed greatly from their debut record.

“I’d gotten to know Greg Sutton, who’d become the bass player for Lone Justice. They were like the it band; they had that country punk thing and they were media darlings for a moment. But Jimmy Iovine had taken over as manager, and the singer, Maria McKee, had started to change things.

“Greg brought me into audition as they were working on the song I Found Love, which Maria wrote with Stevie Van Zandt. I went down there late one night with my baritone six-string bass, and I got a chance to sit in. At the end of the take, I remember Stevie laughing, ‘Well, I wasn’t expecting that!’ I essentially played what’s on the record. Jimmy called the next day and said, ‘You made a lot of people very happy last night,’ and I was in the band.”

Lone Justice opened for U2 in support of The Joshua Tree. What was that like?

“I remember standing backstage and watching when The Edge started Where the Streets Have No Name; when Bono came out, I swear I saw a halo around the guy’s head! I don’t know… there was a light around him, and I don’t think it was a light from the stage; there was just a presence about him.”

During the last show of the tour, Lone Justice and U2 jammed on a rendition of Sweet Jane. How did that happen?

“I was watching U2 through the curtain at soundcheck. After they stopped, Larry Mullen Jr. beckoned me over, and Bono invited Maria and myself to do Sweet Jane. I was like, ‘We do a version of Sweet Jane every night!’ They had me show them how we did it. I was like, ‘This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.’”

After Lone Justice, you toured with Mick Taylor, where you sort of played the role of Keith Richards.

“I’m a guitarist who essentially wants to play with abandon. If the person who hired you feels they can trust you, those are the situations that have been the easiest for me to play in. I was doing my thing and Mick was all good with it. It was essentially a situation where we would just go out, play, and have a great time.

“We did some ’Stones material, like Can You Hear Me Knocking? which is one of those songs where part of Mick’s disenchantment was maybe not getting songwriting credit – though I didn’t talk to him about it. Mick had such a huge signature sound. I learned a lot from him. His playing is mesmerizing to me.”

In the early ’90s you joined Bruce Springsteen’s “Other Band” after he folded the E Street Band. How did that happen?

“I got a call from Jimmy Iovine, saying Bruce had seen Lone Justice on Saturday Night Live, which we’d done in ’86 during Christmas. Bruce had seen a re-run and said to Jimmy, ‘Who’s the guitar player?’ So an audition was set up in Los Angeles

“I had a pedalboard at the time, which is somewhere in Bruce’s locker, which I was running in stereo. I remember bringing out that pedalboard, and I asked his team for a couple of amplifiers, and maybe I took my Gretsch Tennessean with me.

“So, I get down to the audition, and Bruce’s right-hand man, if you want to call him that, says, ‘Don’t be nervous about anything. He’s gonna make you feel so comfortable.’”

“I was excited, but I don’t think I was overly nervous. We started playing – and I don’t remember what we played, but it was in the key of B. It’s an interesting key; it’s great on guitar, We jammed, and it was one of those spark-flying moments.

“I don’t know how long we played; it could have been five minutes, it could have been 20, but after we took a break, Bruce goes, ‘Man, that's a lot of twang.’ I said, ‘Too much?’ And he said, ‘Uh uh!’ It was just a feeling that, sensibility-wise, I’m not a technical player; I trust my gut and instincts, and I respond.”

“I was just responding to what was happening in the room – and it seemed to work for him. Later in that session, he said, ‘Man, with some of the stuff you’re playing, I wish I’d had you play on the album’.

“His material was so forgiving for a player like me; it’s not too complicated, so I stumbled – there was just a sensibility to it that I wouldn’t feel like that happened. That made me a good fit.”

Did you get the sense that Bruce trusted you as a player?

“Bruce’s confidence – regardless of any questions we were asked or any feelings from fans who had doubts about his choices – never wavered in front of us. He never gave us anything but total belief.”

There’s an album of unreleased material that you recorded with Bruce. What’s the story there?

“After he did Streets of Philadelphia, he called me to come play on some recordings. His manager, Jon Landau, felt that lyrically the album wasn’t there. A couple of the songs we recorded – one being Secret Garden – were released; I believe the title of the album was to be Waiting on the End of the World. Whenever I see Bruce, he’s told me that he might still [release the recordings] – that he wants to get those sessions out there.”

What led to the end of your time in Bruce’s band after the ’93 tour ended?

“There was never a disbanding; the tour came to an end, and there was no more. The commitment had run its course. I think the next thing that he pivoted to was Blood Brothers, and putting the E Street Band back together. That took on a second life.”

Mick Ronson came out to see you at before the tour ended.

“He actually passed on my birthday. He came to see one of the Springsteen shows, and he was just so proud of me. Mick had kind of a classic rock ‘n’ roll existence – he probably drank too much. But he didn’t say things he didn’t believe, and I love him for all that. I’m grateful that he wanted to be there.”

How did you go about performing Stairway to Heaven with Ann and Nancy Wilson in 2012?

“I was part of the house band for the Kennedy Center Honors, so I ended up playing that song and solo. I didn’t know it [the solo] was that iconic beforehand! It was only when I started seeing all the comments that I realized it.

“The hard rock thing, at the time, hadn’t so much been my kind of thing. So yes, Stairway is a classic rock staple, and I was obviously familiar with it, but it wasn’t something that had spoken to me so much – and it’s a long song!

“You want to be respectful and do not necessarily what they would have done, because you’re not them. So, it’s about what I would want to hear if I was in the audience. In that regard, I wanted to recreate the solo that had been done on the record.

“With Stairway, because I’m not a Jimmy Page kind of player, even though I did get a Les Paul for that show, I listened to the solo. I wanted to try and emulate it with the right spirit and render it somewhat closely – but not just have it be a regurgitation. Fortunately, at the time, I didn’t realize how iconic it was. [laughs]”

How did it go when you met Jimmy afterwards?

“Seeing how good he looked with gray hair is what got me to decide to stop coloring mine! But I actually asked him if he played the solo on The Kinks’ You Really Got Me.

“In these moments – you’ve got a moment here, and somebody could be speaking a completely different language coming back at you – he basically said that he’d been at that session, but I don’t think he played the solo.”

What’s next for you?

“I was on the road for some years with Graham Nash, until separating from Graham over a year ago. I’ve been using the time to continue playing, writing, and potentially doing another solo album; I did one over 20 years ago. And I'm looking to get back on the road; that’s what I miss.”

Ironically, in the song that helped take him from mere rock stardom to international giga-stardom, you can hear the restlessness that led Bruce Springsteen to – at the absolute height of his commercial success – dramatically change artistic gears.

“I get up in the evenin'/And I ain't got nothin' to say,” “Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself” are some of the lines he sings in Dancing in the Dark, the point of the spear of his blockbuster 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A.

Three years later, Springsteen turned dramatically inward with Tunnel of Love, a contemplative album mostly devoid of the shiny, mass-market dressing that adorned its predecessor. Most significantly, he also – after a world tour behind that album – disbanded the E Street Band, the colorful cast of musical misfits who for so long had helped define his sound.

After taking a few years off the road, Springsteen was, by the early '90s, itching to return. He was not, however, looking to return to the E Street Band. Instead, he cast his net for a new backing group.

Into the Boss's orbit came Shane Fontayne, an English-born guitarist who already had a ton of road miles under his belt with the band Lone Justice, and as Rolling Stones alum Mick Taylor's six-string sidekick for a time.

Springsteen, as it turns out, had seen Lone Justice perform on Saturday Night Live years before, and been impressed by Fontayne. When the time came to put together a new band, Fontayne was one of his first calls.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Fontayne recalled the audition that came next.

“I had a pedalboard at the time, which is somewhere in Bruce’s locker, which I was running in stereo,” he says. “I remember bringing out that pedalboard, and I asked his team for a couple of amplifiers, and maybe I took my Gretsch Tennessean with me.

“So, I get down to the audition, and Bruce’s right-hand man, if you want to call him that, says, ‘Don’t be nervous about anything. He’s gonna make you feel so comfortable.’”

If he got the gig, Fontayne's job would be to (attempt to, really) fill the shoes of Springsteen's longtime six-string sidekicks, Stevie Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren. Though a tall order, Fontayne wasn't phased.

“I was excited, but I don’t think I was overly nervous. We started playing – and I don’t remember what we played, but it was in the key of B. It’s an interesting key; it’s great on guitar,” Fontayne said. “We jammed, and it was one of those spark-flying moments.

“I don’t know how long we played; it could have been five minutes, it could have been 20, but after we took a break, Bruce goes, ‘Man, that's a lot of twang.’ I said, ‘Too much?’ And he said, ‘Uh uh!’ It was just a feeling that, sensibility-wise, I’m not a technical player; I trust my gut and instincts, and I respond.”

What may have seemed an inconclusive opinion, or even a slight dig, soon revealed itself to be a compliment.

“I was just responding to what was happening in the room – and it seemed to work for him. Later in that session, he said, ‘Man, with some of the stuff you’re playing, I wish I’d had you play on the album,’” Fontayne explained to GW.

“His material was so forgiving for a player like me; it’s not too complicated, so I stumbled, there was just a sensibility to it that I wouldn’t feel like that happened. That made me a good fit.”

Though Springsteen would eventually re-group permanently with the E Street Band in 1999, he thought highly enough of Fontayne that he recruited the guitarist for some studio sessions not long after their tour. These would apparently produce an entire album's worth of material, though little of it has seen the light of day.

“Whenever I see him, he’s told me that he might still [release the recordings] – that he wants to get those sessions out there,” Fontayne said.

Keep an eye on Guitar World in the coming weeks for the full interview with Fontayne.

More than 60 one-of-a-kind items, including guitars signed by Paul McCartney, Slash, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, and Olivia Rodrigo, will be auctioned on February 2 via Julien's Auctions, with all proceeds benefiting the leading music industry charity MusiCares.

“Year after year, our partnership with Julien's Auctions helps MusiCares provide vital support to the music community. The generosity of artists and fans fuels our mission to care for those who make music possible,” comments Laura Segura, Executive Director of MusiCares.

Amongst the memorabilia, highlights include a 2023 Martin DX-2E X Series Special acoustic signed by a host of music stars, including McCartney, Crow, the Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi, and Brandi Carlile, estimated to sell for between $3,000 and $5,000, and a 2024 Fender American Vintage II 1951 Telecaster in butterscotch finish, donated and autographed by Bruce Springsteen, with bids already exceeding its $4,000 estimate.

Other noteworthy guitars include a 1995 Gibson Les Paul Studio in Wine Red finish signed by Neil Young (estimated at $2,000-$4,000), a 2024 Gibson Slash Les Paul Standard in November Burst finish autographed by Slash ($2,000-$4,000), and a 2009 Squier Avril Lavigne Telecaster signed by Olivia Rodrigo ($1,000-$2,000).

The auction will take place live at The Recording Academy in Santa Monica, California, and online through Julien's official website. For more information about this auction, visit Julien's.

In addition to its ongoing work providing critical health and welfare services to the music community, MusiCares has also launched a new initiative to provide immediate assistance to musicians and music industry professionals affected by the Los Angeles wildfires.

Stevie Van Zandt knows a thing or two about the music industry – from being the guitar slinger in the E Street Band, side by side with Bruce Springsteen, to his Grammy-nominated HBO film, Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, which came out last year. And while he's now the owner of many a formidable guitar, Van Zandt’s penchant for Strats – most famously, the well-worn 1957 Stratocaster featured in the 1980 No Nukes concert film – harks back to a time when players typically owned just one guitar.

Yet his relationship with Fenders started with the Telecaster. “I started to notice that the guitar superstars at the time were playing Telecasters. Mike Bloomfield. Jeff Beck. Even Eric Clapton played one for a while,” he tells Premier Guitar.

“I went down to Jack’s Music Shop in Red Bank, New Jersey, because he had the first Telecaster in our area and couldn’t sell it; it was just sitting there. I bought it for 90 bucks.”

As Van Zandt explains, at that time, the guitar you chose also acted as a strong identifier and a key part of your persona. “Everybody had a different guitar; your guitar was your identity,” he describes. “At some point, a couple of years later, I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to Telecaster.

“At that point, I was ready to switch to Stratocaster, because Jimi Hendrix had come in and Jeff Beck had switched to a Strat. They all kind of went from Telecaster to Les Pauls. And then some of them went on to the Stratocaster.”

For Van Zandt, the Les Paul was “too out of reach” due to its price point and weight, leading to his decision to switch to a Strat due to the model’s versatility versatility.

As for the Boss, he became synonymous with the Telecaster, as epitomized in the iconic Telecaster/Esquire mutt featured on the cover of his 1975 masterpiece, Born to Run, which Springsteen has to this day.

Bought for $185, the guitar is now reportedly worth anywhere between $1,000,000 to $5,000,000.

From being the lead guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band to becoming an activist, accomplished actor, and songwriter, it’s safe to say that Steven Van Zandt has enjoyed a remarkably colorful career.

