| Born to Run | ||||
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| Released | August 25, 1975 (1975-8-25)[a] | |||
| Recorded | January 1974 – July 1975 | |||
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| Length | 39:23 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
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| Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||
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| Bruce Springsteen and theE Street Band chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Born to Run | ||||
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Born to Run is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriterBruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, byColumbia Records. Co-produced by Springsteen with his managerMike Appel and the producerJon Landau, its recording took place in New York. Following the commercial failures of his first two albums, the album marked Springsteen's effort to break into the mainstream and create a commercially successful album. Springsteen sought to emulatePhil Spector'sWall of Sound production, leading to prolonged sessions with theE Street Band lasting from January 1974 to July 1975; six months alone were spent working on thetitle track.
The album incorporates musical styles includingrock and roll,pop rock,R&B, andfolk rock. Its character-driven lyrics describe individuals who feel trapped and fantasize about escaping to a better life, conjured via romantic lyrical imagery of highways and travel. Springsteen envisioned the songs taking place over one long summer day and night. They are also less tied to theNew Jersey area than his previous work. The album cover, featuring Springsteen leaning on E Street Band saxophonistClarence Clemons's shoulder, is considered iconic and has been imitated by various musicians and in other media.
Supported by an expensive promotional campaign,Born to Run became a commercial success, reaching number three on the USBillboard Top LPs & Tape chart and the top ten in three others. Two singles were released, "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", the first of which became a radio and live favorite. The album's release generated extensive publicity, leading to backlash from critics who expressed skepticism over whether Springsteen's newfound attention was warranted. Following its release, Springsteen became embroiled in legal issues with Appel, leading him totour the United States and Europe for almost two years. Upon release,Born to Run received highly positive reviews. Critics praised the storytelling and music, although some viewed its production as excessive and heavy-handed.
Born to Run was Springsteen's breakthrough album. Its success has been attributed to capturing the ideals of a generation of American youths during a decade of political turmoil, war, and issues facing theworking class. Over the following decades, the album has become widely regarded as a masterpiece and one of Springsteen's best records. It has appeared on various lists of the greatest albums of all time and was inducted into theNational Recording Registry in 2003 by theLibrary of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".Born to Run received an expanded reissue in 2005 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, featuring aconcert film and a documentary detailing the album's making.
Bruce Springsteen's first two albums,Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. andThe Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, were released in 1973 throughColumbia Records. While the albums were critically acclaimed, both sold poorly.[1] By 1974 his popularity was limited to theEast Coast of the United States,[2] and the label's confidence in him began to wane.[3][4] Management at Columbia had changed and they began to favor the then-upcoming artistBilly Joel.[5][6] Low morale plagued Springsteen's team, including both his manager,Mike Appel, and his backing group theE Street Band.[1] After Springsteen rejectedCBS Records' suggestion to record inNashville, Tennessee with session musicians and a brought-in producer,[b][5][8][9] the label agreed to finance one more album on the agreement that if it failed, they would drop him.[3][4][10] Appel successfully negotiated a slightly larger budget for the album but limited recording to914 Sound Studios inBlauvelt, New York,[3] the studio Springsteen used for the recordings of his first two albums.[11]
I had these enormous ambitions for [the album]. ... I wanted to make the greatest rock record that I'd ever heard. I wanted it to sound enormous, to grab you by your throat and insist that you take that ride, insist that you pay attention—not just to the music, but to life, to being alive.[12]
The phrase "born to run" came to Springsteen while lying in bed one night at his home inWest Long Branch, New Jersey. He said the title "suggested a cinematic drama I thought would work with the music I was hearing in my head".[5][13] Inspired by the musical sounds and lyrical themes of 1950s and 1960srock and roll artists such asDuane Eddy,Roy Orbison,Elvis Presley,Phil Spector,the Beach Boys, andBob Dylan, Springsteen began composing what became "Born to Run".[14] He later wrote: "This was the turning point. It proved to be the key to my songwriting for the rest of the record."[15] He anticipated that sound he was seeking would be a "studio production".[16] The album became the first time Springsteenused the studio as an instrument rather than simply replicating the sound of live performances.[17]
The recording sessions for the album began at 914 Sound Studios in January 1974.[15][18][19] Springsteen and Appel acted as co-producers;Greetings andWild producer Jimmy Cretecos had departed Springsteen's company in early 1974, citing low profits.[1] Louis Lahav, theengineer from both albums, returned for these sessions. The members of the E Street Band wereClarence Clemons (saxophone),Danny Federici (organ),David Sancious (piano),Garry Tallent (bass), andErnest Carter (drums);[20] Carter had replacedVini "Mad Dog" Lopez, whom Springsteen fired in February over poor personal behavior.[1][21][22] The band went back and forth between studio recording and live concert performances.[23] Springsteen used the latter to develop new material,[15] and he spent more time in the studio refining songs than he had on the previous two albums.[24] The album's working titles includedFrom the Churches to the Jails,The Hungry and the Hunted,War and Roses, andAmerican Summer.[23]
