JBs Triumphant Return

It's great to see one of my favorite bloggers, JB Doubtless has returned to the scene. His latest is a fisking of Bruce Springsteen's "Johnny 99." Whether or not you love or hate Springsteen as an artist, one must admit that he is a simpleton. Hailed as a common man rock star, he is beloved by millions, but no one pretends there is any great intellectual firepower behind his story-laden music.

However, this common-man persona is also false. In an interview at least a decade ago he told the story of his attempted meeting with Elvis Presley. I believe this story appeared in Time Magazine, however this link will allow you to see it without ponying up for a Time subscription.

The story goes like this: Bruce and a member of his band jumped the fence at Graceland and knocked right on the front door at 3:30 am. Bruce bragged about how he was a big star and wanted to meet Elvis before the King's staff told him Elvis wasn't there and politely escorted him to the curb. In Bruce's own words:

"Yeah, I play the guitar, too, you know. And I got a band. I made some records." I told them I was on the cover of Time and Newsweek. They said, "Oh sure you are. Oh? Oh? Great, great." I don’t think they believed me. But it was all right. They were pretty nice about it. They took me by the arm and put me back out on the street.I don’t know what I would have said if he’d come to the door. I figure, somebody comes to my door around 3:30, I usually like to beat them with a stick or something.

What an ass. He expects the greatest star of all time to get up in the middle of the night to greet him. However, in the same situation, he'd smack another aspiring musician with a weapon. Mitch, is this man still your idol?