The first time Joe Grushecky and Bruce Springsteen worked together, Joe criss-crossed the country, working for two years on two coasts to complete American Babylon with Bruce.
The next time they worked together was a whole lot easier.
In the eleven years since American Babylon and Joe’s 2006 album, A Good Life, recording technology grew both more advanced and more portable.
So when Bruce offered to lend his vocal and guitar talents to a few tracks on Joe’s next album, they collaborated without ever being face to face. Joe recorded his basic tracks at Rick Witkowski’s Studio L in West Virginia, while Bruce recorded his guitar and vocal overdubs from his home studio in Rumson.
You’d never know it by listening, though.
One of the joys of seeing Joe and Bruce perform together is witnessing just how at ease they are with each other, and how much they enjoy playing together. Their chemistry carries over into the studio as well–even when they aren’t face to face.
Was it a challenge to record duet vocals remotely that first time? No, Joe told me, recording with Bruce is easy. “I don’t think we’ve ever worked out a part before. It’s very natural when we sing together, our voices blend well. Occasionally we’ll do another take if there’s a word wrong or something, but otherwise, I sing and he sings, and it works.”
It really does.
Here’s their finished title track, with Bruce on lead guitar and paired vocals.
Unlike American Babylon, which features Springsteen on almost every track, Bruce only appears on four tracks on A Good Life and only sings on three. One of those tracks was their co-authored “Code of Silence,” which would have been a great thematic fit on American Babylon.
But the other two were polar opposites from their previous work together: “Is She the One” and “A Good Life” are bright, happy songs (“uncharacteristically happy,” Joe notes with a laugh).
Maybe that’s why Bruce selected those tracks in particular when Joe shared his work-in-progress with Bruce. Whatever the reason, “A Good Life” is the happiest Grushecky/Springsteen collaboration since “Never Be Enough Time” a decade earlier.
Joe admits it’s a fun one to play live, too, so it’s surprising that they’ve only played it together twice–once on the Jersey shore shortly after the album’s release in 2006, and again five years later at a benefit show in Pittsburgh (where Bruce even took lead vocals for a verse).
When I point out its relative rarity in concert, Joe admits “A Good Life” has taken a back seat in recent years to older fan favorites, but he hints that just might change on the other side of quarantine.
“I have a feeling we’ll be playing some new songs and some different songs when we get back out there. We’re itching to play live again.”
A Good Life
Recorded: February 2006
Released: A Good Life (2006)
First performed: December 2, 2006 (Sayreville, NJ)
Last performed: November 4, 2011 (Pittsburgh, PA)
