Although a born-and-bred New Jersian and a stone-cold Springsteen fan, I haven’t always been on board when Bruce Springsteen does cover songs. I know “The Boss” grabbed some infamy early on with his “Detroit Medley” and enjoyed a hit with his full covers album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, as much as he has dipped into the well plenty during his career playing and paying tribute to artists that have come before him. But as he makes clear here on his 21st studio album, a tribute to soul music called Only The Strong Survive, Springsteen isn’t always up to the task of delivering on songs he didn’t write.
From the opening title track, the strings, E-street horns, and fantastic choir provide a spirited, spot-on backing to Springsteen, who only sings on this collection of 15. And therein lies the weak link — Springsteen’s singing. At times, employing that revival tent-preacher rallying he has managed plenty before (most notably here on “7 Rooms Of Gloom”) or just slipping in that pseudo southern lilt accent via his ‘southern’ Jersey shore roots, one realizes once again, that when it comes to Springsteen’s voice, he is, and has always been, more personality than singer.
Still, there are a few notable standouts. The brassy “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,” written by Four Seasons’ Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, is a surprise. Springsteen digs deep, applying his limited range to this challenging tune, but he pulls it off here with studied aplomb. And Springsteen hits The Commodores’ “Nightshift” out of the park. He delivers a competent read on the Jimmy Ruffin hit “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” as well as the last song, “Someday We’ll Be Together.”
Adding in Sam Moore to help with background harmonies on “Soul Days” adds some cred to Only The Strong Survives. What we have here is a ‘since-I-can-I-will’ kind of project like Dylan’s read on Sinatra from a few years back. And wasn’t Springsteen touted as the “new” Dylan at the start of his career? Only The Strong Survives is well played, produced, and even, at times, features some decent vocal interpretations, but there’s not much here that will survive more than one listen.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