Recording for "Born to Run" lasted six months.[18][25] Springsteen'sperfectionism led to grueling sessions:[26] he obsessed over every syllable, note, and tone of everytexture, and he struggled to capture the sounds he heard in his head on tape.[11][27][28] His aim for a Phil Spector-typeWall of Sound production meant multiple instruments were assigned to each track on the studio's 16-trackmixing desk; each newoverdub made the recording andmixing more difficult.[18][26] As he kept rewriting the lyrics,[29] Springsteen and Appel created several mixes containing electric and acoustic guitars, piano, organ, horns,synthesizers, and aglockenspiel, as well as strings and female backing vocalists.[30] "Born to Run" reportedly had up to five different versions.[25][31] According to Springsteen, the final song had 72 different tracks squeezed onto the 16 tracks of the mixing console.[29] Springsteen was pleased with the final mix,[26] completed in August 1974.[3] CBS/Columbia refused to release "Born to Run" as an early single, wanting an album to promote it.[4][32]
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The same month "Born to Run" was completed, Sancious and Carter departed the E Street Band to form their ownjazz-fusion band,Tone. They were replaced byRoy Bittan on piano andMax Weinberg on drums.[11][33][34] Bittan had a background in symphony orchestras while Weinberg had experience with various rock bands andBroadway productions. Bittan had previously known of Springsteen's music but Weinberg had not.[23][35] The two meshed well with the rest of the band, offering new musical insights and relaxed personalities that eased tensions that had built up over years of recording and performing.[34] On the album Bittan mostly replaced Federici, whose sole contribution was the organ part on "Born to Run".[26] Bittan later said he believed this was due to both men's different performing styles and Bittan wanting to "prove himself" as a new member of the group.[36]
Recording at 914 continued into late October 1974.[37] The band made attempts at "Jungleland", "She's the One", "Lovers in the Cold", "Backstreets", and "So Young and in Love", but faulty equipment and Springsteen's lack of direction halted progress.[38][37] The music criticDave Marsh suggested that Springsteen remained at the subpar 914 Studios because studio costs built up, even though superior ones were available.[39] In November,[40] Appel sent "Born to Run" to various radio stations around the United States, which CBS executives viewed as professional misconduct.[3] The stunt generated interest in the track and anticipation built toward the album's release,[32][41] prompting Columbia to fund further sessions.[4][42] "Born to Run" became frequently requested on radio and at shows.[42]
By January 1975, the band had been working for over a year with one finished track. Production continued to be plagued by faulty equipment, false starts, and Springsteen's desire for more takes.[43] A new track, "Wings for Wheels", debuted live in February.[44][45] Springsteen felt he lacked direction,[46] and he requested production advice from the writer and producerJon Landau, who had criticized the production onWild in an article forThe Real Paper.[47][28] The two met in Boston in April 1974 and developed a close friendship after.[32][48][49] In February 1975, Landau was invited to a session, where he suggested moving the saxophone solo on "Wings for Wheels" to the end rather than in the middle.[47][50] Springsteen liked the change and hired Landau as co-producer of the album.[50][51]
In March 1975,[c] Landau moved the recording sessions from 914 to the superiorRecord Plant inManhattan.[50][51] Landau helped Springsteen regain focus and direction with a fresh perspective.[46][47][54] Springsteen toldRolling Stone in 1975: "[Landau] came up with the idea, 'Let's make a rock and roll record.' Things had fallen down internally. He got things on their feet again."[55] Appel and Landau had disagreements on production choices, which Springsteen had to resolve.[46][56] Like the band, the two helped Springsteen complete already devised ideas, not think of new ones.[57] Louis Lahav was unavailable due to family commitments so these sessions were engineered byJimmy Iovine.[47][58]
Sessions at the Record Plant lasted from March to July 1975.[52][58] Apart from a few live performances, Springsteen spent most of these months working on the album.[59] The sessions were grueling,[58] dragging on despite increased professionalism brought by Landau and Iovine.[60] While the backing tracks and vocals were recorded with little difficulty, Springsteen struggled with his overdubs and completing the writing of the lyrics and arrangements.[61] Springsteen obsessively labored over[58] and sometimes spent hours revising single lines[62] or taking days to figure out the song arrangements.[61] Springsteen later said: "[The sessions] turned into something that was wrecking me, just pounding me into the ground."[63] Weinberg called it the hardest project of his career, and Federici said "[we] ate, drank, and slept [that album]".[58] Work was mostly done between 3 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning.[61]
"Wings for Wheels", now called "Thunder Road", was finished in April. Springsteen reportedly took 13 hours to complete his guitar parts.[64] "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Night" followed in May.[65][66] For "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", Springsteen hired theBrecker Brothers (Randy andMichael),David Sanborn, andWayne Andre to play horn parts.[d][67] Springsteen and Bittan failed to write proper horn parts by the time the players arrived to record,[67] so Springsteen's friend and formerSteel Mill bandmateSteven Van Zandt conceived them on the spot in the studio. Van Zandt joined the E Street Band shortly after.[68][69] Springsteen used lyrical ideas from "She's the One" to complete "Backstreets", originally "Hidin' on the River".[11] "Meeting Across the River", originally "The Heist", featuredRichard Davis ondouble bass. Davis had previously contributed to "The Angel" onGreetings.[65] "Jungleland" featuredviolin fromSuki Lahav, wife of Louis Lahav,[23][70] and a long saxophone solo from Clemons, which he spent 16 hours replaying to Springsteen's satisfaction;[71] the latter dictated almost every note played.[72] Clemons played several different solos, bits of which were then edited together into one piece; he then reproduced the final result.[38]