However, when Van Zandt decided to leave the E Street Band in 1984, he was at a crossroads in his career, and this pivotal decision would forever change the trajectory of his personal and professional life.

“All my life I’ve carried with me this guilt and feeling of jeez, if only I could have stayed in the band and yet done all these other things. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful? I realized when I analyzed it that is ridiculous and that wouldn’t have happened,” he admits in a new interview with The Guardian while promoting his upcoming documentary, Disciple.

“By staying in the band, there wouldn’t have probably been any solo records, there wouldn’t have been the Sun City record [a 1985 protest song that opposed South Africa’s apartheid policy], there wouldn’t have been The Sopranos [an American crime drama series] or Lilyhammer [a crime comedy-drama that was one of Netflix’s first original series]. Everything that Bill found a way to get into this film probably wouldn’t exist.

“I don’t know what I would have done. I would have perhaps produced a few things and who knows where I would have went? But if I’d continued to dedicate my life to Bruce Springsteen’s vision I would never have realized my potential. I still haven’t, obviously, but I got a few things done and I think they wouldn’t have gotten done if I’d stayed.”

Van Zandt met Springsteen around 1966 and they played together in several bands in the Jersey Shore music scene. In 1975, Van Zandt joined Springsteen's E Street Band after arranging the horns on Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.

During his tenure in the band, he was partially responsible for the iconic Born to Run guitar riff, which Springsteen called “arguably Steve's greatest contribution to my music” in the Wings For Wheels documentary.

He was also the lead guitarist for the Born to Run (1975-1977), Darkness (1978-1979), and The River (1980-1981) tours, as documented on the Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition concert film.

In addition, he also shared production credits on Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978), The River (1980), and Born in the U.S.A. (1984). He officially departed the band in 1984, just as Springsteen achieved immense global success.

After establishing his solo career, he returned to the E Street band in 1995 and from 1999 onward, he shared guitar duties with Nils Lofgren and Springsteen.

Van Zandt's career takes center stage in his new HBO documentary, Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, now available on Max.

Tom Morello made a surprise appearance at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles as he briefly joined Bruce Springsteen on stage this past weekend (April 7). This is the first time the two icons have appeared together since 2016.

After kicking off the show with Open All Night, Springsteen pulled out all the stops when he performed live favorite Sherry Darling for the first time during this tour. He also invited his wife, Patti Scialfa, on stage to sing backing vocals on Fire and Tougher Than the Rest. However, the real shocker was Tom Morello's return as a temporary member of the E Street Band. 

The duo tore through The Ghost Of Tom Joad and American Skin (41 Shots) – both of which were tour debuts. In this fan footage, Morello can be seen singing – and most importantly – shredding, alongside Springsteen, using his now-iconic 'Arm The Homeless' guitar. 

In an interview with MusicRadar, Morello noted how he took inspiration from Springsteen's lyrics when crafting this particular solo: "I am a big fan of the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen; I take them very seriously. Especially with Ghost Of Tom Joad – the solo on that is an attempt to conjure the screaming lost souls of social justice struggles past."

This is far from the first time Tom Morello has collaborated with Springsteen. In addition to playing on several of Springsteen's records, most notably Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), Morello joined him on The Wrecking Ball Tour and The High Hopes Tour in 2012-2013 and 2014 respectively.

Their collaborative spirit was the highlight of these two tours, with the duo treating the audience to their rendition of Van Halen's Jump in Dallas and AC/DC's Highway to Hell in Brisbane, Australia.

While it looks like Rage Against the Machine fans will not get a reunion anytime soon, they can catch Tom Morello at one of his upcoming tour dates. The tour kicks off with an intimate show at London's Electric Ballroom on June 13, followed by festival appearances across the UK and Europe.

Meanwhile, the Boss is set to get the big screen treatment. The much-hyped Deliver Me From Nowhere will chronicle the making of his 1982 album Nebraska.

Former Blondie guitarist Frank Infante has revealed that one of the New York band’s most famous guitar lines, Atomic, was recorded on an electric guitar loaned to him by Bruce Springsteen.

The track is famous for its descending spaghetti western-inspired twanging guitar lick (B G Gb E, if you fancy it) – performed on record by Infante and Chris Stein and produced by long-running collaborator Mike Chapman. 

Now, in a new interview with Guitar World, Infante reveals there was another big name who lent a hand – or, rather, a Gretsch guitar – when it came to shaping the sound of the track. 

The story likely dates back to 1979, when both Blondie and Springsteen were recording at The Power Station in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. Blondie were working on their fourth album, Eat to the Beat, under pressure to deliver a follow-up to the immensely successful Parallel Lines. 

Springsteen, meanwhile – who is primarily known for his association with the Fender Telecaster – would have been busy working on the double-album epic that would cement his place as the definitive king of heartland rock: The River.

“Bruce Springsteen was in the next studio, so we’d see each other – ‘Hey, how you doin?’’” Infante tells Guitar World.

“He had a Gretsch Country Gentleman, and I asked him if I could borrow it. That’s what I used on Atomic. Chris and I play the main riff, but I do the whammy bar part at the end of it. Then when you hear Debbie [Harry] singing, ‘Take me tonight,’ that’s me doing all the other stuff.”

It might not quite be up there with supplying Patti Smith with Because the Night, but it is another example of The Boss’ tangential hand in shaping the post-punk period.

Elsewhere in the interview, Infante addresses his role within Blondie, taking the chance to untangle some of the confusion (and frustration) around his contributions to the group’s sound and recordings.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” says Infante. “[For instance], if you look on Wikipedia, it says that the band did Plastic Letters as a four-piece and that Chris Stein played guitar and bass. No – I played guitar and bass. I did all the bass. 

“My involvement with the band is always called into question. I saw this video of somebody breaking down Heart of Glass. The guy said, ‘And here’s Chris Stein’s guitar part.’ I was like, ‘No, that’s my guitar part.’ That kind of thing’s been happening for years.”

To read the full interview with Infante, in which he revisits his classic riffs and solos on One Way or Another, Heart of Glass, Call Me, Rapture, and, of course, Atomic, pick up the April 2024 issue of Guitar World over at Magazines Direct.

Richard Davis, the bass player with over 3,000 recording credits to his name, has died at the age of 93. “We appreciate all the love and support the community has shown him over the years,” Davis’ daughter Persia Davis shared in a statement.

Having studied double bass in high school under renowned music teacher Walter Dyett, Davis joined rising piano star Ahmad Jamal’s trio in 1952, before moving to New York to perform alongside the likes of Eric Dolphy and Sarah Vaughan.

“You could say I went to the University of Sarah Vaughan,” Davis told Isthmus in 2014. “Once you’ve proven yourself with musicians at that level, other vocalists start to call you, because they figure you must know something.”

Davis went on to become one of New York’s most in-demand bassists, especially among the emerging free jazz movement. “His ‘60s résumé reads like a survey of some of that decade’s most challenging and enduring musical statements,” Rolling Stone wrote when he was placed at number 34 on a list of the 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time. “But that’s just a fraction of his overall output.”

In 1968 Davis was called for a session with Van Morrison for his album Astral Weeks. “Some people are real disillusioned when I tell them about making the record,” Davis told Rolling Stone. “I don’t remember any conversations with him. He pretty much kept to himself. He didn’t make any suggestions about what to play, how to play, how to style what we were doing.” 

“For me, it was Richard all the way,” producer Lewis Merenstein once said. “Richard was the soul of the album.” Rolling Stone’s Griel Marcus would later describe Davis’ bass playing on Astral Weeks as “the greatest bass ever heard on a rock album.”

Davis was equally as prolific in the 1970s, with credits on landmark Bruce Springsteen records Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and Born to Run, as well as Paul Simon's There Goes Rhymin' Simon.

The bassist also worked alongside Charles Mingus for his 1972 release Let My Children Hear Music, a project that brought together three of jazz’s greatest bassists, Mingus, Davis, and Ron Carter. 

In the classical music world Davis worked with the Russian-American composer Igor Stravinsky who once described his virtuosity as ‘god-like’.

In 1977 Davis left NYC for a position at the University of Wisconsin, teaching bass, Jazz history and improvisation, a post that he held for 40 years. Davis’ final recording was Blue Monk, released exclusively in Japan in 2009, a duo collaboration with the late pianist Junior Mance. 

Davis was named Best Bassist by Downbeat magazine for seven successive years, from 1967 to 1974, and was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2014, which ensured his place among the pantheon of jazz greats.

To the average gig-goer, live performances – especially those hosted by prolific artists – come across as effortlessly flawless for one simple reason: they are rehearsed beyond belief. From stage movements to song transitions, the majority of shows are meticulously planned out and practiced.

Naturally, there is an element of unpredictability and improvisation during concerts, and despite the lengths those involved go through to make it as well-polished as possible, it's inevitable that some things will just go wrong.

Bruce Springsteen, one of music’s most accomplished livemen, was given a harsh reminder of that reality when he attempted to pull off a cool guitar throw mid-set, only to strike his poor guitar tech right on the head.

In a video captured by an attendee at Springsteen’s Atlanta concert earlier this month, The Boss can be seen winding up to throw a Fender Telecaster – not his iconic Born to Run model, thankfully – to his long-time tech Kevin Buell, just as he has done on countless occasions in the past.

Despite the pair’s familiarity with the move, it didn’t quite work out as they practiced. Instead, Springsteen launches the Tele towards an oncoming Buell, who unfortunately misjudges the six-string’s flight path and as a result gets struck on the head.

With the band bringing the track to a dramatic close, Springsteen goes to check on Buell, who has already retreated backstage for some attention.

This flash of showmanship has been part of Springsteen’s set for years. For context, footage from a Seattle show in 2016 and a Munich gig in 2009 captured the perfect example of what the end-of-song guitar throw should look like.

Luckily, it looked as though Buell wasn’t badly injured, and the guitar managed to stave off any serious damage.

Onstage mishaps are unavoidable, regardless of how well-rehearsed a show is. Last summer, Tom Morello was accidentally wiped out by a security guard who had jumped on the stage in pursuit of a stage invader.

From wringing out extra tone through weird and wonderful electrical wiring to blasphemous body botch jobs that convert single-cuts to double-cuts, guitar owners usually mod their electric guitars for two reasons: to boost their tonal palette and to improve their playability. The unusual aesthetic outcomes are just an added bonus.

Yet Fender Payola guitars – which flashed arguably one of the wildest guitar mods of the era and beyond – were less worried about tone and playability, and more concerned with output and economics: they were devised to allow one guitar to record through three or four amps at once.

It’s a very particular guitar modification that is over six decades old, but one that continues to baffle and bemuse six-string fans to this day. Indeed, in their end-of-year round-up, Reverb reported a certain 1951 Fender Nocaster, complete with an especially eye-catching Payola mod, was one of 2022’s most-watched pieces of gear.

The ‘50s saw the emergence of the Payola instruments – at first Fender Broadcasters and Nocasters, then Telecasters – which were conceived by recording engineers and musicians, and used by session guitarists. The idea was simple: rig a guitar with three or four pickups, give it a matching number of output jacks, and you could record a handful of guitar tracks all at once. One take would yield multiple usable recordings.

Not only was this beneficial for speeding up the recording process and increasing the catalog of guitar cuts to eventually choose from – not to mention reducing the need to change amp and mic setups after every take – it also meant session players would be paid more for their work, as they’d be able to produce a healthy amount of output.

However, there might be more to the Payola story than just speed and efficiency. By the very nature of its name, the Payola mod carries slightly scrupulous connotations, owing to the fact the practice of payola itself involved “bribing someone in return for the unofficial promotion of a product in the media”.

Whatever the case, the Payola hosted by Reverb is a different beast altogether. Not only does it flash a trio of independent pickups, it also comes equipped with three distinct control plates positioned around the body.

According to the listing, the now-priced-at $59,950 guitar was reconfigured into its Payola form in 1951, and tweaked to accommodate a late-’40s Gibson P-90 in the neck, the guitar’s original pickup in the middle and a Seymour Duncan vintage-style single coil in the bridge position. Each unit can also be sculpted via dedicated volume and tone knobs.

A well-known champion of the Payola design is Bruce Springsteen, whose slightly less obscure model – perhaps best known as his number one electric guitar that he used for Born to Run and countless other hits – adopts much of the same DNA.

Dated as a ‘53 or ‘54 model, Springsteen’s six-string features an Esquire neck and a Telecaster body that had been retrofitted with four pickups and a quartet of output jacks long before it made its way into the hands of The Boss.

According to Christopher Phillips, editor of the Springsteen fanzine Backstreets, Springsteen’s own guitar saw action in the session circuits, and was used to collect four times typical union pay for playing four slightly different versions of the same guitar solo.

Springsteen’s guitar didn’t have the additional control plates, and so looked far more like an orthodox single-cut from Fender.

