Bruce Springsteen (1949- )

By Rivka Willick

Springsteen is the modern balladeer for the working man. He was born September 23, 1949 on the Jersey Shore in Long Branch, New Jersey. His dad drove a bus and his mom was a legal secretary and they sent him and his two sisters to Catholic school for a proper education. Bruce didn’t always get along with the nuns.

Living near a popular tourist area like the Jersey Shore offered the young Springsteen several opportunities to play in bands. At 16 he landed the lead guitarist/singer spot in the band The Casitiles and played in NJ and NY. At the end of the 60’s he played in the trio ‘Earth’ where he got the nickname ‘Boss’ for taking the role of getting the band’s fee and distributing it to the band members. After that he played with the bands ‘Steel Mill’, ‘Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom’, ‘Sundance Blues Band’, ‘The Bruce Springsteen Band’ and independent gigs at clubs up and down the East Coast. Springsteen’s original songs and gritty style stood out and he began to build a following.

In 1972 the Jersey Boy signed with Columbia records and brought his friends into the studio to record, (this group would later become the E Street Band). His first two folk rock albums “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” got raves from the critics but were slow to sell. Springsteen was getting close to his sound but he wasn’t there yet.

Springsteen and the E Street Band began working on “Born to Run” in 1974 as a studio album but production issues and financial pressures bogged things down for over a year. Finally on August 13, 1975 they decided to play 10 concerts in five nights at the Bottom Line in New York City. There was a new, honest sound that was broadcasted on the radio and pointed a new direction for rock and roll. Twelve days later the release of “Born to Run” reached #3 on the charts. “Darkness on the Edge of Town” cemented this success in 1978.

He often expressed his political beliefs and lived what he preached. Springsteen became a phenomenon and played sold out concerts worldwide, but he always returned to New Jersey. He remembered his friends, his neighborhood, and his roots. The 1980’s double album “The River”, unapologetically celebrated the working class life. “Born in the U.S.A.” (1984) and “Tunnel of Love” (1987) also made it to #1.

When the Twin Towers fell during 9-11, 2001 Springsteen responded by writing “The Rising.” This was his first studio album in seven years. Five more albums followed. In 2011 longtime friend and E Street Band member Clarence Clemons died.

Reference:Racing in the Street: The Bruce Springsteen Reader, Penguin, 2004.