Videos by American Songwriter
Check out this footage of a 23-year-old Bruce Springsteen as the opening act for a show at Max’s Kansas City in New York in 1972. The performance was his first as a signed artist with Columbia Records, but his talent and potential are apparent even at the launch of his legendary career. A bearded Springsteen takes his time situating himself on a stool with his guitar, saying, “This is a song about being new in town,” and belting out “Henry Boy,” a song that did not make the cut for Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. but exists on several bootlegs.
Watch Springsteen’s first career performance below:
