Posted on: Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Springsteen tunes raise charitable cash

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Without picking up his guitar, Bruce Springsteen sounded a chord for charity.

A double CD of Springsteen songs, featuring cover versions from 37 artists spanning his 30-year career, was released this month to raise money for two charities close to the Boss' heart.

All of the net proceeds and the artists' royalties from "Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen" will be evenly divided between the Parkinson's Disease Foundation and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund.

"It's really a terrific record," said Springsteen pal Garland Jeffreys, who contributed a moving version of the Boss' Oscar-winning "Philadelphia." "It's nice to be a part of something like this — a good thing."

Jeffreys brought something personal to his track: a close friend suffers from Parkinson's. But personal connections were an integral part of this project. The Kristen Ann Carr Fund was started in 1993 by Carr's parents: Barbara Carr, Springsteen's co-manager, and Dave Marsh, Springsteen's biographer.

Springsteen visited 21-year-old Kristen in the hospital before she died of sarcoma, a rare and deadly kind of cancer; the fund began with a Springsteen benefit show at Madison Square Garden and has since raised more than $3.5 million.

"Kristen knew Bruce from early childhood," Marsh writes in the "Light of Day" liner notes. "She loved his music intensely."

The Parkinson's Foundation is tied to Bob Benjamin, a Jersey shore music-scene fixture who first met Springsteen in Buffalo before a 1978 concert.

Seven years ago, the 44-year-old Benjamin was diagnosed with Parkinson's, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. This year, he became one of the driving forces behind the tribute CD.