Bill Chinook / Bruce Springsteen

i shoudn't wade into tis polemical fray, though i do find it surprising that people would disqualify springsteen's music on patriotic grounds--whether or not you agree with his politics, it's hard to fault the guy for expressing his opinion.  to me at least,  he's always registered as sincere and charitable, or at least as  sincere and charitable as a mega-rich rock star can be.  as for his music, he's a good-to-great writer--tuneful, insightful and funny--and i think "born to run" (esp. if you listen to his acoustic take on "tracks") is a great blues song. however, like bdp i personally find him hard to listen to--his voice grates and the band just don't swing.  i also agree that he's been badly served by his producers--his best records (btr, darkness, the river) all sound  dark, compressed and unnatural.

I was hoping someone out there would be familiar with Bill Chinook. A lot of the responses make me think Bruce would not mention such a strong influence on his music. For what it's worth my favorite is "The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle", that is good stuff. 

The remasters of wild and innocent sound fantastic with the plangent process .  

Wild Billy's circus story becomes audiophile quality 

Well, Springsteen was a Republican during the 80's. As of 2000, he is on the dark side of democraps.  On the musical tip, the remasters featuring the Plangent Process are quite excellent.