PATTI SCIALFA - 23RD STREET LULLABY

Published in the Dallas Music Guide
By David Elliot

In 1985 I saw Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band play at the Cotton Bowl. He had recently married actress/model Julianne Philips. I remember thinking to myself, "man Bruce, you're stupid! You've got this hot red-headed vocalist, Patti Scialfa, in your band. She's a Jersey girl too! Brother, you fucked up- you can keep Julianne, I'll take Patti!" Somehow my thoughts were telepathically transferred to Bruce, and Ms. Scialfa became Ms. Springsteen. The two made babies, built a farm in Jersey, and toured together, with Scialfa as just another "guy" in the E-Street Band. Happy ending, right? Well the story ain't over yet, and Patti Scialfa's written another chapter, about her life before "the boss," and entitled it 23rd Street Lullaby.

To be sure, Bruce & Patti's kids are probably rockin' out to whatever's on the Vans Warped Tour, but mom & dad can rock out to this soulful, beautiful record. Hell they might even light up a J, turn down the lights, & slow-dance while the kids are at Warped. Well maybe not Bruce & Patti, but surely adults looking for a "new" record they can call their own. The sad thing is this is the kind of record you want to sit the kids down & make 'em listen to- "this is real music," you can hear mom & dad say ("what's that funny smell?" the kids ask, if they don't suddenly realize that mom & dad are a lot more hip than they think!).

Well mom and dad are a lot more hip than the kids give 'em credit for if they have this record! Scialfa, along with co-producer/drummer Steve Jordan, brings out the street-corner girls choir, national steel guitars, strings, fiddle, bluesy organ, and have a hell of a good time! Scialfa's vocals, a cross between Shawn Colvin and Bonnie Raitt, offer comfort and passion, all wrapped up in blue-eyed soul. The record feels like a block-party of old and new friends, down in the street, making a joyful noise. This is the kind of music I turn to when the world seems too harsh, much like Springsteen's best stuff.

The record gives Scialfa the platform to recount her struggling days in New York's Chelsea district in the '70's. It's as if Scialfa never became Ms. Springsteen, never even joined the E-Street Band in fact! This is Patti Scialfa busking the New York street corners, with just a song and faith. She professes to a former lover, "now I'm livin' in Chelsea/ in somebody else's arms/ got a ring around my finger/ diamond snake around my arm/ don't know if he knows about you darlin'/ I don't even care/ sometimes he pretends to reach for me/ and I pretend I'm there" ("Romeo"). She admits she's scared, vulnerable, lonely, and burned by the past ("Each Other's Medicine"). On "Chelsea Avenue," she answers Springsteen's "New York Serenade" call to "walk tall or baby don't walk at all" with the reminiscent line "Didn't we walk so tall didn't we walk so free?"

The 50 year old Scialfa is joined by fellow E-Streeter Nils Lofgren (playing just about every fucking stringed instrument there is!), keyboardist Clifford Carter (from James Taylor's band), longtime friend violinist/fiddler Soozie Tyrell, even Springsteen himself and a host of other fine musicians. The playing is crisp and to the point. And, thank god, Jordan & Scialfa have the smarts NOT to make this some kind of "look at me, I'm so 'now' and 'MTV'" record. It's just Scialfa's emotional honesty, her singular voice, and the maturity of the musical players that make this record rock with a depth that only age, wisdom, and road warrior strength bring.

Patti Scialfa is surely happy to be Ms. Springsteen. Their marriage has lasted some 13 years now. But, yet, she's tried to tell people that she's her own person too. Her first solo record, Rumble Doll, met with the critical praise I offer here, but garnered lackluster sales. I can only hope that this record will be met with much more enthusiasm. Because, simply, Patti Scialfa, in and of herself deserve it. If substance, intelligence, and maturity can rock, then, hell this record rocks harder than 75% of the emo faux "punk" that the kids seem so enamored with. If it takes a red-headed woman to get the job done, then Patti Scialfa is surely "the Boss" here! Mom and dad have good taste, and they rock too!