By Andy Greene
The American Music Honors, an annual event organized by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center, took place Saturday at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, this year honoring Smokey Robinson, John Fogerty, Emmylou Harris, Tom Morello, and Joe Ely.
Every honoree with the exception of Joe Ely was on site to receive the award, as well as perform their classic songs with help from Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, Bruce Springsteen, and surprise guests Jackson Browne, Nils Lofgren, Nora Guthrie, and Darlene Love. In other words, an all-star event on par with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was staged in front a mere 714 people on a college campus, and there’s no plans to air it on television. Fortunately, phones were allowed, and there’s lots of fan footage. (Let’s give a special shoutout to Dr. Marty Jablow for his great camera work.)
Former NBC News anchor Brian Williams was the host for the evening, and Springsteen personally delivered the induction speeches for Ely and Fogerty. In a revival of some of the best moments from the 2004 Vote For Change tour, Springsteen performed the Creedence classics “Bad Moon Rising,” “Proud Mary,” and “Fortunate Son” with Fogerty.
Springsteen also covered Joe Ely’s 1995 song “All Just to Get to You,” and teamed up with Smokey Robinson for “Going to a Go-Go,” Jackson Browne for “Take It Easy,” and Tom Morello for “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.”
At the end of the night, everyone from the show came back onstage along with Darlene Love and Nora Guthrie for “This Land Is Your Land.” The Woody Guthrie classic was a regular part of Springsteen’s live show in the Eighties, but it’s become a rarity these days. He last performed it in 2013.
Next month, Springsteen and the E Street Band head over to Europe for a run of 16 stadium shows. And on June 27, Tracks II: The Lost Albums – a collection of seven complete records Springsteen recorded between 1983 and 2018 – is finally coming out after years of feverish anticipation. The Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, staring Jeremy Allen White, is also due out before the end of the year. It focuses on the creation of 1982’s Nebraska, and also stars Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Gaby Hoffmann, Marc Maron, and Stephen Graham.
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