Hatchet Job in Esquire Dodges Springsteen’s Artistry of Imagination

Bruce Springsteen fans who don’t mind getting their hackles up should check out the current issue of Esquire, wherein cover boy Bruce gets utterly trashed in one of the most mean-spirited assaults this side of Albert Goldman.

Writer John Lombardi’s core argument is that Springsteen is a phony for singing about hard-pressed people living on society’s fringes when he never has been there himself. Lombardi attributes Springsteen’s mass appeal to shrewd marketing, rather than compelling self-expression.

Lombardi’s argument conveniently refuses to grant rock songwriters the power of imagination--the ability to conceive of something outside of one’s own immediate experience, and to relate it in a way that rings true emotionally. Springsteen has imagined a world for himself and his audience. Lombardi calls that manipulation. I’d call it artistry.

H.B. BLUES: The blues recently swarmed all over Walter Trout, the local guitarist who plays in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. That’s blues as in Hill Street Blues--armed with handcuffs and heavy firepower.

It happened 2 weeks ago, when Trout was playing a gig with his own group at Perq’s, not far from his house in Huntington Beach. Trout said he went home before the show to fetch a microphone he’d forgotten--and found himself surrounded by a police SWAT team.

Before he knew what was happening, Trout said, “they had me on the ground handcuffed, with shotguns at my head.”

The special weapons and tactics team had mistaken Trout for a fugitive from Florida who was believed to be toting a submachine gun--and who had been staying in an apartment adjoining Trout’s house. The real suspect, George F. Butz, who was wanted on attempted murder and burglary warrants from out of state, was at Perq’s, where police made the arrest without incident, and without a submachine gun being found.

“That was the closest I’ve ever come to death,” said Trout, who had no trouble mustering adrenaline for his show that night. Afterward, Trout said, he wrote a song about the episode, called “Yosemite Sam.” His wife, he said, thought that Butz looked like Yosemite Sam, the cartoon character.

Trout should be in more hospitable hands Dec. 11 when he and Mayall will play acoustic blues from 10 p.m. to midnight as live-in-the-studio guests of disc jockey Jim Ladd on KMPC (101.9-FM). The Walter Trout Band will play at Perq’s Dec. 22-24, and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers will be at the Coach House on Dec. 28.

REOPENING SOON: Michael’s Supper Club, the new Dana Point club that shut down concert operations in September after fire officials refused to approve a capacity of more than about 160, may reopen in February, according to owner Michael Zanetis. Zanetis, who has finished renovations that he said should allow for a capacity of 210, is awaiting inspections by county building and fire officials. Plans call for a less ambitious booking policy than the club had when it opened in August, Zanetis said this week. He plans to feature well-known touring pop, rock and oldies acts one weekend a month and fill in other weekends with a house band that will put on a “rock ‘n’ roll revue.” Zanetis said he hopes the still-unnamed band, to be made up of touring sidemen, will build a following.

BANDYING ABOUT: Friday is Round 2 in the Rock City Rumble, the ongoing battle of the bands at Bogart’s for groups from Orange County and Long Beach. Don’t Mean Maybe, Cactus Jack, Wood and Smoke, the Nerv and the Modifiers will square off in 30-minute sets starting at 8 p.m. Admission is $5; proceeds will be split among the three top finishers, as determined by fan voting and a panel of judges.

ON THE MEND: “The Best of Bill Medley,” recently released on MCA Records, collects the Corona del Mar resident’s recent sound track work--including the ubiquitous “Dirty Dancing” theme, “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life”--along with new versions of such favorite oldies as “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin,’ ” “Little Latin Lupe Lu” and “Georgia on My Mind.” Medley’s partner in the Righteous Brothers, Bobby Hatfield, does not appear on the album. The broken jaw Hatfield sustained in September in a tussle and fall at the Hop in Fountain Valley is mending, according to a group spokeswoman. He is expected to resume his singing career.

FOR THE KIDS: Upcoming rock benefit concerts will provide Christmas gifts for children at two county homes for abused and neglected children. Reggae band StrangeJah Cole will play Dec. 18 at Club Postnuclear, 775 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach, with half the proceeds going to the Orangewood Children’s Foundation in Orange. The show starts at 8:30 p.m.; admission will be $8.50. Information: (714) 497-6532. On Dec. 17, the Loose Moose Saloon, 8901 Katella Ave. in Anaheim, will present a benefit for the Canyon Acres Residential Center in Anaheim. Appearing are Nevada Time, Cheeseboy and the Decadent Debutantes, an ad hoc band of local studio pros and rock band members that gets together each year for a Christmas benefit. The show starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $5 or an unwrapped gift. Information: (714) 826-2040.