The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 5, 1973 [1] [2] | |||
Recorded | May 14 – September 23, 1973 [2] | |||
Studio | 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 46:47 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer |
| |||
Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from The Wild,the Innocent &the E Street Shuffle | ||||
|
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 (Come Out Tonight)",the band's most-used set-closing song through 1985.
As with Springsteen's debut album released earlier in the year, Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J. ,The Wild,the Innocent &the E Street Shuffle was well-received critically but had little commercial success at the time. Locally,though,the album sold well,was played regularly on Northeast album-oriented rock stations and made Springsteen a local phenomenon. Once Springsteen achieved nationwide popularity with his subsequent album Born to Run (1975),several selections from this album became popular FM radio airplay and concert favorites. On November 7,2009,Springsteen and the E Street Band played the album in its entirety for the first time during a concert at Madison Square Garden. [3] In Rolling Stone's 2020 edition of its "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list,the album was ranked at number 345. [4]
Recording began on May 14,1973,with the day spent on "Circus Song",which would be finished on June 28,and re-titled "Wild Billy's Circus Story". Two days later,"The Fever" was recorded in one take,then discarded and not included on the album. Sessions did not resume until June 22,but all backing tracks and most of the album would be recorded by the end of the week. September 23,1973 was the final day of sessions,with final touches applied to "Kitty's Back",the last verse of "4th of July,Asbury Park (Sandy)" overdubbed with new lyrics,"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" and a brand new song,"Incident on 57th Street",both recorded from scratch and completed. Along with these tracks,the album would be composed of "New York City Serenade",completed August 7,and "The E Street Shuffle",recorded on June 28 in one session. [2]
According to biographer Peter Ames Carlin,Springsteen had developed a "renewed passion for full-band rock 'n' roll" with The Wild,the Innocent &the E Street Shuffle. [5] Sputnikmusic critic Adam Thomas later wrote that the album departed from the folk influences of Springsteen's 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J. and was instead characterized by "a grand fusion of nostalgic rock 'n' roll and soulful R&B". [6]
The back photo for the album featured six members of Springsteen's backing E Street Band standing in a doorway [7] of an antique store on Sairs Ave in the West End section of Long Branch,New Jersey. [8] The building was across the street from West End Elementary School,and for years was Tommy Reed's bicycle repair shop and penny candy store;it has since been demolished and its former location is occupied by a parking lot. [8]
The album was named in part after the 1959 Audie Murphy--Sandra Dee film, The Wild and the Innocent .
There is disagreement on The Wild,the Innocent &the E Street Shuffle's release date between official sources and third-party sources,including various Springsteen biographies covering the era. Springsteen's official website [9] provides a release date of September 11,1973;however,it is known that Springsteen was still in the studio recording for the album past this date. [10] [11] Indeed,September 23 was the final recording date,and after mixing and sequencing tweaks,the album was released on November 5,1973. However,there was very little press,no advertisements in the trade papers and no release party,possibly because of Springsteen's deteriorating relationship with Columbia Records,and the departures of John Hammond and Clive Davis,the men who had signed him as a Columbia artist. This situation would continue,and would almost result in the termination of Springsteen's contract in 1974. [12] [2]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [13] |
Chicago Tribune | [14] |
Christgau's Record Guide | A− [15] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [16] |
Goldmine | [17] |
MusicHound Rock | 4/5 [18] |
Q | [19] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [20] |
Sputnikmusic | 4.5/5 [6] |
Tom Hull –on the Web | B [21] |
The Wild,the Innocent &the E Street Shuffle sold poorly when it was first released in 1973 but received acclaim from critics. [6] Rolling Stone magazine's Ken Emerson said that its lengthy,vividly written songs make for a more challenging and romantic album than Greetings from Asbury Park,N.J.,but still retain that album's ebullient music because of Springsteen and the E Street Band's masterful playing. [22] In a less enthusiastic review for Creem ,Robert Christgau wrote that it does not cohere as a whole,although its livelier songs make it "the kind of album that will be fun to go back to" if Springsteen improves upon it. [23] According to him in Christgau's Record Guide:Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981),Springsteen eschewed the limiting folk conventions of his first album for a vibrant,quirky style of rock and roll that balances his celebrations of wild youth with a mature embrace of city life:"This guy may not be God yet,but he has his sleeveless undershirt in the ring." [15]
The Wild,the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle made its first appearance on the British albums chart on June 15,1985. In the wake of Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. Tour arriving in Britain,the record hit number 33 and remained in the Top 100 for 12 weeks. [24] The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992) later called the album a "masterpiece","cinematic in its sweep" and densely poetic with "vignettes of urban dreams and adolescent restlessness". [20] Goldmine magazine's Rush Evans said it was not only a five-star album but also Springsteen's "most overlooked album ... to those who know its seven richly vivid songs,it is recognized as an innovative masterpiece." [17] Reviewing it for AllMusic,William Ruhlmann felt the record epitomized Springsteen's romanticized songwriting and diversity as a composer,making it his best work and "one of the greatest albums in the history of rock &roll". [13] In 2003,Rolling Stone ranked the record at number 132 on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, [25] and 133 in a 2012 revised list. [26] Writing in Hot Press ,Pat Carty declared "if I want to beam like an idiot and remember why I fell in love with music in the first place,this is the Springsteen record I put on". [27] Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot was less enthusiastic and remarked only on how the record was highlighted by the beautiful three-song suite that ended it. [14]
On November 4 and 5,1997,eight tracks not included on The Wild,the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle were mixed and evaluated for inclusion on the Tracks box set,to be released in 1998. They included "Zero and Blind Terry","Thundercrack","Seaside Bar Song","Santa Ana","Bishop Danced","Evacuation of the West" aka "No More Kings In Texas","Phantoms" and "Fire on the Wing". The first five,which included a live version of "Bishop Danced",recorded on January 31,1973,at Max's Kansas City,New York City,were included;"Phantoms","Fire on the Wing" and "No More Kings/Evacuation" remain officially unreleased. [28]
