This past week, the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music, which is based at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, presented a series of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s landmark 1975 album Born to Run. The centerpiece of the celebration was a daylong symposium focused on the album held Saturday, September 6, at the school’s Pollak Theatre.
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A description of the symposium had promised that the participants would include E Street Band members, music historians, legendary music-industry figures, and special guests. As it turned out, Springsteen himself was one of those guests.
According to a recap in Variety, the Boss participated in multiple discussions about various aspects of Born to Run. Most exciting, the symposium ended with Springsteen teaming up with current and former E Street Band members to perform two songs from Born to Run—the classic title track and “Thunder Road.”
Joining Bruce were longtime E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent drummer Max Weinberg, guitarist Steven Van Zandt, and pianist Roy Bittan, as well as former keyboardist Davod Sancious and drummer Ernest “Boom” Carter, and touring saxophonist Eddie Manion.
“Born to Run” was the only track on the album to feature Sancious and Carter. For Carter, it was his sole appearance on a Springsteen album.
More About the Born to Run 50th Anniversary Symposium
Prior to the performance, Springsteen took part in several discussion sessions, including separate panels about the writing of the song “Born to Run” and the album. The final panel, which focused on the making of Born to Run, featured Bruce, longtime manager Jon Landau, famed producer Jimmy Iovine, and E Street Band members Van Zandt, Tallent, Bittan, and Weinberg.
During this segment, Van Zandt recalled how Springsteen called on him to tell the horn section that was brought into the studio for “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” how to play their parts to Bruce’s liking. Little Steven told the musicians to throw away their charts and proceeded to sing the parts he wanted them to play.
“Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” were not playing what anyone wanted them to play because no one in the studio knew how to tell them what they wanted, especially Springsteen. He asked Steve what he thought; Steve told his friend that he thought it sucked. His friend demanded that he go in and fix it. Van Zandt walked into the studio, told the horns to throw their charts away, and sang them their parts. “Those guys are screwing up my friend’s record,” is how he viewed the situation.
Near the end of the panel, Springsteen recalled how Van Zandt told him to keep a minor chord in a guitar riff in “Born to Run” that Bruce planned to change. “This is the greatest contribution Steve Van Zandt has ever made to my career,” Springsteen maintained. He further noted that if he’d changed the chord, “Born to Run” “would have been a total failure.”
Other Panels During the Symposium
According to Variety, the Born to Run symposium also featured a few other interesting panels.
One early session was titled “At the Crossroads: Bruce Springsteen & Columbia Records.” It featured musicologist/DJ Rich Russo chatting with former Springsteen manager Mike Appel and three former Columbia Records employees who were loyal supporters of Bruce at the time Born to Run was made. When he recorded Born to Run, Springsteen had released two unsuccessful albums for Columbia. The executives and Appel recalled fighting to get radio programmers to play “Born to Run.” The success of the song and album, of course, made Bruce a star.
Another panel featured a conversation between photographer Eric Meola, who shot the iconic Born to Run cover pic, and Springsteen’s sister, Pamela, who’s also an accomplished rock photographer. The cover, of course, features a memorable black-and-white photo of Bruce with late E Street Band sax player Clarence Clemons.
Other Born to Run 50th Anniversary Events
On Friday, September 5, the Born to Run celebration featured a screening of rare footage from the album’s recording sessions. The presentation was assembled by Thom Zimny, who has directed many Springsteen concert films and documentaries.
Also on September 5, an exhibition of Meola’s photos from the Born to Run cover shoot opened at Monmouth University’s Rechnitz Hall DiMattio Gallery. The pics will be on display through December 18.
Sunday, September 7, featured an academic conference held at Monmouth University’s Pozycki Hall that featured dozens interdisciplinary papers about Born to Run from scholars around the world. In addition, a series of walking tours were held in Long Branch, where Springsteen lived in 1974 and ’75.
(Photo by John Cavanaugh)
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