Live April 2019 version
[Spoken prelude:] "Western Stars" is the heart of the record. It was my reference point when I was searching for who my character was and where he, I, was headed. You've got a fading Western film star watching the world change around him. Watching it pass him by. He's left doing Viagra commercials, and weekend rodeoing in the desert, east of Los Angeles, with some Mexicancharros who've come across la frontera. He lives in the Hollywood Hills, frequents LA watering holes, where he's the oldest guy in the room. But he's still got an inner compass that doesn't allow him to bullshit himself. He knows exactly who he is, what he's done, the good, the bad and the ugly of it. It's his small redemption. And he's made a relative peace with himself. He's losing old friends quickly, a lot of empty boots. But he wakes up in the morning, glad that his are still on.
I wake up in the morning, just glad my boots are on
Instead of empty in the whispering grasses
Down the Five at Forest Lawn
On the set the makeup girl brings me two raw eggs and a shot of gin
Then I give it all up for that little blue pill
That promises to bring it all back to you again
Yeah ride me down easy, ride me down easy, friend
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again
Here in the canyons above Sunset, the desert don't give up the fight
A coyote with someone's Chihuahua in its teeth skitters 'cross my veranda in the night
Some lost sheep from Oklahoma sips her Mojito down at the Whiskey Bar
Smiles and says she thinks she remembers me from that commercial with the credit card
Hell these days there ain't no more, now there's just again
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again
Sundays I take my El Camino, throw my saddle in and go
East to the desert where the charros, they still ride and rope
Our American brothers cross the wire and bring the old ways with them
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again
Once I was shot by John Wayne, yeah it was towards the end
That one scene bought me a thousand drinks, set me up and I'll tell it for you, friend
Here's to the cowboys, riders in the whirlwind
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again
Yeah and the western stars are shining bright again
Tonight the riders on Sunset are smothered in the Santa Ana winds
And the western stars are shining bright again
Come on and ride me down easy, ride me down easy, friend
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again
I woke up this morning, just glad my boots were on
The above lyrics are for the live April 2019 performance of WESTERN STARS at Stone Hill Farm in Colts Neck, NJ, during the taping of the Western Stars film. This live April 2019 version of WESTERN STARS was released on the Western Stars - Songs From The Film soundtrack album in 2019.
The spoken prelude, which precedes the song on the film, is not included on the soundtrack album.
A two-minute clip of this live April performance of this live April 2019 version of WESTERN STARS from the Western Stars film was posted on Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's YouTube channel on 20 Dec 2019.
Western Stars is an "intimate and personal concert film" directed by Bruce Springsteen with his longtime collaborator Thom Zimny. The 83-minute performance documentary, which is Springsteen's feature-length directorial debut, was widely released by Warner Bros. Pictures on 25 Oct 2019. Western Stars - Songs From The Film, a companion soundtrack album for the film, was released on the same day by Columbia Records.
From the press release: "Touching on themes of love and loss, loneliness and family and the inexorable passage of time, the documentary film evokes the American West — both the mythic and the hardscrabble — weaving archival footage and Springsteen's personal narration with song to tell the story of Western Stars." The film is written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, with Special Guest Patti Scialfa. Thom Zimny, Jon Landau, Barbara Carr, and George Travis produced the film, with Springsteen serving as executive producer. Springsteen wrote the film's original score.
The Western Stars film features Springsteen performing all 13 songs from the studio album on the album plus a cover of Larry Weiss' RHINESTONE COWBOY, alongside more than 40 people, including backup singers, a band, a horn section, and a full orchestra. For the first time in Springsteen's his career, a music director was used to assemble the musicians and hold rehearsals. The songs were performed live, in front of a private audience, over the course of four days in late April 2019 in the hay loft under the cathedral ceiling of a nearly 100-year-old barn on Stone Hill Farm in Colts Neck, NJ. Initially Zimny suggested not having an audience present for the filming at all, but that was short-lived.
