Bruce Springsteen: The boss who knows his “people”

by Scott Campbell

Program Director, Garage to Stadiums podcast

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In our Story of Bruce Springsteen episode, you'll learn how Springsteen crawled his way up from his poor, blue-collar upbringing in small-town New Jersey to working-class rock and roll legend from our guest Peter Ames Carlin, author of the New York Times bestselling authorized biography Bruce. 

Springsteen, or “The Boss,” may be known for his brilliant writing chops, high-energy live performances and a killer band. Still, his relatability may make him different from many classic rock legends.  He connects with us ordinary folks like no other.  You can’t tell the story of Bruce Springsteen without images of regular working-class people living the American struggle.  As Bono, lead singer of U2, said as he inducted Bruce into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, “If John Steinbeck could sing…” 

Early challenging years faced by a young Bruce

Springsteen grew up in the central New Jersey industrial town of Freehold.  Bruce describes his hometown as provincial, redneck and even racist.  Bruce was largely raised in his paternal grandparents' Irish household, as his parents had many financial struggles. His father was a laborer whose undiagnosed schizophrenia made it difficult to hold steady employment, and his mother was the primary breadwinner as a legal secretary.  Bruce describes his childhood as “unique” due to the complicated family dynamic and has been very open about his challenging relationship with his father.  Our guest, Peter Ames Carlin, describes in detail the impact of Bruce’s father’s mental health challenges on the family, as Bruce also illuminates in this interview.

After being exposed to the likes of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and the Beatles, Springsteen took up guitar and eventually dedicated himself to music.  Bruce felt that music could be his voice as a shy kid who never really fit in. He started a band called the Castiles with teenage friends, and they had some regional success, as did his subsequent bands, such as the heavy-duty rock outfit Steel Mill, which opened up for bands like Black Sabbath, Ike and Tina Turner, Chicago and other famous acts of the day. As seen here, the music he made with Steel Mill has a sharp edge and often includes long jams reminiscent of the Allman Brothers. By the time he hit his late teens, Bruce was well known locally for his guitar playing, but he was also starting his development as a songwriter. 

The big break via his new manager  

By the early 70s, Bruce was fronting the Bruce Springsteen Band (an early iteration of the E Street Band).  Originally aspiring to sing like Roy Orbison and write like Bob Dylan, he eventually carved his musical path influenced by his Irish/Italian upbringing with a heavy dose of Catholicism, all set against the backdrop of a blue-collar American town in the turbulent 1960s. 

Columbia Records signed Bruce in 1972, and he was on his way with two albums released the following year.  Critics loved the albums for their powerful lyrics, which you can hear in this 1973 performance of Spirit of the Night, a song from his debut album that would later become a Springsteen classic. 

“I have seen the future…”   

Springsteen’s first two albums (both released in 1973) were not commercially successful but critically acclaimed.   In May 1974, rock critic Jon Landau wrote: “I have seen the future of rock and roll, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.”  Other critics made frequent comparisons to Bob Dylan due to Bruce’s writing style and the mutual connection between John Hammond and Columbia.

By 1975, he was at a crossroads with Columbia to maintain the relationship he needed to deliver sales.  He did just that with his third album, the classic Born to Run.  A commercial and critical success, Springsteen was launched into the mainstream media spotlight for the first time, as he appeared on the cover of both Time and Newsweek in October 1975, the first for an artist.  Landau soon became Bruce’s producer and manager as Springsteen and his first manager, Mike Appel,  became estranged and entangled in a messy lawsuit over royalties and ownership of Bruce’s songs.

On a historic roll writing the working man’s songbook

As Peter Ames Carlin outlines in this episode, with Born to Run, Bruce’s writing style has fully transitioned from Dylanesque symbolism to a style that speaks directly to his audience in terms they can understand and connect.  The characters were as relatable and recognizable as you could find in a Steinbeck novel.  The themes are as familiar as the American fabric: racing cars, highways, run-down factories, failed relationships, hopeful dreams, desperation, and redemption. The working person’s songbook was underway. 

The weight of new expectations, as well as his mental health issues (about which he is very transparent), were impactful over the next few years, as was the legal battle with Appel, which kept the band out of the studio for an extended period.  The next album, Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978), was moody and dark, befitting this period.   The critically acclaimed double album The River (1980) followed with a top 10 hit in Hungry Heart, and “The Boss” commercial juggernaut was well in flight.   Born in the USA  followed and was a smash hit album with multiple Top Ten singles and a historical tour, which solidified Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as one of the most significant musical acts on the planet. Born in the USA also marked a new political activism beginning for Springsteen, as he became an advocate for ordinary working Americans, who he said were increasingly facing hardship. 

Commercial success on a massive scale

With five studio album releases from Born to Run (1975) to Born in the USA (1984), Bruce enjoyed one of the most incredible runs of success in music history. Carlin also explained how these albums reflected the stages of life that Springsteen and his audience were experiencing, transitioning from early 20s to family life to life challenges.  

The epic Born in the USA tour started in June 1984 and ran until October 1985, almost a year and a half.  The tour grossed approximately USD 85 million and had an audience of nearly 4 million.  As a thank you to his fans, Springsteen released a live Born to Run video with clips from the tour.  Check it out; it gives us a real sense of the energy and passion that a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show delivers.

Continued Success and Legacy

The latter part of Springsteen’s career is also distinguished.  He helped raise awareness of AIDS with his work on a 1994 film soundtrack, the groundbreaking film Philadelphia, a movie starring Tom Hanks about an AIDS victim unfairly discriminated against by his employer. Springsteen won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for The Streets of Philadelphia. He received a Special Tony Award for his show Springsteen on Broadway, his residency, giving 800 nightly fans a personal and intimate insight into the artist and the man.

As he aged, Springsteen became a mental health advocate, spoke eloquently about social justice, supported veterans' causes, and actively battled hunger domestically and abroad.  He also becomes even more politically active, supporting Barack Obama’s campaign and then fostering a personal relationship with the then President.  With his genuine common man persona, Springsteen was now buddies with Obama, yet the Boss always maintained his down-to-earth image even though he became an establishment insider.   

Legendary Live Shows with the E Street Band

Springsteen's legendary live performances with the E Street Band have become the stuff of rock legend, captivating audiences with their energy and passion. From epic four-hour shows to intimate storytelling sessions, Springsteen concerts are transformative experiences that resonate deeply with fans.   Or, as our guest Peter Ames Carlin calls him, “a blue-collar troubadour.” 

From a musicianship standpoint, Bruce is an incredible guitar player, as seen in this solo on Because the Night.  And the E Street Band has become legendary in their own right.  Fans do not consider them as sidemen; they are long-term critical members of a tight ensemble.  

This live video of his song Rosalita from 1980 shows Bruce and the band in full stride. Live versions of his classics are not simply reproductions; they come across as fresh versions exponentially enhanced in concert by expert players, as seen in this performance of the epic Jungleland featuring Bruce’s close friend and long-time sax player, the late Clarence Clemons.

The band even plays requests! Over the past decade or more, many dedicated fans began bringing homemade signs to communicate their song request to Bruce and the band.  Bruce acknowledges the signs and will often play one of the songs.  Here is a clip of Bruce and the band working out a Chuck Berry classic on the fly.

Springsteen’s legacy as an insightful observer of American culture

Springsteen’s songbook makes him a national treasure (as evidenced by his receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2016). He combines poignant lyrics about the ordinary person with musical performances that range from touching to ferocious.  His legacy of portraying the America of the 1970s to well into this century will offer future historians an accurate portrayal of the challenges and dreams of the country and its everyday people.

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