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158-622: Born to Run is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen , released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records . Co- produced by Springsteen with his manager Mike Appel and the producer Jon Landau , its recording took place in New York. The album marked Springsteen's effort to break into the mainstream following the commercial failures of his first two albums. Springsteen sought to emulate Phil Spector 's Wall of Sound production, leading to prolonged sessions with

316-814: A Special Tony Award . He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, was named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and the National Medal of Arts in 2023. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked Springsteen 23rd on its list of the " 100 Greatest Artists of All Time ", describing him as "the embodiment of rock and roll". Springsteen

474-676: A concert film and a documentary detailing the album's making. Bruce Springsteen 's first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle , were released in 1973 through Columbia Records . While the albums were critically acclaimed, both sold poorly. By 1974 his popularity was limited to the East Coast of the United States , and the label's confidence in him began to wane. Management at Columbia had changed and they began to favor

632-494: A glockenspiel , as well as strings and female backing vocalists. "Born to Run" reportedly had up to five different versions. According to Springsteen, the final song had 72 different tracks squeezed onto the 16 tracks of the mixing console. Springsteen was pleased with the final mix, completed in August 1974. CBS/Columbia refused to release "Born to Run" as an early single, wanting an album to promote it. The same month "Born to Run"

790-852: A patriot in the American Revolution , which evolved into the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . The Springsteen surname originates in Groningen , a province in the Netherlands , and is topographic , translating to "jump stone" and meaning a stepping stone used on unpaved streets or between two houses. Springsteen's Italian maternal grandfather was born in Vico Equense and emigrated through Ellis Island . He arrived in

948-522: A "magnificent" album. In The New York Times , John Rockwell described Born to Run as a masterpiece of "punk poetry" and "one of the great records of recent years". In The Village Voice , Robert Christgau felt that Springsteen condenses a significant amount of American myth into songs, and often succeeds in spite of his tendency for histrionics and "pseudotragic beautiful loser fatalism". Several critics expected Born to Run to lead to Springsteen crossing over into mainstream success. Reviewers praised

1106-502: A "very active spiritual life" but joked that this "made it very difficult sexually" and added "once a Catholic, always a Catholic". He grew up hearing fellow New Jersey singer Frank Sinatra on the radio, and became interested in being a musician by the age of seven after seeing Elvis Presley 's performances on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 and 1957. Soon after, his mother rented him a guitar from Mike Diehl's Music in Freehold for $ 6

1264-407: A 1987 list chronicling 20 concerts that changed rock and roll. Born to Run was accompanied by a $ 250,000 promotional campaign by Columbia/CBS, directed at both consumers and the music industry, led by the executive Glen Brunman. In the buildup to the album's release, CBS spent $ 40,000 on advertisements that utilized Springsteen's first two albums and Landau's "I saw rock and roll future and its name

1422-504: A Dream (2009). The next albums, Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), topped album charts worldwide. In 2017, 2018 and 2021, Springsteen performed the critically acclaimed show Springsteen on Broadway , in which he performed songs and told stories from his 2016 autobiography ; an album version from the Broadway performances was released in 2018. He released the solo Western Stars (2019), Letter to You (2020) with

1580-732: A Shooter", "Lovers in the Cold", and "So Young and in Love". "Linda Let Me Be the One" and "So Young and in Love" were released on the Tracks box set in 1998. Rough mixes of the unreleased songs "Lovers in the Cold" ("Walking in the Street") and "Lonely Night in the Park" surfaced in 2005, when they made their debut on E Street Radio . "Janey Needs a Shooter" was later re-worked by Springsteen and Warren Zevon into

1738-525: A U.S. No. 1 pop hit with a heavily rearranged version of Greetings ' "Blinded by the Light" in early 1977. Patti Smith reached No. 13 with her version of Springsteen's unreleased " Because the Night " with revised lyrics by Smith in 1978. The Pointer Sisters hit No. 2 in 1979 with Springsteen's then unreleased " Fire ". Between 1976 and 1978, Springsteen provided four compositions to Southside Johnny and

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1896-411: A Wall of Sound production. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny described the song as "a celebration of the rock & roll spirit, capturing the music's youthful abandon, delirious passion, and extraordinary promise with cinematic exhilaration". "She's the One" is about the narrator's complete obsession for a girl. The girl, however, is a liar and bad for him, yet he keeps returning to her. Springsteen never revealed

2054-496: A converted gas station in October 1970, was a subsidiary of A & R Recording . Arthur owned one-half, while the other half was split between A & R co-founder Phil Ramone , A & R executive Art Ward and engineer Don Frey. Bruce Springsteen began recording at 914 Sound Studios once he signed his first record deal, with Columbia Records in 1972. Manager and producer Mike Appel chose it in order to economize in using

2212-474: A cult following. In his January 1970 review of Steel Mill's show at The Matrix , music critic Philip Elwood wrote in the San Francisco Examiner that he had "never been so overwhelmed by a totally unknown talent" and called Steel Mill "the first big thing that's happened to Asbury Park since the good ship Morro Castle burned to the waterline of that Jersey beach in '34". Elwood praised

2370-480: A definitive vocal personality. Langdon Winner argued in The Real Paper that, because Springsteen consciously adheres to traditions and standards extolled in rock criticism , Born to Run is "the complete monument to rock and roll orthodoxy". Mike Jahn of High Fidelity complained about the songwriting, believing Springsteen was becoming typecast as a "character composer" after three albums. Roy Carr of

2528-416: A five-record box set (also on three cassettes or three CDs), was released near the end of 1986 and became the first box set to debut at No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. It is one of the most commercially successful live albums of all time, ultimately selling 13 million units in the U.S. During the 1980s, several Springsteen fanzines were launched, including Backstreets magazine. Springsteen released

2686-519: A legal secretary and was the family's main breadwinner. He is of Dutch, Irish, and Italian descent, and grew up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey . Springsteen's paternal ancestors were among the early Dutch families who, in the 17th century, settled in colonial-era America , then part of the Dutch Republic known as New Netherland . Springsteen's paternal ancestor, John Springsteen, was

2844-671: A loan to buy him a $ 60 Kent guitar, an act he later memorialized in his song "The Wish". In 1965, he went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard, who sponsored young bands in town. They helped him become the lead guitarist and subsequently one of the lead singers of the Castiles , a band that recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in Brick Township and played a variety of venues, including Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village . Marion Vinyard said she believed

3002-408: A long piano-led intro. Described by Masur as "operatic and theatrical", the band took inspiration from various Dylan and Orbison songs for the instrumental parts. The song tells the story of the narrator's friendship with an individual named Terry, using both realistic and poetic imagery. The two become close until their relationship is broken after Terry leaves the narrator for someone else, after which

3160-551: A media backlash, as critics began wondering if Springsteen was for real or the product of record company promotion. Springsteen was hurt by the backlash and disliked his newfound attention. When the E Street Band arrived in London for their first concerts outside North America, Springsteen personally tore down promotional posters in the lobby of the Hammersmith Odeon . A legal battle with Appel kept Springsteen out of