At the time of writing, Reverb’s ‘51 Payola Telecaster is being watched by 782 people, making it the fourth most-watched piece of gear on the company’s website from 2022, alongside a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Burst model.

Alas, despite its seeming popularity, it looks as though its $59,950 value will price most punters out of a purchase. Perhaps guitarists have just bookmarked the remarkable model so they can easily come back to take one more look at what is undeniably one of the craziest yet practical guitar mods ever devised.

Immortalized on the iconic cover of his breakthrough third album, Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen's friendship with Clarence Clemons, the saxophone player in his E Street Band, was famously close. 

Clemons played a huge musical role in the E Street Band, helping bring Springsteen's tales of youth, romance and lovable but complex characters to life, and adding soaring, melodic solos to many of his most beloved and endearing hits.

On June 12, 2011, Clemons suffered a massive stroke at his home in Florida, the complications of which he would succumb to six days later. He was 69 years old.

On June 18, 2011, shortly before Clemons passed away, Springsteen paid his friend a final visit. Fittingly, as he told Howard Stern on a newly-released episode of The Howard Stern Show, Springsteen brought his guitar to the hospital to play him one last song. 

“I had a feeling he could hear me because he could squeeze your hand," Springsteen told Stern. "When I first went to see him, there was some response to your voice and being in the room. I knew that he was gonna die. I just brought the guitar in, and I strummed this song called Land of Hope and Dreams.”

When Stern asked Springsteen why he chose that song in particular to play for Clemons, the singer answered that “it’s about passing over to the other side, you know? It’s about life and death."

He then plays some of the song solo for Stern, utilizing the same stirring, bare-bones arrangement of the tune that he used in his long-running string of solo Broadway performances.

“It was one of the last songs that Clarence and I worked on a sax solo together on,” Springsteen concluded. “That was it, you know? There wasn’t anything else to say.”

Clarence Clemons' place in the E Street Band was taken by a full horn section that includes his nephew, Jake Clemons.

The full E Street horn section is featured on Only the Strong Survive, Springsteen's forthcoming R&B/soul covers album, which is set for a November 11 release and can be pre-ordered via Springsteen's website.

Paul McCartney made history at the weekend by becoming the oldest solo artist ever to headline the UK's Glastonbury Festival at the age of 80 – and he invited a couple of famous friends onstage to help him mark the occasion.

In the latter half of his sprawling near-three-hour set, the Beatles legend recruited both Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl – for his first public performance since the death of his Foo Fighters bandmate Taylor Hawkins.

The musicians helped Macca play two songs each; Grohl assisted on I Saw Her Standing There and Wings Band on the Run – which Foo Fighters covered in 2007 – while the Boss appeared for Glory Days from his 1984 album Born in the USA, and The Beatles' I Wanna Be Your Man.

“This guy flew in specially to do this,” McCartney told the crowd gathered at the Pyramid Stage while introducing Grohl. “We love you.”

The Foo Fighters frontman explained to Macca that while his flight from the States was canceled twice, he “would never miss being on stage with [McCartney] right now”.

During Springsteen's time onstage, he referenced McCartney's recent 80th birthday, wishing him “another glorious 80 years”.

Both Springsteen and Grohl rejoined McCartney for the final song on the set, a rendition of The Beatles' The End.

Another highlight from the set arrived with start of the encore, in which Macca delivered a virtual duet of I've Got a Feeling with his late Beatles bandmate John Lennon, whose vocals had been isolated from The Beatles classic 1969 rooftop concert in London. 

“That is so special for me,” McCartney told the audience. “I know it's virtual, but there I am singing with John again. We're back together.”

Macca played 38 songs in total, spanning his illustrious six-decade career. Notable inclusions were Beatles classics like Let It Be, Lady Madonna, Get Back and Love Me Do, Wings tracks including Live and Let Die, Let 'Em In and Let Me Roll It, and a selection of his solo tracks, namely Come On to Me, My Valentine and Here Today.

“Oh, man it's so good to be here. We were supposed to be doing this three years ago,” the Beatles legend told the crowd early in the set, referencing the canceled 2020 edition of Glastonbury.

“But here we are. We've got some old songs for you, we've got some new songs and we've got some in-betweeners... and I've got a feeling we're going to have a great time.”

Dave Grohl's appearance during Paul McCartney's set comes just over two months before the Foo Fighters put on two tribute shows for Hawkins – one in London and one in LA.

The rock stalwarts will be joined by an all-star list of guest musicians, including Brian May, Wolfgang Van Halen, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Josh Homme, Stewart Copeland, Chris Chaney, Omar Hakim, Mark Ronson, and Hawkins' side band Chevy Metal.

NAMM 2022: UK guitar-maker Vintage has debuted its Unique range of one-off models pre-aged in its ProShop – and among them is this fine Springsteen-like T-style, dubbed The Boss.

While the press release makes no direct reference to Springsteen, the instrument wears its inspiration on its blue collar, er... sleeve, closely reflecting the look of The Boss’s ‘number one’ Telecaster. 

It features an ash body, maple neck and maple ‘board with a distressed Butterscotch finish, while there’s also a black Bakelite pickguard and a set of Bare Knuckle’s The Boss Tele pickups.

These offer a fat, hot and yet decidedly vintage tone, without losing the emotive twang so associated with the single-coil Tele sound. They’re a pretty serious set and usually retail for around £209 ($263), so it’s a premium appointment. 

Springsteen’s own Tele was supposedly equipped with stainless steel and titanium hardware in order to withstand the rigours of The Boss’ three-hour sets. Vintage has not gone quite so far, but it has added Wilkinson WJO7CR E-Z Lok machine heads and a chrome, six-saddle Gotoh GTC201 bridge. 

It’s an appealing package in its own right, but particularly so for those of who have made eyes at the guitar on the Born To Run cover (by the way, those people might want to read the full story of Springsteen’s Fender Tele). 

The Vintage ProShop Unique ‘The Boss’ has a price of £1,399 (approx. $1,760). 

While The Boss is, appropriately, the real star of the recent ProShop Unique batch, there’s more on offer.

The V120 ProShop Unique Distressed Red/Tobacco Burst emulates a refinished sunburst single-pickup Les Paul Jr-style six-string and has a Bare Knuckle Old Guard P.90 pickup with CTS pots. 

Elsewhere, the V100 ProShop Unique Vintage Black brings a Bigsby to the classic Gibson-style single cut template, while the Vintage ProShop Unique – Joe Doe Salty Dog offers tattoo-themed artwork on a Strat-style build. 

Finally, the V624 ProShop Unique Raw Knuckle Pink offers speedster variant, with a sleek, 24-fret neck, a Floyd Rose vibrato and Bare Knuckle ‘After Math’ humbuckers.

Head to Vintage's official site for more information on the ProShop Unique range.

During a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Bruce Springsteen decided to take his beloved, number one electric guitar out of storage for a round of show and tell. 

Seen prominently on the cover of his star-making 1975 masterpiece, Born to Run, the guitar is a Fender "mutt" that has been in Springsteen's possession for almost 50 years and has, as Springsteen tells Colbert, "been in every club, theater, arena and stadium across America, and most of the world."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the story of the guitar – an endlessly-modded six-string with a Telecaster body and Esquire neck – is like a Springsteen song itself.

At the age of 22, Springsteen headed to Belmar, New Jersey, where he purchased the instrument from local luthier Phil Petillo for $185. Aside from its famous appearance on the cover of his third album, the guitar became Springsteen's main stage instrument and eventually, he says to Colbert, "an extension of my body."

"Anything else I pick up, it's a guitar," Springsteen adds. "I've played this for so long that it just became part of [my] natural physique."

Featuring a swamp ash body, maple neck and black pickguard, the guitar features a neck that – according to David Eichelbaum, a California luthier – dates back to 1957. Springsteen's techs, however, maintain that the neck hails from either 1953 or 1954. 

The guitar's Telecaster body has an even stranger provenance.

According to the late Petillo (reported by Rolling Stone, via Men's Journal) Springsteen's guitar had originally been owned by a record company and featured an incredibly shady installation of "four pickups wired into extra jacks that would each plug into a separate channel on the recording console."

Made by routing out a significant area under the pickguard, this mod would apparently ensure that session guitarists would earn four times typical union pay for playing four slightly different versions of the same guitar solo. 

After Petillo removed the unusual electronics, the guitar became noticeably more lightweight than your average Tele, making it perfect for both Springsteen's famously lengthy and energetic concerts, and the horn-infused music he was creating with the E Street Band.

Aside from removing the quartet of pickups, Petillo made a number of other mods – adding hot-wound single-coil pickups, triangular Precision Frets, stainless steel and titanium hardware, and silicone gaskets to give the guitar extra road-ready reliability – over the years.

Springsteen used the guitar for almost every live performance for thirty years, until the wear and tear of the road began to catch up with it in the mid-2000s and he, in his words, "sort of put it out to pasture."

These days, the Boss prefers using meticulously detailed, custom-made copies of the Tele/Esquire hybrid onstage, bringing the original out for special occasions like the interview with Colbert, and his Super Bowl XLIII performance halftime show in 2009.

Oh, and the value of that weird $185 guitar Springsteen bought all those years ago nowadays? Recent reported insurance estimates of the instrument range from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000.

Bruce Springsteen’s new single, Letter to You, which is also the title track to his forthcoming album with the E Street Band, is an unabashedly electric guitar-based rocker.

But in a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Boss reveals that the record’s origins lie in an acoustic guitar gifted to him by a fan.

According to Bruce, the fan, who he believes to have been from Italy, showed up at his stage door during his Springsteen on Broadway residency of solo acoustic shows in New York City in 2017 and 2018 and presented him with the instrument.

“I said, ‘Geez, you know, thanks,’ ” Springsteen said. “And I just took a quick glance at it and it looked like a nice guitar, so I jumped in the car with it.”

While Springsteen couldn’t recall the brand of acoustic, only saying it was “a company he’d never heard of,” he confirmed that “all the songs from the album came out of it. In perhaps less than 10 days. 

"I just wandered around the house in different rooms, and I wrote a song each day. I wrote a song in the bedroom. I wrote a song in our bar. I wrote a song in the living room.”

As far as Bruce’s guitar work on the album, the Rolling Stone article states that the traditionally Tele/Esquire man relied on a Gretsch (again, no model given) for “a few of [his] twangy guitar leads.” 

One of these “twangy” leads could well be the one heard in Letter to You, which you can check out above.

We get it. Our weekly roundup of essential guitar tracks has been the single most important thing guiding you through the COVID-19 lockdown. It makes sense, too - what better way to forget about the negative happenings of the world than to immerse yourself in the latest and greatest from the world of guitar?

You’ll be delighted to hear that it’s that time of week again - the best six-string tracks from the last seven days are in. We’ve got the first track from Bruce Springsteen’s newly announced, hotly-anticipated new album, a new project from Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and a earth-shattering new entry from Connecticut metal outfit Hatebreed, among a host of others.

So sit back, plug your headphones in (or speakers if you’re indifferent about the opinions of your neighbors) and digest some of the strongest recent six-string material around.

Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You

The Boss always seems to have a Bat Signal-esque sense for when society needs him most. Take The Rising, his 2002 reunion with his beloved E Street Band comrades, for instance. 

Though some of the album’s tracks in fact pre-dated the September 11, 2001 attacks, the LP played as a cohesive, moving work that fearlessly examined the psyche of, and made a commendable attempt at healing, a mourning nation entirely re-examining its sense of self.

So why should we be surprised that Bruce chose this moment for another long-awaited E Street Band reunion? No need to wonder why! Just get lost in the booming drums, glistening piano and that now-trademark E Street Band guitar attack - warm, jangling, welcoming and all-encompassing. (JM) 

Janelle Monáe – Turntables

Janelle Monáe’s musical MD Kellindo goes full Hendrix on this R&B groover, unleashing an arsenal of Little Wing-style hammer-ons and pull-offs, atop layers of fuzz.

Taken from the soundtrack for new documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy, Turntables is a more live, ’60s-vibed effort than what we’ve come to expect from Monáe, and that really gives Kellindo’s guitar work the opportunity to shine. (MAB)

Burning Pools – Bang Bang

You might remember Ginger Pooley from her stint as bassist for Smashing Pumpkins' 2007 reunion, and the opening riff from new project Burning Pools certainly wouldn’t sound out of place on a record from Billy Corgan and co.

Guitarist Max Bernstein ramps up the sub-octave fuzz for this punkified take on alt-rock, while Pooley delivers a fist-pumping chorus. (MAB)

Hatebreed - Weight of the False Self

Hatebreed strike once again with Weight of the False Self, a lyrically motivational call-to-arms and instrumental throwdown that’s bound to please fans of the Connecticut quintet. The track comes ahead of the group’s upcoming album of the same name, to be released in November.

