Obituary
Music journalist, author, Springsteen biographer, radio host. I didn’t agree with everything he wrote/said but he was a superb writer. Also had to deal with every parent’s nightmare, the early death of one of his children
Dave Marsh RIP
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https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/dave-marsh-death-bruce-springsteen-biographer-dies-1236317094/
I actually had a brief email exchange with Dave a long time ago, when I was researching a piece on record charts and their declining relevance in the download era (this was pre-streaming), and he was kind enough to give his time and opinions to a no-mark writer, which I always appreciated…
… and I highly recommend “ The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made”, one of the first mega-list collections of its type, and even if it’s now dated and was always rather US-centric, it’s a work of boundless enthusiasm for pop music in all its forms, and definitely does its job of sending you repeatedly to your player to listen to the tracks he writes about. RIP.
The Heart Of Rock & Soul is my bible. Superb writing.
Yeah – Marsh’s writing about the classic soul singles of the sixties was abolutely top-notch.
I have a copy permanently in my bathroom for short reading sessions. His first book on Springsteen “Born to Run” is brilliant and captures the essence of the man. The follow up “Glory Days” is less successful, his critical faculties have disappeared (his wife was Bruce’s co-manager)
I had finished Born to Run in 1980 and felt compelled to write to Dave, via his publisher. I had no expectations but was pleased that I had taken the time to thank him, and to ask a few questions, (what is a 396, what are Fuelie Heads and a Hurst, that kind of thing.)
A month later, as I was grabbing some toast before leaving for work, Postie pushed some mail through the letterbox. I picked up the four letters; bill, bill, tax, airmail U.S.A; what?
I stopped myself from ripping the envelope and got a knife from the drawer to slit the opening, carefully. Inside were three pages of thin notepaper containing handwriting that looked, well, urgent.
I sat down and read it, three times. Dave had answered my questions and then thanked me profusely for my praise of the book. The final page was a thank you for being a fan of Bruce and his music. It was along the lines of, if you’re a fan of these songs then, no matter where you’re from, you are the kind of person that Dave would get on with. That you have principles and morals that are non-negotiable, that you stand for something.
I floated down the hill to the train station and read the letter again on the train.
That last page has stuck with me, long after the rest of the letter was forgotten. I have found myself thinking about it when listening to Bruce’s music and especially at every E Street Band gig I’ve been at. When I saw him indoors, in Manchester, last year, the intensity was off the charts. During Long Way Home, Dave’s words came flooding back to me and during Bobby Jean, I wept as I sang every word, completely oblivious to the world around me.
So, RIP, Dave. I can never tell you what that letter meant to me and how your words still make me feel, to this day.
Lovely stuff Niall. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful story
Before I Get Old, his book about The Who, has been re-read by me so many times it must be imprinted on my brain.
I’ve written on here before about the seismic impact the old red Rolling Stone Record Guide had on my musical tastes from when I stole it from the school library in about 1985 to the early 2000s when the internet became my primary source. Is still sits in tatters on my shelf, like a lesser holy relic, many of the entries attributed to D.M.