ARTICLE: Tribute Disc Delivers Springsteen Songs For Good Cause

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tribute Disc Delivers Springsteen Songs For Good Cause
Double Compact Disc Features 37 Musical Artists

POSTED: 12:34 p.m. EDT September 26, 2003
UPDATED: 12:54 p.m. EDT September 26, 2003

Without picking up his guitar, Bruce Springsteen has sounded a chord for 
charity.

A double-CD of classic Springsteen songs, featuring cover versions from 37 
artists spanning the New Jersey rock Hall of
Famer's 30-year career, was released this month to raise funds for two 
charities close to the Boss' heart.

Organizers say 100 percent of the net proceeds and the artists' royalties from 
"Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce
Springsteen" will be evenly divided between the Parkinson's disease Foundation 
and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund.

"It's really a terrific record," said Springsteen pal Garland Jeffreys, who 
contributed a moving version of the Boss'
Oscar-winning "Philadelphia." "It's nice to be a part of something like this -- 
a good thing."

Veteran musician Jeffreys brought something personal to his track: a close 
friend suffers from Parkinson's. But
personal connections were an integral part of this project.

The Kristen Ann Carr Fund was started in 1993 by Carr's parents: Barbara Carr, 
Springsteen's co-manager, and Dave
Marsh, Springsteen's biographer and rock journalist.

Springsteen visited Kristen, 21, in the hospital before she died of sarcoma, a 
rare and deadly type of cancer; the fund
was launched with a Springsteen benefit show at Madison Square Garden and has 
since raised more than $3.5 million.

"Kristen knew Bruce from early childhood," Marsh wrote in the "Light of Day" 
liner notes. "She loved his music
intensely."

The Parkinson's Foundation is tied to Bob Benjamin, a Jersey shore music scene 
fixture who first met Springsteen in
Buffalo, N.Y., before a 1978 concert.

Seven years ago, Benjamin, 44, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a 
degenerative disorder of the central nervous
system. This year, he became one of the driving forces behind the tribute CD.

When the disc was finished this summer, Benjamin managed to slip a copy to 
Springsteen. The two later crossed paths
before Springsteen's September shows at Fenway Park in Boston.

"I saw him a couple of weeks ago, and he said that he liked it a lot," Benjamin 
said. "He knew that I'd been working on
it for a year."

Springsteen put his musical imprimatur on the project in May. After hearing 
Elliott Murphy's version of "Better Days,"
a track from 1992's "Lucky Town," Springsteen invited Murphy -- a friend of 30 
years -- onstage to play the song in
Madrid, Spain.

The contributing artists include an assortment of the New Jersey native's 
prominent friends: Elvis Costello does a
countrified version of "Brilliant Disguise," fellow Hall of Famer Dion DiMucci 
provides a doo-wop "Book of Dreams," and
bandmate Nils Lofgren contributes the rarity "Man at the Top."

There's some Jersey boys featured too: Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan bring a ska 
flavor to "Badlands," one-time Stone Pony
regulars John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band handle "E Street Shuffle," and 
Pete Yorn does an acoustic "New York City
Serenade."

Joe Grushecky, a sometimes Springsteen collaborator, offered a swing-style take 
on "Light of Day" -- and he had a
personal interest, too. Benjamin manages Grushecky and his band, the 
Houserockers.

There are other links in the disc's chain. Singer-songwriter Cindy Bullens 
covered "If I Should Fall Behind," a song
that Springsteen did at a memorial service for Kristen Carr. Bullens, too, lost 
a daughter to cancer.

While some of the stories are sad, the music is never anything but uplifting. 
Several of the artists involved in the
disc will play Nov. 1 at the fourth annual "Light of Day" fund-raising concert 
at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury
Park, N.J.

Benjamin is the event's organizer. Springsteen has yet to miss one.

Related Resources:

Kristin Ann Carr Fund


Parkinson's Disease Foundation


Light of Day Organization


SOURCE: The Associated Press / NBC


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