Bruce Springsteen is set to release Well Blow Me Down: The Segar Sessions (Poisson d'Avril Records) later this month! An obvious playful nod to We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, the dozen tracks feature six original Springsteen songs inspired by cartoonist E.C. Segar's most famous comic characters including Popeye, Wimpy, Swee'Pea, Bluto, The Sea Hag and Alice The Goon! The other half dozen tracks are covers of Springsteen's favorite songs from his favorite Popeye (Paramount Pictures) cartoons including a solo acoustic version of the Popeye theme song, "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man". The last track fades out with an unidentified man (Bruce?) cackling "Ja think I'm a cowboy?" (the first line Popeye ever spoke in his Thimble Theatre debut). The single "Segar Sessions" disc will be released on April 31. A deluxe limited deluxe set including a DVD of Bruce's favorite Popeye cartoons, a short interview with Springsteen where he mentions listening to the long out of date Popeye Song Folio (Popular Melodies) and a documentary on the recording of the project will be released on June 31.
Springsteen has graciously agreed to donate all proceeds from the project to help fund the building of a children's play zone in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.