Patti Scialfa – Rumble Doll (1993)
“It’s a real fact with a lot of people, I know,” said E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, and wife of Bruce Springsteen in a 2004 interview with Herpreet Kaur Grewal for The Observer to promote her new solo album 23rd Street Lullaby, “People were a little leery when I was doing the press for my last album, Rumble Doll (1993), yes. It’s always that thing that this is a dilettante or a pet project. That’s just the price that comes from being married to someone who’s really famous. You are aware that some people may want you to work harder and prove yourself and don’t listen as fresh as you would like them to, but that’s okay because I am confident that the music can stand on its own.”
Living in the shadow of a performer, singer-songwriter, and celebrity such as Bruce Springsteen can be tough, but you do not get to live in that shadow unless you are extremely talented in your own right, as Springsteen, one of the more serious artists out there, I imagine, would settle for nothing less. In 1984, with the departure of Miami Steve Van Zandt, a.k.a. Little Steven van Zandt, to pursue a solo career, Patti Scialfa, a New Jersey native who had been working as a backing singer for various New Jersey bar bands, while developing her own skill at song writing on the side, was tapped to join the E Street Band to sing Little Steven’s vocal parts. Nils Lofgren, who had a solo career of his own, was tapped to join the band to play Little Steven’s guitar parts. An invitation to join The E Street Band is not a gift, but something you earn with talent, and in joining Springsteen and the group days before the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, not only did Scialfa have to prove she deserved her place on stage but had to deal with being the first member of the all-male band, a task possibly only a Jersey-girl could have handled.
I will admit, I bought Scialfa’s debut album, Rumble Doll because I was all ready a Springsteen fan. It is the same reason I have become familiar with the music of Nils Lofgren and bought solo albums by Clarence Clemons and Little Steven. Knowing how seriously Springsteen takes his music, I guessed anyone associated with him would have much the same attitude. In many ways, it really does not matter how you discover good music, just that you do.
Right from the album’s first track, Rumble Doll, any question as to Scialfa’s song writing ability quickly flies out the door. Now some girls are just born lucky/Yeah, they’re lucky that’s for sure/Well in my soul I’ve never felt that clean, though I/I know my heart is pure/Sometimes I feel like I know too much – and/Sometimes I feel like I don’t know nothing at all/But I can still be soft to the touch/Well, I am just a rumble doll.
Rumble Doll is generally a quiet album – an record full of evocative ballads, that one after the other draws you into its beauty, tone and spirit. “Rumble Doll was basically a love letter with a cast of few characters,” said Scialfa in a 2004 interview with the Asbury Park Press, with Kelly-Jane Cotter to promote her second solo effort, 23rd Street Lullaby. “It was about figuring how to integrate yourself into a relationship, a real relationship. Rumble Doll was dealing with those questions. This one has a broader cast of characters.”
From the first time that I saw you/I wanted nothing but to make you mine/Now there’s this girl with milk white hands/And on her finger your wedding band shines/Still you tempt me with your kisses/Still you tempt me with your charm/Ain’t gonna struggle no more with this/Tonight I’m gonna lie down in your arms.
Despite being married to Bruce Springsteen in 1991, with Rumble Doll, Scialfa addresses their relationship. At the time the two started their romance, Springsteen was still married to his first wife, actress Julianne Phillips; they were separated and heading for divorce, but the relationships overlapped enough that some (namely the Media who are always fishing for a scandal) found it scandalous. With the album’s second track, Come Tomorrow (lyrics above), Scialfa addresses this and the temptations that led to their romance and relationship.
On Baby Don’t, the album’s tenth track, Scialfa sings, “You better stop this little drama/Better drop the curtain around it/You may not be looking for trouble/But boy you sure have found it (you found it)/So baby don’t/Go giving me the green light/Oh now don’t you do that/’Cause that ring around your finger/This time won’t hold me back.
For a young woman in a high-profile relationship, it must have been daunting; of course, decades have passed and Springsteen and Scialfa’s love, relationship and marriage has turned out to be one of the more enduring relationships in rock and roll and seems to be as strong today as ever. What at first may have seemed scandalous (because the Press wanted it that way), was what was meant to be and what has proven true with time.
