Bruce Springsteen
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Born in Freehold, New Jersey, he grew up listening to the music of Roy Orbison whose records he carried with him while on tour and referred to in a line in his song, Thunder Road. Springsteen gave the induction speech for his idol's entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also helped organize and performed in the acclaimed HBO special, Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night.
He began performing with the Bruce Springsteen Band and Steel Mill, after some early work. He began his recording career with the E Street Band in 1973. Upon signing a solo record deal with Columbia Records in 1972, Springsteen brought many of his New Jersey based musician friends into the studio with him, many of them forming the E Street Band. His debut album, "Greetings From Asbury Park New Jersey", from January 1973 established him as a critical favorite, though sales were slow. Manfred Mann's Earth Band later turned one song from this album, "Blinded By The Light" into a number one hit.
In Boston's The Real Paper May 22, 1974, music critic Jon Landau wrote, "I saw rock and roll's future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time." (Landau later became Springsteen's manager). With the release of his album Born to Run in 1975, Springsteen made the covers of both Time Magazine and Newsweek the same week, on October 27 of that year.
A multiple Grammy Award winner, he also won an Academy Award in 1993 for his song "Streets of Philadelphia", used in the soundtrack to the film Philadelphia.
Current members of the E-Street Band:
- Roy Bittan - piano (replaced David Sancious in 1975)
- Clarence Clemons - saxophone
- Danny Federici - organ, glockenspiel, keyboard
- Nils Lofgren - guitar (replaced Steven van Zandt in 1984; remained in group after van Zandt returned)
- Patti Scialfa - guitar (Springsteen's wife - added in 1984)
- Gary W. Tallent - bass guitar
- Soozie Tyrell - violin (recorded with Springsteen in 1995, joined the band officially in 2002 with "The Rising" album and tour)
- Steven van Zandt - guitar, mandolin (replaced Sukia Levy [violin] in 1977; left in 1984 to go solo as Little Steven; rejoined in 1995)
- Max Weinberg - drums (replaced Clarence "Boom" Carter in 1975, who replaced Vinnie "Mad Dog" Lopez in 1974 or 1975)
Comprehensive Springsteen Lyrics: http://www.xs4all.nl/~maroen/engels/bruce.html
Bruce Springsteen's web site: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Bruce_Springsteen" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