According to Iovine, the album was mixed in "nine days straight".[73] The final days were hectic; the band worked vigorously between recording for the album and rehearsing for an upcoming tour scheduled to start on July 20.[73][74] Springsteen wrote in his 2016 autobiographyBorn to Run: "In a three-day, 72-hour sprint, working in three studios simultaneously, Clarence and I finishing the 'Jungleland' sax solo, phrase by phrase, in one, while we mixed 'Thunder Road' in another, singing 'Backstreets' in a third."[75] Springsteen was demanding and refused to compromise,[76] saying at the time that he could "only hear the things that were wrong with it".[77] Appel and Landau fought to keep certain tracks on the finished album. Appel succeeded in leaving "Linda Let Me Be the One" and "Lonely Night in the Park" off and keeping "Meeting Across the River" on.[78] Mixing lasted until the morning of July 20, just before the tour began.[79][80]
Born to Run wasmastered by the engineerGreg Calbi[81] while the band were on the road.[82] Springsteen was furious about the initial acetate, throwing it into the swimming pool of the hotel he was staying at.[28][76] He contemplated scrapping the entire project and re-recording it live before he was stopped by Landau.[76][79] Springsteen was sent multiple mixes as he was on the road and rejected all but one, which he approved in early August.[82][83]
The seven known outtakes from the album are "Linda Let Me Be the One", "Lonely Night in the Park", "A Love So Fine", "A Night Like This", "Janey Needs a Shooter", "Lovers in the Cold", and "So Young and in Love".[84] "Linda Let Me Be the One" and "So Young and in Love" were released on theTracks box set in 1998.[85] Rough mixes of the unreleased songs "Lovers in the Cold" ("Walking in the Street") and "Lonely Night in the Park" surfaced in 2005, when they made their debut onE Street Radio.[85] "Janey Needs a Shooter" was later re-worked by Springsteen andWarren Zevon into the track "Jeannie Needs a Shooter" for Zevon's 1980 albumBad Luck Streak in Dancing School.[85] A 2019 recording of the original "Janey Needs a Shooter" was released on Springsteen's 2020 albumLetter to You.[86]
The music onBorn to Run includes styles such asrock and roll,pop rock,R&B, andfolk rock.[87][88] The authorPeter Ames Carlin states that the album captures "the essence of fifties rock 'n' roll and thebeatnik poetry of sixties folk-rock, projected onto the battered spirit of mid-seventies America".[89] Springsteen wrote most of the songs on piano,[90][91] which Kirkpatrick felt gave them "a particular melodic feel".[92] Springsteen later said Bittan's piano "really defined the sound" of the album.[93] The record's production is similar to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound,[90][94] in which layers of instruments and complex arrangements are combined to make each song resemble a symphony.[95] Springsteen said that he wantedBorn to Run to sound like "Roy Orbison singingBob Dylan, produced by Spector".[96] He used Orbison's style for his vocal delivery andDuane Eddy as inspiration for his guitar parts.[95][97] The writer Frank Rose emphasized Springsteen's homage to girl groups from the 1960s, such asthe Shirelles,the Ronettes, andthe Shangri-Las, ones who embellished themes of heartbreak anddoo-wop sounds produced by Spector.[98] The songs feature musical introductions that set the tone and scene for each.[93][96]
Lyrically, I was entrenched in classic rock and roll images, and I wanted to find a way to use those images without their feeling anachronistic. ... [Born to Run] was the album where I left behind my adolescent definitions of love and freedom ... [it] was the dividingline.[99]
Springsteen envisioned the album's songs as taking place during one summer day and night.[91][100][101] According to the writerLouis Masur, the album is centrally driven by "loneliness and the search for companionship".[102] The characters are regular people[103] who are lost[104] and feel trapped in their lives; different places, such as streets and roads, offer a way out but are not ideal places.[105] Described byTreble's Hubert Vigilla as a "four corners approach" to album sequencing,[106] both sides of the original LP began with songs that were optimistic and promised hope and ended with songs of betrayal and pessimism.[57][101] Across the album's eight songs,[107] Springsteen writes about the night and the city ("Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", "Backstreets", and "Meeting Across the River"); an irresistible real or imaginary woman ("She's the One"); the enslavement of the working class ("Night"); and the highway as a means of escape and coming-of-age journey ("Thunder Road", "Born to Run", and "Jungleland").[108] The journalist Veronika Hermann noted the album is mostly driven by actions such as running, meeting, hiding, and driving.[109]
Born to Run was written during a time when the idea of the American Dream was unobtainable to many Americans in the aftermath of theVietnam War,Watergate scandal, and the1973 oil crisis.[108] Carlin writes that Springsteen's hopeful songs, containing ideals such as that a road can take you anywhere, were "stunning" during a period marked by assassinations, war, political corruption, and collapse of thehippie subculture.[89] Hermann analyzed the lyrics as experiments innostalgia, arguing that the "heroes and heroines ofBorn to Run are facing the loss of security and stability, [and] facing the consequences of a lost war," leading to the choice to run away from the "American dream".[109] Springsteen worked a "very, very long" time writing the lyrics because he wanted to avoid tropes of "classic rock 'n' roll clichés", turning them instead into fully developed and emotional characters: "It was the beginning of the creation of a certain world that all my others would refer back to, resonate off of, for the next 20 or 30 years."[93]
