Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia

[babyteen]

Here are the songfacts I contributed for the song, "Streets Of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen. Please read these carefully and print them in their entirety for your next update.

In early 1993, Philadelphia director Jonathan Demme asked Springsteen to write a song for the in-progress film, and in June 1993, after the conclusion of the Other Band Tour, Springsteen did so. It was recorded with Springsteen supplying almost all of the instrumentation, with bass and background vocals from "Other Band" member Tommy Simms. An additional part by jazz trumpeter Ornette Coleman, as well as a background vocal part by jazz singer Little Jimmy Scott, was recorded but never used in the official release. Released as the main single from the film's original soundtrack, it became a huge success for Springsteen all over Europe and North America. The song would achieve greater popularity in Europe than it would in the United States. While it peaked at #9 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it would become a #1 single in Germany, and France. It would also peak at #2 in the United Kingdom, becoming Springsteen's highest charting hit in that country. It also peaked at #2 in Australia. Though Springsteen has only grown in popularity according to his album sales he has never achieved a #1 single, and this song was his last top ten hit. The music video for the song, directed by Jonathan Demme and his nephew, Ted Demme, begins by showing Springsteen walking along desolate city streets, followed by a bustling park and schoolyard, interspersed with footage from the film. After a quick shot of Rittenhouse Park, it ends with Springsteen walking along the Delaware River, with the Benjamin Franklin bridge in the background. The star of the film, Tom Hanks, is also visible as the character he plays, Andrew Beckett, looking on as Bruce begins the final verse. The vocal track for the video was rerecorded live during the shooting, using a hidden microphone, to a prerecorded instrumental track. This was a technique, appropriate for emotionally intense songs for which conventional video lip syncing would seem especially false, that John Mellencamp pioneered in his 1985 "Rain on the Scarecrow" video, and that Springsteen himself had used on his 1987 "Brilliant Disguise" video. Springsteen would also go on to use the same technique in his "Lonesome Day" video in 2002.

[Uncle Joe]

Say what?

[Farin]

You can add songfacts by clicking on the Add to Songfacts link on the Mainpage

The forum here is pretty much independant from that

[babyteen]

I wonder, where can I find the version that features the trumpet part from Ornette Coleman and the vocal part by Little Jimmy Scott? I've searched on ITunes, but the only one I can find is the version that was released on the soundtrack. Where do I turn?

[babyteen]

Does anybody have any answers for me?

[Uncle Joe]

I did but I quit.

[babyteen]

I did but I quit.

Come on, UncleJoe, I wasn't trying to be mean to you at all. I was just making a true statement. Please, give me another chance.

[Otokichi]

I did a Google! search, then went over to allmusic, but there is no mention of either Ornette Coleman nor Little Jimmy Scott with Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia." Where did you hear this version? (Little Jimmy Scott's somprano-like voice is distinctive enough to stand out even in a Phil Spector-like mix.) If the movie folk sampled/spliced part of an earlier LJS recording of another song, things could get very interesting.

[babyteen]

I did a Google! search, then went over to allmusic, but there is no mention of either Ornette Coleman nor Little Jimmy Scott with Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia." Where did you hear this version? (Little Jimmy Scott's somprano-like voice is distinctive enough to stand out even in a Phil Spector-like mix.) If the movie folk sampled/spliced part of an earlier LJS recording of another song, things could get very interesting.

If you've ever watched or listened to the movie "Philadelphia", which I happen to have on DVD, about halfway through, in a scene where Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington's characters, Andrew Beckett and Joe Miller, respectively, are talking to each other privately in a room, if you listen carefully, you can hear part of one of the earliest recordings of Bruce Springsteen's "Streets Of Philadelphia" which features the vocal part by Little Jimmy Scott. As for Ornette Coleman's part, I haven't heard that part yet, but I'd sure love to find out what it sounds like.