I love it when an artist has the respect and familiarity for Bruce’s material to go beyond his greatest hits, but also the confidence and skill to make the song their own.
Dave Alvin sure as heck checks off all the boxes with his 1997 cover of “Seeds.”
Never issued in studio form, “Seeds” is familiar only to people who heard it live or on Bruce’s Live 1975-85 box set, so it was a brave choice for Alvin’s contribution to One Step Up, Two Steps Back, a Springsteen tribute album.
It’s also a song perfectly suited to Alvin’s roots rock sensibilities, and its simple structure gave him a lot of room to take liberties with it. The result is an outstanding road blues arrangement that I daresay is much stronger (and longer) than Bruce’s original version.
One listen and you’re gonna want to get in your car, hit the open road, and crank it up.