3318-718: A meeting between gang members at midnight is interrupted by the police. With a dark atmosphere, the track observes a New Jersey gang member known as the Magic Rat, who escapes law enforcement in Harlem with his unnamed partner referred to as the "barefoot girl". Towards the end, the Rat and the girl's relationship has broken apart; she leaves him, and he is killed in the streets. The Rat is gunned down by his "own dream", symbolizing, in Masur's words, that "the runaway American dream will kill us in

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3476-407: A mix of party songs and introspective ballads. Released in October 1980, The River became Springsteen's biggest and fastest-selling album yet, topping the U.S. Billboard chart. The single " Hungry Heart " became his first top ten single as a performer, reaching number five, while " Fade Away " reached No. 20. Several songs on The River foreshadowed the direction of Springsteen's next record,

3634-410: A musician. His guitar, a Fender Telecaster with an Esquire neck, later appeared on the covers of Live 1975–85 (1986), Human Touch (1992), and Greatest Hits (1995). The Born to Run cover was included in a Rolling Stone readers' poll of the best album covers of all time in 2011. Masur called it "classic" and "one of the most iconic images in rock history". The image covers both sides of

3792-422: A period marked by assassinations, war, political corruption, and collapse of the hippie subculture. Hermann analyzed the lyrics as experiments in nostalgia , arguing that the "heroes and heroines of Born to Run are facing the loss of security and stability, [and] facing the consequences of a lost war," leading to the choice to run away from the "American dream". Springsteen worked a "very, very long" time writing

3950-491: A prerecorded instrumental track. This technique was developed on the " Brilliant Disguise " video. In 1995, after temporarily re-organizing the E Street Band for a few new songs recorded for his first Greatest Hits album (a recording session that was chronicled in the documentary Blood Brothers ), and also one show at Tramps in New York City, he released his second folk album, The Ghost of Tom Joad . The album

4108-597: A rawer hard rock sound. Its lyrics focus on ill-fortuned people who fight back against overwhelming odds. Released in June 1978, Darkness on the Edge of Town sold fewer copies than its predecessor, but remained on the Billboard chart for 167 weeks, selling three million copies in the U.S. Its three singles—" Prove It All Night ", " Badlands ", and " The Promised Land "—performed modestly. The supporting Darkness Tour

4266-635: A reflection on the September 11 attacks , was a critical and popular success. The title track gained airplay in several radio formats, and the record became Springsteen's best-selling album of new material in 15 years. Kicked off by an early-morning Asbury Park appearance on The Today Show , The Rising Tour commenced; the band barnstormed through a series of single-night arena stands in the U.S. and Europe. Springsteen played an unprecedented 10 nights at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The Rising won

4424-528: A regular venue for Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi , Southside Johnny , and other local national acts, The Stone Pony has since been described as "an integral part of music history for decades." After seeing Springsteen's performance at the Harvard Square Theater, music critic Jon Landau wrote in the May 22, 1974, issue of Boston 's The Real Paper that, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name

4582-495: A slightly larger budget for the album but limited recording to 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York , the studio Springsteen used for the recordings of his first two albums. I had these enormous ambitions for [the album].   ... I wanted to make the greatest rock record that I'd ever heard. I wanted it to sound enormous, to grab you by your throat and insist that you take that ride, insist that you pay attention—not just to

4740-685: A symphony. Springsteen said that he wanted Born to Run to sound like " Roy Orbison singing Bob Dylan , produced by Spector". He used Orbison's style for his vocal delivery and Duane Eddy as inspiration for his guitar parts. The writer Frank Rose emphasized Springsteen's homage to girl groups from the 1960s, such as the Shirelles , the Ronettes , and the Shangri-Las , ones who embellished themes of heartbreak and doo-wop sounds produced by Spector. The songs feature musical introductions that set

4898-470: A thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire—New Jersey's own, Bruce Springsteen." Two nights later, at a concert in Pittsburgh , Springsteen told the crowd, "Well, the president was mentioning my name in his speech the other day and I kind of got to wondering what his favorite album of mine must've been, you know? I don't think it

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5056-408: A three-day, 72-hour sprint, working in three studios simultaneously, Clarence and I finishing the 'Jungleland' sax solo, phrase by phrase, in one, while we mixed 'Thunder Road' in another, singing 'Backstreets' in a third." Springsteen was demanding and refused to compromise, saying at the time that he could "only hear the things that were wrong with it". Appel and Landau fought to keep certain tracks on

5214-665: A visionary destined to save the rock genre from, in Stephen Holden 's words, "its present state of enervation". Bangs said Springsteen "reminds us what it's like to love rock 'n' roll like you just discovered it, and then seize it and make it your own with certainty and precision". Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times called Born to Run an "essential" album, stating: "It has been a long time since anyone in rock has put so much passion and ambition in an album." In Circus Raves , Holden placed Born to Run amongst

5372-474: A voice to immigrants and others who rarely have one in American culture. The lengthy, worldwide, small-venue solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour that followed presented many of his older songs in drastically reshaped acoustic form, although Springsteen had to explicitly remind his audiences to "shut the fuck up" and not to clap during the performances. Following that tour, Springsteen moved from California back to New Jersey with his family. In 1998, he released

5530-436: A week at a time, relax and build a record at affordable rates. New York City by-the-hour pricing was already getting expensive, and I envisioned a place where artists like Janis, Dusty Springfield and, later, Bruce would be able to roost for a while and create an album. We built a football field behind the studio and the great Blauvelt Diner was within walking distance. Bruce loved that place!" 914 Sound Studios, which opened at

5688-465: A week, but it failed to provide him with the instant gratification he desired. In ninth grade, Springsteen entered Freehold High School , a public high school, but did not fit in there either. A former teacher said Springsteen was a "loner who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar". He graduated in 1967, but felt so alienated that he skipped his graduation ceremony. He briefly attended Ocean County College , but dropped out. At age 19, Springsteen

5846-656: A whole world of possibilities. —Springsteen on the impact of the Beatles From 1969 through early 1971, Springsteen performed with the band Child, which later changed its name to Steel Mill and included Danny Federici , Vini Lopez , Vinnie Roslin , and later Steven Van Zandt and Robbin Thompson . Steel Mill performed at various Jersey Shore venues and also outside of New Jersey, in Richmond, Virginia , Nashville, Tennessee , and California , and gathered

6004-553: A year. Highlights included a record sold-out, 15-show run at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and a ten-night, sold-out engagement at New York City's Madison Square Garden. A new song played at these shows, " American Skin (41 Shots) " (about the police shooting of Amadou Diallo ), proved controversial. In 2002, Springsteen released his first studio effort with the full band in 18 years, The Rising , produced by Brendan O'Brien . The album, mostly

6162-488: Is Bruce Springsteen" quote, which had been published in The Real Paper after Landau witnessed Springsteen perform "Born to Run" for the first time live in May 1975. The ads increased sales of both albums significantly enough to chart on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, barely above number 60, two years after their original releases. Preorders for Born to Run were upwards of 350,000 units, more than twice

6320-545: Is Bruce Springsteen." Springsteen met Landau in Boston a month prior and the two became close friends; Landau subsequently became the co-producer of Springsteen's next album, Born to Run , in February 1975. As Springsteen's last-ditch effort at a commercially viable record, Springsteen became bogged down in the recording process while striving for a " Wall of Sound " production. When his manager, Mike Appel , orchestrated

