Customer Reviews

Springsteen Access All Areas

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There is no question that Lynn Goldsmith does what professional portrait photographers do: capture on film the essence of the person. A very difficult objective that only a few do well. Her book "Photodiaries" documents her portrait work with popular musical artists from the seventies to the nineties and places her work alongside that of Annie Liebowitz in creating the memorable images of our popular music culture. What wonderful fate that she also happened to be the girlfriend of Bruce Springsteen during the 1978 Darkness on the Edge of Town tour. This was an important time for those who beleive that Springsteen writes and performs music that describes a truth in our individual lives and our communities. In 1978, he had not yet "conquered the world". Unlike the years that followed, the audience was not expecting a phenomenal performance, so the concerts were a shock to most. Bruce and the E Street Band were hungry to prove it all night, every night. "All Areas Access" captures the incredible energy of the stage peformance and the reaction of the lucky audiences. My favorite image is of Clarence, Bruce, Gary and Little Steven all in the air and there is no doubt that they are bringing a rocker home one-tenth of a second later. Then the book goes farther. It captures the quiet moments of an artist creating, looking for inspiration, crafting a song, spending a moment with a friend, and of the artist completed exhausted from a peformance. If the music of Bruce Springsteen speaks to you, then this book will illuminate a special time in the life of the artist, the music, and quite possibly yourself.

Awesome - if you've ever been confused as to the reason that Springsteen fans are so...um..commited to their hero, this book will answer all your questions. Quite simply, the greatest portfolio of Concert and backstage photos I've ever seen.

Look in the faces of the people in the crowd - you'll see the connections between performer and audience that remains right up to this day. Fabulous. Buy this book.

This is a beautiful little book which captures perfectly a moment of music history.

Springsteen's 78 tour is widely regarded as one of the seminal moments of his career. Coming of the back of Born to Run, the settled courtcase with his ex-managers and the Darkness album, Springsteen undertook a triumphant tour accross America, playing 1,000 to 5,000 seater concert halls.

This tour was a pure celebration of rock n'roll and Lynn Goldsmith's unrivalled access (she was Bruce's girlfriend at the time) allowed her to record it for posterity.

The concert shots capture the excitement of the shows perfectly, the sweat pouring off the performers, Bruce's mock collapse, the interaction with the audience. I've seen bootleg videos and heard many tapes from the tour but I have to say that Lynn Goldsmith's book captures the excitment of being in the crowd at one of those concerts better than any medium I have seen.

But this is more than a collection of superb concert photos, it also captures the quieter moments backstage both pre and post show (including the infamous Bruce shower shot!) Shots of the band eating breakfast, Bruce writing etc.

This book is pricey but will definately appeal to all Bruce fans and admirers of outstanding photojournalism.

Bruce Springsteen is generally acknowledged to be the best performer in the history of rock. His 1978 tour, in support of Darkness on the Edge of Town, was, according to his closest fans, the best tour of his career. These photographs, taken by Springsteen's close friend and award-winning photographer, Lynn Goldsmith, capture that tour as good as any bootleg tape. This book is not just for Springsteen fanatics, but for all those who enjoy the power, the magic, the mystery and the ministry of rock and roll.

I just recieved "Access All Areas" today, and let me be the first to say, this is a MUST HAVE for all Bruce fans. Being a major Bruce Fan, and coming off the Meadowlands shows last summer, (I was at six of them)I always wondered what it must have been to seen Bruce and the band back then. Well I don't have to wonder anymore. "Darkness" has always been my favorite album, and this book shows why those shows are so legendary 21 yrs. later. For all you "Darkness" fans out there this book is for you.

Lynn Goldsmith's photography from Bruce's '78 tour is simply some of the best concert work ever put to film. Getting to know the artist and work behind the scenes with the E Street Band, during one of the most important eras of rock and roll, makes this book a must for anyone interested in music, Bruce or photography in general. Simply a masterful, soulful piece of artwork. Each photo tells its own story. It's just too bad we had to wait so long for the book!

I have just read the reviews and actually started crying. My intention with this little book was to share with those who loved Bruce what it was like to be on the Darkness Tour. I did not do this for money. I never made a dime on this book. I did it so that there could be a manifestation of a time that will never come again except in our memories. I hope it is a time that you can share more closely with a younger generation who did not have the opportunity to witness what was truthfully the spirit of rock and roll. Thank you to all who shared your appreciation of my work.

Lynn Goldsmith's Springsteen Access All Areas is a photodiary of his 1978 Darkness On The Edge Of Town tour. The photos are all in black and white and they perfectly capture the spirit of Bruce Springsteen. Ms. Goldsmith was Mr. Springsteen's girlfriend at the time and she uses that cache to give us glimpses of the man and his band that other photographers may never have been able to get. For those of you old enough to remember or even attend a show at the tour, this book will bring you back to that time and for those of us who were too young to know, it provides us with a look at an artist establishing himself as an icon.

I have always Lynn's loved photographs of Bruce and I always knew when I looked at a picture that she had taken it. She always captured his inner soul I think and showed how intense a man he was and is. Lynn, I just want to thank you for your great pictures that I had plastered all over my walls as a teenager in the seventies. I listened to a lot of bootlegs from the darkness era and looked at your pictures as I did. Enjoy the journey.

Springsteen Access All Areas is a must have for the serious Springsteen fan, as a photo document of the 1978 tour, still widely believed by many fans to be the pennultimate tour of Bruce's career. There's also appeal here to the less devoted. While the hard core fans, and Backstreets subscribers may have seen a number of these photos before, many others will be unfamiliar with these, and thus will get a great look into the life of this fantastic tour. Recommended by this long time fan.