“Cleveland Rocks”
     — Ian Hunter

(Co-opted by Drew Carey Show for theme in version by Presidents of the United States of America)

The Rock Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland opened a new exhibit last week (April 1st), ”From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen.”  The collection of memorabilia and music history is slated to run through the spring of 2010.

Among the items contributed by Springsteen are the Fender Telecaster Esquire guitar he holds on the cover of his classic album Born to Run, numerous scrapbooks and notebooks containing song lyrics, and clothing.

The exhibit starts at the beginning of his music career, his first band as a teen, The Castilles, through his long-haired hard rock days in Child and Steel Mill, to various Asbury Park, New Jersey outfits like Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom to the formation of the E Street Band, its legendary concerts, and his solo work as well.

Meanwhile, Springsteen and the E Streeters were back on the road last week touring behind his latest album, Working on a Dream. Springsteen boosters (yours truly included) are gettin’ a bit spoiled, as this marks his third year in a row of touring with his heart-stoppin’, earth-shakin’, legendary outfit, and his fifth year in a row of tours altogether, having played dates with his Sessions Band in 2006 and solo in small theaters in 2005.

Bruce’s main acoustic guitar

From the looks of it, the set list is still evolving, featuring songs from the new album, of course, various wild-card spots where the songs vary from night to night, and set pieces. As usual, it’s all being extensively documented by Backstreets.com.

As recently reported, E Street Band drum engine, “The Mighty Max” Weinberg, will miss some Euro-dates because of the takeover of Conan O’Brien on NBC’s Tonight Show later this year — the Weingberg 7 being the house band.  But the fill-in drummer keeps it in the family, being the mighty one’s own son Jay, who played with the group briefly at Giants Stadium last year, was in Asbury Park for rehearsals a few weeks ago and has been met with approval from the devout flock of the Church of Brother Bruce.

Also ahead, during one of the breaks in the current tour, is a Springsteen appearance during the 90th birthday celebration of American folk music icon Pete Seeger May 3rd at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Steve Earle, Ben Harper, Billy Bragg, Arlo Guthrie, Eddie Vedder, and Springsteen’s pal, ex-Rage Against the Machiner and Nightwatchman Tom Morello also are among those slated to perform. The event benefits the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a non-profit organization close to Seeger’s heart, created to defend and restore the Hudson River.

Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions album and its deluxe expanded edition featured many songs that had been recorded in the past by Seeger. The pair performed Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” together in January for a Presidential inauguration week concert in Washington, D.C., held at the Lincoln Memorial.