6478-458: Is an investigation into whether, and in what ways, they can be realized". Kirkpatrick believes the track to be a rewritten version of Wild 's " Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) " with a "less innocent, more realistic perspective". Described by Billboard 's Kenneth Partridge as a "five-minute pop opera", the music builds throughout the runtime; the instruments join in as the narrator's vision solidifies. AllMusic 's James Gerard characterizes

Born to Run - Misplaced Pages Continue

6636-648: Is the ninth-most played song in Springsteen's concert catalog; as of June 2020, he has played it live 809 times. In February 1974, The Stone Pony , a music venue and bar, opened on Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park , and Springsteen played there regularly. Several years later, in the early 1980s, prior to the start of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour in June 1984, Springsteen also met his second and current wife Patti Scialfa at The Stone Pony during her performance there. As

6794-459: The 1984 presidential campaign became the subject of considerable folklore . In 1984, conservative columnist George Will attended a Springsteen concert and then wrote a column praising Springsteen's work ethic. Six days after the column's publication, then President Ronald Reagan , in a campaign rally in Hammonton, New Jersey , made brief mention of the song, saying, "America's future rests in

6952-609: The Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. The Born in the U.S.A. period represented the height of Springsteen's visibility in popular culture and the broadest audience he would ever reach (aided by the release of Arthur Baker 's dance mixes of three of the singles). From June 15 to August 10, 1985, all seven of his albums appeared on the UK Albums Chart : the first time an artist had charted their entire back catalogue simultaneously. Live/1975–85 ,

7110-435: The Billboard chart. Nevertheless, it surprised critics, who praised it as a brave artistic statement. In 1984, Springsteen released Born in the U.S.A. , which sold 30 million worldwide, and became one of the best-selling albums of all time , with seven singles hitting the top ten. The title track was a bitter commentary on the treatment of Vietnam veterans , some of whom were Springsteen's friends. The lyrics in

7268-479: The Brecker Brothers ( Randy and Michael ), David Sanborn , and Wayne Andre to play horn parts. Springsteen and Bittan failed to write proper horn parts by the time the players arrived to record, so Springsteen's friend and former Steel Mill bandmate Steven Van Zandt conceived them on the spot in the studio. Van Zandt joined the E Street Band shortly after. Springsteen used lyrical ideas from "She's

7426-423: The E Street Band lasting from January 1974 to July 1975; six months alone were spent working on the title track . The album incorporates musical styles including rock and roll , pop rock , R&B , and folk rock . Its character-driven lyrics describe individuals who feel trapped and fantasize about escaping to a better life, conjured via romantic lyrical imagery of highways and travel. Springsteen envisioned

7584-523: The E Street Band , although the name was not used until September 1974. Springsteen acquired the nickname "the Boss" during this period, since he took on the task of collecting his band's nightly pay and distributing it among his bandmates. The nickname also reportedly sprang from games of Monopoly , which Springsteen played with other Jersey Shore musicians. Springsteen was signed to Columbia Records in 1972 by John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan to

7742-411: The E Street Band . Springsteen is a pioneer of heartland rock , combining a commercially successful rock sound with poetic and socially conscious lyrics reflecting the issues of working class American life. He is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, which sometimes last over four hours. Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild,

7900-520: The Hammersmith Odeon in London. Springsteen was displeased with the venue's advertisements, personally tearing down the lobby posters and ordered the buttons with Landau's "future of rock and roll" quote printed on them not be given out. The first show drew mixed reviews from British reviewers. While his stage presence was positively received, others noted the difference in British and American cultures equated to poor audience responses. Springsteen thought

8058-459: The NME unfavorably compared Springsteen to David Bowie, believing he lacked the latter's "breath of vision". Carr also found the music uninspired and argued Springsteen himself "often tries too hard, going right over the top on many occasions as a result". More moderately, Jerry Gilbert of Sounds believed Born to Run was not as "essential" as Greetings and Wild , but had enough "distinction" from

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8216-455: The beatnik poetry of sixties folk-rock, projected onto the battered spirit of mid-seventies America". Springsteen wrote most of the songs on piano, which Kirkpatrick felt gave them "a particular melodic feel". Springsteen later said Bittan's piano "really defined the sound" of the album. The record's production is similar to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, in which layers of instruments and complex arrangements are combined to make each song resemble

8374-664: The minimalist , folk-inspired solo effort Nebraska , released in September 1982. Springsteen recorded the songs on the album as demo recordings at his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey , intending to re-record them with the E Street Band, but after poor test sessions he decided to release the recordings as is. The album chronicled dark hardships felt by everyday blue-collar workers, as well as bleak tales of criminals, cops, and gang wars. Nebraska sold minimally compared to Springsteen's three previous albums, but reached No. 3 on

8532-645: The webcomic strip Kevin and Kell imitated the pose on a Sunday strip entitled "Born to Migrate", featuring Kevin Dewclaw as Springsteen with a carrot and Kell Dewclaw as Clemons with a pile of bones, and the Sesame Street characters Bert and the Cookie Monster imitated the pose on the cover of the Sesame Street album Born to Add . Springsteen and the E Street Band went on a tour of

8690-601: The working class . Over the following decades, the album has become widely regarded as a masterpiece and one of Springsteen's best records. It has appeared on various lists of the greatest albums of all time and was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2003. Born to Run received an expanded reissue in 2005 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, featuring

8848-609: The "mass-marketing" of Springsteen in the U.S. and David Bowie 's Ziggy Stardust in the U.K. led to the notion that "the age of innocence in rock was well and truly over—probably forever". Born to Run received highly positive reviews from music critics , particularly for its cinematic storytelling and Wall of Sound production. Greil Marcus wrote in Rolling Stone that Springsteen enhances romanticized American themes with his majestic sound, ideal style of rock and roll, evocative lyrics, and an impassioned delivery that defines

9006-600: The $ 25,000 advance they had been given; he saw it as "a top-notch facility" that allowed "high quality at reasonable rates" due to its out-of-the-way location. Recordings made at the studio during 1972 would make their way onto Springsteen's debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and would also be used as demos for Appel's publishing company, Laurel Canyon Music Publishing. Some of these demos would later appear as radio-only releases (" The Fever ") or on his late 1990s Tracks box set, or on innumerable bootleg recordings . All of Springsteen's second album, The Wild,

9164-592: The Asbury Jukes , including " The Fever " and "Hearts of Stone", and collaborated on four more with Steven Van Zandt , producer of their first three albums. In September 1979, Springsteen and the E Street Band joined the Musicians United for Safe Energy anti-nuclear power collective at Madison Square Garden for two nights, playing an abbreviated set while premiering two songs from his upcoming album. The subsequent No Nukes live album, as well as

9322-509: The Beach Boys , and Bob Dylan , Springsteen began composing what became " Born to Run ". He later wrote: "This was the turning point. It proved to be the key to my songwriting for the rest of the record." He anticipated that sound he was seeking would be a "studio production". The album became the first time Springsteen used the studio as an instrument rather than simply replicating the sound of live performances. The recording sessions for