Opening with Jamey Jasta’s vocals over wailing guitar feedback and a four-to-the-floor kick drum, guitarists Wayne Lozinak and Frank Novinec follow with a groundshaking earworm riff which will undoubtedly set the tone of the record to come. (SR)

Tom Petty - Confusion Wheel

Tom Petty’s 1994 solo album, Wildflowers, is one of his greatest works. A dazzling examination of aging and its effects on his then-crumbling marriage - presented through the lens of unforgettable folky sing-alongs, brash rockers and stunning ballads - it was the product of an extremely prolific period for Petty.

Though Wildflowers itself ended up clocking in at over an hour, the sessions for it produced enough material for a separate full-length album, which is now finally seeing the light of day as the second disc of the upcoming Wildflowers & All The Rest reissue.

Befitting a legend-tier songwriter like Petty, Confusion Wheel - the second unreleased song we’ve heard from the collection - is as substantial as most artists’ career highlights.

Petty’s plaintive acoustic strumming drives the song, while giving room for its mid-period-Beatles-esque hooks to land beautifully. Of course, it wouldn’t be a great Petty tune without Mike Campbell, who - as ever - adds just the right touches, with a harrowingly swampy solo (played on a baritone) that vividly breathes life into the picture of anguish and indecision Petty so beautifully paints. (JM)

renforshort – nostalgic (luvsick)

Nostalgic is right – this track from 18-year-old Canadian Lauren Isenberg is pure ’90s indie-rock revival, but the radical contemporary pop production in the chorus updates the format for a new generation.

It’s irresistible stuff, and we expect big things indeed. (MAB)

Epica - Memento

Epica display all the hallmarks of modern European symphonic metal: soaring strings, long hair, a singer with a spectacular vocal range and a truly formidable guitar partnership. The Dutch six-piece today released The Quantum Enigma (B-Sides), a collection of, you guessed it, B-sides from 2014 album The Quantum Enigma. 

The nine tracks have just been added to streaming platforms, previously only being available in physical formats.

In terms of songwriting, its opening track, Memento, is nothing short of marvelous. Amongst a complex arrangement of band instruments and an orchestral section, guitarists Isaac Delahaye and Mark Jansen weave intricate six-string melodies through both its heavy and melodic sections, guiding listeners through its vast sonicscape. (SR)

Painted Shield – I Am Your Country

This week, Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard announced he would be uniting with folk hero Mason Jennings for an all-new project – but it doesn’t sound anything what you’d expect.

Menacing synths fuel Painted Shield’s first single, with guitars filtered and chopped up by mixer John Congleton – famed for his work with St. Vincent. It’s a bracing and brave release from artists who have traditionally led with guitars at the fore. (MAB)

Sadler Vaden - Best Days 

Though his day job involves trading licks with one of America’s premier songwriters, Jason Isbell, Sadler Vaden can write a mean tune himself.

Written during what Vaden described as “one of my worst days,” Best Days is a beautiful acoustic gem that finds the singer/songwriter staring down our current malaise and deciding to remain upbeat about the future - miraculously - without a hint of cheese or tone deafness. 

Vaden’s fingerpicking is, of course, immaculate, and perfectly serves the song’s refreshingly grounded optimism. A perfect pick-me-up, this. (JM)

Mountain Caller – Journey Through the Twilight Desert

Stoner riffs collide with post-rock courtesy of this London-based instrumental trio.

Naming a track Journey Through the Twilight Desert constructs one hell of a sonic pedestal to aspire to, but guitarist Claire Simson’s savvy use of effects and dynamics paints a vivid, vicious portrait. (MAB)

Nils Lofgren - the singer/guitarist who worked on Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush in 1970, co-wrote with Lou Reed in the late-'70s and went on to enjoy a 35-year (and counting) career with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band - should be a household name by now. The fact that he’s not is, frankly, one of life’s little mysteries.

There was, however, a time when it seemed Lofgren’s name was bound for the brightest of marquees. His albums with Grin from 1970 to 1973 earned critical acclaim and fueled his growing reputation as an artist to watch.

Subsequent solo albums, from 1975’s Nils Lofgren to 1979’s Nils, were uniformly excellent and featured some of his most-loved tracks, including I Came to Dance, Back It Up and Keith Don’t Go. Lofgren’s profile was high, he was touring the world and was considered a gifted guitarist and singer. He had the looks and the hooks - but he couldn’t score the hit.

Lofgren has continued to release quality albums ever since, interspersed with his work with the Boss, other Neil Young projects and some time with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band. He’s bemused but philosophical on the vagaries of a fickle and capricious business, where fortune doesn’t always favor the best.

Living an idyllic lifestyle on his ranch in Arizona with wife Amy and a collection of beloved dogs, he’s grateful for the opportunities that have come his way and the continued chances to work with artists he’s admired and respected. 

Lofgren’s new album, Blue with Lou, features a collection of “lost” songs he wrote with Reed more than 40 years ago, plus a couple of Reed-inspired tracks. In late 1978, Lofgren and Reed co-wrote 13 songs. Three wound up on Reed’s 1979 album, Bells; another three appeared on Nils.

Lofgren recorded two more songs in 1995 and 2002 - which means five Lofgren/Reed compositions have simply been gathering dust for years. When Reed died, Lofgren starting thinking it might be time to revisit them. “I’d always hoped someday Lou would call and we’d get the rest of these songs finished,” Lofgren says. “But, of course, we lost him in 2013.”

Blue with Lou certainly stands up to the best of your solo albums. How happy are you with it?

"I’m really pleased you think that. It was two years from conception to completion. I wanted to get to a place where we could record live in the studio - bass, drums, my guitar parts and the singing, all at once. I’m much better when I sing and play live and don’t have to worry about the details. I wanted to get down all these songs that I’d written with Lou.

"It’s been a long time since I put out an album, so I took my time, eased into everything and made sure I had everything ready before the band got here."

One of the most striking things at first listen was the use of a male choir, which gives it a kind of epic feel with a hint of the Jordanaires’ work with Elvis Presley. What inspired that?

"I don’t believe in astrology much, but I’m a Gemini and I’m supposed to have kind of a split personality - though it often feels like there are more than two people in my head.

"I have a real gentle, peaceful side; I love ballads and country and I love real raunchy rock ’n’ roll and everything in between. I’d been listening to a lot of old Elvis and Ricky Nelson - Ray Charles, too - that kind of peaceful male-choir sound.

"I thought it was boring to me to do the 'oohs and ahhs' myself. It’s a fresh touch that I like hearing with my new bunch of songs."

When you presented the songs to Lou all those years ago, what did you give him? Melodies, a backing track? How formed were the ideas?

"Bob Ezrin was my producer and he suggested we meet up with Lou. We realized I write music all the time and it comes pretty easy for me, and for Lou, he’s writing lyrics all the time - he was the exact opposite.

"I had 13 songs that were done, in so far as they had titles, or a verse or lyrics. I sent him a cassette and 'la-de-dah’d' for some ideas where there were no lyrics. Lou knew all the words were open to change. Three or four weeks later he called me at about 4:30am - woke me up - and dictated all 13 sets of lyrics over the phone.

"There was a lot of work put into the tape over many months before he got it. At that time Lou said he’d been looking for some inspiration, so that tape came at the right time for him."

Talk Through the Tears, Rock Or Not and Right Now are certainly standout tracks. What are your favorites at the moment?

"Right now, just the fact that it’s done - it’s been a long time coming - I’m digging the whole record. The ones you mentioned are some that I particularly like.

"Rock Or Not was one that I had the title for for a long time. I knew it would have to be a rocker, but then it turned into kind of a protest song. I’ve been pulling my hair out with the politics of the planet.

"My wife Amy, who does all my merchandise, is very active on Twitter against the madness we have now, and that all played into the whole protest dimension. I think that should be a strong song live.

"Pretty Soon just kind of came out one day. People hear it with different perspectives; I had the perspective of it being about a wide-eyed kid who’d just enlisted in the army and missed his girlfriend and realized how it wasn’t all fun and games."

The album is on your own Cattle Track Records label. Is that due to the politics of the business, a desire to control things or just economics?

"It’s a bit of all of those things. First of all, I’m 67, I’ve been on the road for 50 years and I never had a hit record, so record companies aren’t really interested in me. The few labels that might offer me something, they’re just awful deals.

"We live in this beautiful old artistic community in Arizona - Cattle Track [Arts Compound] - so that was the name. It’s kind of homegrown. We can deal with everything hands-on ourselves and it’s a lot simpler than dealing with the madness of the music business.

"I’ve got a funky home studio; you can make records without having to go to LA or New York and spend $200 an hour. I got to do that as a kid with a record company. It’s fun but it’s also not conducive. We banned click tracks. We didn’t even try for a take of a song for eight days.

"We learned about 18 songs and really tore them up trying different ideas and arrangements, so that by the time we started recording we had 18 songs good to go. If we didn’t think it was working, we’d move on to the next song. It was a very old-school approach with some dear old friends in our home.

"The excitement of the '50s records was that they just went for it with a handful of mics - not overdubbing and redoing parts endlessly. We’ve lost a lot of that these days, so that was a factor in trying to capture some of that magic."

I first came across you in the early '70s. At that time you had a really high profile. Why do you think that it never crossed over into mainstream success?

"At the end of the day, it’s not enough heavy-rotation airplay. If you can’t get the constant airplay you need, you can’t get that hit. I’m not even gonna think about blame anymore. I’ve done my level best for each project; I’m grateful for what I’ve got, and I’ve done a lot of great work with other people. I’m not bitter or anything.

"It’s been great to have done so many different things and still be able to go out there and sing and play. 50 years ago, I never imagined I’d ever be talking to anybody about my music."

What’s interesting about your solo work is how much guitar there is in there. Not just the solos, but the fills, the intros, the rhythmic ideas. There’s a ton of guitar on those songs.

"I’m glad you say that. A lot of times if there isn’t a big solo, people don’t think there’s any guitar, and for me it’s about the song. On City Lights, I didn’t feel it needed a guitar solo, so I got my old friend [sax player] Branford Marsalis to play on it. That served the song better for me. It’s what makes the song work that matters."

The thumb pick is central to your approach. Did you always use it, or did you start off with a regular pick?

"My dad had a beat-up old acoustic with a thumb pick in it. My brother Tommy started playing guitar before me and he was using a flat-pick. I picked up that old acoustic and started learning with the thumb pick. I’m left-handed but I started playing right-handed. It sounded awful for about nine months, but then I started to get it and I was making music.

"A local teenage guitarist told me you can’t play rock ’n’ roll with a thumb pick; you need to change to a flat-pick. I thought there’s no way I’m going to spend another nine months getting back to where I was, so I stuck with the thumb pick. It was just a happy accident that led to some fingerpicking styles down the road."

So much of what is distinctive about what you do - the harmonics, the volume swells - is actually much easier and more logical with the thumb-pick.

"Yeah. Roy Buchanan, who was one of my top three heroes alongside Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix, lived near me. I used to see him play a lot, I became friends with him and he showed me how to do harmonics with a flat pick. I couldn’t do it, but I found my own way with the thumb pick. That was the first time I heard harmonics sound like bells.

"I took some lessons as a kid and my teacher had this great album, Chet Atkins Picks the Beatles, so I tried to learn Can’t Buy Me Love. It was a great exercise in learning how to pick the melody interdependent of the bass. It took me months and months to master that. It really expanded my vision to be able to play themes and rhythm with the thumb pick quite a bit."

Is the gap between your solo projects dictated by how much work you’re doing with Bruce - or anyone else?

"I started out with Grin and it was just a beautiful accident that I ended up meeting Neil Young and doing After the Gold Rush when I was 18.

"I remember I was living in Topanga Canyon with David Briggs, Neil Young’s producer. We’d get in his little VW Beetle and drive through the Topanga Hills to Neil’s house, and I remember saying to David how it’s so neat to not be the band leader. Just to be in a great band - not to have to worry about the setlist, the schedule - every detail. There’s a lot of non-musical work there. I remembered that through the years working with Bruce and Neil and Ringo’s All-Starr Band; it’s a very freeing and inspiring thing.

"I always kept doing my own music when the opportunity arose. I mean, I picked my spots - I wouldn’t just go off and play with anybody. I knew and loved the music of the people I played with.

"Ringo and the Beatles is the reason I fell in love with rock ’n’ roll. When I come back to my own music, I feel extra-inspired and refreshed."

Sometimes at Springsteen gigs you’ll do a cover that you haven’t played before, like when you did the Clash’s London Calling out of the blue in the UK. How much notice do you get?

"Usually what happens is that maybe, if you’re very lucky, he’ll send you a text the night before. But more often, you might find out a couple of hours before the soundcheck.

"He’ll say, 'Hey, I’m thinking of taking a shot at London Calling tonight so you might want to check that out.' Sometimes he’ll say, 'Pass it on.' Then we’ll try to hear a live version and the album version - it evolves at the soundcheck. Sometimes we can just do audibles if it’s something easy like Louie Louie. With something like London Calling, you need a bit of notice. Usually that notice is quite late in the day! London Calling was a really great one."

