Bruce Springsteen Jammed With Patti Smith, Public Enemy, and Dr. Dre

For a wonderful few minutes, the stage of Monmouth University’s Pollack Theater felt like a scene out of a delirious rock and roll fever dream. It was the grand finale of the fourth annual American Music Honors, and Patti Smith was singing “People Have the Power” alongside Bruce Springsteen, the Doors drummer John Densmore, Steve Earle, Nils Lofgren, Jake Clemons, Amy Helm, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy, and Little Steven’s Disciples of Soul.

Dr. Dre initially resisted Steve Van Zandt’s initial efforts to literally pull him onto the stage, and he only submitted once Patti Smith joined the effort (“What is it, man? Come on up!”). But it didn’t take long for Dre to grab a tambourine, and start singing the chorus into the same mic as Steve Earle and Van Zandt. The scene grew even more surreal once Flavor Flav burst onto the stage, hugged every single person, even Smith as she was singing, and began hyping up the crowd. “Yeah boy!” he repeatedly yelled. “We got the power!”

It’s the sort of scene that would be difficult to imagine taking place anywhere but the American Music Honors, which is organized every year by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music to honor groundbreaking artists. This year’s class included the Doors, Patti Smith, Dionne Warwick, the E Street Band, and Dr. Dre. There was also a special musical tribute to the Band. Springsteen sat in the front row, but spent a large portion of the night delivering speeches and jamming with the inductees. 

A show with this much star wattage could have easily filled Radio City Music Hall or even Madison Square Garden, but the Pollack Theater seats just about 700 people. The honorees and guest performers all sat in the audience and mingled with the guests, creating a vibe similar to the early Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, before it moved to basketball arenas, became a TV broadcast, and lost any sense of intimacy or spontaneity.

Early in the evening, after introductory remarks by host Brian Williams and Bruce Springsteen Center Executive Director Bob Santelli, Springsteen – who made all of this possible by donating all his vast archive to the university – addressed the crowd. “This whole thing really got much more out of hand than I ever imagined,” he said. “It started with my stuff in a little shack over in the corner of the university. Now it’s in its own building. The building is nicer than my house, and I have a really nice house.”

He was at the podium to induct Dionne Warwick. “She simply has the most elegant voice in the history of popular music,” Springsteen said before calling out many of her songs, including “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself,” “You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart),” “Message to Michael,” and “Trains and Boats and Planes,” which he labelled “one of my all-time favorites.” “Dionne, your voice has been a constant companion for me and millions of others throughout the years,” he said. “I am incredibly honored to have you in our presence tonight.”

Warwick was genuinely moved by Springsteen’s words (“you really know my stuff, huh?”), and she sang her 1964 classic “Walk On By” with the Disciples of Soul before calling out Darlene Love and Willie Nelson harmonica player Mickey Raphael for “That’s What Friends Are For.” (Public Enemy had arrived by this point, and Flavor Flav clapped and sang along from his seat.)

Steve Van Zandt came out next to induct the Doors. “I didn’t get the Doors at first,” he said. “Growing up, we had a pretty serious prejudice against everything from the West Coast. I thought it was because we were such devout anglophiles at that point. If you didn’t come from the Eric Clapton school of guitar playing, you were irrelevant to us, which eliminated most of the West Coast. But the real truth was that their music was just too sophisticated for me to understand.”

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger was unable to attend the show because his wife is ill, so John Densmore accepted the award on behalf of the band. He reflected back on the earliest days of the Doors, and their time as the house band at the Whisky a Go Go, where they opened up for groups like the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and Buffalo Springfield. “This is a really healing night,” he said. “This is a love fest in a time of hate and division and divisiveness.” 

Densmore moved to the drum kit after his speech, and Springsteen stepped onto the stage and strapped on an electric guitar to join him and the Disciples of Soul for “Light My Fire.” “I would hold your applause,” Springsteen said. “I haven’t sung this since the CYO dance in 1967. There is nobody in the room in danger of filling Jim Morrison’s leather pants.” But he shook off 59 years of dust and nailed it, before calling out surprise guest Steve Earle to take the lead on “Roadhouse Blues.” The segment ended with Patti Smith coming out for a tender, stripped-back rendition of “The Crystal Ship,” which she’s been playing in her live show since the 1990s. 

Sadly, the death of Garth Hudson last year meant there are no longer any living members of the Band. But Levon Helm’s daughter, Amy Helm, was in the building to speak on their behalf. In the longest speech of the evening by a considerable magnitude, Max Weinberg went through much of the group’s early history as a backing group for Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan, even name-checking obscure figures like Harvey Brooks, the bassist who briefly played live with Dylan and members of the Band in the summer of 1965.

When Weinberg wrapped up, Springsteen, Steve Earle, Darlene Love, and Amy Helm locked their voices together for a moving rendition of “The Weight” with the Disciples of Soul. (Unlike “Light My Fire,” it was considerably fresher in Springsteen’s mind since he played it with the E Street Band after Levon Helm’s death in 2012.) Amy Helm followed it up with a joyful take on “Up On Cripple Creek” that would have made her father very proud.