9480-519: The E Street Band for Greatest Hits (1995), and recorded the acoustic album The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) and the EP Blood Brothers (1996) solo. Springsteen dedicated The Rising (2002) to the victims of the September 11 attacks . He released two more folk albums, Devils & Dust (2005) and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), followed by two more albums with the E Street Band, Magic (2007) and Working on

9638-630: The E Street Band participated in the Vote for Change tour, with John Mellencamp , John Fogerty , the Dixie Chicks , Pearl Jam , R.E.M. , Bright Eyes , the Dave Matthews Band , Jackson Browne , and other musicians. The solo record Devils & Dust was released in April 2005. It is a low-key, mostly acoustic album, in the same vein as Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad . Some of

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9796-640: The E Street Band, and a solo covers album Only the Strong Survive (2022). Letter to You reached No. 2 in the US, making Springsteen the first artist to release a top-five album across six consecutive decades. One of the album era 's most prominent musicians, Springsteen has sold more than 71 million albums in the U.S. and over 140 million worldwide, making him the 27th best-selling music artist of all time as of 2024. His accolades include 20 Grammy Awards , two Golden Globes , an Academy Award , and

9954-666: The Grammy for Best Rock Album and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards in 2003. In addition, "The Rising" won the Grammy for Best Rock Song and for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance , and nominated for Song of the Year. At the ceremony, Springsteen performed the Clash 's " London Calling " with Elvis Costello , Dave Grohl , and E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt and No Doubt 's bassist, Tony Kanal , in tribute to Joe Strummer . In 2004, Springsteen and

10112-477: The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle , in 1973. Although both were well received by critics, neither earned him a large audience. He changed his style and achieved worldwide popularity with Born to Run (1975), followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), Springsteen's first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. After the solo effort Nebraska (1982), he recorded Born in

10270-512: The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle , was recorded at 914 Sound in 1973. Still short on money, some members of Springsteen's E Street Band slept in a tent in back of the studio rather than rent a hotel room or commute to the Jersey Shore . The membership of the band even changed temporarily due to the studio; Louis Lahav, the studio's resident sound engineer, provided the link whereby his wife, violinist and vocalist Suki Lahav , joined

10428-489: The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle was met with critical acclaim but limited commercial success. Springsteen's songs became grander in form and scope with the E Street Band providing a less folksy, more rhythm and blues vibe, and lyrics that romanticized teenage street life. " 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) " and "Incident on 57th Street" became fan favorites, while " Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) " continues to rank among Springsteen's most beloved concert numbers. "Rosalita"

10586-480: The LP sleeve; the inside features lyrics and a portrait of Springsteen. Columbia's art director John Berg created the fold-over sleeve, and Andy Engel was responsible for the typography. Berg stated that "it probably took a week of negotiating" with the label to create the fold-over cover because "it was breaking the code; we didn't do that unless we had two records". Landau's name was misspelled as "John" instead of "Jon" on

10744-408: The Light " and " For You ", and because of his connection with Hammond and Columbia Records, critics initially compared Springsteen to Bob Dylan . "He sings with a freshness and urgency I haven't heard since I was rocked by ' Like a Rolling Stone '", Crawdaddy magazine editor Peter Knobler wrote in a March 1973 profile of Springsteen's that included photographs taken by Ed Gallucci . Crawdaddy

10902-460: The One" to complete "Backstreets", originally "Hidin' on the River". " Meeting Across the River ", originally "The Heist", featured Richard Davis on double bass . Davis had previously contributed to " The Angel " on Greetings . "Jungleland" featured violin from Suki Lahav , wife of Louis Lahav, and a long saxophone solo from Clemons, which he spent 16 hours replaying to Springsteen's satisfaction;

11060-494: The One", appeared in January 1976 and reached number 83. The album was highly anticipated and publicized. In October 1975, Springsteen became the first artist to appear on the covers of the magazines Time and Newsweek simultaneously. Time 's Jay Cocks focused on him as an artist, while Newsweek 's Maureen Orth focused on Columbia's promotional campaign and the hype surrounding Springsteen, insisting that he

11218-416: The Seeger Sessions Band (and later shortened to the Sessions Band). The tour proved very popular in Europe, selling out everywhere and receiving some excellent reviews, but newspapers reported that a number of U.S. shows suffered from sparse attendance. 914 Sound Studios 914 Sound Studios was created by Brooklyn , New York-born Brooks Arthur (born Arnold Brodsky), a well-known sound engineer of

11376-462: The St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in Freehold, where he was at odds with the nuns and rebelled against the strictures imposed upon him, though some of his later music reflected a Catholic ethos and included Irish Catholic hymns with a rock music twist. In 2012, Springsteen said that it was his Catholic upbringing rather than his political ideology that most influenced his music. He said his faith gave him

11534-478: The U.S. Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and the top ten in three others. Two singles were released, "Born to Run" and " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out ", the first of which became a radio and live favorite. The album's release generated extensive publicity, leading to backlash from critics who expressed skepticism over whether Springsteen's newfound attention was warranted. Following its release, Springsteen became embroiled in legal issues with Appel, leading him to tour

11692-519: The U.S. East Coast on July 20, 1975, immediately after mixing on Born to Run was completed; Springsteen approved the final master recording while on the road. The tour continued into August, including an all sold-out five-night, ten-show stint at the Bottom Line nightclub in Greenwich Village . Columbia purchased one-fifth of the venue tickets for rock journalists and media for promotion. Expectations were high. Clemons remembered: "We were right on

11850-565: The U.S.A. (1984) with the E Street Band, which became his most commercially successful album and the 23rd-best selling album of all time as of 2024. All seven singles from Born in the U.S.A. reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 , including the title track . Springsteen mostly hired session musicians for the recording of his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992). He reassembled

12008-521: The US. The album's two singles, "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" reached No. 23 and 83, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. According to author Louis Masur, the album's success was tied to the fears of growing old held by a generation of late teenagers. In October 1975, Springsteen appeared on the covers of both Newsweek and Time in the same week, becoming the first artist to do so. The magazines' cover stories resulted in

12166-428: The United States and Europe for almost two years. Upon release, Born to Run received highly positive reviews. Critics praised the storytelling and music, although some viewed its production as excessive and heavy-handed. Born to Run was Springsteen's breakthrough album. Its success has been attributed to capturing the ideals of a generation of American youths during a decade of political turmoil, war, and issues for

12324-439: The United States unable to read or write English, but went on to become a lawyer and impressed the young Springsteen as being "larger than life". Springsteen has two younger sisters, Virginia and Pamela (born c. 1962). Pamela Springsteen worked briefly as an actress and later as a photographer; she took photos for three Springsteen albums, Human Touch , Lucky Town , and The Ghost of Tom Joad . Springsteen attended

12482-611: The United States, which CBS executives viewed as professional misconduct. The stunt generated interest in the track and anticipation built toward the album's release, prompting Columbia to fund further sessions. "Born to Run" became frequently requested on radio and at shows. By January 1975, the band had been working for over a year with one finished track. Production continued to be plagued by faulty equipment, false starts, and Springsteen's desire for more takes. A new track, "Wings for Wheels", debuted live in February. Springsteen felt he lacked direction, and he requested production advice from