Guitar-wise, you’ve always been primarily a Fender guy, particularly Strats. Any changes there?

"That’s my favorite guitar, the Strat. I used a Gretsch Black Falcon a lot on the new album, and a Jazzmaster. For most of it, though, it was a Strat. On Magic and Working on a Dream, Bruce added some Gretsch parts. When he’s singing, me or Stevie will cover some of the more intricate parts.

"I had a Gretsch, an orange one [6120] that I’d bought. Then on the Wrecking Ball tour I thought, 'I’ve gotta get me a Falcon' for that Buffalo Springfield look. We tend to be a darker-looking band with Bruce; we did have a free-for-all on the Born in the USA tour where we wore what we wanted, but that got so out of hand that Bruce said, 'You know what? Wear whatever you want as long as it’s black.' So I thought I’ll get a Black Falcon with the gold trim - very Elvis in Vegas. It’s just got a great look."

It’s obvious you’re grateful for the opportunity to have spent your life making music.

"Now that I’m 50 years down this road I want to say that what I’ve got is a gift for music from my folks and some higher power.

"I’m not religious. I don’t like organized religion, but I believe in some kind of god and spirituality. I’m just cultivating a gift I was given; I didn’t create it - I’m just trying to caretake it. The fact that I could turn it into a 50-year career is a beautiful thing. I don’t think it’s of my own making, but I’m trying to do the best I can with it."

On Saturday night Bruce Springsteen jumped onstage with Social Distortion during their set at the inaugural Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The Boss played three songs with the band: their 1992 classic, “Bad Luck” (for which Springsteen ripped a searing solo); “Misery Loves Company,” the 1999 solo track from Social D. leader Mike Ness, which Bruce also guested on for the studio version; and a punked-up cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

A Springsteen appearance at the festival had been rumored all day, given his various connections to the event. In addition to his longtime links to Asbury Park and Social Distortion (Ness has performed onstage with Bruce and the E Street Band several times over the years), Sea.Hear.Now was also produced by Springsteen’s longtime photographer, Danny Clinch.

You can check out the full three song mini-set above.

Below, you can check out two somewhat bizarre highlights from Bruce Springsteen's massive 2014 world tour.

In the top video, Springsteen and his band—which featured former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello at the time—perform Van Halen's "Jump" in Dallas at the March Madness Music Festival. The pro-shot clip contains the entire song, so you even get to see Morello play Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo, which kicks off at 3:35.

Below that, The Boss & Co.—including Morello and a very special guest, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder—take on AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" in Brisbane, Australia. Morello does his best Angus Young impression at the 3:55 mark.

While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact date that the guitar made its celluloid debut, it’s likely that the instrument was first captured in a motion picture sometime in the mid-1890s, when Edison Laboratories began filming music hall performances with its newly invented Kinetograph.

It’s equally likely that, even in its earliest movie appearances, the guitar was used as a comedic prop. There’s always been something about the guitar that, in the right hands—or even better, the wrong ones—can add extreme levity to any situation.

Even in the absence of sound, a guitar can represent absurdity, pomposity, pathos, silliness and a host of other emotions, attitudes and attributes that play well with comic scenarios. And, of course, a guitar makes a brilliant slapstick device, especially when smashed with theatrical flourish against the nearest wall, floor or cranium.

The guitar-as-comedic-device is a grand tradition that continues on to this day in both film and television, with the guitar’s four-string bass cousin occasionally getting into the act as well. Over the years, the guitar has appeared with such comedic giants as Groucho Marx, John Belushi, and Cheech & Chong, and been a vehicle of rock and roll fantasy for everyone from Herman Munster to Tenacious D.

Picking the funniest guitar-related scenes from more than a century of clips was no mean feat, but we’ve managed to come up with a list that should tickle your funny bone even as it inspires you to pick up the nearest guitar. But just remember: if you decide to smash it on something (or someone) for a laugh, we cannot be held responsible for any damages.

Film: Wayne’s World (1992)
Scene: No Stairway

Mike Myers utilizes a most shredular “May I help you?” riff to attract a sales clerk’s attention at his local guitar shop, but he’s shut down when he tries to play the intro to Led Zeppelin’s most popular song. “No Stairway,” he laments. “Denied!”

Film: Back to the Future (1985)
Scene: The Enchantment Under the Sea Dance

Nineteen-Eighties teen Marty McFly fills in on guitar at the high school dance and blows the minds of the Fifties-era kids and musicians in attendance by incorporating power chords, feedback, and two-handed tapping into “Johnny B. Goode.” “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet,” he tells the bewildered crowd. “But your kids are gonna love it.”

Film: High Fidelity (2000)
Scene: Conversation with the Boss

John Cusack wishes he could reconnect with his top five ex-girlfriends and clear the air, “like a Bruce Springsteen song.” Cue a surprise appearance from the Boss himself, who offers up some sage advice on the subject while picking out sweet blues licks on an old Telecaster.

Film: Better Off Dead (1985)
Scene: “Everybody Wants Some!!”

While working the grill at a burger joint, high school loser John Cusack daydreams about being a mad scientist who creates a hamburger that sings Van Halen’s “Everybody Wants Some!!” while doing whammy-bar dive bombs on a miniature EVH-style Ibanez Destroyer. (Yes, we know Destroyers didn’t have whammy bars, but how else is a burger supposed to do dive bombs?)

Film: Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980)
Scene: Guitar Solo

After smoking a crushed insect, Chong unleashes a Telecaster solo so egregiously loud and atonal that it bums out the entire neighborhood. “Goddamn, man,” marvels Cheech, after fighting his way through the waves of sound to pull the plug on Chong’s amp. “I hope I can still have babies!”

Film: Boogie Nights (1997)
Scene: “Feel My Heat”

Looking like rejects from a Loverboy tribute band, Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly—playing coked-out Seventies porn stars attempting to diversify in the MTV Eighties—pen a ridiculously awful song together at a recording studio. “That’s definitely cool,” nods an oblivious Reilly, chunking out chords on a Flying V. “Let’s lay it down.”

Film: The Wedding Singer (1998)
Scene: “Somebody Kill Me”

There’s no shortage of sidesplitting Adam Sandler guitar moments, but we’ll go with this one, in which he straps on an ES-335 and serenades Drew Barrymore with a hilariously overwrought mantra of self-loathing. “When I wrote this song, I was listening to the Cure a lot,” he says. Sounds like it.

Film: Rock ’n’ Roll High School (1979)
Scene: “I Want You Around”

P.J. Soles drifts off into a stoned reverie and imagines that the Ramones are performing in her bedroom. She leads Joey into the bathroom, only to pull back the shower curtain and discover that—surprise!—Dee Dee is already in there, his clothes and bass completely drenched by running water.

Film: Animal House (1978)
Scene: “I Gave My Love a Cherry”

During the big Delta House toga party, John Belushi discovers sensitive folkie Stephen Bishop serenading some swooning co-eds on the stairs. Two lines into the song, Belushi grabs Bishop’s acoustic and smashes it repeatedly against the wall. “Sorry,” he says, handing back the shattered remains.

Film: This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Scene: Nigel’s Guitar Collection

Of all the quotable scenes in this brilliant mock-rockumentary, it’s hard to beat the tour of Nigel Tufnel’s guitar collection. “Don’t touch it,” he warns Marty DiBergi, as the director points to his precious, never-played Fender Bass VI. “Don’t point!” “Can I look at it?” “No. You’ve seen enough of that one.”

Film: Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958)
Scene: "Rock My Baby, Rock"

Here's a scene from a 1958 comedy called Rock-A-Bye Baby, which stars Jerry Lewis as Clayton Poole, a small-town TV repairman whose former sweetheart, Carla Naples (played by Marilyn Maxwell), becomes a movie star. We have no idea how that setup brings Lewis onto a stage, wearing a Gibson ES-175 (with P90s) and singing "Rock My Baby, Rock," but it happens, and it's awesome.

Since Rock-A-Bye Baby was filmed in 1958, Lewis, his fake band and the song are clearly parodying Bill Haley & His Comets, who released an album called Rockin' Around the World that year and Rockin' the Oldies the year before. You can't help but fall for Lewis' hilarious dance moves and ridiculously awful guitar solos, which take place at :15 and :28. —Damian Fanelli

Friday night, September 15, Paul McCartney played the first of his two scheduled concerts at New York City's Madison Square Garden—as part of his larger four-venue, eight-show run in New York City.

That night, he surprised and delighted the crowd by welcoming Bruce Springsteen and his right-hand man—Steven Van Zandt—for a performance of The Beatles classic, "I Saw Her Standing There."

McCartney and Springsteen shared the mic for the performance, while Van Zandt let loose for a blistering solo.

The response was so euphoric that when it was done, McCartney quipped "I reckon we gotta play it one more time," before playing it in its entirety for, yes, a second time.

You can watch both performances below.

Last Thursday night, Ryan Adams treated London fans to an exclusive acoustic playthrough of his new album, Prisoner, ahead of its February 17 release.

The event took place at Rough Trade, an independent East London record store.

Although it was an ideal setting for Adams—a lover of vinyl and an avid record collector—the intimate setting meant that only a couple of hundred fans were able to attend, leaving many more queuing by the door in hopes of a last-minute cancellation.

Picking up from his self-titled 2014 release and the string of EP's that have followed it, these new songs seem to be a continuation of a theme that doesn't look to be slowing anytime soon for the 42-year-old.

"Here are some songs about my feelings," a seated Adams whispered to the crowd before opening with "Do You Still Love Me?"

The announcement and song that followed set the tone for a dynamic and emotional set, fueled by the raw nerves of his recent past that have clearly inspired these songs. So much so, that when speaking to the audience about an interview from earlier that day, he suggested a few hours of electric shock treatment as an alternative to breaking down the specific meaning behind the tracks on this record.

With "Tightrope," "Breakdown" and "Outbound Train," Ryan seemed to be coming into his own (especially the latter), entirely using the intimate space of the venue to full effect during the track's powerful chorus. With a scheduled time of 45 miniutes, it seemed he was about to bring the show to a close. However, he continued to play for another 40 minutes, which included the remainder of the upcoming album (minus "Shiver and Shake") and the as-yet-unreleased "Was I Wrong"

By his own admission, the songs on this record focus on dark and moody themes. On the closing of a chilling performance of the album's title track, Adams said, "God, these songs are fucking bleak" before adding, "I made a deal with Robert Smith. Just give me your leftover stuff, and I'll just sing it in a slightly Southern accent." It's an agreement that's so perfect, it could actually be believed.

Adams' shows are usually topped off by a heartfelt cover, and this was no exception as Adams took on Bruce Springsteen's 1993 hit, "Streets of Philidelphia." You can see the performance in the clip below.

Ryan Adams, Rough Trade East, London, January 26, 2017, setlist:
Do You Still Love Me?
Doomsday
Haunted House
Tightrope
Breakdown
Outbound Train
Prisoner
Broken Anyway
We Disappear
Was I Wrong
Still a Cage
To Be Without You
Rats in the Wall (1984)
16 Days (Metal Version)
Streets of Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen cover)

Prisoner will be released February 17 via Pax Am/Blue Note/Capitol. For more informarion, visit paxamrecords.com.

Saturday night (April 23), Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band paid tribute to Prince, who died Thursday at age 57.

In fact, the Boss actually opened his show at Brooklyn's Barclays Center with an emotional rendering of Prince's "Purple Rain."

The highlight of what is clearly a heartfelt performance is Nils Lofgren's guitar solo, which sets sail at 3:40. It is proof positive that Lofgren can deliver intense, emotional solos that send listeners’ hearts skyrocketing. It's a fine tribute to a supremely gifted performer.

When Labor Day came and went earlier this month, it reminded us of the American labor movement and the contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of the good ol' U.S. of A.

However, since we're Guitar World people, we couldn't help but apply those sentiments to music and the American people who made and make it—bands!

This, in turn, led to thoughts and theories about the greatest American band of all time, which led us to our latest readers' poll—the Best American Rock Band Ever! Yes, the gangs from Guitar World and Sweetwater want to get GW readers—you people!—involved as we attempt to crown the Best American Rock Band Ever!

Although we had thousands of bands to choose from, we decided to narrow things down to 32, which is perfect for a month's worth of intense—and fun (it's supposed to be fun, people!) matchups. All the bands were carefully selected by Guitar World's editorial staff.

Note that this poll includes current bands and bands that disappeared into the woodwork years ago. Also, if you're wondering why the Jimi Hendrix Experience aren't on this list, they weren't an American band. Hendrix was American, but he's not a band. Band of Gypsys were American, but they simply didn't make the cut based on the music released under the "Band of Gypsys" moniker. It's one of many tough sacrifices we had to make along the way. Speaking of which, be sure to read "How the Bracket Was Compiled" at the bottom of this story.

