The Boss Debuts

Fifty years ago, an album was released that flew under the radar a bit: average sales and positive reviews. It was full of colorful characters, serious stories and, at the time, a fresh sound as we had just recently come out of the 1960s. They took from 1960s folk music, but also had a teenage swagger. On this day in 1973, Bruce Springsteen released his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

The album was split musically - Springsteen preferred the band songs while his manager and producer, Mike Appel, preferred the solo tracks. After recording it and presenting it to Columbia Records, Clive Davis heard it and rejected it, feeling it lacked a potential hit single. Two more tracks were quickly written and recorded and the record company took it.

One of those songs is the lead track, “Blinded By The Light”. It’s a visual song with autobiographical lyrics and was the lead single.

My favorite track is next up, “Growin’ Up”. With lyrics written in the first person, it painted a picture of people and places and put you right in the middle of it all.

The whole of the album is a beautiful, sloppy mess. And that’s a good thing. There was no net when this was made, the songs are rambling and free. Like riding down the Garden State Parkway heading to nowhere in particular.

Two favorites that don’t get the love that they deserve are “Lost in the Flood” a powerful, epic song about a Vietnam vet, the struggles and a glimpse of hope. The other is “The Angel” that has lots of car references and is rather gloomy with lyrics like “dragging great anchors followin’ dead-end signs into the sores.”

A loose and free Bruce Springsteen was just what the 1970s needed. A growing voice for a growing generation. His debut set the stage for superstardom and introduced lyrics and characters we never knew but were fascinated by. It’s pretty great and it’s worth another listen, fifty years later.