12640-409: The acoustic MTV Unplugged television program (later released as In Concert/MTV Plugged ) was poorly received and cemented fan dissatisfaction. Springsteen won an Academy Award in 1994 for his song " Streets of Philadelphia ", which appeared on the soundtrack to the film Philadelphia . The video for the song shows Springsteen's actual vocal performance, recorded using a hidden microphone, to

12798-569: The actress's career. The song " Cover Me " was written by Springsteen for Donna Summer , but his record company persuaded him to keep it for the new album. A big fan of Summer's work, Springsteen wrote another song for her, " Protection ". Videos for Born in the U.S.A. were directed by Brian De Palma and John Sayles . Springsteen played on the " We Are the World " song and album in 1985. His live track "Trapped" from that album received moderate airplay on US Top 40 stations as well as reaching No. 1 on

12956-675: The album began at 914 Sound Studios in January 1974. Springsteen and Appel acted as co-producers; Greetings and Wild producer Jimmy Cretecos had departed Springsteen's company in early 1974, citing low profits. Louis Lahav, the engineer from both albums, returned for these sessions. The members of the E Street Band were Clarence Clemons (saxophone), Danny Federici (organ), David Sancious (piano), Garry Tallent (bass), and Ernest Carter (drums); Carter had replaced Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez , whom Springsteen fired in February over poor personal behavior. The band went back and forth between studio recording and live concert performances. Springsteen used

13114-539: The album is mostly driven by actions such as running, meeting, hiding, and driving. Born to Run was written during a time when the idea of the American Dream was unobtainable to many Americans in the aftermath of the Vietnam War , Watergate scandal , and the 1973 oil crisis . Carlin writes that Springsteen's hopeful songs, containing ideals such as that a road can take you anywhere, were "stunning" during

13272-407: The album's eight songs, Springsteen writes about the night and the city ("Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", "Backstreets", and "Meeting Across the River"); an irresistible real or imaginary woman ("She's the One"); the enslavement of the working class ("Night"); and the highway as a means of escape and coming-of-age journey ("Thunder Road", "Born to Run", and "Jungleland"). The journalist Veronika Hermann noted

13430-536: The album. In March 1975, Landau moved the recording sessions from 914 to the superior Record Plant in Manhattan . Landau helped Springsteen regain focus and direction with a fresh perspective. Springsteen told Rolling Stone in 1975: "[Landau] came up with the idea, 'Let's make a rock and roll record.' Things had fallen down internally. He got things on their feet again." Appel and Landau had disagreements on production choices, which Springsteen had to resolve. Like

13588-449: The attention of several people who went on to prove influential to his career development, including managers Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, who in turn brought him to the attention of John Hammond , a talent scout at Columbia Records . In May 1972, Springsteen auditioned for Hammond. In October 1972, Springsteen formed a new band for the recording of his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. The band eventually became known as

13746-409: The backing tracks and vocals were recorded with little difficulty, Springsteen struggled with his overdubs and completing the writing of the lyrics and arrangements. Springsteen obsessively labored over and sometimes spent hours revising single lines or taking days to figure out the song arrangements. Springsteen later said: "[The sessions] turned into something that was wrecking me, just pounding me into

13904-491: The band for six months. The first song for Springsteen's next album, the classic " Born to Run ", was also recorded at 914 Sound in 1974. A New Jersey fan and a personal friend of Springsteen at the time, Barry Rebo (who later became the chairman of Emerging Pictures , a national network of digital cinema theaters), used his black-and-white Super-8 film camera to record Springsteen at the 914 Sound Studio. Springsteen labored there for months, between playing club dates, over

14062-495: The band in the third verse. Musically, it is a funky R&B song led by brass horns; the authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon compared it to the sound of a Stax record. In his 2003 book Songs , Springsteen described "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" as a "band bio and block party". "Night", the shortest song on the album, follows a man who is a slave to the working life. He dreads working his nine-to-five job, but his love for drag racing motivates him to work so he can live for

14220-849: The band's "cohesive musicality" and called Springsteen "a most impressive composer". In San Mateo , Steel Mill recorded three original Springsteen songs at Pacific Recording. As Springsteen sought to shape a unique and genuine musical and lyrical style, he performed with the bands Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom from early-to-mid-1971, the Sundance Blues Band in mid-1971, and the Bruce Springsteen Band from mid-1971 to mid-1972. His songwriting ability included, as his future record label described it in early publicity campaigns, "more words in some individual songs than other artists had in whole albums". He brought his skills to

14378-530: The band, the two helped Springsteen complete already devised ideas, not think of new ones. Louis Lahav was unavailable due to family commitments so these sessions were engineered by Jimmy Iovine . Sessions at the Record Plant lasted from March to July 1975. Apart from a few live performances, Springsteen spent most of these months working on the album. The sessions were grueling, dragging on despite increased professionalism brought by Landau and Iovine. While

14536-520: The chosen black-and-white shot, Springsteen is holding a guitar while leaning against Clemons. Springsteen is wearing a black leather jacket, and Clemons is in a white shirt with a striped pattern and wearing a black hat. Meola said the shot was a clear standout: "I wanted something that was nearly impossible to print, but beautiful to look at if printed perfectly—somehow innocent yet street-smart." An Elvis Presley pin appears on Springsteen's guitar strap, which he wore to display Presley's inspiration on him as

14694-645: The concert "the most important rock concert ever, anywhere" in his 2013 book Rocking the Wall. Bruce Springsteen: The Berlin Concert That Changed the World . The concert had been conceived by the Socialist Unity Party 's youth wing in an attempt to placate the youth of East Germany , who were hungry for more freedom and the popular music of the West. However, it is Kirschbaum's opinion that

14852-435: The cover pose onstage during their concerts. The pose has since been imitated by other singers and musicians, including Cheap Trick on the 1983 album Next Position Please , Mai Kuraki on the cover of her 2001 single " Stand Up ", Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the cover of the 2003 Car Talk compilation Born Not to Run: More Disrespectful Car Songs , and Los Secretos for their 2015 album Algo prestado . Outside of music,

15010-587: The decade's great albums with Layla (1970), Who's Next (1971), and Exile on Main St. (1972), and David McGee placed Springsteen amongst rock greats such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, the Beatles , the Rolling Stones , and Bob Dylan. Born to Run received negative reviews from a few critics, who found the production excessive and "heavy-handed", the songs "formulaic", "an effusive jumble" and "undistinguished", and felt Springsteen himself lacked

15168-413: The end, and the dream of escape is just another version that entraps us". Following his demise, destruction continues across the streets until they are left in complete devastation. Over nine minutes in length, the track is led by Springsteen's vocal, Bittan's piano, and Suki Lahav's violin, and features an extended saxophone solo from Clemons that lasts for over two minutes. The cover art of Born to Run

15326-531: The era, who lived in Rockland County. 914 Studios was 20 minutes north of Washington Heights by car and 5 minutes away from the state border with New Jersey . Arthur later explained its genesis: "I was living in Valley Cottage, New York which is down Route 303 from Blauvelt, back in 1971, and I thought it would be a great idea to have a workshop where artists and producers could hang out for