"The Fever",recorded in a single take on May 16,1973,was also rejected and disliked by Springsteen. His manager at the time,Mike Appel,without informing Springsteen or Columbia Records,sent a cassette of the song to approximately forty disc jockeys across the US,including Ed Sciaky in Philadelphia,Kid Leo in Cleveland,and other DJs in Boston,New York,Houston,and Dallas. The song was then included on an endless stream of bootlegs,and was well known to Springsteen fans as one of his best songs. When it failed to appear on Tracks,along with "The Promise",another highly regarded unreleased song,a backlash occurred among fans on the Internet. In response,a second release, 18 Tracks ,was hastily assembled and released on April 13,1999,with both songs included. [29] [30]
All tracks are written by Bruce Springsteen.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The E Street Shuffle" | 4:31 |
2. | "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" | 5:36 |
3. | "Kitty's Back" | 7:09 |
4. | "Wild Billy's Circus Story" | 4:47 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Incident on 57th Street" | 7:45 |
2. | "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" | 7:04 |
3. | "New York City Serenade" | 9:55 |
Total length: | 46:47 |
The E Street Band
Additional personnel
Technical
Chart (1975) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape [31] | 59 |
Chart (1985) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [32] | 60 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [33] | 34 |
UK Albums (OCC) [34] | 33 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [35] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Germany | — | 100,000 [36] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [37] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [38] | 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 during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Springsteen is a pioneer of heartland rock, combining a commercially successful rock sound with poetic and socially conscious lyrics reflecting the issues of working class American life. He is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, which sometimes last over four hours.
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.
"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)", often known just as "Sandy", is a 1973 song by Bruce Springsteen, originally appearing as the second song on his album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. It was released as a single from the album in Germany.
"Incident on 57th Street" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen that was first released on his 1973 album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. It has been described by critics as a key development in Springsteen's songwriting career and regarded by fans as one of his greatest songs.
"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).
"Born to Run" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen and the title track of his third studio album, Born to Run (1975). It was Springsteen's first worldwide single release, although it achieved little initial success outside of the United States. Within the U.S., however, it received extensive airplay on progressive or album-oriented rock radio stations. The single was also Springsteen's first Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #23.
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.
David Sancious is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on Human Touch (1992), Tracks (1998), and Western Stars (2019). Sancious is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known as a keyboard player and guitarist. He left the E Street Band in 1974 to form his own band, Tone, and released several albums. He subsequently became a popular session and touring musician, most notably for Stanley Clarke, Narada Michael Walden, Zucchero Fornaciari, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Jack Bruce, and Sting among many others. In 2014, Sancious was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.
Aquashow was the 1973 debut album by singer-songwriter Elliott Murphy. It was reviewed by Paul Nelson in Rolling Stone along with Bruce Springsteen's The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle under the headline "He's the Best Dylan since 1968", which earned both artists the "New Dylan" tag. When Aquashow was released on CD in 1988 it was reviewed by Robert Hilburn in the Los Angeles Times under the headline "A Compelling Aquashow", and in 2006, thirty-three years after the original release, the album was called an "Album Classic" in a full-page review in Uncut magazine.
"The Fever" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen in 1973. The song would not see formal release until the 1999 compilation 18 Tracks.
"She's the One" is a song by Bruce Springsteen. Frequently featured in Springsteen and E Street Band concert performances, it first appeared on the Born to Run album in 1975. It was also released as the B-side to Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" single.
"Tunnel of Love" is the title song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 Tunnel of Love album. It was released as the second single from the album, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as #12 on the Cash Box Top 100. Like the first single from the album, "Brilliant Disguise", "Tunnel of Love" reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reached the top twenty in Canada peaking at #17. The music video received five MTV Video Music Awards nominations, including Video of the Year and Best Male Video.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's fifth compilation album, released as a limited edition first in the United States, Canada and Australia on January 13, 2009, exclusively through Wal-Mart retailers.
Dedication is a 1981 album by American singer Gary U.S. Bonds.
"We Take Care of Our Own" is a song written and recorded by American musician Bruce Springsteen. It is the first single from his album Wrecking Ball. The single was released for download through amazon.com and iTunes on January 18, 2012. The song made its live debut on February 12, 2012, at the 54th Grammy Awards, where it was nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.
The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973–1984 is a box set collection by Bruce Springsteen released on November 17, 2014. The 8 disc box set contains remastered versions of Springsteen's first seven studio albums and for the first time ever on CD, remasters of Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, The River, Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. The box set features each album with recreations of their original packaging and also contain a 60-page book. All seven albums have also made their remastered debut on vinyl, and are available digitally at the iTunes Store.
Recording sessions for Bruce's second album began at the 914 Sound Studios in mid-May. Given how crucial touring was to the group's week-to-week income, the sessions were squeezed into dayslong increments through late September.
It had taken four months, six separate rounds of recording, to get to this point, and still in the second week of September Springsteen's second album was only half ready.