As an impressionable young boy, I didn’t like Bruce Springsteen, but I grew out of that and from the moment I got hold of Born to Run in my early 20s, he floated my boat. Sadly for those I know, the obsession has lasted.
• I took my wife to a concert when she was heavily pregnant with our son, Daniel. From an early age he could identify music as sung by Bruce. He’s now trying to work his way through Thunder Road.
• Springsteen is one of the guys who have driven Americana, tracing his lineage through Woody Guthrie, Peter Seeger and Bob Dylan. Bruce is not a rock star, he is an evangelist.
• Wrecking Ball, his latest album, married a lot of styles from his past and put them into one of his greatest works. It is no accident he has something to say. He backed Barack Obama but now casts a critical eye.
• Land of Hope and Dreams, on Wrecking Ball, features a saxophone solo from Clarence Clemons, who had played with Springsteen for 40 years until his death last year and provided a lot of the soul. It always brings a tear. Clarence died on my birthday, which was a miserable start to the day.
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• Bruce tells stories of the average working man in a way that tugs on the heartstrings. Many people like his early stuff, like Darkness on the Edge of Town, which are great uplifting songs, but I think he is at his best when he has a point to make about the world.
• The Ghost of Tom Joad is one of his most underrated albums. I didn’t appreciate it at first, but I listened again while reading The Grapes of Wrath and suddenly got what he was on about.
• Songs on it, such as Youngstown, are beautifully researched. “Sweet Jenny I’m sinking down . . .” It’s not about a woman; Jenny was the name of the blast furnace that was shut down in Youngstown.
• I’ve got my tickets for his concert in Hyde Park this year. They went on sale at 9am and I had them booked by 9.03am.
• David Croft is commentating for Sky Sports F1 HD on the channel’s coverage of every live Formula One grand prix this season. He was speaking to Patrick Kidd.