15484-406: The finished album. Appel succeeded in leaving "Linda Let Me Be the One" and "Lonely Night in the Park" off and keeping "Meeting Across the River" on. Mixing lasted until the morning of July 20, just before the tour began. Born to Run was mastered by the engineer Greg Calbi while the band were on the road. Springsteen was furious about the initial acetate, throwing it into the swimming pool of

15642-431: The following summer's No Nukes documentary film, represented the first official recordings and footage of Springsteen's fabled live act and Springsteen's first tentative dip into political involvement. The recording sessions for Springsteen's fifth album, The River , lasted 18 months. The 20-track double album was an attempt at capturing the energy and feel of the E Street Band playing live on stage and featured

15800-425: The four-and-a-half minutes of "Born to Run". However, new Springsteen producer and future manager Jon Landau characterized 914 Sound as a "beat-up old funky studio" where, among other things, the piano, which was at the core of the songs, would not stay in tune. Landau also felt that the studio owners had not invested in the most up-to-date equipment and that the sound of the studio was dull. He moved recording of

15958-456: The ground." Weinberg called it the hardest project of his career, and Federici said "[we] ate, drank, and slept [that album]". Work was mostly done between 3 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning. "Wings for Wheels", now called " Thunder Road ", was finished in April. Springsteen reportedly took 13 hours to complete his guitar parts. " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out " and " Night " followed in May. For "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", Springsteen hired

16116-501: The group. Recording at 914 continued into late October 1974. The band made attempts at " Jungleland ", " She's the One ", "Lovers in the Cold", " Backstreets ", and "So Young and in Love", but faulty equipment and Springsteen's lack of direction halted progress. The music critic Dave Marsh suggested that Springsteen remained at the subpar 914 Studios because studio costs built up, even though superior ones were available. In November, Appel sent "Born to Run" to various radio stations around

16274-403: The hotel he was staying at. He contemplated scrapping the entire project and re-recording it live before he was stopped by Landau. Springsteen was sent multiple mixes as he was on the road and rejected all but one, which he approved in early August. The seven known outtakes from the album are "Linda Let Me Be the One", "Lonely Night in the Park", "A Love So Fine", "A Night Like This", "Janey Needs

16432-437: The initial pressings; Columbia printed stickers to cover up the error—reportedly up to 400,000. A few original pressings have "Meeting Across the River" billed under its initial title "The Heist", and the original album cover has the title handwritten with a broad-nib pen. These copies, known as the "script cover", are very rare and among the most sought after of Springsteen memorabilia. Springsteen and Clemons occasionally remade

16590-594: The latter arguing that Springsteen was "no hype" at all because he "is really good", and " 'hype' only services artists who do not deserve the attention". In retrospect, Masur stated: "Most of the backlash against Springsteen came in the form of disgust with the hype, not the music, even though writing about the hype only fed the publicity machine." Springsteen was hurt by the media backlash, particularly an article by Henry Edwards in The New York Times that slandered both himself and Born to Run . He felt that

16748-465: The latter dictated almost every note played. Clemons played several different solos, bits of which were then edited together into one piece; he then reproduced the final result. According to Iovine, the album was mixed in "nine days straight". The final days were hectic; the band worked vigorously between recording for the album and rehearsing for an upcoming tour scheduled to start on July 20. Springsteen wrote in his 2016 autobiography Born to Run : "In

16906-628: The latter to develop new material, and he spent more time in the studio refining songs than he had on the previous two albums. The album's working titles included From the Churches to the Jails , The Hungry and the Hunted , War and Roses , and American Summer . Recording for "Born to Run" lasted six months. Springsteen's perfectionism led to grueling sessions: he obsessed over every syllable, note, and tone of every texture , and he struggled to capture

17064-487: The lyrics because he wanted to avoid tropes of "classic rock 'n' roll clichés", turning them instead into fully developed and emotional characters: "It was the beginning of the creation of a certain world that all my others would refer back to, resonate off of, for the next 20 or 30 years." The songs are largely autobiographical, inspired by the noir -like B movies Springsteen enjoyed at the time; he wanted to experience and capture new ideals based on his life experiences at

17222-554: The material was written almost 10 years earlier, during or shortly after the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour; a few of the songs had been performed at that time but unreleased. The title track concerns an ordinary soldier's feelings and fears during the Iraq War . The album topped the charts in ten countries. Springsteen began the solo Devils & Dust Tour at the same time as the album's release, playing both small and large venues. Attendance

17380-536: The much more sedate and contemplative Tunnel of Love in October 1987. The album is a mature reflection on the many faces of love found, lost and squandered, and the full sound of the E Street Band is included only selectively. Although it sold less than Born in the U.S.A. , it was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200. On July 19, 1988, Springsteen's concert in East Germany attracted 300,000 spectators. Journalist Erik Kirschbaum called

17538-532: The music, but to life, to being alive. —Bruce Springsteen, 2005 The phrase "born to run" came to Springsteen while lying in bed one night at his home in West Long Branch, New Jersey . He said the title "suggested a cinematic drama I thought would work with the music I was hearing in my head". Inspired by the musical sounds and lyrical themes of 1950s and 1960s rock and roll artists such as Duane Eddy , Roy Orbison , Elvis Presley , Phil Spector ,

17696-434: The narrator "reflects that he and Terry did not turn out to be the heroes 'we thought we had to be ' ". Terry's gender is unclear, leading some reviewers to interpret the relationship as homosexual. The song contains autobiographical elements related to Springsteen's youth, with cinematic references. "Born to Run" uses the automobile as a means to escape from a depressing life. The characters, described as "tramps", include

17854-434: The narrator and a girl named Wendy. The former works a dreary job, "sweating out" the "runaway American dream", and joins a car community at night. He tells Wendy the town they live in is a "death trap" and they need to leave "while [they're] young" because "tramps like us   ... were born to run". Reviewers have analyzed the song's anthemic message as containing both an "underlying sadness" and "a feeling of desperation", as

18012-468: The narrator and his partner Eddie are small-time gangsters who plan an illegal deal across the Hudson River , striving for a big score that will earn him a large amount of money to impress his girlfriend. With themes of despair and hopelessness, the song ends before a narrative resolution, leaving whether or not the gangsters succeeded ambiguous. "Jungleland" takes place in the titular location, where

18170-473: The narrator promises Wendy they will one day reach the promised land, but he does not know when. He simply wants to run away with her to "help him discover if his youthful notions of love are real", and "pledges his desire to die with her in the street" and love her "with all the madness in [his] soul". The song's music combines rock and roll and hard rock with rockabilly, jazz, and Tin Pan Alley, complete with

18328-457: The night. Similar to other album tracks, it uses the highway as a means for escape. Musically, the song contains various minor and major key shifts in the music; Masur argues the minor key "condemns the monotonous world of daytime work" and the major key "offers the possibilities of screeching off into the night". Margotin and Guesdon highlight the wall of sound production and compare its rock-and-roll sound to Chuck Berry . "Backstreets" features

18486-443: The poll's creator, ranked it 12th on his own year-end list. Springsteen and the E Street Band—Bittan, Clemons, Federici, Tallent, Weinberg, and Van Zandt—continued touring the U.S. throughout the remainder of 1975 to promote Born to Run , performing to larger audiences following the album's success. In mid-November, the band traveled to Europe to perform their first shows outside North America. The first gigs were two performances at