Anyway, here are our 32 American bands, which are presented in alphabetical order. You also can check out the entire 32-band bracket below.

Aerosmith, Alice In Chains, the Allman Brothers Band, the Beach Boys, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Doors, Eagles, Foo Fighters, Grateful Dead, Green Day, Guns N' Roses, Heart, Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Queens of the Stone Age, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Soundgarden, Steely Dan, Steve Miller Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Styx, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Van Halen, the White Stripes and ZZ Top.

Enjoy our Best American Rock Band Ever Poll, which is sponsored by Sweetwater!

Today's Matchup

Van Halen

Powered by the dynamic, extraordinary guitar chops of Eddie Van Halen and the thundering beats generated by his brother Alex, Van Halen changed rock from the instant they stepped into the limelight in 1978. Unapologetic, loud and flashy, they inspired a whole generation of musicians to go bigger. Whether fronted by David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar or Gary Cherone, Van Halen have always been a vehicle for brash, unforgettable tunes and Eddie’s always-astounding guitar work.

• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Although Bruce Springsteen, one of the greatest songwriters of ours or any age, likely would’ve become a star with or without the E Street Band, they made masterpieces like “Born to Run” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” the revelations they were. The late, great Big Man, saxophonist Clarence Clemons, provided the soul, bassist Garry Tallent the pulse and lead guitarist Stevie Van Zandt the attitude. Anyone who wonders what the state of New Jersey has given the world should look no further.

Vote Now!

The polls are closed! Van Halen have advanced to the next round. Be sure to check out today's matchup at GuitarWorld.com!

Behold the Latest Bracket!

Sweetwater Latest

How the Bracket Was Compiled

Here's how the bracket was—very unscientifically—compiled.

We drew the artists' names out of a hat (It was, in fact, a smelly Quebec Nordiques baseball cap) to help us create our bracket, which is available for your viewing pleasure below. Obviously, none of these of bands are ranked or come from a previously compiled list, so we chose purely random matchups to have as little impact as possible on the final outcome. We're actually pretty pleased with the way the bracket turned out.

Remember that, as with any poll, genre might occasionally clash against genre, so you'll just need to decide which artist has (or has had) the most to offer within his/their genre, perhaps which one has or had more natural talent or technical skill, which one had the biggest influence on other live acts, etc.

As always, you can vote only once per matchup (once per device, that is), and we'll be posting match-ups pretty much every day of the month, sometimes more than once per day, just to give you an early warning.

When Labor Day came and went earlier this month, it reminded us of the American labor movement and the contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of the good ol' U.S. of A.

However, since we're Guitar World people, we couldn't help but apply those sentiments to music and the American people who made and make it—bands!

This, in turn, led to thoughts and theories about the greatest American band of all time, which led us to our latest readers' poll—the Best American Rock Band Ever! Yes, the gangs from Guitar World and Sweetwater want to get GW readers—you people!—involved as we attempt to crown the Best American Rock Band Ever!

Although we had thousands of bands to choose from, we decided to narrow things down to 32, which is perfect for a month's worth of intense—and fun (it's supposed to be fun, people!) matchups. All the bands were carefully selected by Guitar World's editorial staff.

Note that this poll includes current bands and bands that disappeared into the woodwork years ago. Also, if you're wondering why the Jimi Hendrix Experience aren't on this list, they weren't an American band. Hendrix was American, but he's not a band. Band of Gypsys were American, but they simply didn't make the cut based on the music released under the "Band of Gypsys" moniker. It's one of many tough sacrifices we had to make along the way. Speaking of which, be sure to read "How the Bracket Was Compiled" at the bottom of this story.

Anyway, here are our 32 American bands, which are presented in alphabetical order. You also can check out the entire 32-band bracket below.

Aerosmith, Alice In Chains, the Allman Brothers Band, the Beach Boys, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Doors, Eagles, Foo Fighters, Grateful Dead, Green Day, Guns N' Roses, Heart, Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Queens of the Stone Age, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Soundgarden, Steely Dan, Steve Miller Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Styx, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Van Halen, the White Stripes and ZZ Top.

Enjoy our Best American Rock Band Ever Poll, which is sponsored by Sweetwater!

Today's Matchup

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Stevie Ray Vaughan was arguably the heir to the throne of Jimi Hendrix. Before his career was cut tragically short in a helicopter crash in 1990, SRV and his ultra-tight ensemble, Double Trouble, left an endearing mark on blues and rock. Never submitting to the commercial urges that sapped Eric Clapton of his creative fire, SRV and Double Trouble were committed to the blues with a passion that never failed to shine through on their records, but especially in their live performances. Though Stevie Ray was always the star, the band was a force of nature.

• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Although Bruce Springsteen, one of the greatest songwriters of ours or any age, likely would’ve become a star with or without the E Street Band, they made masterpieces like “Born to Run” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” the revelations they were. The late, great Big Man, saxophonist Clarence Clemons, provided the soul, bassist Garry Tallent the pulse and lead guitarist Stevie Van Zandt the attitude. Anyone who wonders what the state of New Jersey has given the world should look no further.

Vote Now!

The polls are closed. Bruce and the NJ gang have advanced to the next round.

Behold the Latest Bracket!

Cats

How the Bracket Was Compiled

Here's how the bracket was—very unscientifically—compiled.

We drew the artists' names out of a hat (It was, in fact, a smelly Quebec Nordiques baseball cap) to help us create our bracket, which is available for your viewing pleasure below. Obviously, none of these of bands are ranked or come from a previously compiled list, so we chose purely random matchups to have as little impact as possible on the final outcome. We're actually pretty pleased with the way the bracket turned out.

Remember that, as with any poll, genre might occasionally clash against genre, so you'll just need to decide which artist has (or has had) the most to offer within his/their genre, perhaps which one has or had more natural talent or technical skill, which one had the biggest influence on other live acts, etc.

As always, you can vote only once per matchup (once per device, that is), and we'll be posting match-ups pretty much every day of the month, sometimes more than once per day, just to give you an early warning.

Besides reliable gear, sensible footwear and a guaranteed ride to gigs, members of good backing bands must have:

• Humility. After all, they're not the stars. The frontman (or woman) is.

• Natural talent and/or undeniable skill. A frontman doesn't need to wonder if his guitarist will actually nail the tricky guitar solo this time. That stuff needs to be automatic.

• Personality. No, they're not the stars, but backing-band members can't be bland sticks in the mud, either. They need to bring something unique to the table, each part of the band combining to create a superior "whole."

The best backing bands, of course, have all these qualities —plus lots of success. Some of them of have played on countless hits. Some have played a role in music history. Others just have so much talent that they automatically move to the next level.

This story is about 10 such backing bands.

Note that we kept our choices to backing bands with actual "names." These are groups we call "ampersand bands," since their name, in most of these cases, follows an ampersand or an "and" in the act's full name, such as John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers or Johnny and The Moondogs (neither of whom are included on this list).

So even though Bill Black and Scotty Moore kicked vintage ass as Elvis Presley's backing duo, the duo never had a name. And the talented gents who backed Roger Waters or Paul McCartney at the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief? No name. You get the idea.

We also tried to focus on bands that kept a core group of members intact over the years. For example, we'd consider Elvis Costello's Attractions (always the same three guys) over Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention (This Wikipedia page says it all).

On that note, here they are, Guitar World's 10 best backing bands of all time. Enjoy!

10. The Band

Although the Band are best known for their own dark, rustic late-Sixties masterpieces Music from Big Pink and The Band, they hit the world stage in the mid-Sixties as Bob Dylan's backing band.

Actually, their backing-band pedigree started in 1958, when they hooked up with rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins and called themselves the Hawks. After short-lived stints as Levon & the Hawks and the Canadian Squires, the gang was hired by Dylan in 1965, just as he was ditching his acoustic/folk persona in favor of Strats and heavier rock.

Dylan and the Band (still known as the Hawks for a while)—Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel—toured the U.S. in 1965 and the world in 1966, enduring the heckling and disapproval of folk-music purists every step of the way.

The Band were on stage with Dylan in Manchester, England, on May 17, 1966, when an audience member shouted "Judas!" Dylan replied, "I don't believe you. You're a liar!" He then turned to the Band and said, "Play it fucking loud!" before launching into "Like a Rolling Stone." Or so people say ...

The Band followed Dylan to Woodstock, New York, where they recorded The Basement Tapes. It was a relationship that wound up lasting—albeit loosely—for several years, in the form of various touring and recording projects.

In terms of sheer talent, the Band were a dream team. Every member of the group was a multi-instrumentalist. They could provide soaring harmony vocals, oddball lead guitar, mesmerizing keyboards and everything from fiddle to trombone to sax to mandolin.

Maybe the Band were at the right place at the right time, but there's no denying they occupy a special place in rock history.

• 09. The Roots

Acclaimed by many to be hip-hop’s first “real band,” the Roots are one of the genre's longest-standing acts.

Formed by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia back in 1987, the Roots' double-digit studio albums alone have been enough to propel them to household-name status, including a Grammy nod for 2011's Undun.

But when they're not breaking down genre barriers, the Roots also have earned a reputation as one of the best backing acts going. In 2005, they appeared in Dave Chappelle's Block Party, a documentary film that saw them team up with everyone from Erykah Badu to Big Daddy Kane.

Since 2009, the band has served as the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, curating the program's music (sometimes controversially) and backing multiple guests through the years. Tune in any given night and you'll likely catch one of guitarist "Captain" Kirk Douglas' fine selection of Gibsons, including a beautiful CS-356.

08. The Blue Caps

Of the major "named" backing bands of rock’s first generation—Buddy Holly’s Crickets, Bill Haley’s Comets, Johnny Burnette’s Rock n’ Roll Trio and Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps (We'll even include Johnny Cash's Tennessee Three)—the Blue Caps had a monopoly on super-serious chops. Among their lineup was—to quote Jeff Beck—the “demon-like” Cliff Gallup.

Gallup, whose playing and sound are perhaps best described as "ahead of their time," was a true pioneer who had a massive influence on the first wave of British Invasion players, particularly Beck, who incorporated Gallup’s lightning-fast triplet pull-offs into his own playing. Gallup's quick "slap-echo" delay, as heard on Bluejean Bop and Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, is still considered the gold standard sound for rockabilly guitarists.

The Blue Caps also included Willie Williams on rhythm guitar, Jack Neal on upright bass and Dickie Harrell on drums, a crew that could drive fans into a frenzy with relentless rockabilly beats as heard in “Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back,” “B-I-Bickey-Bi, Bo-Bo-Go” and “Hold Me, Hug Me, Rock Me.”

Gallup, who left the band in 1956, was replaced by Russell Williford, followed by Johnny Meeks. He died in 1988. Meeks died earlier this year.

07. The Funk Brothers

Unlike the rest of the bands on this list, the Funk Brothers weren't an "official" backing band; their nickname didn't follow an "and" or an ampersand in a band name, and they didn't make their living on the road backing a single artist.

The Funk Brothers were a crew of Detroit-based session musicians who played on most Motown recordings from 1959 to 1972.

As claimed in the opening titles to Paul Justman's 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, the Funk Brothers have "played on more No. 1 hits than the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys—combined." And while you might want to head for your iPhone's calculator and dive into Google land to verify that, there's no denying they played on an impressive collection of Motown hits, including "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "My Girl," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Baby Love," "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," "The Tears of a Clown" and "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave."

They can be heard on singles and/or albums by Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, the Temptations (Check out the video below), the Supremes, Martha & the Vandellas, the Marvelettes, the Contours, the Jackson 5, the Four Tops, the Spinners, the Originals and other acts.

Although the Funk Brothers weren't quite as fluid an ensemble as Wings or the Mothers of Invention, many musicians have been members of the brotherhood. Core members included guitarists Robert White, Eddie Willis and Joe Messina, Joe Hunter (bandleader), Earl Van Dyke (piano), James Jamerson (bass); Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin (drums), Richard "Pistol" Allen (drums), Paul Riser (trombone), Jack Ashford (tambourine, percussion, vibraphone, marimba), Jack Brokensha (vibraphone, marimba) and Eddie "Bongo" Brown (percussion).

Other notable members include guitarist Dennis Coffey and bassist Bob Babbitt.

06. Double Trouble

In the early '80s, Texan Stevie Ray Vaughan breathed new life into a faded genre called the blues, created a distinctive modern Texas sound that is still mimicked today and introduced Jimi Hendrix, Albert King and Lightnin' Hopkins to a new generation of guitar players.

But he didn't do it alone.

Behind him every step of the way were Double Trouble—bassist Tommy Shannon, drummer Chris Layton and (as of 1985), keyboardist Reese Wynans. It can be argued (Note the COMMENTS section below, folks!) that Vaughan only really sounded like Vaughan when he was backed by Double Trouble. His sound changed when he made cameo appearances on other artists' albums and on the Vaughan Brothers' 1990 LP, Family Style.

