The Ghost of Tom Joad guitar work and the lyrics on many of the tracks are a somber reflection of life in the mid-1990s in America and Mexico. The character of Tom Joad entered the American consciousness in John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Grapes of Wrath", set against the economic hardships of the Great Depression. This spawned a film version starring Henry Fonda, which in turn inspired folk singer Woody Guthrie to pen "The Ballad of Tom Joad". The album's release was followed by Springsteen's solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, which ran from 1995 to 1997 and consisted of mostly small
The Royal Family and the Poor The Royal Family and the Poor The Royal Family and the Poor are a band from Liverpool, England, centred on multi-instrumentalist Mike Keane. After recording two singles and two albums for Factory Records in the 1980s, they continued to release music into the 21st century. The band was formed in 1978 by Keane, who played guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, piano, and percussion, and also programmed drum machines. The band also included members of Liverpool's Situationist Youth Collective, including Nathan McGough and art graduate Arthur McDonald. In his book "Shadowplayers", James Nice describes the band as "less of a group than