Jimmy Iovine was stationed near the front of the theater all night, and he came onto the stage to induct Dr. Dre, his longtime friend and business partner. “He impacted the course of music and moved that elusive rascal, the needle of popular culture four times,” he said, referring to N.W.A, his solo work, Aftermath Entertainment, and Beats by Dre. “When I first heard The Chronic, I didn’t know a lot about hip-hop. But what struck me was the sound. Dre and Snoop hit me with their attitude like when I first saw Mick and Keith on Ed Sullivan. And when I listened closer to the album, about their life in the neighborhoods, I felt comfortable. It reminded me of the power of an album I worked on as a kid, Born to Run. They were both street operas. And like Born to Run, it froze time.”

In his speech, Dr. Dre. proudly noted that he was the first hip-hop artist to receive the American Music Honors award. “Hip-hop was born in the Bronx, out of necessity, when schools cut arts funding, neighborhoods were neglected, and there were no guitars, pianos, or other instruments to experiment with,” he said. “Young people of color didn’t have the tools to express their creativity. And so they changed their tools and created the biggest genre of music today by just using two turntables and a microphone.”

Dre didn’t have plans to play, unaware of what would transpire at the finale, so the Disciples of Soul, and their incredibly gifted background singers, performed “California Love.” They then backed Chuck D. and Flavor Flav for a bombastic “Fight The Power” that brought the entire theater to their feet. 

The energy stayed high when Jon Landau came out to induct the E Street Band. “Having worked with the band for the past 52 years, I can tell you a few key things,” he said. “No modern computer or algorithm would have ever chosen this group of people to work together. They have different backgrounds, styles, tastes, and approaches to music. And yet, as we all know, when they all plug in and play, they create a sound like no other, a sound you never heard before, and sound more monumental than any rock band has ever created.”

Landau called out early members Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, David Sancious, and Ernest “Boom” Carter in addition to latter-day recruits Soozie Tyrell and Jake Clemons. But this honor was strictly for core members Steve Van Zandt, Roy Bittan, Garry Tallent, Nils Lofgren, Max Weinberg, and Patti Scialfa in addition to the late Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons. Unlike the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony back in 2014, where the ceremony paused for nearly 40 minutes as each member spoke at length, they each delivered very brief remarks this time. (Danny Federici’s son Jason appeared on his behalf, Jake Clemons accepted for his uncle Clarence, and Springsteen spoke in place of Patti Scialfia, who has been battling multiple myeloma. “She wants to give you all her love,” he said, “and wants you to know that she’s doing well.”)

At the conclusion of the remarks, the E Streeters took over from the Disciples of Soul to play “Thunder Road” with Springsteen. Without the horn section or background singers from the past few tours, Lofgren and Van Zandt were high in the vocal mix. It made for a unique, emotional take on the standard, which Springsteen isn’t playing on the ongoing Land of Hope and Dreams tour. 

Springsteen remained on the stage when it wrapped to induct Patti Smith, who sat just a few rows behind him all evening. “I’m a lucky man to have two Pattis in my life,” he said. “Tonight, we gather to honor a singular force in American culture, and my great friend and love…She arrived in New York with nothing but imagination, talent, soul, spirit, love, anger, fearlessness, attitude, resolve. In the crucible of downtown Manhattan and the grit of CBGB, she didn’t just find her voice. She redefined what a rock and roll voice could be. When Horses was released in 1975, I listened to it and went, ‘What the fuck am I going to do now? I can’t do that.’ It was so powerful. It didn’t politely enter the culture. It kicked the door in.”

These words were read off a teleprompter, but it was blank when Smith walked up to the podium. “I don’t have a speech, really,” she said. “I didn’t know I was supposed to have one. I don’t think I read the e-mail.” But she spoke from the heart and thanked her many her friends and collaborators, including Bobby Neuwirth, Sam Shepard, and Lenny Kaye. “Bruce, I never even know you liked my stuff so much,” she said. “I’ll cherish every word that you said for the rest of my life. It will give me the courage and some more strength to keep on going.”

Unsurprisingly, they played “Because the Night” together. But unlike all the previous times they’ve united onstage for this song, Springsteen stuck to the guitar, and allowed her to handle all the vocals, joining in only on the chorus. It was magnificent. 

Everyone came back out for a wonderfully chaotic “People Have The Power,” and Flavor Flav kept up his antics even after the house lights came on. 

It’s hard to know exactly how the American Music Honors will grow in the years to come, but let’s hope it remains intimate and un-televised. There was a magic in the air that will vanish if TV producers, tight scripts, and extensive rehearsals enter into the equation. Let’s also hope that Public Enemy becomes the second hip-hop act to get inducted. Flavor Flav is more than ready to show up, command that stage, and spend more time with his new buddy Bruce.