Robert Lawson is a friend and author Solidarity Forever:  The Art and Soul of Stevie Van Zandt.*  He recently posted this hilarious story on social media and I asked if I could use it. It is good to know there are still new Record Store Tales to be told!

RECORD STORE TALES#1199: The Springsteen Fan that Couldn’t Math 

Bruce Springsteen recently released the second instalment of his Tracks box sets, called Tracks II: The Lost Albums.  It contains seven albums’ worth of unreleased Bruce Springsteen, and has received critical and fan acclaim for the quality of its songs.  Robert recently had an interested customer.

CUSTOMER: “How much is the new Springsteen boxed set, like $200?”

R: “Actually double that.”

CUSTOMER: “It’s $600???”

R: …sigh…

 

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* Solidarity Forever is the definitive account of the musical journey of the music legend of Disciples of Soul, Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and anti-apartheid project Sun City fame, Little Steven Van Zandt. Following Van Zandt’s unforgettable sixty-year (and counting!) career from his beginnings with the Asbury Jukes and Springsteen to leading the Disciples of Soul, from touring, arranging, and producing timeless music to playing an onscreen gangster in The Sopranos and Lilyhammer, Solidarity Forever is packed with a level of detail that will impress devotees and enchant new fans.

Every song, every album, every single, live shows; bootlegs, production credits, covers, activism-everything is covered here and presented alongside fascinating interviews of over forty past and present band members and Van Zandt himself. A stunning work of music journalism and love letter to rock ‘n’ roll, Solidarity Forever delivers Little Steven’s story and the timeless messages of his music like never before.

“This is no time to be fighting each other
What we need, what we need is solidarity.”