In an August 2019 interview with Variety, Thom Zimny explained that Western Stars was not filmed remotely like a traditional concert film, even when it comes down to personnel and live direction. "There wasn't a sort of situation where there's a live edit going on and someone screaming directions. I didn't cut it live. Everyone was shooting very much like their camera mattered at all times — the opposite of live concert shooting. I had a fantastic cinematographer in Joe DeSalvo, but every one of the nine camera operators was at a level of being a DP. The cameramen and camerawomen had all worked with me before, and sat with me and watched tests of it and discussed the content. Especially song to song, each one of them served different purposes to capture the drama and the narrative arc as well as the musical moments of Bruce."
Between each two songs, there's an interlude in which Springsteen narrates over archival footage, home video footage, footage shot at Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California, and more. These interludes are accompanied by instrumental music that Springsteen wrote and recorded for the film. During a Q&A session with Springsteen and Zimny following the film's premiere on 12 Sep 2019 at Toronto International Film Festival, Springsteen explained that initially the idea was to have interviews along with the live performances. "We were gonna do some interviews where people say what a nice guy I am and it's easy to work for me and what an honor it is," he joked. That has been done before, so he decided that he needs to "help people draw into the songs when they come up on screen." So he wrote the script and started collaborating with Zimny on the sections that were in between the music.
On 10 Jul 2019, driving home from the gym, Springsteen called in to chat with hosts Dave Marsh and Jim Rotolo on their Live From E Street Nation show on Sirius XM's E Street Radio channel. During that impromptu 10-minute phone call, he announced for the first time that they made a film of the Western Stars album. "I play the record start to finish, along with some other things," he said. "We knew we weren't going to tour, so I was looking for a way to get some of the music live to the audience, and so we figured that was the best way to do it." He also said that he was excited by the whole reception of the record. "It made us look for how we could sort of further that experience for the fans, without going out and playing live right now, because I'm still working on some other things, too."
On 23 Jul 2019, it was announced that Western Stars made its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, as one of the festival's Gala Presentations. "We have Bruce Springsteen's directorial debut at the festival, I think he's got a big future ahead of him," Cameron Bailey, artistic director and co-head of the festival, told IndieWire in a July 2019 interview. "In between the songs, you've got Bruce really talking about this character he invented, the story he wrote for the character, and how it reflects back on his own life as he ages and other kind of narratives he's had in his previous albums."
Western Stars was drawing strong interest from buyers weeks before the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off and there were rumors that Amazon or Netflix would buy the film. But on 16 Aug 2019, Toby Emmerich, Chairman Warner Bros. Pictures Group, announced that Warner Bros. Pictures purchased the global rights to the film. Emmerich said in a statement: "Bruce lives in the super rarified air of artists who have blazed new and important trails deep into their careers. With 'Western Stars,' Bruce is pivoting yet again, taking us with him on an emotional and introspective cinematic journey, looking back and looking ahead. As one of his many fans for over 40 years, I couldn't be happier to be a rider on this train with Bruce and Thom."
The trailer for the Western Stars film was first shown exclusively ahead of the film Blinded By The Light which opened in theatres on 16 Aug 2016 in the United States. On 19 Aug 2019, it was posted on Warner Bros. Pictures' YouTube Channel.
At the Toronto International Film Festival, Western Stars screened on Thursday 12 Sep 2019 at Roy Thomson Hall, on Friday 13 Sep 2019 at Winter Garden Theatre, and on Saturday 14 Sep 2019 at Scotiabank Theatre. The film premiered in the UK on 11 Oct 2019 during the London Film Festival and in Belgium on 18 Oct 2019 during the Gent International Film Festival. After a pair of exclusive one-night Fathom Events screenings on 19 and 23 Oct 2019, the film was widely released in theaters on 25 Oct 2019.
Western Stars - Songs From The Film includes the 14 songs performed in the film. It was produced by Bruce Springsteen and Ron Aniello, mixed by Bob Clearmountain, and mastered by Bob Ludwig. The album is available as a single-disc CD and as a two-disc LP set, as well as digital download and streaming. Two editions of the vinyl release were issued: a regular edition on black vinyl and a limited edition on light blue marble vinyl exclusive to Bruce Springsteen's official webstore. A two-disc CD edition was also issued. The set includes the 14 songs from the film on disc one plus the original studio album, Western Stars, on disc two.
List of available versions of WESTERN STARS on this website:
WESTERN STARS [Album version]
