Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 5, 1973 | |||
Recorded | June 7 – October 26, 1972 [1] | |||
Studio | 914 Sound in Blauvelt, New York | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 37:08 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Mike Appel · Jim Cretecos | |||
Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||
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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology | ||||
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Singles from Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J. | ||||
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Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J. is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was produced from June through October 1972 by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos at the budget-priced 914 Sound Studios. The album was released January 5,1973,by Columbia Records to average sales but a positive critical reception.
Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J. first charted in the United Kingdom on June 15,1985,in the wake of Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. tour arriving in Britain;it remained in the top 100 for ten weeks. [2] In 2003,the album was ranked at No. 379 in Rolling Stone 's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list [3] and in 2013 the same magazine listed Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J. as one of the "100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time". [4] On November 22,2009,the album was played in its entirety for the first time by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo,New York,to celebrate the last show of the Working on a Dream tour. [5]
Springsteen and his first manager Mike Appel recorded the album at the low-priced,out-of-the-way 914 Sound Studios to save as much as possible of the Columbia Records advance,and cut most of the songs during the last week of June 1972. [6] [1]
There was a dispute not long after the record was recorded—Appel and John Hammond preferred the solo tracks,while Springsteen preferred the band songs. As such,a compromise was reached—the album was to feature five songs with the band ("For You","Growin' Up","Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?","It's Hard to be a Saint in the City",and "Lost in the Flood") and five solo songs ("Mary Queen of Arkansas","The Angel","Jazz Musician","Arabian Nights" and "Visitation at Fort Horn"). [7]
However,when Columbia Records president Clive Davis heard the album submitted on August 10,1972,he felt that it lacked a potential hit single,and rejected it. Springsteen quickly wrote "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night", [8] and recorded both on September 11,1972. Because pianist David Sancious and bassist Garry Tallent were unavailable,a four-man band was used—Vini Lopez on drums,Harold Wheeler on piano,Springsteen on guitar,piano (on Spirit in the Night only),and bass,and the previously missing Clarence Clemons on saxophone. [9] Columbia accepted the revised album,and Davis was personally pleased with Springsteen's response. [10]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [11] |
Chicago Tribune | [12] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B+ [13] |
Creem | B [14] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [15] |
MusicHound Rock | 2.5/5 [16] |
New Musical Express | 6/10 [17] |
Q | [18] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [19] |
Tom Hull –on the Web | B [20] |
Reviewing for Rolling Stone in July 1973,Lester Bangs hailed Springsteen as a daring new artist who sets himself apart from his contemporaries with songwriting that either has a serious meaning or showcases his uninhibited gift for verbose,overloaded lyrics and rhyme schemes. "Some of [his words] can mean something socially or otherwise",Bangs said,"but there's plenty of 'em that don't even pretend to,reveling in the joy of utter crass showoff talent run amuck and totally out of control". [21] Peter Knobler wrote in Crawdaddy that "he sings with a freshness and urgency I haven't heard since I was rocked by 'Like a Rolling Stone' ... the album rocks,then glides,then rocks again. There is the combined sensibility of the chaser and the chaste,the street punk and the bookworm." [22] Creem magazine's Robert Christgau said Springsteen's songs are dominated by the kind of mannered emotional transparency and "absurdist energy" that made Bob Dylan "a genius instead of a talent". [14] In Christgau's Record Guide (1981),he wrote that despite the grandiloquent,unaccompanied "Mary Queen of Arkansas" and "The Angel",songs such as "Blinded by the Light" and "Growin' Up" foreshadow Springsteen's "unguarded teen-underclass poetry",while even the maundering "Lost in the Flood" is interesting. [13]
In All Music Guide to Rock (2002),William Ruhlmann gave Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J. five stars and said that it combined the mid-1960s folk rock music of Bob Dylan,accessible melodies,and elaborate arrangements and lyrics:"Asbury Park painted a portrait of teenagers cocksure of themselves,yet bowled over by their discovery of the world. It was saved from pretentiousness (if not preciousness) by its sense of humor and by the careful eye for detail ... that kept even the most high-flown language rooted." [23] In 2003,the album was ranked number 379 on Rolling Stone 's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [3] They ranked it 37th on their list of greatest debut albums. [24]
All tracks are written by Bruce Springsteen.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Blinded by the Light" | 5:06 |
2. | "Growin' Up" | 3:05 |
3. | "Mary Queen of Arkansas" | 5:21 |
4. | "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" | 2:05 |
5. | "Lost in the Flood" | 5:17 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Angel" | 3:24 |
2. | "For You" | 4:40 |
3. | "Spirit in the Night" | 5:00 |
4. | "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" | 3:13 |
Total length: | 37:08 |
The E Street Band
Additional musicians
Technical
Chart (1975) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200 [28] | 60 |
Chart (1985) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [29] | 71 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [30] | 35 |
UK Albums (OCC) [31] | 41 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [32] | Gold | 35,000^ |
France | — | 8,000 [33] |
Germany | — | 100,000 [34] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [35] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [36] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", he has released 21 studio albums over six decades, most featuring the E Street Band, his backing band since 1972. Springsteen is a pioneer of heartland rock, combining commercially successful rock with poetic, socially conscious lyrics which reflect working class American life. He is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, which sometimes last over four hours.
