Bruce Springsteen

 

Bruce Springsteen is a singer, songwriter, and musician from the United States. He has twenty studio albums to his credit, many of which feature his E Street Band as his backup band. Springsteen has been known for his poetic, socially concerned lyrics and passionate stage performances, which may run up to four hours, during the course of his five-decade career. 

Springsteen was born and raised in Freehold, New Jersey, in a mill town where his father worked as a laborer. Springsteen became a solo singer-songwriter in 1972 after an apprenticeship in bar bands throughout the mid-Atlantic coast. He auditioned for talent scout John Hammond, Sr., who promptly signed him to Columbia Records. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, both released in 1973, reflect folk rock, soul, and rhythm-and-blues influences, particularly Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Stax/Volt Records. 

Springsteen's rough baritone voice, which he used to shout on up-tempo numbers and to a more sensual effect on slower songs, was showcased well there, but his sometimes spectacular guitar playing, which ranged from dense power chord effects to straight 1950s rock and roll, had to be toned down to fit the singer-songwriter format. 

Around the time of his signing, is when he acquired the nickname "the Boss", as he took on the task of collecting his band's nightly pay and distributing it amongst his bandmates.

Springsteen developed into a full-fledged rock and roller with his third album, Born to Run (1975), largely influenced by Phil Spector and Roy Orbison. By then, he was most known for his three- and four-hour stage concerts with his E Street Band, which mixed rock, folk, and soul with dramatic intensity and flamboyant comedy. Springsteen's position as the top writer-performer of his rock-and-roll time was cemented with Born in the U.S.A. (1984) and his subsequent 18-month world tour.

Springsteen's albums during this time period, beginning with Tunnel of Love (1987) and encompassing Human Touch and Lucky Town reflect the other side of his career (released simultaneously in 1992). Those CDs contain songs that are deep personal reflections on intimate relationships.