Posted by
Ed Lilly on Saturday, April 19, 2008 11:33:03 AM
I saw the news a few days ago, and hadn’t read any of the stories. I knew the basics of Federici’s passing. Here's the intro:
Danny Federici, the longtime keyboardist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band whose talents were showcased in some of the rocker's best-loved songs, has died. He was 58.
Federici’s piano and keyboard work on many early Springsteen and the E Street Band songs really sticks in my mind. I grew up with older cousins who listened to a lot of Springsteen. Not that much older, but enough so that they were into Springsteen around the time Born to Run came out, whereas I was only 10 at the time. So I wound up acquiring a taste for some of the same music just a little later.
An interesting tidbit from the story:
Federici came back for a final appearance with the band last month in Indianapolis, playing on eight songs including “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” a Springsteen classic that spotlighted Federici's accordion playing, the Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey, reported.
`Natural Musician'
The newspaper's official Springsteen blogger, Stan Goldstein, wrote today: “To many of us E Street Band fans, it's like losing a member of our own family.”
It’s an amazing and interesting world where a newspaper can have an official blogger for a particular musician. There was probably a lot of competition to get that spot, too.
One thing that, unfortunately, touches on a bit of a sore spot with some Springsteen fans is buried in this part of the story:
During his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, Springsteen called Federici “the most instinctive and natural musician I ever met, and the only member of the band that can reduce me to a shouting mess. I love you, Danny. Your organ and accordion playing brought the boardwalks of Central and South Jersey alive in my music. Thank you.”
It’s subtle, but reading the first sentence carefully and recalling the “controversy” at the time you see that Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. For whatever reason, the E Street Band was NOT inducted into the R&RHoF with him. A lot of Springsteen fans were unhappy with that fact at the time, and likely still are. Given the stuff they put out as a group, and Springsteen’s efforts to portray himself as a regular guy, I’m a bit surprised that Springsteen didn’t either refuse the honor without the band, or use his standing in the world of rock and popular music to twist some arms to get an all inclusive induction for the entire band.
In any event, Federici’s contributions to the E Street Band sound will be remembered, and he will be missed.