CBS Sunday Morning interview with Bruce re: Nebraska

Rudy4 · #1 04-30-2023, 08:53 AM

Nice interview with Bruce Springsteen on CBS Sunday Morning, focusing on the story of "Nebraska". The album was certainly the inspiration for many folks who suddenly realized that working towards being a Home Recordist was a worthwhile possibility.

Bruce shows us the actual bedroom, complete with orange shag carpet, and the TEAC 144 he used.

The interview will be available on CBS's Youtube channel for those who didn't get a chance to see it.

Now I wonder if there's gonna be a big rush on orange shag carpeting purchases?

AcousticDreams · #2 04-30-2023, 10:03 AM

Thanks so much for this heads up...Oh my....So much to discuss on this.

Here is the link:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bruce-s...teen-the-poet/

The SJ 200 sounds magnificent just with what ever Shotgun mic they used. I got to get me a SJ-200 version. Very interested in hearing Jim1960's future Iris Version.

He recorded his album on a cassette with no room treatment? I would like to know more about this. He says something to the effect " every time I tried to improve on the tape I had made in that little room, it's the old story if this gets any better, it's going to be worse"

jricc · #3 04-30-2023, 10:18 AM

Really enjoyed this interview and I'm looking forward to the Warren Zanes book on the album. It's out this Tuesday

rule18 · #4 04-30-2023, 10:45 AM

Yep, saw it this morning over coffee. I'm sure that Lowe's has that carpet in stock (old new stock?) for a very reasonable price. LOL

Rudy4 · #5 04-30-2023, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

Thanks so much for this heads up...Oh my....So much to discuss on this.

Here is the link:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bruce-s...teen-the-poet/

The SJ 200 sounds magnificent just with what ever Shotgun mic they used. I got to get me a SJ-200 version. Very interested in hearing Jim1960's future Iris Version.

He recorded his album on a cassette with no room treatment? I would like to know more about this. He says something to the effect " every time I tried to improve on the tape I had made in that little room, it's the old story if this gets any better, it's going to be worse"

I know from previous discussions about "Nebraska" that there was some necessary editing done to the cassette tapes to render them as a releasable product. I believe some of our usual contributors can shed a bit of light on that.

Here's a preview of the new book "Deliver Me From Nowhere", the making of Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska".

jricc · #6 04-30-2023, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I know from previous discussions about "Nebraska" that there was some necessary editing done to the cassette tapes to render them as a releasable product. I believe some of our usual contributors can shed a bit of light on that.

Here's a preview of the new book "Deliver Me From Nowhere", the making of Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska".

According to Bruce in his Born to Run autobiography, he would sing and play on the first 2 tracks and add a tambourine or harmonica on the 2 remaining tracks. He added, "I mixed it through a guitar Echoplex onto a beatbox like the kind you'd take to the beach, total cost for the project, under a grand."

Similar to what you said Rudy, I would imagine, they would've had to run the tape through some kind of limiter in mastering for the actual release.

jim1960 · #7 04-30-2023, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jricc

According to Bruce in his Born to Run autobiography, he would sing and play on the first 2 tracks and add a tambourine or harmonica on the 2 remaining tracks. He added, "I mixed it through a guitar Echoplex onto a beatbox like the kind you'd take to the beach, total cost for the project, under a grand."

Similar to what you said Rudy, I would imagine, they would've had to run the tape through some kind of limiter in mastering for the actual release.

I'd bet a lot of money that a whole lot more went on in the mastering process than simply running it all through a limiter. Bob Ludwig, Dennis King, and Steve Marcussen were all involved in mastering that album. All three are top talents who had access to world class studios and gear. To just run something through a limiter doesn't take three of the top talents in the field.

We hear the similar commentary with the first Billie Eilish album: it was recorded by her brother in their home studio so anyone can make a hit record in their home studio for hardly any money. The part they either leave out or don't know is that it wasn't mixed and mastered in their home. If you have some of the top mixing and mastering talent in the world with access to some of the best gear in the world working on your home studio album, if the songs and performance are good enough, you can end up with a great product. Nebraska and the Eilish album are certainly proof of that last point.

Mandobart · #8 05-01-2023, 05:40 AM

When "Nebraska" came out I was already listening to a lot of Bruce Springsteen, along with Dylan, Neil Young and John Prine. I still love that album.

I also subscribed to Rolling Stone back then. There were some attempts in the music press at the time to compare the sparse style of "Nebraska" to when Dylan went electric. Of course this wasn't a permanent shift for Springsteen to all acoustic, demonstrated by his next album "Born in the U.S.A."