Music Flashback: Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen a renowned American Singer-Songwriter and longtime leader of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Springsteen started out as a member the of the group “Earth” during the late 1960′s in New Jersey. The group played clubs throughout the state and Springsteen was responsible for collecting money for the group and would then distribute the money to the other members. This led to him being nicknamed “The Boss“, a title which he has kept to this day.

From 1969-1971, he performed with a group called Steel Mill which included members who would later go on to form his backing band, The E Street Band.

He signed his first solo record deal in 1972 and released his first album, “Greetings from Asbury Park” in 1973. He brought many of his New Jersey based colleagues into the studio with him to record the album, thus marking the beginning of the E Street Band, though it would not be formally called that for several more years.

The album gained rave critical reviews. Springsteen was often compared to a young Bob Dylan.

A 1973 album, “The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle” was released with no commercial success.

The landmark 1975 album “Born to Run” would finally launch Springsteen to stardom. The Album is widely considered Springsteen’s finest work and is considered one of the greatest albums in music history.

The 1980 album “The River” was the first album to produce a Top-10 Hit for Springsteen with the hit “Hungry Heart”.

The 1982 Album “Nebraska” was released to critical acclaim but did not produce any hit singles.

Though considered to be very successful here in the US, Springsteen did not reach International stardom until the 1984 release of his album “Born in the USA“. The album became one of the top-selling albums of all-time and produced seven Top-10 hits.

The top single off of “Born in the USA” was “Dancing in the Dark” which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top-40 charts. The video for the song featured a then unknown Courtney Cox dancing onstage with Springsteen during a concert performance.

I had the great fortune to see Bruce in concert in London in the mid 1980′s on his “Born in the USA” tour. Though I stood in Wembley Stadium for well over 5 hours (with Bruce playing for nearly 4 hours), it was one of the greatest concerts I have ever attended.

Springsteen wed Actress Julianne Phillips in 1985.

The 1987 album “Tunnel of Love” was another commercial success. During the tour in support of the album, news leaked out about Springsteen’s relationship with E Street band backup singer Patty Scialfa. Springsteen and Phillips would divorce in 1988. Springsteen and Scialfa would then wed in 1991.

The period from 1990 to the present has seen continued commercial and critical success for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band.

During their most successful years, the E Street Band was:

Bruce Springsteen - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano
Patty Scialfa - Backing Vocals, Guitar, Percussion
Max Weinberg - Drums, Percussion
Garry Talent - Bass, Tuba
Rob Bittan - Piano, Keyboards
Steven Van Zandt - Guitar, Mandolin
Nils Lofgren - Guitars, vocals
Clarence Clemons - Saxophone, Percussion, Tenor, Vocals
Danny Federici - Organ, accordion, Vocals

Sadly, both Federici and Clemons have since passed away.

Bruce Springsteen has won 20 Grammy Awards thus far in his career.

He has won two Golden Globe Awards.

His 1993 song “Streets of Philadelphia” won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

He has sold over 120 million albums worldwide.

Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him as the #23 Greatest Artist of All-Time.

Now in his early 60′s, Bruce Springsteen is still going strong.