The songs are largely autobiographical, inspired by thenoir-likeB movies Springsteen enjoyed at the time;[92] he wanted to experience and capture new ideals based on his life experiences at the time.[93][108] Like his first two albums,Born to Run includes religious imagery, specifically the idea of "searching",[110] although it is undercut by a darker, apocalyptic landscape.[104] UnlikeGreetings andWild, however, most of the songs onBorn to Run are not specifically tied to New Jersey and New York, instead shifting to all of the United States in an attempt to be more accessible to a wider audience.[91][108][111][112] Springsteen has said that "most of the songs are about being nowhere".[113]
"Thunder Road" is an invitation to travel on a long journey,[64] taking inspiration from the 1958film of the same name.[11] The song's narrator pleads with a romantic partner to join him in leaving their life behind to start anew,[114] believing there is no time to wait and they must act now.[115] Masur argues the song "lays out hopes and dreams, and the remainder of the album is an investigation into whether, and in what ways, they can be realized".[116] Kirkpatrick believes the track to be a rewritten version ofWild's "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" with a "less innocent, more realistic perspective".[117] Described byBillboard's Kenneth Partridge as a "five-minute pop opera",[118] the music builds throughout the runtime;[119] the instruments join in as the narrator's vision solidifies.[120]AllMusic's James Gerard characterizes the tone as more melancholic than uplifting.[119]
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"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" follows a character named Bad Scooter who is "searching for his groove" and "a place to fit in".[121] Part autobiographical and part mythological,[118] the song tells Springsteen and the E Street Band's story as they struggle to find commercial success up to that point; they find success after the "Big Man" (Clemons on saxophone) joins the band in the third verse.[11][67][114][122] Musically, it is a funky R&B song led by brass horns;[67][122][123] the authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon compared it to the sound of aStax record.[67] In his 2003 bookSongs, Springsteen described "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" as a "band bio and block party".[99]
"Night", the shortest song on the album,[11][118] follows a man who is a slave to the working life. He dreads working his nine-to-five job, but his love for drag racing motivates him to work so he can live for the night.[123][124] Similar to other album tracks, it uses the highway as a means for escape.[e][66] Musically, the song contains various minor and majorkey shifts in the music; Masur argues the minor key "condemns the monotonous world of daytime work" and the major key "offers the possibilities of screeching off into the night".[125] Margotin and Guesdon highlight the wall of sound production and compare its rock-and-roll sound toChuck Berry.[66]
"Backstreets" features a long piano-led intro.[126] Described by Masur as "operatic and theatrical",[127] the band took inspiration from various Dylan and Orbison songs for the instrumental parts.[126] The song tells the story of the narrator's friendship with an individual named Terry, using both realistic and poetic imagery. The two become close until their relationship is broken after Terry leaves the narrator for someone else, after which the narrator "reflects that he and Terry did not turn out to be the heroes 'we thought we had to be'". Terry's gender is unclear, leading some reviewers to interpret the relationship as homosexual.[f][g][114][118][106] The song contains autobiographical elements related to Springsteen's youth, with cinematic references.[126]
"Born to Run" uses the automobile as a means to escape from a depressing life.[32] The characters, described as "tramps",[129] include the narrator and a girl named Wendy. The former works a dreary job, "sweating out" the "runaway American dream", and joins a car community at night.[123] He tells Wendy the town they live in is a "death trap" and they need to leave "while [they're] young" because "tramps like us ... were born to run".[26] Reviewers have analyzed the song's anthemic message as containing both an "underlying sadness"[32] and "a feeling of desperation",[123] as the narrator promises Wendy they will one day reach the promised land, but he does not know when. He simply wants to run away with her to "help him discover if his youthful notions of love are real", and "pledges his desire to die with her in the street" and love her "with all the madness in [his] soul".[123] The song's music combines rock and roll and hard rock with rockabilly, jazz, and Tin Pan Alley,[30] complete with a Wall of Sound production.[26] AllMusic's Jason Ankeny described the song as "a celebration of the rock & roll spirit, capturing the music's youthful abandon, delirious passion, and extraordinary promise with cinematic exhilaration".[130]
"She's the One" is about the narrator's complete obsession for a girl.[131][132] The girl, however, is a liar and bad for him, yet he keeps returning to her.[11][117] Springsteen never revealed the song's inspiration, although Margotin and Guesdon suggest it was Karen Darvin, Springsteen's girlfriend at the time.[36] The song musically incorporates aBo Diddley beat.[36][118][131][132] The jazzy[11] "Meeting Across the River" musically and lyrically departs from the previous songs,[133] utilizing piano and trumpet to create what Margotin and Guesdon describe as a "film noir jazz ambience" that "clashes with the other tracks".[65] In it, the narrator and his partner Eddie are small-time gangsters who plan an illegal deal across theHudson River, striving for a big score that will earn him a large amount of money to impress his girlfriend.[11][65][118][134] With themes of despair and hopelessness, the song ends before a narrative resolution, leaving whether or not the gangsters succeeded ambiguous.[133]