Layton and Shannon—who, as Johnny Winter's former bassist, brought his own Texas blues pedigree into the mix—formed the perfect rhythm section for Vaughan, filling the gaps and adding dynamics during 15-minute versions of "Little Wing/Third Stone from the Sun" and sounding like a blues-shuffle instructional tape on "Empty Arms."

They understood their role in catchy guitar-based instrumentals like "Scuttle Buttin'," "Rude Mood," "Boilermaker" and "Stang's Swang" and knew how to alter their playing styles to fit each mood and blues sub-genre.

Wynans' arrival in 1985 gave the band a bigger, beefier sound, as heard on Soul to Soul and In Step.

Since Vaughan's death in 1990, Double Trouble have backed a host of artists, including Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Guy and, more recently, Albert Cummings.

05. The Wailers

Formed in the early Sixties when Peter Tosh taught a young Robert Nesta Marley how to play guitar, the Wailers—in one incarnation or another—would back reggae’s most legendary figure throughout his entire career.

There are two distinct periods in the strata of Wailers history. The group’s original incarnation featured Tosh on guitar, with the Wailers existing as essentially a three-piece (with Bunny Livingston on percussion) between 1966 and 1974.

Citing unfair treatment within the group, Livingston and Tosh exited the band in ‘74, leaving Marley to regroup, establishing a new version of the Wailers that would serve as his backing band for the remainder of his career. The new Wailers lineup would hit the road in 1975 with Al Anderson handling guitar duties. Anderson would only stick around through '76, however, opting to join Peter Tosh's Word, Sound and Power and opening the door for Junior Marvin to enter the scene.

Marvin would breathe new life into the Wailers, as evidenced by the massive success of 1977's Exodus. But if you asked Marvin, he'd give all the credit to Roger Mayer, the man who Jimi Hendrix trusted to help craft his groundbreaking guitar sounds.

“You listen to the Wailers from 1977 onward and you listen to the Wailers pre-1977, and you will hear the difference,” Marvin says. “Part of that is down to Roger Mayer.”

But beyond a reinvigorated lineup and the technical know-how of Mayer, it was undoubtedly Marley’s strict work ethic that, regardless of lineup, made the Wailers one of the tightest backing bands in history.

“Bob was on top of everything, perfectly woven with everything,” Marvin said. “You felt like nothing would go wrong. Bob would rehearse us so much. At the end of rehearsal, you could play that thing in your sleep.”

These days, you can catch multiple versions of the Wailers on tour. The Wailers Band, led by “Family Man” Barrett, and the Original Wailers, featuring Al Anderson and Junior Marvin, are both doing their parts to keep the music and spirit of Bob Marley alive.

04. Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Among the first backing bands to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Booker T. and the M.G.s might very well be the most imitated house band in history, playing on hundreds of recordings for Stax Records, fortifying the sound of Southern soul in the process. During the 1960s, they would lend their talents to countless hits, including Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" and Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay," even backing Redding at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

While primarily known as a backing band, Booker T. & the M.G.’s also received some acclaim on their own, particularly with the 1962 instrumental “Green Onions,” which was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings earlier this year.

In 1965, original bassist Lewie Steinberg would part ways with the band, paving the way for another Stax house band member, Donald “Duck” Dunn, to join the fray, solidifying a storied musical partnership.

“Steve and I are like an old married couple,” Dunn would later say of his relationship with Cropper. “I can look at him and know what he’s going to order for dinner.”

A further nod to their in-demand status, Dunn and Cropper would later join a pair of young Hollywood actors looking to cut an album of slick blues and R&B. They called themselves “the Blues Brothers.”

03. The Heartbreakers

Some names in popular culture are just inseparable: Starsky and Hutch; Laverne and Shirley; and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Formed from the remnants of the Southern rock band Mudcrutch, the pairing of Petty's wry lyrics and penchant for melodies gelled seamlessly with the rock steady rhythm section of drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair.

And even when Petty—much to the dismay of many, including his bandmates—went solo in the late ‘Eighties, guitarist Mike Campbell was never far away, playing guitar on every track of the critically acclaimed Full Moon Fever.

Outside of the Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell is a much-sought-after studio musician, adding his tasteful licks to recordings from the likes of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, among others.

02. The E Street Band

Two high-profile Bruce Springsteen solo albums—Nebraska and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions—might be fine pieces of work, but there's nothing quite like the sound of Springsteen when he's backed by the musicians who've had his back since 1972, the E Street Band.

The E Street Band is proof that a great band is more than the sum of its parts. Current band members, including Steven Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Nils Lofgren and Garry Tallent, might have their own successful side projects (including a never-ending series of mob-related cable TV shows), but they all know who's "Boss." When they are called to action, they are truly a force to be reckoned with. In this way, they are perhaps the perfect backing band; they live to serve their leader, but they do it while adding touches of their individual personalities and strengths.

Springsteen's early albums are clearly defined by the sound of the E Street Band, especially the trademark sax playing of the late Clarence Clemons. They often transformed what could have been simple compositions into grand, sprawling, dramatic works, such as "Born to Run" (Check out the live video below), "Lost in the Flood" and "Backstreets."

And while the band might not be so concerned with forging new sounds these days, as a live unit, they kick ass when it comes to generating excitement and reproducing their classic sound.

01. Crazy Horse

From 1969’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere all that way up through the excellent Psychedelic Pill from 2012, the partnership between Neil Young and Crazy Horse stands as one of the most prolific in rock lore.

While the band has gone through its share of incarnations through the years, the drum-tight rhythm section of Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina has been intact since the Sixties, and guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro has been a steady fixture since 1975’s Zuma.

In the realm of backing bands, Crazy Horse are far from the tightest act around, drifting lazily but deliberately between tempos with the occasional burst of cacophonous noise thrown in for good measure. But Young has never tapped them for metronome-like precision; he always comes back to them because, in the purest musical sense, they complete each other.

“I don’t think of my guitar solos as guitar solos,” said Young in a classic Guitar World interview, “because when we play, we’re like a big band jamming and taking long rides together.”

And so Crazy Horse stand atop the heap of backing bands for an unparalleled ability to elevate their frontman to new heights, never hesitating to take a leap out of the pocket when the music calls for it. Assuming their signature stance, huddled tightly around Molina's drum set, you get the undeniable impression that they're in another world entirely, journeying through strange landscapes with no particular destination in mind.

Neil Young said it himself: “I can’t do this with anyone else.”

RIP Robin Williams (1951-2014)

“Down here its just winners and losers and don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line/ Well I’m tired of coming out on the losing end.” So goes one of the pivotal lines of “Atlantic City,” the only single, and the watershed moment of Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska.

On almost every Springsteen compilation, “Atlantic City” is the black sheep, standing alone in a catalog filled with horn-filled rave-ups of rebellion and romance, and simple, stout rockers detailing the darker sides of the American dreeam.

Nebraska as a whole is an extreme outlier in his discography. Recorded by Springsteen alone with a four-track recorder, the album is made up entirely of Springsteen’s vocals and acoustic playing.

If you’re not familiar with Nebraska, or its two lesser follow-ups The Ghost of Tom Joad and Devils & Dust, it may be a jarring sonic experience. But, in tone and message, it isn’t too far removed from much of Springsteen’s post Born to Run work.

Gone were the hot, endless summer nights of his early records, and in its place were desperate tales of characters who had indeed come out on “the wrong side of that line.” The settings of Nebraska are typically fluid, the often listless and confused characters staring at futures as undefined and murky as the long, endless highways they spend much of their time on.

The tales here rarely end on a positive note, coming to conclusions that are brutally realistic in both the lack of answers they provide, and the despair that they do leave with you. Perspective is vital in all ten of these songs. The title track, detailing the teenage serial killer Charles Starkweather, is all the more haunting coming from the perspective of Starkweather himself, who Springsteen uses as a narrative voice.

The police officer in “Highway Patrolman” introduces himself, before saying to you “I always done an honest job/as honest as I could/I got a brother named Frankie, and Frankie ain’t no good.” Over the next five and a half minutes, Springsteen weaves a poignant, sad tale. The officer assures you that “man turns his back on his family/well he just ain’t no good,” while simultaneously struggling to deal with the complications his brother’s law-breaking behavior throws into his line of work. As you follow the officer and his brother, Springsteen’s waltz-like, distant acoustic never strays or wavers, providing an almost ominous pulse to the piece right up until its beautiful conclusion.

On “State Trooper,” you never learn the background or name of the narrator. He just tells you “License, registration/I ain’t got none/But I’ve got a clear conscience/About the things that I’ve done.” What those “things” are is never revealed; the only other piece of information the narrator reveals about himself is “The one thing that I got/has been bothering me my whole life.” The palm-muted riff that is Springsteen’s sole accompaniment very slowly gathers pace as the narrator grows more paranoid, begging the unseen and unheard state trooper to not stop him with an ever-increasing intensity.

“Used Cars” and “Mansion On the Hill” take the perspective of a young Springsteen. In the former, he sits with his family in their “brand new used car,” as his equally blue-collar neighbors watch with envy. In the latter, Springsteen stares with wonder at a mystical mansion that occupies the edge of his town. The splendor Springsteen attributes to the house makes it almost Gatsby-like, but in the back of his young mind there is always the mindset that that sort of residence will only ever be obtainable to him in dreams.

“My Father’s House” is the album’s most personal, and most devastating, moment. Springsteen alternates between the perspectives of himself as a scared child and as an adult. He dreams, as a child, of being chased through a dark forest, only to find his father waiting in the light, ready to catch him and save him from the threat. He awakes as an adult, and it becomes quickly apparent that a massive distance has grown between the narrator and his father. Suddenly determined to reconcile, he gets in his car and takes a long drive to the home of his youth, only to find a woman he doesn’t recognize who informs him “I’m sorry son, but no one by that name lives here anymore.” Immediately after that line, a mournful harmonica sweeps in to drive the absence, and subsequent sadness, home.

Although Springsteen has always been magical with his E Street Band comrades, Nebraska is his finest hour. He manages to, in a ten-song cycle, capture the death of the American dream, and the despair that goes with it. His characters couldn’t be more vivid, while the stories they tell are both engrossing and entirely relatable. There’s a bit of each of these characters in all of us, whether we’d like to admit it or not, and in that lies Nebraska’s true brilliance.

More from Bruce Springsteen at www.brucespringsteen.net

Jackson Maxwell is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is double majoring in history and journalism. He is an editorial assistant at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and has his own music blog entitled "Broken Drums." You can follow him here at http://broken--drums.tumblr.com/

This past Friday night, Bruce Springsteen got in good with his Australian audience when he started his show with a surprise rendition of AC/DC's 1979 tune "Highway to Hell."

The show took place at Perth Arena, not far from where the late AC/DC singer Bon Scott grew up.

The fan-filmed video, which you can check out below, features four guitarists — Springsteen, Nils Lofgren, Steven Van Zandt and Tom Morello, who also performs on Springsteen's new album, High Hopes.

What do you think of their version?

The ultimate goal in rock music, as seen by some, is to make as much of an impression as possible on the audience. Often, a high-volume attack is a major part of that impression. The volume can be a symbol of anger, emotion, rawness, and expression. Most straight-rock bands, in their desire for blasting the faces off of their audience members, leave their acoustic guitars backstage only to bring out for a few obvious, slower ballads. It is rare to see a “rock” band who not only occasionally performs with only acoustic instruments, but makes them the backbone of their main live set up.

However, this anomaly was the case for the Havalinas, a legendary LA rock band whose typical live and studio set up was acoustic/stand-up bass/drums. Bruce Springsteen recently covered their lively acoustic rave-up, “High Hopes,” in the studio for the second time. But not only did the Boss cover the song alone; its sound became the catalyst for the recording of his new album, his 18th. Not so coincidentally, the album also bears the name of its biggest inspiration: High Hopes.

High Hopes is unlike any previous entry in the Springsteen catalog. For the first time, Springsteen decided to revisit demos and unfinished songs from the past decade. He re-mixed and added to the already existing recordings, creating a strange mix of old and new.

In that way, the very nature of its creation is its most damning problem. Featuring tracks written during many different times in his career, High Hopes has a hodge-podge, thrown-together quality that’s unusual for a Springsteen album. Springsteen’s best works usually have a uniting sonic theme; the wall-of-sound teenage fantasy of Born To Run, the desolate acoustic wasteland of Nebraska, the hollow post-9/11 America of The Rising, and so on. Springsteen was clearly many different states of mind when he wrote the songs on High Hopes, making the songs consistently clash with each other.

Even though songs like “Heaven’s Wall,” “Frankie Fell In Love,” and “Harry’s Place” fall far short of the high standards Springsteen has set for himself over the past decades, High Hopes is not without its highlights.

