Bruce Springsteen's ‘Letter to You': The Communal Power of Rock and Roll [Review]

Here’s another meditative documentary from Bruce Springsteen.

In late 2019, director Thom Zimny was summoned by Springsteen to document the recording of the singer-songwriter’s reunion album with the E-Street Band, their first in over 10 years. They also hadn’t recorded an album this way, as a unit in the studio, since 1984’s “Born in the U.S.A.” Suffice to say, three cameramen were brought in to document the affair and the result is essential rock and roll cinema.

“Letter to You” has shades of the “Western Stars” film Zimny/Springsteen co-directed and released last fall. Except it’s actually better. Sure, the, sometimes overtly, contemplative intros by Springsteen for every song can sometimes feel like overkill, but this is a fantastic document of the brotherhood of this 45-year-old band. Max Weinberg on drums, Roy Bittan on piano, Gary Tallent on drums, and Steve Van Zandt on guitar. Missing are the late Clarence Clemons (saxophone) and Danny Federici (organ), replaced by the equally up-to-the-task Jake Clemons and Charles Giordano.

First things first, if you haven’t listened to “Letter to You” yet, this is very much a BAND RECORD. No doubt about it — Springsteen mentions during the filmed sessions, “what a group sound we got going on these songs.” Weinberg’s drums boom like in no other E-Street album since Born in the USA. This is also the most piano-driven record the band has given us since 1980’s “The River”. There is also a reason why Springsteen chose to record two unreleased songs from the early 70s, some of the first he had ever written; ”Song for the Orphans” and “If I Was A Priest” are ingenious ways for him to go back to his folk-rock roots and pay tribute to the Dylan comparisons that used to hound him at the start of his career. In fact, these two songs are the most Dylan-esque Springsteen has ever sounded. Some things really do come back full circle.

In fact, the film is akin to watching a group of old friends get together, jam, and reminisce about the old days. It starts off with Bruce telling the band “Gentlemen get your notepads” as he plays them “Letter to You” on acoustic guitar. Van Zandt jokes around that the 5-day schedule for recording the album very much applies to the Beatles rule of “recording one song every three hours.” There are shot glass toasts after every recording session ends, a particularly touching one to Federici and Clemons on day four.

This band means so much to me, as it does to many others, and to think there’s only so much amount of time left for them makes this an emotionally charged film. Although there is an immense amount of joy and liberty in the new music being performed, its corners are filled with sadness, a sort of end-of-the-road feel that makes the music sound all the more triumphant. It feels like an ending of sorts. As Springsteen summons the band on the final day and toasts to getting these new songs on the road, for maybe a final tour, the melancholic nature of this pre-COVID world is inescapable. “Letter to You” feels like the beginning and the end of a new chapter, whatever happens next will surely bring additional poignancy to this indisputably great documentary. [B/B+]

“Letter to You” is now available on Apple TV+