BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE
COLUMBIA
★★★
“Hey, Sam, I wanna hear some Aretha...” Springsteen hollers on Soul Days, and this isn’t merely rhetorical: the Sam adding his voice to this Dobie Gray tune, and William Bell’s I Forgot To Be Your Lover, is Sam & Dave’s Sam Moore. Springsteen’s enthusiasm is unmistakable on these 15 covers, whether reciting the opening to Jerry Butler’s title track with Springsteen On Broadway’s solemnity, or softening the 80s production of The Commodores’ Nightshift, but more of his own identity might have improved this wish-fulfilment collection.