Born to Run“Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of Born to Run In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That’s how this extraordinary autobiography began. Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs. He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as “The Big Bang”: seeing Elvis Presley’s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work, and shows us why the song “Born to Run” reveals more than we previously realized. Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll. Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs (“Thunder Road,” “Badlands,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “The River,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “The Rising,” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 90
Page 6
... played pool, very well, for money. He met and fell in love with my mother, promising that if she'd marry him, he'd get a real job (red flag!). He worked with his cousin, David “Dim” Cashion, on the line at the Ford Motor plant in Edison ...
... played pool, very well, for money. He met and fell in love with my mother, promising that if she'd marry him, he'd get a real job (red flag!). He worked with his cousin, David “Dim” Cashion, on the line at the Ford Motor plant in Edison ...
Page 22
... . She, I'm sure, unfortunately, played the “Madonna” role to Anthony's other inamoratas. My grandmother suffered mightily from the divorce, never remarried and 1P_Springsteen_BornToRunTP_LL.indd 22 6/12/17 11:06 AM 22 GROWIN' UP.
... . She, I'm sure, unfortunately, played the “Madonna” role to Anthony's other inamoratas. My grandmother suffered mightily from the divorce, never remarried and 1P_Springsteen_BornToRunTP_LL.indd 22 6/12/17 11:06 AM 22 GROWIN' UP.
Page 23
... played with me in the Sessions Band, moved in with his family and filled the house with children and Italian cooking again. The power of the “pinch of death” has been handed down to my aunt Dora, who has developed her own version, the ...
... played with me in the Sessions Band, moved in with his family and filled the house with children and Italian cooking again. The power of the “pinch of death” has been handed down to my aunt Dora, who has developed her own version, the ...
Page 51
... were cordial but distant. The children played together. There was a lot of easy racism amongst the kids. Insults were exchanged. Arguments were either 1P_Springsteen_BornToRunTP_LL.indd 51 6/12/17 11:06 AM THE SECOND COMING 51.
... were cordial but distant. The children played together. There was a lot of easy racism amongst the kids. Insults were exchanged. Arguments were either 1P_Springsteen_BornToRunTP_LL.indd 51 6/12/17 11:06 AM THE SECOND COMING 51.
Page 52
... played ball and spent a good amount of time together. We fought to see who was toughest. He'd clock me on the kisser with a couple of good rights and it was over; then we'd go back to playing. His brother Richard was a little older ...
... played ball and spent a good amount of time together. We fought to see who was toughest. He'd clock me on the kisser with a couple of good rights and it was over; then we'd go back to playing. His brother Richard was a little older ...
Contents
3 | |
8 | |
13 | |
19 | |
25 | |
33 | |
38 | |
44 | |
Nebraska | 298 |
Deliver Me from Nowhere | 301 |
California | 308 |
Born in the USA | 313 |
Buona Fortuna Fratello Mio | 318 |
The Big Big Time | 321 |
Going Home | 338 |
Regresara México | 342 |
48 | |
The Show Man Lord of the Dance | 54 |
Workingmans Blues | 58 |
Where the Bands Are | 61 |
The Castiles | 68 |
Once There Was a Little Steven | 88 |
Earth | 96 |
The Upstage Club | 104 |
Tinker Surfin Safari | 114 |
Steel Mill | 121 |
Homecoming | 139 |
Endless Summer | 147 |
Beatnik Deluxe | 153 |
California Dreamin Take Two | 159 |
Its a Bar You Idiots | 165 |
Onward and Upward | 170 |
Losing My Religion | 179 |
Road Work | 185 |
The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle | 190 |
The Satellite Lounge | 200 |
BOOK | 205 |
BORN TO RUN 29 Born to Run | 207 |
Jon Landau | 212 |
Thunder Road | 219 |
Jackpot | 223 |
The E Street Band | 234 |
Clarence Clemons | 241 |
New Contracts | 246 |
Living with the Law | 254 |
Darkness on the Edge of Town | 260 |
The Drop | 268 |
Downtime | 271 |
The River | 275 |
Hitsville | 286 |
Hello Walls | 295 |
Tunnel of Love | 348 |
Goin Cali | 358 |
BOOK THREE | 365 |
LIVING PROOF 53 Living Proof | 367 |
Redheaded Revolution | 370 |
Changes | 374 |
LA Burning | 377 |
Going to the Chapel | 379 |
Earthquake Sam | 387 |
Streets of Philadelphia | 396 |
The Ghost of Tom Joad | 400 |
Western Man | 406 |
Eastern Woman | 415 |
King of New Jersey Hollywood Days | 418 |
Bringing It All Back Home | 421 |
Revival | 423 |
The Rising | 437 |
Wild East | 444 |
The Seeger Sessions | 449 |
Magic | 455 |
Super Bowl Sunday | 460 |
Moving On | 465 |
Wrecking Ball | 468 |
Losing the Rain | 471 |
The Wrecking Ball Tour | 476 |
Zero to Sixty in Nothing Flat | 484 |
Garage Land | 488 |
High Hopes | 491 |
Home Front | 497 |
Long Time Comin | 502 |
Epilogue | 506 |
Acknowledgments | 509 |
Photo Credits | 511 |
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Common terms and phrases
afternoon album Asbury Park audience beach Beatles beautiful blues Bob Dylan Born to Run Bruce Springsteen Clarence Clarence Clemons Clarence’s club Columbia Records couldn’t crowd dance Danny Danny Federici dark didn’t door dream E Street fans father feel felt Freehold front fuck Garry Tallent girl going guitar hard he’d head heart highway it’d Jake Jersey Jon Landau kids knew live looked Mike Mike Appel Mike’s mother musicians needed never night onstage Patti played pulled record road rock rock music roll singer singing sister solo songs soul sound Springsteen stage Steve Steve Van Zandt stood stop story Street Band studio there’s thing Tinker told took tour town Vini voice walked wanted watched we’d who’d would’ve young