The album’s reworking of one of Springsteen’s most infamous songs, “American Skin (41 Shots),” is one of those high water marks. Originally written about the New York City Police Department’s slaying of Amadou Diallo, Springsteen has recently brought the song back to his live sets as a tribute to Trayvon Martin. Even with some over the top shredding towards its conclusion by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello (a frequent contributor to High Hopes), it is a haunting, timely and politically charged song.

The album’s other wonderful moment comes in the form of “The Wall.” Telling the story of Walter Chicon, a Jersey Shore rock legend who never made it home from the Vietnam War, “The Wall” is a ballad rich with love, sentimentality and loss. As the album’s penultimate track, it packs a powerful emotional punch.

High Hopes, in more than one way, is an unusual entry in Springsteen’s discography. But I guess that’s to be expected from a record that was inspired by a song an unusual, unique band. The Havalinas, who took a risk in making their passionate, spirited rock acoustically, ended up inspiring one of rock’s most accomplished songwriters to take a big risk of his own.

Find out more at www.brucespringsteen.netJackson Maxwell is a freshman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is double majoring in history and journalism. He is a staff writer for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and has his own music blog entitled “Two Dudes, Two Computers” with his friend Zach Newman. You can follow him here at twodudestwocomputers.tumblr.com/ or http://themotorcade.tumblr.com/

No late-night show is complete without a special musical guest to close out the program. Typically filmed in small theaters, it’s an intimate gig to those in the audience, yet the artists must deliver a performance powerful enough to transcend to viewers at home.

With millions of people watching, it’s one of the best ways to promote new material and gain a broader audience. Here are five acoustic performances from late-night television that stand out as special moments. Check 'em out!

Old Crow Medicine Show on Conan
Old Crow Medicine Show sparked an Americana folk revival in recent mainstream music inspiring mega bands like Mumford & Sons with their homestyle sound. Watch them take their strings to late night with “Mississippi Saturday Night” from their latest album, Carry Me Back.

Ed Sheeran on Conan
British singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran and his notable Little Martin LX1E guitar perform “Lego House,” the third single from his chart topping debut album, +.

Chris Cornell and the Avett Brothers
Chris Cornell, along with Seth and Scott Avett, covered long time friends Pearl Jam to help promote their new album Lightning Bolt. Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron composed the music which was also used for the Temple of the Dog track “Times of Trouble”, featuring different lyrics penned by Cornell.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela perform on The Late Show with David Letterman
The duo's first appearance on American television was this performance of “Diablo Rojo” in 2006. Their agile playing is mesmerizing as they effortlessly glide through this instrumental.

LP on The Late Show With David Letterman
“A ukulele and some whistling, that’s all you need” exclaims Letterman after this performance from L.P. of her breakthrough track “Into The Wild.” Watch her erupt into a thundering chorus giving strength to the tiny instrument and playful tune.

Bruce Springsteen And Jimmy Fallon Sing "Whip My Hair"
Fallon’s impersonation of Neil Young is impressive in itself, though he takes it up a notch blending two drastically different styles of music into one with this parody of “Whip My Hair.” Springsteen appears impersonating a younger version of himself adding his own vocals to the mix.

Music from last week's 12.12.12 Concert for Sandy Relief in New York City is now available on iTunes. A physical CD will be released in January via Columbia Records.

The album features select performances from the epic December 12 concert, which took place at Madison Square Garden. Some of the stand-out songs include Eric Clapton playing "Crossroads" and "Got to Get Better In a Little While," a Derek and the Dominos track from 1970.

Also included is The Rolling Stones' entire set — "You Got Me Rocking" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" — and three songs by The Who. Three Roger Waters tracks are present, including "Comfortably Numb," which he performed with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. Although Paul McCartney played the longest set of the night, he is represented by only one song, "Helter Skelter."

Check out the entire track listing below — and the two videos featuring Clapton (top) and Waters/Vedder (bottom).

The Robin Hood Relief Fund will receive 100 percent of the net proceeds of digital retailers, Columbia Records and the artists from the sale of the album. The Robin Hood Relief Fund is providing money, material and know-how to local organizations that are serving families and individuals in the regions hardest hit by the storm.

Click here to donate.

The digital track listing is as follows:

• 01. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band– "Land of Hope and Dreams"
• 02. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – "Wrecking Ball"
• 03. Roger Waters – "Another Brick In The Atlantic Wall"
• 04. Roger Waters – "Us and Them"
• 05. Roger Waters with Eddie Vedder – "Comfortably Numb"
• 06. Adam Sandler and Paul Shaffer – "Hallelujah (Sandy Relief Version)"
• 07. Bon Jovi – "It's My Life"
• 08. Bon Jovi – "Wanted Dead Or Alive"
• 09. Eric Clapton – "Got To Get Better In a Little While"
• 10. Eric Clapton – "Crossroads"
• 11. The Rolling Stones – "You Got Me Rocking"
• 12. The Rolling Stones – "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
• 13. Alicia Keys – "No One"
• 14. The Who – "Who Are You"
• 15. The Who – "Baba O'Reilly"
• 16. The Who – "Love, Reign O'er Me"
• 17. Billy Joel – "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)"
• 18. Billy Joel – "Movin' Out (Anthony’s Song)"
• 19. Billy Joel – "You May Be Right"
• 20. Chris Martin – "Viva La Vida"
• 21. Chris Martin with Michael Stipe – "Losing My Religion"
• 22. Chris Martin – "Us Against The World"
• 23. Paul McCartney – "Helter Skelter"
• 24. Alicia Keys – "Empire State Of Mind"

Last Friday night, The Boss himself capped off a week of Springsteen tributes on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with an interview and performance in support of his new album, Wrecking Ball.

Joining him for a performance of the new song, "Death to My Hometown," was none other than Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Watch the performance below.

Wrecking Ball is out tomorrow, March 6.

Bruce Springsteen has started premiering tracks from his new album, Wrecking Ball, one-per-day online. Today's track, which is only available for 24 hours, is "This Depression," which features Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Listen below, courtesy of exclaim.ca.

Last week, The Boss released a new music video for the song "We Take Care of Our Own." Watch it here.

Wrecking Ball is due out on March 6.

One of the highlights from last night's 54th Grammy Awards broadcast on CBS was the event's final moment -- a performance of The Beatles' "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight" and "The End" by Paul McCartney and his band.

The medley is from side two of Abbey Road, the last album recorded by The Beatles.

During "The End," McCartney was joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen, Joe Walsh and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, and all six guitarists (including Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray from McCartney's band) took turns playing brief solos, just as McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon did on the original 1969 recording.

The medley was McCartney's second performance of the night. Earlier, he played "My Valentine," a song from his new album, Kisses On The Bottom, with a guitar solo by Walsh, filling in for Eric Clapton, who plays the solo on the album.

Check out the video of the jam below. "The End" starts around the 3:20 mark.

From left, the guitarists are Springsteen, Walsh, Anderson, McCartney, Grohl and Ray (who plays bass during "Golden Slumbers" and "Carry That Weight"). That's Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums.

Bruce Springsteen has announced the first dates of a pending U.S. tour this year in support of his upcoming new album, Wrecking Ball. As always, Bruce will be joined by the E-Street Band, with this tour marking the group's first North American excursion after the death of late saxophonist Clarence Clemons.

You can get all of Bruce's 2012 tour dates at his official website, and his previously announced European dates below.

Wrecking Ball is due out on March 6.

Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band 2012 European Tour Dates

• 05-13 Sevilla, Spain - Estadio Olimipco
• 05-17-18 Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olimpico Lluis
• 05-25 Frankfurt, Germany - Commerzbank Arena
• 05-27 Cologne, Germany - Energie Stadion
• 05-28 Landgraf, Netherlands - Pink Pop
• 05-30 Berlin, Germany - Olympia Stadion
• 06-02 San Sebastian, Spain - Estadio Anoeta
• 06-03 Lisbon, Portugal - Rock in Lisbon
• 06-07 Milan, Italy - Stadio Meaza
• 06-10 Florence, Italy - Stadio Francesco
• 06-11 Trieste, Italy - Stadio Trieste
• 06-17 Madrid, Spain - Estadio Santago Bernabu
• 06-19 Montpellier, France - Park & Suites Arena
• 06-21 Sunderland, England - Stadium of Light
• 06-22 Manchester, England - Etihad Stadium
• 06-24 Isle of Wight, England - Isle of Wight Festival
• 07-04-05 Paris, France - Bercy
• 07-07 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
• 07-09 Zurich, Switzerland - Stadium Letzigrund
• 07-11 Prague, Czech Republic - Synot Tip Arena
• 07-12 Vienna, Austria - Ernst Happel Stadium
• 07-14 London, England - Hard Rock Calling
• 07-17-18 Dublin, Ireland - RDS
• 07-21 Oslo, Norway - Valle Hoven
• 07-23-24 Bergen, Norway - Koegen
• 07-27-28 Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi
• 07-31 Helsinki, Finland - Olympic Stadium

Check out these 10 fabulous and varied duets featuring some excellent guitar playing by greats like Orianthi, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Batten and more, paired with legends like Steve Vai, Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana.

It’s a guitar feast that’s fit for two!

Orianthi and Steve Vai – “Highly Strung”

Want to see some amazing guitar gymnastics? Orianthi and Steve Vai go at it in this video, each interacting with the other in a truly symbiotic fashion.

The result? Burning hot! Oh, and I dig the blue nail polish. Nice touch!

Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker – “In the Mood”

Raitt slams on the slide, and Hooker, well what can I say? As one commenter puts it, Raitt is a slide goddess. And so relaxed! And Hooker? Legendary.

Rodrigo y Gabriela – “Tamacun”

This pair plays together on a regular basis and tours the world sharing their amazing guitar prowess with viewers everywhere.

Check out Gabriela’s right-hand work. Simply mesmerizing. Whether or not you like flamenco guitar, you will be blown away by the chops on these two!

Jennifer Batten and Jeff Beck – “Blue Wind”

Here Batten takes on a supporting role until 1:43, when she lets loose.

The rest is pure guitar goodness with Beck and Batten ripping it up. Get your prog on!

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks – “Midnight in Harlem”

OK, maybe this one isn’t fair because this pair plays together on a regular basis in the Tedeschi Trucks Band. But you gotta admit, this is some pretty tasty playing.

Check out this live performance. There’s a whole lot more where that came from!

Sharon Isbin and, hmm … Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Stanley Jordan …

Isbin’s new album, Guitar Passions, is all about duets. Here she gives us an overview of the goings on behind the making of.

It’s an extravaganza of paired performances, with guests including Steve Vai, Nancy Wilson, Steve Morse, Stanley Jordan, and more! Sorry, no live videos available of any of these, but you can see a little taste from the studio here.

Lita Ford and Ozzie Osborne – “Close My Eyes Forever”

Ozzie and Lita Ford duet! OK, this isn’t a guitar duet, as Ford handles that side of the table. But I just couldn’t resist.

Plus they both have the same hairdo, but it’s Lita on the double neck! Check it out!

Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler – “Done with Bonaparte”

A bit of pickin’ and strummin’ here. There sure are a lot of strings on that stage!

If you’re in the mood for a bit of twang, this is the place to go! Really nicely done.

Michelle Branch and Carlos Santana – “The Game of Love”

OK, Michelle is playing rhythm to Santana’s extremely tasty lead performance, but that’s OK with me. It works, and this song hit No. 1 on the Adult Pop charts.

Game of love, indeed!

Melissa Etheridge and Bruce Springsteen – “Thunder Road”

Here Bruce makes a surprise appearance on Etheridge’s unplugged special.

This is just too good not to watch. Some nice jangling from Etheridge’s 12-string and not much guitar fireworks going on here, but hey, I don’t care. Good is GOOD!

• Tags:
• Laura B. Whitmore, Guitar Girld, Guitar Girl’d, Melissa Etheridge, Bruce Springsteen, Michelle Branch, Carlos Santana, Emmylou Harris, Mark Knopfler, Lita Ford, Ozzie Osborne, Sharon Isbin, Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Stanley Jordan, Nancy Wilson, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Jennifer Batten, Jeff Beck, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, Orianthi, Steve Vai

According to a new post on his official website, Bruce Springsteen is gearing up to release a new album next year.

The full post reads: "Well, things are starting to heat up down on E Street.

"A lot of you have been hearing that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be on tour in 2012. That is absolutely correct. The European dates run from the middle of May until end of July and are being announced this week. Info on the US dates and the World tour dates will coming up shortly.

"In addition, we want you to know that the music is almost done (but still untitled), we have almost settled on the release date (but not quite yet), and that we are all incredibly excited about everything that we're planning for 2012. That's all the info we have for right now, but we'll get back to you--real soon."

You can find the first of Bruce's 2012 tour dates below.

Bruce Springsteen 2012 Tour Dates

• 21 JuneSunderland, England Stadium of Light
• 22 JuneManchester, England Etihad Stadium
• 24 JuneIsle of Wight, EnglandIsle of Wight Festival
• 14 JulyLondon, England Hard Rock Calling