"Jungleland" takes place in the titular location, where a meeting between gang members at midnight is interrupted by the police.[38][135] With a dark atmosphere,[38] the track observes a New Jersey gang member known as the Magic Rat, who escapes law enforcement inHarlem with his unnamed partner referred to as the "barefoot girl". Towards the end, the Rat and the girl's relationship has broken apart; she leaves him, and he is killed in the streets.[136] The Rat is gunned down by his "own dream", symbolizing, in Masur's words, that "the runaway American dream will kill us in the end, and the dream of escape is just another version that entraps us".[135] Following his demise, destruction continues across the streets until they are left in complete devastation.[137] Over nine minutes in length,[138] the track is led by Springsteen's vocal, Bittan's piano, and Suki Lahav's violin,[38] and features an extended saxophone solo from Clemons that lasts for over two minutes.[135]
Thecover art ofBorn to Run was taken by the photographerEric Meola at his personal studio on June 20, 1975. Springsteen's busy recording schedule meant he kept missing shooting dates.[139][113] When he finally showed up, he brought Clemons,[20] whom he wanted on the cover.[139][140] Meola shot 900 frames in the three-hour session,[h][20] some of which showed Springsteen under a fire escape, tuning a radio, and with a guitar;[139] unused shots were used by Columbia for advertising.[i][140]
In the chosen black-and-white shot,[89][140] Springsteen is holding a guitar while leaning against Clemons.[20] Springsteen is wearing a black leather jacket, and Clemons is in a white shirt with a striped pattern and wearing a black hat.[89] Meola said the shot was a clear standout:[139] "I wanted something that was nearly impossible to print, but beautiful to look at if printed perfectly—somehow innocent yet street-smart."[140] An Elvis Presley pin appears on Springsteen's guitar strap, which he wore to display Presley's inspiration on him as a musician.[143] His guitar, aFender Telecaster with anEsquire neck,[144] later appeared on the covers ofLive 1975–85 (1986),Human Touch (1992), andGreatest Hits (1995).[20] TheBorn to Run cover was included in aRolling Stone readers' poll of the best album covers of all time in 2011.[145] Masur called it "classic" and "one of the most iconic images in rock history".[113]
The image covers both sides of the LP sleeve; the inside features lyrics and a portrait of Springsteen.[20] Columbia's art directorJohn Berg created the fold-over sleeve, and Andy Engel was responsible for the typography.[139] Berg stated that "it probably took a week of negotiating" with the label to create the fold-over cover because "it was breaking the code; we didn't do that unless we had two records".[139] Landau's name was misspelled as "John" instead of "Jon" on the initial pressings; Columbia printed stickers to cover up the error—reportedly up to 400,000.[1] A few original pressings have "Meeting Across the River" billed under its initial title "The Heist", and the original album cover has the title handwritten with a broad-nib pen. These copies, known as the "script cover", are very rare and among the most sought after of Springsteen memorabilia.[146]
Springsteen and Clemons occasionally remade the cover pose onstage during their concerts.[101] The pose has since been imitated by other singers and musicians, includingCheap Trick on the 1983 albumNext Position Please,Mai Kuraki on the cover of her 2001 single "Stand Up",Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the cover of the 2003Car Talk compilationBorn Not to Run: More Disrespectful Car Songs, andLos Secretos for their 2015 albumAlgo prestado.[1][147] Outside of music, thewebcomic stripKevin and Kell imitated the pose on a Sunday strip entitled "Born to Migrate", featuring Kevin Dewclaw as Springsteen with a carrot and Kell Dewclaw as Clemons with a pile of bones, and theSesame Street charactersBert and theCookie Monster imitated the pose on the cover of theSesame Street albumBorn to Add.[147][148]
Springsteen and the E Street Band went on a tour of the U.S. East Coast on July 20, 1975, immediately after mixing onBorn to Run was completed; Springsteen approved the final master recording while on the road.[149] The tour continued into August, including an all sold-out five-night, ten-show stint atthe Bottom Line nightclub inGreenwich Village.[150] Columbia purchased one-fifth of the venue tickets for rock journalists and media for promotion.[151] Expectations were high. Clemons remembered: "We were right on the verge. If we had flopped at the Bottom Line, it would have been very detrimental to us emotionally."[152] The shows were a major success, receiving praise from both critics[153] and from Columbia's former presidentClive Davis.[150] Kirkpatrick stated they "showed rock fans and media alike that Springsteen was no creation of industry hype; he was the real deal".[154]Rolling Stone later included the shows in a 1987 list chronicling 20 concerts that changed rock and roll.[152]
Born to Run was accompanied by a $250,000 promotional campaign by Columbia/CBS,[77][155] directed at both consumers and the music industry, led by the executive Glen Brunman.[150] In the buildup to the album's release, CBS spent $40,000 on advertisements that utilized Springsteen's first two albums and Landau's "I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen" quote, which had been published inThe Real Paper after Landau witnessed Springsteen perform "Born to Run" for the first time live in May 1975.[j][32] The ads increased sales of both albums significantly enough to chart on theBillboard Top LPs & Tape chart, barely above number 60, two years after their original releases.[80] Preorders forBorn to Run were upwards of 350,000 units, more than twice the sales ofGreetings andWild combined.[157]
