Adeel Hassan (From my NYTNow daily email):
He came from a lower-middle-class family in Freehold, N.J., and played in Jersey Shore bands before becoming the local kid who made good.
On this day in 1973, at the age of 23, Bruce Springsteen released his debut solo album: “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.”
It sold only about 25,000 copies in its first year, and The Times didn’t even bother reviewing it.
But Rolling Stone did write, months after the album’s release, about the lyrics: “Hot damn, what a passel o’ verbiage! He’s got more of them crammed into this album than any other record released this year, but it’s all right because they all fit snug. …”
The magazine proclaimed him “a bold new talent.” The album wasn’t completely a solo effort, though. You can hear many of the musicians, including the saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who would go on to join him in the E Street Band.
That first Springsteen record, and the 17 studio albums that followed, often refer to his home state, where he is revered.
E Street itself comes from a Belmar, N.J., address that was home to a band member’s mother. The guys sometimes practiced there before taking the name to global fame.
Go ahead, guess!
