“You have to give him a gold star”: Why Bruce Springsteen appreciates bandmate Max Weinberg
Not many bands can claim to treat their job like a regular nine-to-five quite like Bruce Springsteen. He could have easily retired and left behind a fantastic legacy of heartland rock songs years ago, but compared to the other bands that want to cash a paycheck, he always goes out onstage because he genuinely cares about giving those songs to the legions of people who have lived through the stories in ‘Born to Run’ or ‘Badlands’. Being part of the E Street Band is no picnic, though, and there are normally a lot of moments where certain instruments have to pull more than their fair share of the weight.
Before the band even became famous, though, Springsteen’s backing group had to be put through the wringer. Outside of having the best chemistry that a band could ask for, ‘The Boss’ worked them down to the bone when putting together Born to Run, usually having everyone practice for hours on end until they were tight enough to pull off the songs on their own.
Even when looking at how the band interacts these days, it’s easy to see them using some unspoken language whenever they play. Bob Dylan may have been known to switch things up every now and again whenever he played, but watching Springsteen conduct his band may as well be like someone overseeing a rock and roll orchestra, even if he has to call out chord changes to the group.
That kind of discipline is already hard to come by, but it’s even more complicated when working as the drummer. A good sense of rhythm is the essential factor in almost every song you have ever heard. For someone who has spent their life always testing the waters with his sound, Springsteen’s decision to change a song midway through the set is baptism by fire for anyone who sat behind the drum kit.
And listening to a lot of Springsteen’s records, you can hear the difference when someone else is behind the kit. Nebraska may have benefited from sounding sparse, but ‘Thunder Road’ always had that relentless propulsion when Weinberg kicked it off, and by the time the band hit Born in the USA, no one really understood the drama of the title track until they heard the first crack of his snare drum.
It’s not like that kind of stamina went unnoticed by Springsteen, either, telling Howard Stern, “Max Weinberg is one of the hardest-working drummers in show business. You have to give him a gold star for his balls and bravery every single night. Second of all, [he] plays from the minute we get onstage for three solid hours, pedal to the metal, until we get off and pulls off things that are simply incredible.”
Considering how long they’ve been together, the amount of stuff that Weinberg can come up with on the fly is still mind-boggling. Springsteen might have total control over how the band sounds, but the fact that Weinberg could hit a crash cymbal or catch the minute that ‘The Boss’ puts his hand up is superhuman compared to other bands that are flying blind throughout their shows.
Even though every musician should be expected to do their homework before getting their gigs, Weinberg could practically teach a class on how to perform alongside Springsteen. Then again, when someone hears him playing alongside one of the fathers of heartland rock, it’s hard to picture anyone else on the drum stool.