Released on August 25, 1975,[a][12][94][160]Born to Run peaked at number 3 on theBillboard Top LPs & Tape chart,[161] topped theRecord World chart[155] and reached number 36 on theU.K. Albums Chart.[k][163] Elsewhere,Born to Run reached number 7 in Australia,[164] the Netherlands,[165] and Sweden,[166] 20 in Ireland,[167] 26 in Norway,[168] 28 in New Zealand,[169] and 31 in Canada.[170] By the end of 1975, it had sold 700,000 copies.[171] By 2022,Born to Run was certifiedseven times platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the U.S.[159] The album was supported by two singles. The first, "Born to Run" with "Meeting Across the River" as theB-side, was released on August 25, 1975,[26] reached number 23 on theBillboard Hot 100,[172][173] and proved popular with radio stations and live audiences.[171] The second, "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" backed by "She's the One",[67] appeared in January 1976[174] and reached number 83.[11]
The album was highly anticipated and publicized. In October 1975,[175] Springsteen became the first artist to appear on the covers of the magazinesTime andNewsweek simultaneously.[176]Time'sJay Cocks focused on him as an artist,[177] whileNewsweek'sMaureen Orth focused on Columbia's promotional campaign[172][176] and the hype surrounding Springsteen,[177] insisting that he was an industry-made pop star.[178]
The question of hype became a story in itself, as critics wondered if Springsteen was legitimate or the product of record company promotion.[179][180] The journalistJohn Sinclair of theAnn Arbor Sun claimed that Dave Marsh and Jon Landau were "co-conspirators on a massive Springsteen hype".[181] Examinations on the hype continued after the album's release with articles byBusinessWeek and England'sMelody Maker, the latter arguing that Springsteen was "no hype" at all because he "is really good", and"'hype' only services artists who do not deserve the attention".[182] In retrospect, Masur stated: "Most of the backlash against Springsteen came in the form of disgust with the hype, not the music, even though writing about the hype only fed the publicity machine."[183]
Springsteen was hurt by the media backlash, particularly an article by Henry Edwards inThe New York Times that slandered both himself andBorn to Run.[179][182][184] He felt that the publicity got out of his control[185] and Columbia's campaign that labeled him the future of rock and roll was a mistake.[186][187] He also reportedly felt a loss of innocence after the album's release, claiming to have reached a low point in the immediate months.[186] When the backlash subsided, sales tapered off andBorn to Run was off the chart after 29 weeks.[188] In his 1999 bookFlowers in the Dustbin, formerRolling Stone andNewsweek writer James Miller wrote that the "mass-marketing" of Springsteen in the U.S. andDavid Bowie'sZiggy Stardust in the U.K. led to the notion that "the age of innocence in rock was well and truly over—probably forever".[189]
Born to Run received highly positive reviews frommusic critics,[190] particularly for its cinematic storytelling and Wall of Sound production.[11]Greil Marcus wrote inRolling Stone that Springsteen enhances romanticized American themes with his majestic sound, ideal style of rock and roll, evocative lyrics, and an impassioned delivery that defines a "magnificent" album.[191] InThe New York Times,John Rockwell describedBorn to Run as a masterpiece of "punk poetry" and "one of the great records of recent years".[180] InThe Village Voice,Robert Christgau felt that Springsteen condenses a significant amount of American myth into songs, and often succeeds in spite of his tendency for histrionics and "pseudotragic beautiful loser fatalism".[192]
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Several critics expectedBorn to Run to lead to Springsteen crossing over into mainstream success.[180][193][194] Reviewers praised the vocal performances,[195][196] music,[l] and production.[193] Compared to Springsteen's earlier albums, critics felt the lyrics were more accessible and possessed a "universal quality that transcends the sources and myths he drew upon".[180][201]Lester Bangs remarked inCreem that he is "no longer cramming as many syllables as possible into every line".[198] The performances of the E Street Band were also highlighted, particularly Clemons.[193][202]
Some critics, including Bangs and Cocks,[198][203] hailed Springsteen as a visionary destined to save the rock genre[204] from, inStephen Holden's words, "its present state of enervation".[195] Bangs said Springsteen "reminds us what it's like to love rock 'n' roll like you just discovered it, and then seize it and make it your own with certainty and precision".[198]Robert Hilburn of theLos Angeles Times calledBorn to Run an "essential" album, stating: "It has been a long time since anyone in rock has put so much passion and ambition in an album."[205] InCircus Raves, Holden placedBorn to Run amongst the decade's great albums withLayla (1970),Who's Next (1971), andExile on Main St. (1972),[195] and David McGee placed Springsteen amongst rock greats such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry,the Beatles,the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan.[197]
Born to Run received negative reviews from a few critics, who found the production excessive and "heavy-handed",[194][206] the songs "formulaic",[206] "an effusive jumble" and "undistinguished",[179] and felt Springsteen himself lacked a definitive vocal personality.[207]Langdon Winner argued inThe Real Paper that, because Springsteen consciously adheres to traditions and standards extolled inrock criticism,Born to Run is "the complete monument to rock and roll orthodoxy".[208] Mike Jahn ofHigh Fidelity complained about the songwriting, believing Springsteen was becoming typecast as a "character composer" after three albums.[209]Roy Carr of theNME unfavorably compared Springsteen to David Bowie, believing he lacked the latter's "breath of vision".[207] Carr also found the music uninspired and argued Springsteen himself "often tries too hard, going right over the top on many occasions as a result".[207] More moderately, Jerry Gilbert ofSounds believedBorn to Run was not as "essential" asGreetings andWild, but had enough "distinction" from the two albums to stand on its own: "I have grown to love it but newcomers to Bruce's music would be better advised to check out what the critics have been raving about in the past. Old fans will need to persevere."[202]
