Steve Van Zandt has revealed that he originally slated Bruce Springsteen’s classic album ‘Born To Run’.
Released in 1975, ‘Born To Run’ is a landmark in American rock music. Previously a post-Dylan troubadour, Bruce Springsteen slapped on his Telecaster to become the all singing, all shouting figure known as The Boss.
Hugely successful, it launched Bruce Springsteen as a figure of global importance. Album sessions were notoriously difficult, with the singer spending months mixing the Wagnerian title track alone.
Now long term collaborator Steve Van Zandt has revealed that he felt the album “sucked” when he first heard it. A member of the E Street Band, the guitarist apparently only got involved after Bruce Springsteen urged him to make improvements.
“All I did on ‘Born To Run’ were the horns on ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out'”, he explained in the new publication ‘Bruce Springsteen – The Ultimate Guide’.
“I was just in the studio, hanging around. He said, ‘What do you think?’ and I said, ‘I think it sucks.’ And he said, ‘Well, go fucking fix it, then.'”
Continuing, Steve Van Zandt revealed that the album caused a massive shift in perception of Bruce Springsteen almost immediately. “So I went and fixed it. People came to the Bottom Line (venue) basically to laugh at us. And a funny thing happened: we fucking blew their minds.”
One of the defining albums of the 70s, Bruce Springsteen was featured on the front page of both ‘Time’ and ‘Newsweek’ following the release of ‘Born To Run’.
Van Zandt remains a continual member of the E Street Band. A part-time actor, the guitarist also presents his own hugely popular show focussing on garage rock and punk which has subsequently spawned its own festival.
