Bruce Springsteen

b. 23 September 1949, Freehold, New Jersey, USA. As the world's greatest living rock ‘n’ roll star, Springsteen has unconsciously proved former Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau totally correct. Landau appeared smug and brave when he made the arrogant statement in 1974, ‘I saw rock ‘n’ roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen’. Prior to that, Bruce had paid his dues, playing in local bands around New Jersey, notably with the Castiles, Earth, Steel Mill and Dr Zoom & The Sonic Boom, before he settled as the Bruce Springsteen Band with David Sancious (keyboards), Gary Tallent (bass,) Clarence Clemons (saxophone,) Steven Van Zandt (guitar), Danny Federici (keyboards) and Vini Lopez (drums). Following an introduction to CBS A&R legend John Hammond, Springsteen was signed as a solo artist; the company sensed a future Bob Dylan. Springsteen ignored their plans and set about recording his debut with the band GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, NJ. The album sold poorly, although critics in the USA and UK saw its potential. The follow-up only 10 months later was a much stronger collection, THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE. Future classics were on this similarly low-selling album, including Rosalita and Incident On 57th Street. It also contains the beautiful Asbury Park Fourth Of July (Sandy), later recorded by The Hollies. His musicians were re-named the E. Street Band after its release and during the following May, Landau saw the band and made his now famous statement. He eventually became Springsteen's record producer and manager.
During this time, the first two albums began to sell steadily, following a heavy schedule of concerts, as word got out to the public that here was something special. Springsteen wrote directly to his fans in a language which they understood. Here was a working-class American, writing about his job, his car/bike, his girlfriend and his hometown. BORN TO RUN came in 1975 and immediately put him into rock's first division. This superb album contained a wealth of lyrical frustration, anger and hope. The playing was faultless and the quality of the songs are among his best. Critics and fans loved it, and the album was a significant hit on both sides of the Atlantic. During the accompanying tour Bruce collected rave reviews and appeared as cover feature in both Newsweek and Time. Throughout his European tour the UK press were similar in their praise and exhaustive coverage, which led to a backlash of Bruce Springsteen jokes. Springsteen's recording career was then held up for three years as he and Landau entered into litigation with Mike Appel, with whom Springsteen had struck a management deal in 1972. Other artists kept the torch burning brightly, with Manfred Mann's Earth Band releasing a sparkling version of his song Blinded By The Light and Patti Smith recording a definitive cover of his Because The Night. Other artists like ex-Hollie Allan Clarke, Robert Gordon, and The Pointer Sisters recorded his material. With the lawsuits successfully completed the anti-climactic DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN arrived in 1978. The album reflected the problems of the past years and is a moody album, yet 15 years later it still stands as a great work. The show-stopping Badlands and The Promised Land were two of the album's masterpieces. From the moment the record was released in June, Bruce and the band embarked on a gruelling tour which took them into 1979.
On his 30th birthday he played at the historic MUSE concert; the subsequent NO NUKES album and video captured a vintage Springsteen performance of high-energy and humour. After feigning collapse onstage, he cheekily got the audience to beg for an encore having previously pointed out to them that he could not carry on like this as he is 30 years old! The audience loved the banter and together with the great Clarence Clemons, he roared into an encore of Rosalita. The next months were spent recording the double-set THE RIVER, which received almost as much praise as BORN TO RUN. All shades of Springsteen are shown; it is brooding, depressing, pensive, uplifting, exciting and celebratory. In 20 songs, he covers every aspect of his life, and more importantly he covers aspects of the listener's life. It is hard to pick out any single tracks, but Hungry Heart, The River and Fade Away were all released and became hit singles. The following year he toured Europe again, and helped to resurrect Gary U.S. Bonds career by producing and writing some of his comeback DEDICATION. This Little Girl is one of Springsteen's finest songs and U.S. Bonds found himself back in the charts after almost 20 years' absence.
In September NEBRASKA arrived. This stark acoustic set was recorded solo, directly onto a cassette recorder. It is raw Springsteen, uncompromising and sometimes painful; Bruce without his clothes on. At one point on the album he imitates a wolf cry, but to many it was a genuine howl, that struck terror when turned up loudly. NEBRASKA was yet another major achievement. After a further lengthy wait for a new album, BORN IN THE U.S.A. arrived in 1984. As is often the case, the album that is the most commercially accessible, best selling and longest resident in the charts, is not always the artist's best work. BORN IN THE U.S.A. was a prime example. Selling over 12 million copies, it stayed in the UK charts for two-and-a-half years, in the country of origin it stayed even longer. Numerous hit singles were released including the title anthem, Cover Me and I'm On Fire. During one bout of Springsteen-mania on his 1985 European tour, all seven albums to date were in the UK charts. That year also saw him marry Julianne Phillips, and support political and social issues. He participated in the USA for Africa's We Are The World and joined former E. Street Band member Steven Van Zandt on the Artists United Against Apartheid song Sun City. In festive style his perennial Santa Claus Is Coming To Town made the UK Top 10 in December. Along with Bob Dylan, Springsteen is the most bootlegged artist in history. In order to stem the flow he released a five-album boxed set at the end of 1986. The superbly recorded LIVE 1975-1985 entered the US charts at number 1.
The following year TUNNEL OF LOVE was released; the advance orders took it to number 1 on the day of release in the UK and USA. It was another exceptionally strong work. Springsteen followed it with another major tour and visited the UK that summer. After months of speculation and paparazzi lens' intrusions, Springsteen's affair with his back-up singer Patti Scialfa was confirmed, with his wife filing for divorce. Bruce continued to be political by supporting the Human Rights Now tour for Amnesty International in 1988, although from that time on he has maintained a lower profile. During the late '80s he performed numerous low-key gigs in bars and clubs and occasional worthy causes as well as his own TUNNEL OF LOVE tour. Springsteen's successful European tour was clouded by the press's continuing obsession with his divorce. In 1989 he recorded Viva Las Vegas as part of a benefit album, and reached the age of 40. During the inactivity of that year the E. Street Band disintegrated upon Bruce's suggestion. During the early '90s the press followed his every move, anxiously awaiting signs of action as Springsteen continued to enjoy life, occasionally appearing with other famous musicians. It is a testament to Springsteen's standing that he can maintain his position, having released only eight albums of new material in almost 20 years. In 1992, he issued two albums simultaneously: HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN, both scaled the charts in predictable fashion and both fans and critics welcomed him back.