Born to Run was voted the third best album of 1975 in thePazz & Jop, an annual critics poll run byThe Village Voice, behindBob Dylan andthe Band'sThe Basement Tapes andPatti Smith'sHorses.[210] Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it 12th on his own year-end list.[211]
Springsteen and the E Street Band—Bittan, Clemons, Federici, Tallent, Weinberg, and Van Zandt—continued touring the U.S. throughout the remainder of 1975 to promoteBorn to Run, performing to larger audiences following the album's success.[212] In mid-November, the band traveled to Europe to perform their first shows outside North America.[213][214]
The first gigs were two performances at theHammersmith Odeon in London.[213] Springsteen was displeased with the venue's advertisements, personally tearing down the lobby posters and ordered the buttons with Landau's "future of rock and roll" quote printed on them not be given out.[215][216] The first show drew mixed reviews from British reviewers. While his stage presence was positively received, others noted the difference in British and American cultures equated to poor audience responses.[217] Springsteen thought the show was a disaster.[m][214][216] Upon their return to the U.S., the band played five sold-out shows at theTower Theater inPhiladelphia at the end of December.[n][221]
By 1976, Springsteen had disagreements with Appel over the direction of his career; Appel wanted to capitalize onBorn to Run's success with alive album, while Springsteen wanted to return to the studio with Landau.[222][223][224] Springsteen was also concerned with the lack of personal revenue given the album's success.[225] Realizing that the terms of his record contract were unfavorable, he sued Appel in July 1976 for ownership of his work. The resulting legal proceedings prevented him from recording in a studio for almost a year,[o] during which he continued touring with the E Street Band.[226][227] The second leg of the Born to Run Tour, nicknamed the Chicken Scratch tour, ran from March to May throughout theAmerican South.[228][229]
Springsteen wrote new material on the road and at his farm home inHolmdel, New Jersey, reportedly amassing between 40 and 70 songs.[226][227] He continued performing for nine months between August 1976 and May 1977, dubbed the Lawsuit tour, debuting new songs such as "Something in the Night" and "The Promise" that became live favorites.[230][231] The lawsuit reached a settlement on May 28, 1977; Springsteen bought out his contract with Appel, who received a lump sum and a share ofroyalties from the first three albums.[p][223][226][232] Springsteen and the band immediately entered the studio to record the follow-up toBorn to Run at the start of June, with Landau co-producing.[233] The recording sessions lasted nine months[234] as Springsteen demanded perfection from the musicians and moved between different studios.[226] The album,Darkness on the Edge of Town, was finally released in June 1978, three years afterBorn to Run.[235]
The success ofBorn to Run saved Springsteen's career[236] and launched him to stardom.[24][237][238] The album established a solid national fan base for Springsteen, which he built on with each subsequent release.[239] According to Kirkpatrick, it "not only gave Springsteen his first hit record, it transformed seventies rock music while pushing the boundaries of what a singer-songwriter could achieve within the rock genre".[240] Hilburn and Carlin compareBorn to Run to albums that "established a sound and identity powerful enough to permanently alter the perceptions of those who heard it", including Elvis Presley'sfirst album (1956) andThe Sun Sessions (1976), the Beatles' American debutMeet the Beatles! (1964), Bob Dylan'sHighway 61 Revisited (1965) andBlonde on Blonde (1966), andNirvana'sNevermind (1991).[241][242] Some critics arguedBorn to Run represented an amalgamation of the previous two decades of rock and roll that would push the next two decades of rock and beyond forward.[243][242] In a 2005 article inTreble, Hubert Vigilla referred to the album as "the Great American Rock and Roll Record".[106]
Springsteen and the E Street Band have performedBorn to Run in its entirety on several occasions,[91] including at theCount Basie Theatre inRed Bank, New Jersey, on May 7, 2008,[244] at theUnited Center inChicago, Illinois, on September 20, 2009,[245] and other shows on the fall 2009 leg of theWorking on a Dream Tour.[246] It was also partly or entirely performed on certain shows of the 2013Wrecking Ball World Tour.[247] The full album was again performed on June 20, 2013, at theRicoh Arena inCoventry, England, and dedicated to the memory of the actorJames Gandolfini, who had died of a heart attack the previous day.[q][248]
The success ofBorn to Run was tied to the fears of growing old held by a generation of late teenagers. Having missed the 1950sbeat era and 1960scivil rights andanti-war movements, teenagers in the mid-1970s felt disconnected in an era of political turmoil with the Vietnam War and theresignation of presidentRichard Nixon.[249] The decade was also plagued bystagflation that affectedworking class Americans, resulting in the loss of the American dream for many.[250] Commentators note thatBorn to Run collectively captured the ideals of an entire generation of American youths[28][251] and "spoke to the cultural shift" between the 1960s and 1970s.[249]Joshua Zeitz ofThe Atlantic summarized: "Springsteen embodied the lost '70s—the tense, political, working-class rejection of America's limitations."[250]Far Out's Tim Coffman argued that Springsteen effectively embodied what it meant to be "a down-and-out working-class kid in America, dreaming of a better life".[138] Springsteen himself stated in 2005:[252]
The thing people tend to forget aboutBorn to Run is that it was post-Watergate, post-Vietnam. People just didn't feel that young anymore, and that is part of what made that record present because I was dealing with a lot of classic rock imagery and classic rock sounds but I was writing in a particular moment when people had sort of their legs cut out from underneath them.