18644-518: The publicity got out of his control and Columbia's campaign that labeled him the future of rock and roll was a mistake. He also reportedly felt a loss of innocence after the album's release, claiming to have reached a low point in the immediate months. When the backlash subsided, sales tapered off and Born to Run was off the chart after 29 weeks. In his 1999 book Flowers in the Dustbin , former Rolling Stone and Newsweek writer James Miller wrote that

18802-470: The release of an early mix of " Born to Run " to nearly a dozen radio stations, anticipation built toward the album's release. The album took over 14 months to record with six months spent recording "Born to Run" alone. E Street Band members David Sancious and Ernest Carter departed after "Born to Run" was completed, and were replaced by Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg on piano and drums, respectively. Springsteen battled with anger and frustration throughout

18960-619: The remainder of the Born to Run album to The Record Plant in New York City. Dusty Springfield recorded the songs for her intended-to-be 1974 album Longing at the studio, with Brooks Arthur producing, but for various reasons the album was abandoned. The Ramones recorded tracks in 1975 at the studio for an alleged 1975 East Berlin EP , Judy's In The Basement - The 914 Sessions . Janis Ian teamed up with Brooks Arthur for three albums recorded at 914 Sound, including 1975's number-one Between

19118-404: The rest of the band, offering new musical insights and relaxed personalities that eased tensions that had built up over years of recording and performing. On the album Bittan mostly replaced Federici, whose sole contribution was the organ part on "Born to Run". Bittan later said he believed this was due to both men's different performing styles and Bittan wanting to "prove himself" as a new member of

19276-924: The sales of Greetings and Wild combined. Released on August 25, 1975, Born to Run peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, topped the Record World chart and reached number 36 on the U.K. Albums Chart . Elsewhere, Born to Run reached number 7 in Australia, the Netherlands, and Sweden, 20 in Ireland, 26 in Norway, 28 in New Zealand, and 31 in Canada. By the end of 1975, it had sold 700,000 copies. By 2022, Born to Run

19434-550: The same label a decade earlier. Despite the expectations of Columbia Records' executives that Springsteen would record an acoustic album, he brought many of his New Jersey–based colleagues with him, who would later form the E Street Band, which the band formally named several months later. His debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. , released in January 1973, established him as a critical favorite, though sales were slow. Because of Springsteen's lyrical poeticism and folk rock -rooted music exemplified on tracks like " Blinded by

19592-420: The sessions, saying he heard "sounds in [his] head" that he could not explain to the others in the studio. He also dealt with two producers who had opposing views, which Springsteen had to meet in the middle of. During the recording of " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out ", Steven Van Zandt conceived the horn parts for the horn players on the spot in the studio after Springsteen and Bittan had failed to write proper ones by

19750-562: The show was a disaster. Upon their return to the U.S., the band played five sold-out shows at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia at the end of December. Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", he has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band,

19908-416: The song's inspiration, although Margotin and Guesdon suggest it was Karen Darvin, Springsteen's girlfriend at the time. The song musically incorporates a Bo Diddley beat . The jazzy "Meeting Across the River" musically and lyrically departs from the previous songs, utilizing piano and trumpet to create what Margotin and Guesdon describe as a "film noir jazz ambience" that "clashes with the other tracks". In it,

20066-402: The songs are about being nowhere". "Thunder Road" is an invitation to travel on a long journey, taking inspiration from the 1958 film of the same name . The song's narrator pleads with a romantic partner to join him in leaving their life behind to start anew, believing there is no time to wait and they must act now. Masur argues the song "lays out hopes and dreams, and the remainder of the album

20224-498: The songs taking place over one long summer day and night. They are also less tied to the New Jersey area than his previous work. The album cover, featuring Springsteen leaning on E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons 's shoulder, is considered iconic and has been imitated by various musicians and in other media. Supported by an expensive promotional campaign, Born to Run became a commercial success, reaching number three on

20382-421: The sounds he heard in his head on tape. His aim for a Phil Spector-type Wall of Sound production meant multiple instruments were assigned to each track on the studio's 16-track mixing desk ; each new overdub made the recording and mixing more difficult. As he kept rewriting the lyrics, Springsteen and Appel created several mixes containing electric and acoustic guitars, piano, organ, horns, synthesizers , and

20540-523: The sprawling, four-disc box set of outtakes , Tracks . Later, he would acknowledge that the 1990s were musically a "lost period" for him: "I didn't do a lot of work. Some people would say I didn't do my best work." Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 by Bono (the lead singer of U2), a favor he returned in 2005. In 1999, Springsteen and the E Street Band reunited and began their extensive Reunion Tour , which lasted over

20698-437: The studio for nearly a year, during which time he kept the E Street Band together through extensive touring across the U.S. and continued writing new material. Reaching a settlement with Appel in May 1977, Springsteen returned to the studio, and the subsequent nine-month recording sessions with the E Street Band produced Darkness on the Edge of Town . The record stripped the "Wall of Sound" production of Born to Run for

20856-608: The success of the concert catalyzed opposition to the regime in East Germany, and helped contribute to the fall of the Berlin Wall the following year. Later in 1988, Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International . In October 1989, he dissolved the E Street Band. In 1992, after risking fan accusations of "going Hollywood" by moving to Los Angeles and working with session musicians , Springsteen released two albums at once: Human Touch and Lucky Town . An electric band appearance on

21014-487: The then-upcoming artist Billy Joel . Low morale plagued Springsteen's team, including both his manager, Mike Appel , and his backing group the E Street Band . After Springsteen rejected CBS Records ' suggestion to record in Nashville, Tennessee with session musicians and a brought-in producer, the label agreed to finance one more album on the agreement that if it failed, they would drop him. Appel successfully negotiated

21172-430: The time the players arrived to record. He joined the E Street Band shortly after. Mixing for Born to Run lasted until July 20, 1975, just before a concert tour began. Born to Run was mastered while the band was on the road. Springsteen was furious at the initial acetate, throwing it into the swimming pool of the hotel he was staying at. He contemplated scrapping the entire project and re-recording it live before he

21330-442: The time. Like his first two albums, Born to Run includes religious imagery, specifically the idea of "searching", although it is undercut by a darker, apocalyptic landscape. Unlike Greetings and Wild , however, most of the songs on Born to Run are not specifically tied to New Jersey and New York, instead shifting to all of the United States in an attempt to be more accessible to a wider audience. Springsteen has said that "most of

21488-468: The tone and scene for each. Lyrically, I was entrenched in classic rock and roll images, and I wanted to find a way to use those images without their feeling anachronistic.   ... [ Born to Run ] was the album where I left behind my adolescent definitions of love and freedom   ... [it] was the dividing line. —Bruce Springsteen, Songs , 2003 Springsteen envisioned the album's songs as taking place during one summer day and night. According to

21646-400: The tone as more melancholic than uplifting. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" follows a character named Bad Scooter who is "searching for his groove" and "a place to fit in". Part autobiographical and part mythological, the song tells Springsteen and the E Street Band's story as they struggle to find commercial success up to that point; they find success after the "Big Man" (Clemons on saxophone) joins

