A singer-songwriter who mines melodic riffs adding genuine yet frank lyrics to his compositions, the music of Sam Shinazzi is like a cosy comfort blanket.
The Australian indie artist recently released his newest studio record, 'Days I Won't Forget', that's themed around events either he or people close to have experienced."This album is very much about looking back," begins Shinazzi. "Most songwriters and certainly myself included, do this regularly.
"But when writing this time around, I found I was almost subconsciously going to places in the past. And it wasn't just me, but my characters in the songs were doing so too.
"And if they were not going back, they were looking back. Days, weeks, months, years. Memories are strong emotions, and the title will ring true when listeners come along for the ride."
The album's lead track is titled 'Last Night Bruce Springsteen Saved My Life', which segues to the listicle Sam has supplied us; his favourite Springsteen songs all time – for fans of The Boss, this is a deep dive.
'Thunder Road' (1975)
Like a lot of his best work, this is sheer poetry put to fancy bar room music. Romance, hope and desire. Tired characters refusing to give up. How does one escape in a Bruce song? Usually in a car via a highway out of town.This appeared on his third album, the breakout career defining 'Born To Run'. It may have been "a town full of losers" but he and Mary most certainly were "pulling out of (t)here to win". A live favourite for sure, and an instant classic.
'Racing In The Street' (1978)
This is one of the most melancholic songs these ears have heard, and a song on the surface about cars, which I know very little about! Of course it isn't really about cars deep down, it is about finding little sparks of light and hope in the character's world which has become mundane, run down and depressing.A song which lyrics includes 'fuelie heads', 'Seven-Eleven', 'dude' and 'Camaro', it is one of his most poignant songs in his catalogue.
After seeing him almost 20 times in concert, both in Australia and the USA, I finally got to hear this in person in my home town of Sydney on 19 February, 2014, when he played the entire 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town' album. When I heard the opening piano intro a roar went up, grown men hugged (mostly me) and I shed tears.
'Highway 29' (1995)
'The Ghost Of Tom Joad' is a vastly underrated album, and seen in many ways as a follow up to the 'Nebraska' album, both mellow and solo albums minus the legendary E Street Band.This is the standout song for me, and one I have listened to on repeat over and over. Finger-picked guitar, hushed, gravel, almost spoken-word style vocal and the story. . . man, what a story. More of a fictional style for Bruce, and captivating as anything he has ever written.
The solo tour for this album in 1997 was also the first time I was in the same room as the great man, and it indeed changed me forever.
'The Promise' (2010)
I obsess over this song, which is one of Bruce's most devastating, lyrically. About chasing a dream, ultimately not finding it and the toll it takes.The song itself was an outtake that didn't make the cut for 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town', a fact which keeps me up at night. My label mate Adam Young and I have great debates about its worth and place in Springsteen history.
Decades later it was deemed worthy of a boxset focusing on the song and the surrounding recording sessions. Great move Bossman.
'Bobby Jean'
This is off 'Born In The USA', the first album of anyone's that I ever bought. The song didn't really resonate completely with me until about ten years after buying it, when someone I held dear moved interstate.It is a song about friendship (sure, love even maybe) and the feeling that: 'There ain't nobody, nowhere, no-how who will ever understand me the way you did.'
Seek out the version from the 75-85 live album; like a lot of tracks of this era, they sound a touch better on live recordings.
Catch Sam Shinazzi alongside Stanley Records label mates Katie Brianna, Ben Leece & Left Of The Dial and Dave Favours on their 'Travelling Medicine Show' tour.
Stanley Records Travelling Medicine Show 2022 Tour Dates
Sat 21 May - Royal Hotel (Hunter Valley)Sun 22 May - The Junkyard (Hunter Valley)
Sat 28 May - Lulie Tavern (Melbourne)
Sun 29 May - Pistol Pete's (Geelong)
