A new book featuring candid images of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band taken by acclaimed photographer Lynn Goldsmith during the making of Darkness on the Edge of Town and on the tour in support of the Boss’ 1978 album will be available this month.
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Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Darkness on the Edge of Town is a 364-page tome that features a mix of classic photos and never-before-seen images that capture the singer/songwriter and his group in the studio, on stage, and enjoying downtime while on the road. The book also includes forewords by Springsteen and Goldsmith, as well as the photographer’s own recollections of that period, a time when the Boss was en route to establishing himself as a rock superstar.
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Goldsmith had unfiltered access to Springsteen and his cohorts at the time because she was then dating the New Jersey rocker.
“I saw firsthand how Bruce and the E Street Band dedicated their bodies, pulled notes out of the air, left everything on the stage to create a musical performance that suggested the failures and glories of being human,” she wrote in her introduction.
Springsteen, meanwhile, wrote in his foreword about Goldsmith’s pics, “These photos remain a record of a time when I truly played for my life, night after night.”
In addition to plenty of photos of Springsteen, including high-quality portraits Goldsmith snapped of him, the book features many images of the members of the classic E Street Band lineup—guitarist Steven Van Zandt, sax player Clarence Clemons, drummer Max Weinberg, bassist Gary Tallent, and keyboardists Danny Federici and Roy Bittan.
Goldsmith told Billboard in a recent interview that getting to showcase photos of Springsteen’s bandmates was a big factor in why she put the book together.
“The band itself never got anywhere near the coverage that I felt should be brought to the attention of people,” she maintained. “What Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show is that when there is a brotherhood, the power of something increases exponentially. You have a group of individuals, led by someone, who are totally aligned with rock ‘n’ roll being the spiritual vehicle for saving people’s lives, for bringing people together, for celebration as well as for reflection.”
Billboard has offered up a preview of Goldsmith’s book by posting a series of pics from the publication. They include photos of Springsteen performing on stage, sitting on a bed holding an acoustic guitar and a notepad as he apparently works on a song, rehearsing with Van Zandt and other band members, walking in downtown Manhattan while holding a boombox, and posing in front of a backstage mirror as Goldsmith is seen in the reflection taking the shot.
Darkness on the Edge of Town, Springsteen’s fourth studio album, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and featured one hit single, “Prove It All Night,” which reached No. 33 on the Hot 100. It also was packed with many other Springsteen classics, including “Badlands,” “Candy’s Room,” “The Promised Land,” and the title track.
Visit HERE for more information about the Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Darkness on the Edge of Town book.
Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation
