The stories of rock stars dealing with ill-advised contracts at the start of their careers are legion. And it can happen to the best of them, especially when you consider how desperate young artists can be to have their songs be heard.
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Not long after his biggest breakthrough to that point in his career, Bruce Springsteen was forced to put his recording plans on hiatus for a year to deal with a lawsuit tied to his first managerial deal and record contract. Here’s the story of how The Boss had to wait it out for a bit at a crucial moment in his career.
Bruce’s Rise
If the idea of an artist signing a recording contract on the hood of a car seems like a cliché, well maybe it’s because it actually happened that way with Bruce Springsteen in 1972. Springsteen signed on with Mike Appel, who was a part-time songwriter also trying to get into the managerial game. Needless to say, Appel chose his first client well.
He also tied Springsteen into deals that were wholly advantageous to the manager and not so much to the artist, especially when it came to record royalties. That wasn’t all that big a deal at first, since Springsteen’s first two albums (which Appel also helped to produce) sold poorly, leaving him in rough shape with the executives at Columbia Records.
But then a little album called Born to Run happened in 1975. Springsteen’s street anthems touched a nerve and landed him on the cover of Time magazine, and the album sold more than the first two combined. But at what should have been a moment of triumph, Springsteen ended up embroiled in a legal battle with the man who had guided his career to that point.
The E Street Shutdown
In July 1976, almost a year after Born to Run was released, Springsteen filed a federal suit against Mike Appel, claiming, among other things fraud. Springsteen had taken a laissez-faire approach to the business side of his career to that point. At the encouragement of associates, he had an accountant look over his finances when his management contract with Appel wasn’t that far from expiring. The findings, which included unpaid taxes and shockingly low royalty rates, weren’t pretty.
Appel, known for his tenacious manner when promoting Springsteen, was not about to go down without a fight. He came firing back with a suit of his own, this one filed in the New York State Supreme Court. The intent of this action was to prevent Springsteen from going into a studio to record music with Jon Landau.
Landau was a sore spot with Appel. The former music critic had come aboard to produce Born to Run with Appel and Springsteen, and the album’s success compared to the first two obviously suggested Landau’s influence was a positive one. But according to that ill-advised deal Springsteen had originally signed, Appel was within his legal rights to stop Landau from participating.
No Surrender
The legal wranglings between Springsteen and Appel continued for months. During that time, Springsteen, who was lacking funds, was still able to play live to generate income. But with the world eagerly anticipating his next record, he held firm, refusing to compromise and record with a producer he didn’t approve.
Ultimately, the legal winds started blowing in Springsteen’s direction, especially when he was able to imply the inability to record with Landau wasn’t so much a financial issue as it was a serious impediment to furthering his career. Appel, realizing he couldn’t afford a protracted trial that might not have gone in his favor, settled with Springsteen for undisclosed terms on May 28, 1977.
Just a few days later, Springsteen was back in the studio with Jon Landau, beginning the process of recording the album that would become Darkness on the Edge of Town. His patience in holding out to honor his principles eventually paid off, making up somewhat for the impetuousness he displayed in signing that initial contract all those years before.
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