In the 2004, The Observer interview, Scialfa noted that as a young woman she wrote a poem every day; this, along with her musical interests, who were stated as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Dusty Springfield in the article, have served her well. One of the things that impressed me with Rumble Doll, and one of the reasons I quickly became a Bruce Springsteen fan in the first place, was the beauty of the songs – how well they were written and the various tales they tell.
Sixteen days since I left Corona/And I traveled to this carnival town near Alberndeel/And I rode the coast there on the fairground/Twisted backbone of a beast that never heals/And I left some skin on fortune’s wheel, Scialfa sings in the haunting Valerie. She tells another lyrically vivid tale with the album’s closer, Spanish Dancer. Oh mama, the bridges were burning/Over a river black and cold/But I walked when love commanded me/Up to the edges of his soul/But I’m still frightened of that dark divide/Will I gain entrance or be denied/Still like that Spanish dancer/I throw my roses down for him/Across these beds of darkness/He opens his arms and gathers them in. Both Valerie and Spanish Dancer are standout songs, beautifully rendered by Scialfa, the later, Spanish Dancer with a bit of a haunting edge to it.
As long as I (Can Be with You) is one of the more up tempo songs on Rumble Doll, with some fine guitar work; a highly engaging song with the same brilliant lyrical touch: Well maybe I’m just a foolish girl/’Cause I always thought the right kiss/Could wash away some sins of the world/Wash away those sins baby and go walkin’ free/’Cause that just how I feel darlin’/When you walk with me.
Big Black Heaven is as engaging as ever, as is Love’s Glory, a song celebrating the optimism of love despite it not always being perfect or easy. But baby I still believe/In all of loves glory/I gave that promise to the rain/I’m not afraid to stumble/Baby, I can fall. When Scialfa builds the quiet song into a crescendo, you cannot help but feel goosebumps.
Lucky Girl, co-written by Mike Campbell, guitarist in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and a co-writer with Tom Petty on many of his hits, is the hardest rocking song on the album and could easily have been released as a single. Charm Light continues the albums’ theme in exploring relationships, as does the haunting Talk To Me Like the Rain.
As a debut album, Rumble Doll is exceptional. As well as co-writing the one song with Mike Campbell, he played guitar on some tracks and produced the record. Springsteen took a backseat in the creation of Rumble Doll playing some guitar and keyboards, as well as assisting in the production of Big Black Heaven. Rounding out Scialfa’s E Street friends both Roy Bittan and Nis Lofgren contributed.
As a debut album, Rumble Doll deserved to fair better than it did, and may have, if not for the Bruce Springsteen connection. As a solo artist, with no connection to anyone famous, maybe Scialfa may have found an audience; with that famous connection, the public tends to be jaded, thinking because of her connection Scialfa was being given an opportunity she may not have deserved – an unfair assessment, but human nature. That is NOT the case. Along with twelve strong songs, none of them filler, some excellent song writing skills, and a unique voice and tone that stands on its own, Rumble Doll, is an amazing debut record. Along with recognizing her song writing ability, Scialfa’s voice was another thing that drew me into the album; it is unique, one of the few distinctive voices I just adore. Like Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker or Melanie Chisholm, formerly Sporty Spice in The Spice Girls, who has a wonderful solo career of her own, when Scialfa sings, you know it is her – the voice is unmistakable.
I purchased Rumble Doll on CD when it was first released, and it has been a cherished album in my music collection. In recent years I was lucky enough to find a CD copy of 23rd Street Lullaby that I would also highly recommend. Unfortunately, it took about eleven years between these two solo albums (1993 and 2004), and another three before Scialfa released Play It as It Lays, an album I have yet to find on CD or vinyl, but am always looking for; the music video, Looking For Elvis is a favourite of mine on YouTube. The ultimate would be if each of these albums was made available on vinyl, as they deserve to be.
We should never judge others by their association, at least in the world of entertainment. Julian Lennon had this problem in the 1980’s and for a brief time seemed to overcome it, before fading from the musical spotlight, and that despite releasing numerous albums worthy of collecting; I imagine his step-brother, Sean Lennon faces the same problem. Scialfa’s association with Springsteen most likely had some unfairly judging her, however, if they took the time to listen to her music, at least her first two albums, they would discover a talent worth discovering and a talent who is not releasing enough albums to satisfy those of us who know how talented a performer she is. Hopefully soon she gets the creative bug, as I look forward to solo album number four. ♥