| Retrospective reviews | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [94] |
| Chicago Tribune |  [253] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A[254] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [255] |
| MusicHound Rock | [256] |
| New Musical Express | 9/10[257] |
| Q | [258] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [259] |
| Sputnikmusic | 5/5[260] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | B+[261] |
Retrospective reviewers considerBorn to Run a masterpiece[r] and one of Springsteen's best works.[s] It has been described as a timeless record[269][101] that set the stage for a career marked by a signature, distinctive sound and lyrics detailing aspirations towards the American dream.[118][238] Further praise was given to the instrumentation between Springsteen and the E Street Band,[251] and for its improvements over its predecessor,Wild.[94][101] Lou Thomas ofBBC Music described the album as "a classic, honest musical expression of hope, dreams and survival".[270] Another writer fromThe Guardian, Michael Hann, saidBorn to Run was "the album where Springsteen starts to make the transition from a musician to an idea, a representation of a set of personal and musical values".[265]
Despite its acclaim,Born to Run has attracted negative attention from writers who feel the production is "too overblown",[271] and presents Springsteen as "more of a synthesist than an innovator".[253]AllMusic's William Ruhlmann conversely argues that "to call [the album] overblown is to miss the point", as doing so was Springsteen's intention, concluding that "it declared its own greatness with songs and a sound that lived up to Springsteen's promise".[94] In a later piece forBlender magazine, Christgau wrote that the record's major flaw was its pompous declaration of greatness, typified by elements such as the "wall-of-sound,white-soul-at-the-opera-house" aesthetic and an "unresolved quest narrative". Nonetheless, he maintainedBorn to Run was important for how "its class-conscious songcraft provided a relief from the emptier pretensions of late-hippiearena-rock".[272]PopMatters writer Christopher John Stephens argued the album's strengths can be viewed as its weaknesses.[273]
Born to Run has frequently appeared on lists of the greatest albums of the 1970s[238][251][274] and of all time.[275][236]NME's Matthew Taub argued thatBorn to Run is "probably the single best rock album of the 1970s, and easily one of the finest ever recorded".[263]American Songwriter included it in a 2023 list compiling 10 albums that shaped the 1970s music landscape.[274] In 1987,Rolling Stone ranked it number 8 in a list of the "100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years"[276] and in 2003, the magazine ranked it 18th on its list ofthe 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[277] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revision and dropping a few slots to number 21 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[278] In 2000,NPR includedBorn to Run in a list compiling the 100 most important albums in the 20th century.[275] A year later, the TV networkVH1 named it the 27th-greatest album of all time,[279] and in 2003, it was ranked as the most popular album of all time in the firstZagat Survey Music Guide.[280] The album was also voted number 20 in the third edition ofColin Larkin'sAll Time Top 1000 Albums (2000),[281] and was included in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2006).[282] InApple Music's 2024 list of the100 Best Albums, the album ranked number 22.[283]
In 2003,Born to Run was added to theNational Recording Registry by theLibrary of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[284] In December 2005, U.S. New Jersey representativeFrank Pallone and 21 co-sponsors sponsored H.Res. 628, a bill that would have celebrated the 30th anniversary ofBorn to Run and Springsteen's overall career. In general, resolutions honoring native sons are passed with a simple voice vote. The bill failed upon referral to theHouse Committee on Education and the Workforce.[285]
| 30th Anniversary Edition | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Blender |  [272] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[286] |
| The Guardian | [218] |
| Pitchfork | 10/10[111] |
| Stylus Magazine | A[287] |
Born to Run was reissued in 1977, 1980, and 1993.[158] On November 15, 2005,[288] Columbia reissued the album as an expandedbox set to mark the album's 30th anniversary. Titled the30th Anniversary Edition, the package included a remasteredCD version of the original album, and aDVD containing a documentary on the making of the album calledWings for Wheels, and aconcert film of Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on November 18, 1975.[218]Wings for Wheels features interviews with Springsteen and the E Street Band members, with a bonus film of a 1973 performance in Los Angeles.[286] The30th Anniversary Edition received critical acclaim, with several praising the remastered sound.[111][287][288]Wings for Wheels won theGrammy Award forBest Long Form Music Video at the49th Annual Grammy Awards in 2007.[289]
In 2014, a new remaster by the engineerBob Ludwig was included inThe Album Collection Vol. 1 1973–1984, a box set composed of remastered editions of Springsteen's first seven albums.[290] All seven albums were released separately as single discs forRecord Store Day in 2015.[291][292]
All tracks are written byBruce Springsteen.[293]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Thunder Road" | 4:49 |
| 2. | "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" | 3:11 |
| 3. | "Night" | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Backstreets" | 6:30 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Born to Run" | 4:30 |
| 2. | "She's the One" | 4:30 |
| 3. | "Meeting Across the River" | 3:18 |
| 4. | "Jungleland" | 9:34 |
| Total length: | 39:23 | |
Adapted from the liner notes,[293] and Margotin and Guesdon.[294]
The E Street Band
Additional musicians
Technical
| Chart (1975–76) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[164] | 7 |
| Canadian Top Albums (RPM)[170] | 31 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[167] | 20 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[165] | 7 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[169] | 28 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[168] | 26 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[166] | 7 |
| U.K. Albums Chart (OCC)[163] | 36 |
| U.S. (Billboard Top LPs & Tape)[161] | 3 |
| U.S. (Record World)[155] | 1 |
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.K. Albums Chart (OCC)[162] | 17 |
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[295] | 44 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[296] 30th anniversary edition | 41 |
| U.S. (Billboard 200)[161] | 18 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[297] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[298] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
| Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[299] | Gold | 25,000[299] |
| France (SNEP)[300] | Gold | 100,000* |
| Ireland (IRMA)[301] 30th Anniversary | Gold | 7,500^ |
| Italy (FIMI)[302] sales since 2009 | Gold | 25,000* |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[303] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[304] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[305] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[306] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[307] Video – 30th Anniversary Edition | Platinum | 50,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[159] | 7× Platinum | 7,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
