Bruce Springsteen
Biography
When Bruce Springsteen finally broke through to national recognition in the fall of 1975 after a decade of trying, critics hailed him as the savior of rock & roll, the single artist who brought together all the exuberance of '50s rock and the thoughtfulness of '60s rock, molded into a '70s style. He rocked as hard as Jerry Lee Lewis, his lyrics were as stirring as Bob Dylan's, and his concerts were near-religious celebrations of all that was best in music. One critic became so enamored that he quit reviewing to become Springsteen's manager.
But the hosannas, when piped through the publicity machine of a major record company, were perceived as hype by a significant part of the public as well as the mainstream media. Springsteen landed on the covers of Time and Newsweek, but both magazines were covering the phenomenon, not the music. Springsteen's album, Born to Run, became a hit, and he jumped to arena status as a live act, but as many people were turned off by the press campaign as turned on by the records and shows.
Two decades later, however, Springsteen remained an established star who could look back on a career that had produced one of the best-selling albums of all time, sold-out stadium shows, Grammy awards and an Oscar, and a group of imitators who constituted their own subgenre of popular music. If he no longer seemed divine, he remained popular enough for his Greatest Hits album to enter the charts at number one, and he had won over many of those skeptics from 1975.
Growing up in southern New Jersey, Springsteen turned to rock & roll as a teenager and played in a series of bands from the mid-'60s on, varying in style from garage rock to power trio blues-rock. By the early '70s, he was trying his hand at being a folky singer/songwriter in Greenwich Village. But when he was signed to Columbia Records in 1972, he brought into the studio many of the New Jersey-based musicians with whom he'd played over the years.
The result was Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., which went unnoticed upon its initial release in January 1973 (although Manfred Mann's Earth Band would turn its leadoff track, "Blinded by the Light," into a number one hit four years later). The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (September 1973) also failed to sell despite some rave reviews. (Both albums have since gone platinum.)
The following year, Springsteen revised his backup group -- dubbed the E Street Band -- settling on a lineup that included saxophone player Clarence Clemons, second guitarist "Miami" Steve Van Zandt, organist Danny Federici, pianist Roy Bittan, bassist Garry Tallent, and drummer Max Weinberg. With this unit he barnstormed the country while working on his third and last chance with Columbia. By the time Born to Run (August 1975) was released, the critics and a significant cult audience were with him, and the title song became a Top 40 hit while the album reached the Top Ten.
What Springsteen needed to do in the wake of the hype, of course, was to play and record more to consolidate his position. He was prevented at least from the latter by a former manager, who kept him in court during the next couple of years. Meanwhile, the musical world changed. Part of the reason critics had welcomed Springsteen so enthusiastically in 1975 was that he seemed a return to basic rock & roll values in a world of soft rock, heavy metal, and art rock.
By the time Springsteen returned with his fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town (June 1978), however, the punk/new wave movement had outflanked him, pushing him from the vanguard to the mainstream. Similar sounding heartland rockers such as Bob Seger had appeared, so that Springsteen sounded less like an innovator than a member of an established genre.
Nevertheless, he set about winning fans with an album that found the lost children of his early albums stuck in factory jobs, still longing for some escape. The album was a hit, though it did not match the success of Born to Run. Springsteen returned with the double album The River (October 1980), which topped the charts and featured his first Top Ten hit, "Hungry Heart."
Nobody was calling him a hype anymore, but Springsteen retreated from his expanding success, next recording the low-key album Nebraska (September 1982), a virtual demo tape on vinyl. (Springsteen did not tour to promote the album, and in the interim E Street Band guitarist Van Zandt amicably left the group for a solo career, to be replaced by Nils Lofgren.)
But then came Born in the U.S.A. (June 1984) and a two-year international tour. The album threw off seven hit singles and sold over ten million copies, putting Springsteen in the pop heavens with Michael Jackson and Prince. After touring for more than a year, he released a five-LP/three-CD concert album, Live/1975-85 (November 1986), which topped the charts.
Characteristically, Springsteen returned with a more introverted effort, Tunnel of Love (October 1987), which presaged his divorce from his first wife. (He married a second time to singer Patti Scialfa, who had joined the E Street Band.)
After another marathon tour, Springsteen gave the E Street Band notice in November 1989, breaking up a celebrated unit who had stayed together 15 years. In March 1992, he simultaneously released Human Touch and Lucky Town, and though the albums premiered near the top of the charts, they were less successful with fans than previous efforts. In the fall, Springsteen taped an MTV Unplugged segment (though he plugged in after one song), and the performance was released as an album in Europe in 1993.
Springsteen continued to tour until July 1993. In the fall, he wrote and recorded "Streets of Philadelphia" for the soundtrack to the film Philadelphia, which concerned a lawyer dying of AIDS. The song became a Top Ten hit in 1994, winning the Academy Award for Best Song and cleaning up at the Grammys the following year. At the same time, Springsteen had readied his Greatest Hits album (February 1995), reassembling the E Street Band to record a few new tracks. The album was an immediate best-seller. Springsteen followed it with The Ghost of Tom Joad (November 1995), another low-key, downcast, near-acoustic effort and embarked upon a brief solo tour. In 1999, shortly after his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band (including both Lofgren and Van Zandt on guitars) and embarked on a world tour that lasted until mid-2000, its final dates resulting in the album Live in New York City.
Bruce Springsteen then set to work on The Rising, his first full-length studio album to feature the group as a whole since Born in the U.S.A.. Released in July 2002, it was also Springsteen's first album of new studio recordings since The Ghost of Tom Joad. Another successful tour followed, as did the release of Devils & Dust in 2005. One year later, the songwriter released the first covers album of his career, a tribute to the songs of Pete Seeger titled We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Live in Dublin, featuring concert material from the tour supporting Springsteen's Seeger project, was released on both CD and DVD in 2007. Springsteen then returned to his work with the E Street Band and released Magic in the fall of 2007, followed by another round of touring. Several months later, however, longtime E Street organist Danny Federici succumbed to a three-year battle with melanoma.
Springsteen finished the tour in 2008 and held several additional shows in support of Senator Barack Obama, whose presidential campaign had kicked into hyperdrive earlier that year. While playing an Obama rally in early November, Springsteen debuted material from his forthcoming album, Working on a Dream, whose tracks had been recorded with the E Street Band during breaks in the group's previous tour. The resulting album, which was the last to feature contributions from Federici (as well as his son, Jason), arrived on January 27, 2009, one week after Barack Obama's historic inauguration. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Selected Discography