21804-492: The track "Jeannie Needs a Shooter" for Zevon's 1980 album Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School . A 2019 recording of the original "Janey Needs a Shooter" was released on Springsteen's 2020 album Letter to You . The music on Born to Run includes styles such as rock and roll , pop rock , R&B , and folk rock . The author Peter Ames Carlin states that the album captures "the essence of fifties rock 'n' roll and

21962-551: The two albums to stand on its own: "I have grown to love it but newcomers to Bruce's music would be better advised to check out what the critics have been raving about in the past. Old fans will need to persevere." Born to Run was voted the third best album of 1975 in the Pazz & Jop , an annual critics poll run by The Village Voice , behind Bob Dylan and the Band 's The Basement Tapes and Patti Smith 's Horses . Christgau,

22120-399: The verge. If we had flopped at the Bottom Line, it would have been very detrimental to us emotionally." The shows were a major success, receiving praise from both critics and from Columbia's former president Clive Davis . Kirkpatrick stated they "showed rock fans and media alike that Springsteen was no creation of industry hype; he was the real deal". Rolling Stone later included the shows in

22278-429: The verses were entirely unambiguous when listened to, but the anthemic music and the title of the song made it hard for many, from politicians to the common person, to get the lyrics—except those in the chorus, which could be read many ways. The song made a huge political impact, as he was advocating for the rights of the common working-class man. The song was widely misinterpreted as jingoistic , and in connection with

22436-535: The vocal performances, music, and production. Compared to Springsteen's earlier albums, critics felt the lyrics were more accessible and possessed a "universal quality that transcends the sources and myths he drew upon". Lester Bangs remarked in Creem that he is "no longer cramming as many syllables as possible into every line". The performances of the E Street Band were also highlighted, particularly Clemons. Some critics, including Bangs and Cocks, hailed Springsteen as

22594-508: The writer Louis Masur , the album is centrally driven by "loneliness and the search for companionship". The characters are regular people who are lost and feel trapped in their lives; different places, such as streets and roads, offer a way out but are not ideal places. Described by Treble 's Hubert Vigilla as a "four corners approach" to album sequencing, both sides of the original LP began with songs that were optimistic and promised hope and ended with songs of betrayal and pessimism. Across

22752-415: The writer and producer Jon Landau , who had criticized the production on Wild in an article for The Real Paper . The two met in Boston in April 1974 and developed a close friendship after. In February 1975, Landau was invited to a session, where he suggested moving the saxophone solo on "Wings for Wheels" to the end rather than in the middle. Springsteen liked the change and hired Landau as co-producer of

22910-580: The young Springsteen when he promised he would make it big. In the late 1960s, Springsteen performed briefly in a power trio known as Earth, who played in various clubs in New Jersey and at a major show at the Hotel Diplomat in New York City . This was different, shifted the lay of the land. Four guys, playing and singing, writing their own material. [...] Rock 'n' roll came to my house where there seemed to be no way out [...] and opened up

23068-482: Was drafted , but failed his physical examination because of a concussion he suffered in a motorcycle accident two years earlier combined with his behavior at induction, both of which reportedly made him unacceptable for military service . In failing his examination, Springsteen likely avoided conscripted service in the Vietnam War . In 1969, when he was 20 years old, Springsteen's parents and sister Pamela moved to San Mateo, California ; he and his sister Virginia, who

23226-427: Was Springsteen's largest up to that point and featured shows that lasted upwards of three hours in length. The staff of Ultimate Classic Rock said the tour solidified Springsteen and the E Street Band as "one of the most exciting live acts in rock 'n' roll". By the late 1970s, Springsteen earned a reputation as a songwriter whose material could provide hits for other bands. Manfred Mann's Earth Band had achieved

23384-558: Was an early champion of Springsteen; Knobler profiled him in the magazine three times, in 1973, 1975, and 1978. In June 1976, Springsteen and the E Street Band acknowledged the magazine's support by giving a private performance at the magazine's 10th Anniversary Party in New York City. Springsteen's second album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle , was released in November 1973, eleven months after Greetings from Asbury Park . Like Springsteen's inaugural album, The Wild,

23542-510: Was an industry-made pop star. The question of hype became a story in itself, as critics wondered if Springsteen was legitimate or the product of record company promotion. The journalist John Sinclair of the Ann Arbor Sun claimed that Dave Marsh and Jon Landau were "co-conspirators on a massive Springsteen hype". Examinations on the hype continued after the album's release with articles by BusinessWeek and England's Melody Maker ,

23700-566: Was born at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey , on September 23, 1949, to Douglas Frederick "Dutch" Springsteen (1924–1998) and his wife, Adele Ann (née Zerilli; 1925–2024). Springsteen's father worked as a bus driver and other jobs. His father had mental health issues throughout his life, which worsened in his later life. His mother, who was originally from the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York , worked as

23858-550: Was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the US. The album was supported by two singles. The first, "Born to Run" with "Meeting Across the River" as the B-side , was released on August 25, 1975, reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 , and proved popular with radio stations and live audiences. The second, "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" backed by "She's

24016-407: Was completed, Sancious and Carter departed the E Street Band to form their own jazz-fusion band, Tone . They were replaced by Roy Bittan on piano and Max Weinberg on drums. Bittan had a background in symphony orchestras while Weinberg had experience with various rock bands and Broadway productions . Bittan had previously known of Springsteen's music but Weinberg had not. The two meshed well with

24174-464: Was disappointing in a few regions, and except in Europe tickets were easier to get than in the past. In April 2006, Springsteen released We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions , an American roots music project focused around a big folk sound treatment of 15 songs popularized by the radical musical activism of Pete Seeger . A tour began the same month, with the 18-strong ensemble of musicians dubbed

24332-486: Was inspired by John Steinbeck 's The Grapes of Wrath and by Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass , a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael Williamson . The album was generally less well-received than the thematically similar Nebraska due to the minimal melody , twangy vocals, and political nature of most of the songs; however, some praised it for giving

24490-524: Was married and pregnant at the time, remained in Freehold. In 1964, Springsteen saw the Beatles ' televised appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show . Inspired, he bought his first guitar for $ 18.95 at the Western Auto appliance store. Thereafter, he started playing for audiences with a band called the Rogues at local venues, including Elks Lodge in Freehold. Later that year, his mother took out

24648-400: Was stopped by Landau. Springsteen was sent multiple mixes as he was on the road and rejected all of them, approving the final one in early August. Born to Run was released in August 1975. It proved to be a breakthrough album that catapulted Springsteen to worldwide fame. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, eventually going seven times platinum in

24806-430: Was taken by the photographer Eric Meola at his personal studio on June 20, 1975. Springsteen's busy recording schedule meant he kept missing shooting dates. When he finally showed up, he brought Clemons, whom he wanted on the cover. Meola shot 900 frames in the three-hour session, some of which showed Springsteen under a fire escape, tuning a radio, and with a guitar; unused shots were used by Columbia for advertising. In

24964-521: Was the Nebraska album. I don't think he's been listening to this one." He then began playing "Johnny 99", with its allusions to closing factories and criminals. " Dancing in the Dark " was the biggest of seven hit singles from Born in the U.S.A. , peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart. The video for the song showed a young Courteney Cox dancing on stage with Springsteen, which helped start

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