Springsteen's Seegerless Seeger Tribute

Afunny thing goes missing on Bruce Springsteen's new album, "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions," a collection of covers that New Jersey's most famous son says was inspired by the grandpa of American folk music, Pete Seeger. Guesses, anyone? Well, if you said an actual Seeger song, then -- ding-ding -- you win.

For some reason, the Boss decided that while he would name the tribute album for the revered singer and songwriter, he wouldn't include covers of even one of Seeger's songs. Instead we get a spirited, fairly straightforward remaking of folk ditties and standards that ol' Pete helped popularize . It can't be that Bruce is so tight with a dollar that he didn't want to pay Seeger any royalties, but the omission of any Seeger songs is still baffling -- and remains unexplained.

Imagine for a moment Springsteen in his dotage, maybe 30 years hence, being told of a tribute album being made to him by a middle-aged recording star (a graying Kanye, perhaps?) that didn't include any songs he had penned. No "Born to Run," "The River" or "Atlantic City?" Tell me Bruce, how does it feeeel?

Well, perhaps this bothers Pete Seeger not at all. He has always been an unselfish crusader for and propagator of the American folk song. And with this effort, Springsteen and a dozen or so energetic band mates (not the E Streeters) do that tradition proud, revitalizing 15 songs in danger of being forgotten.

Beginning with a rollicking version of "Old Dan Tucker," the album sweeps through the past few centuries to visit legendary tales of outlaws, ("Jesse James"), railway builders ("John Henry") and anguished mothers of soldiers ("Mrs. McGrath"). It also breathes new spirit into the gospel standard, "Mary Don't You Weep."

Springsteen channels his gritty Western/Jersey drawl for a bittersweet take on "My Oklahoma Home," and later revs up the band for a shambling, rambling shanty, "Pay Me My Money Down." But it is his version of "We Shall Overcome," offered here as a gentle prayer, that is the album's riveting centerpiece. Dave Marsh's extensive liner notes help explain the lineage of each song, and a 30-minute making-of video adds some levity to this project while also shining a light on Springsteen's attention to detail in the rearrangement of these historic songs.

So perhaps it is unfair to criticize Springsteen too harshly for his Seeger song bypass. Perhaps taking these songs that might have otherwise languished in semi-obscurity and reintroducing them in a new century is the essence of the folk tradition. Perhaps Pete Seeger isn't missing from this tribute after all. Perhaps.

DOWNLOAD THESE : "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" and "Oklahoma Home."

Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to perform at Nissan Pavilion May 28.