Working On A Dream (Deluxe Version)
2009

Live (1975-85)
2008

Live In Dublin
2007

Magic
2007

Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (Live)
2006

Devils & Dust
2005

The Essential Bruce Springsteen
2003

The Rising
2002

Live In New York City
2001

Tracks
1998

The Ghost Of Tom Joad
1995

Greatest Hits
1995

MTV Plugged (Live)
1993

Human Touch
1992

Lucky Town
1992

Tunnel Of Love
1987

Born In The U.S.A.
1984

Nebraska
1982

The River
1980

Darkness On The Edge Of Town
1978
Bruce is awesome!!!!! : )He's the oldest and best rocker ever!!!
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MR. Boss, let me get one thing straight: I can't stand you.
But D$#MIT. I respect you. |
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Chivista Tavo - care to share your info on that statement. That Bruce is a racist? Could it be that you are??
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If he is 6o, he has my utmost respect!!! He looks great and is in excellent shape. I hope I age as good...go Bruce!!! any cosmetic work?
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He is the Boss for a reason. At the age of 60 he still gives his fans his outmost best every show. More artist should take notes from a person who appreciates his fans as much as his occupation.
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As someone who grew up and still lives at the Jersey Shore, Bruce and his music have been interwoven with my life at different times. I think back to days on the boardwalk as a teenager and how much the music resonated with all of us at that time. Fast forward to last weeks show at Giants stadium; I watched the expression on my children's faces and realized just how much his music transcends time and generations. There are not many artists who can make this claim.
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Although talented, Sprinsteen is a very rascists person, yet there is no mention of that.
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Duh! Springsteen! Genius with a capital "G"! Even his ballads are something to be treasured!
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i am a huge Bruce fan, but cant find a ticket to the NJ shows.If someone is looking to sell, please email me at nyblue99@opt o n l i n e . n e t . Hoping to take my daughter to her first bruce concert
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I 2 extra tickets for 60 buck face value 110 april 21 2009 td banknorth garden boston
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Jhazzard, "American Land" is the name of the song. You can get it on the Live in Dublin CD or the special edition of the Seeger Sessions CD which has it as a bonus track.
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I'm a huge fan of Bruce - became one later in life. Quick question, went to one of his concerts a few years ago - in Boston - and there was a song played at the end of the concert - more like an Irish song, but it had directives toward American and what a wonderful place.... - a great, upbeat tune - one of the band members was playing the fiddle - my friend couldn't remember it either - if anyone can tell me the name of song, i'd love to know it so that i can buy the CD that it is on. Thanks M
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Reading through the comments seems you either love or hate his music. When I first saw him in the late 60's he had a four man hard blues type band, his guitar style was similar to Alvin Lee's and he had a devoted following. Then he changed his style, bringing in a brass section and vocalists. At a free concert in Richmond he was booed, much like Dylan was when he went electric. Bruce's response to the crowd was pretty simple: F*@k off! If you don't like my music, go home!
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I just saw Bruce live a few days ago and it was hands down, the best concert I've ever been to. The amount of passion he puts into every song is unbelieveabl e . Three glorious hours were not enough.
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musically, technically, he is not so perfect, and his dress code is not either, to any group, or sort, and that is why the bikers, rockers, cowboys, left over 80s disco folk, folk music people, old 50s rockers,.... . . g e t it! it is ALL heart, and some talent. Today, so many bands have so, so much talent, yet so little heart. Bruce Springsteen put all the heart back into music, where it belongs, that is why he is so much a music hero, and his band also, and why he still can, and does, is he brings
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Bruce Springsteen blows Bob Dylan out of the water! There is no comparrison whatsoever.B o b Dylan is a damn folk singer and Bruce is a rock star.No one fades the boss.See u on the darkness on the edge of town.
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Anyone who has ever seen Bruce live will agree that he is the man. Also take a listen to anything off his first three albums and tell me his lyrics are not up their with Dylan.
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a rapper is a rapper, but everyone loves the oldies
VIVA LA BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN |
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I'll tell you why he can't just be pretty good...it's cause he's so much more, he was the savior of rock, he is...The Boss.
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okay, he is really good, but is still overhyped. I loved Nebraska and Born in the USA was fun, but let's not get carried away and think he is anywhere near in the top ranks with people like Dylan. I'm not trying to knock him. I just don't understand why he can't be seen as what he is...pretty good.
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He doesn't need 20 people. Listen to Nebraska bonehead. He does it because it's fun. And he is one of the greatest songwriters ever.
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Bruce is the best...first listened to Darkness at the edge of town when i was 13 and have been hooked since...he put jersey on the map...
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Bruce Springsteen does not suck. He is an out of this world artist. If he sucks then why did he win an Oscar, a Golden Globe(2009 for the Wrestler), and many grammys? My parents say him in concert and said it was one of the best they have ever been to.
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