Payin' the Cost to be The Boss
When Bruce Springsteen first burst on to the national music scene in the mid-1970's, to many it seemed as if he had come out of nowhere. He actually came out of central New Jersey, which to many people is close enough (I kid). The truth was that there was close to a decade of developement behind the man and the sound that the world got to hear. All goofing aside, the fact that except for a few pivotal moments, all of this happened in Jersey, away from the major scenes of the time, kept Bruce and his friends relatively uncorrupted by the trends of the time and follwing their own muse. Today, I'll try to trace some of that evolution.
Like most American musicians of his generation, Springsteen's first step into the world of rock and roll was in one of the countless garage bands formed in the wake of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Formed in 1966, they played teen dances and parties around Bruce's hometown of Freehold. They managed to scrape together enough money to get some recording time at Mr. Music in Bricktown, New Jersey, where they recorded an acetate single. The 16-year-old Bruce plays rhythm guitar and sings background (his friend George Theiss sings lead), but more importantly, Bruce and George wrote both songs (reportedly on the drive over to the studio). The recording quality is crude, but both Bruces guitar chops and precocious songwriting skills show through, as does the influence of the Stones and the Yardbirds. Only four copies of the actual vinyl are known to exist but dupes have been circulating among collectors for years. [Note: on the far left of the photo is drummer Bart Haynes who was drafted soon after and killed in action in Vietnam, providing inspiration for some of Bruce's later work.]
By 1968-69, Bruce, like many fans of guitar rock, had fallen under the spell of the power trio sound proffered by the likes of Cream and Blue Cheer which allowed him to hone his guitar chops and stretch out his songwriting a bit. They were also prone to loooong jams, rendering the only other recording I have of theirs, (a live 19 minute workout called 'Garden State Parkway Blues') too large a file to be uploaded here. "Sister Teresa" is an uncharacteristically quiet ballad from the band, but this track (recorded live in Richmond in late 1969) is probably Bruce's earliest lead vocal that's made it to wax. It also presages his later lyrical fascination with Catholicism, sin and temptation. This is also the point where future E Street Band Members start to come on the scene. The drums here are played by Vini 'Mad Dog' Lopez, who would later pound the skins on Springsteen's first two studio albums, before being replaced by Max Weinberg. Danny Federici, longtime E Street stalwart on the organ, also made his debut with Child. Vini Roslin rounded out the ensemble on bass.
After discovering that there was a band on Long Island already using the name Child, the band changed it's moniker to Steel Mill (this could be the beginnings of Bruce's fascination with industrial imagery). Their live performances gained them enough of a reputation to get an invitation from Bill Graham to play his club the Matrix in early 1970, which is where the live "Jeannie I Want To Thank You" is pulled from, showing bruce in an uncharacteristically (by later standards, anyway) jammy mood. His guitar and vocal style is starting to gel (and 'Jeannie' may be Bruce's first mystical female, followed later by 'Sandy' ('4th Of July Asbury Park'), 'Mary' ('Thunder Road') and 'Candy' ('Candy's Room')). The guys had definitely been listening to Santana judging by Bruce's guitar playing and Edgar Winter (judging by Danny Federici's astonishing organ).
Graham also gave the band some time at his Fillmore Recording Studio in February of 1970, whence comes 'The Train Song.' It was around this point that bassist Vini Roslin left, to be replaced by longtime Springsteen sidekick (and radio show host and TV consigliere) Miami Steve Van Zandt, but despite my research I've been unable to determine whether Steve plays on the track. The song itself is an interesting stab at the roots oriented sound being pioneered by The Band at the time, which points toward the future, as does the lyrical development.
Here is where things begin to truly take the shape we know. During his spell in California playing gigs with Steel Mill, Bruce saw Van Morrison playing live with a ten piece band which inspired Bruce to expand his pallette and also re-emphasize his R&B influences. This is also where some of the major players of the E Street Band start showing up. Miami Steve Van Zandt and Vini 'Mad Dog' Lopez are present already and bassist Garry Tallent arrives on the scene, as does organist David Sancious (who would remain with Bruce until he recorded the title track of Born To Run, then he left to pursue a jazz career and was replaced by Roy Bittan) and none other than Southside Johnny (of 'and the Asbury Jukes' fame) on harmonica duties. Also around were two sax players and a plalanx of female backup singers known as the Zoomettes. On stage, the band kept a table with a Monopoly board, and musicians not playing in a particular number would join the game, presaging some of the band's latter-day onstage goofery. These tracks show them in 1972 before a hometown crowd in Asbury Park. The music is loose and funky and the distinctive Springsteen is only a few steps away, and the songwriting has become more solid than ever.
Hope you enjoyed this look into an artists history as much as I enjoyed digging it all up.
Comments
These shows coming up....can NOT wait.