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle is the second studio album by the American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was recorded by Springsteen with the E Street Band at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York, and released on November 5, 1973, by Columbia Records. It includes the song "Rosalita ", the band's most-used set-closing song through 1985.
"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" is a 1973 song by Bruce Springsteen, from his The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle album, and is especially famed as a concert number for Springsteen and The E Street Band. The song, which clocks in at just over seven minutes, is a story of forbidden love between the singer and the eponymous Rosalita, whose parents disapprove of his life in a rock and roll band. It is included on the compilation albums The Essential Bruce Springsteen and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it the 446th greatest song of all time on their updated 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded after a series of legal disputes between Springsteen and his former manager Mike Appel, during sessions in New York City with the E Street Band from June 1977 to March 1978. Springsteen and Jon Landau served as producers, with assistance from bandmate Steven Van Zandt.
Born to Run is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records. Co-produced by Springsteen with his manager Mike Appel and the producer Jon Landau, its recording took place in New York. The album marked Springsteen's effort to break into the mainstream following the commercial failures of his first two albums. Springsteen sought to emulate Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production, leading to prolonged sessions with the E Street Band lasting from January 1974 to July 1975; six months alone were spent working on the title track.
Tunnel of Love is the eighth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on October 5, 1987. Although members of the E Street Band occasionally performed on the album, Springsteen recorded most of the parts himself, often with drum machines and synthesizers. Tunnel of Love is not officially regarded as an E Street Band album, as The Rising (2002) was marketed as his first studio album with the E Street Band since Born in the U.S.A. (1984).
"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, which first appeared on his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February 1977 and was also a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada.
John Lyon, known professionally as Southside Johnny, is an American singer-songwriter who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.
Vincent Lopez, nicknamed Mad Dog, is an American drummer. Between 1968 and 1974 Lopez backed Bruce Springsteen in several bands, including Steel Mill and the E Street Band. He also played on Springsteen's first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. Both during and after his time with the E Street Band, Lopez played drums with numerous Jersey Shore bands.
The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing career, the band included guitarists Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, and Patti Scialfa, keyboardists Danny Federici and Roy Bittan, bassist Garry Tallent, drummer Max Weinberg and saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
"Growin' Up" is a song by American musician Bruce Springsteen from his 1973 album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J..
Men Without Women is the debut solo studio album by American musician Steven Van Zandt, credited as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. It was released on October 1, 1982 by EMI America. The title track was inspired by the Ernest Hemingway collection of short stories of the same name.
Late for the Sky is the third studio album by American singer–songwriter Jackson Browne, released by Asylum Records on September 13, 1974. It peaked at number 14 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart.
Robert Bandiera is an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter from New Jersey. Bandiera played rhythm guitar for Bon Jovi in live performances from 2005 until 2015 and for nearly two decades was lead guitarist for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Bandiera and his band have backed Bruce Springsteen at benefit concerts.
"Spirit in the Night" is a song written and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen for his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973). It was also the second single released from the album. A cover version performed by Manfred Mann's Earth Band using the title "Spirits in the Night" was released on the album Nightingales and Bombers and as a Top 40 single.
"Lost in the Flood" is a song by Bruce Springsteen. It was released on his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973.
"The Angel" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973. It was also released as the B-side to Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light" single. The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract. At the time Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was released, Springsteen considered it his most sophisticated song. It has had very few live performances.
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I Don't Want to Go Home was the first album by New Jersey rock/R&B band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. The work helped establish the basis of the Jersey Shore sound. It was produced and arranged by manager Steven Van Zandt, who also sang, played guitar, wrote the title song, and elicited the contribution of two compositions by Bruce Springsteen, who also wrote the liner notes.
"The Promised Land" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom, backed by another song from Darkness on the Edge of Town, "Streets of Fire", the third single from the album after "Badlands" and "Prove It All Night". "The Promised Land" was also included on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen.