Clinton Heylin - E Street Shuffle

This bookthough it comes relatively quickly on the heels of my All the Madmen (Constable, 2011)has been a long time coming. I have always wanted to do a history of the E Street Band era, but in the immediate aftermath of their 1989 disbandment the climate did not seem right; and after catching the first rays of reunion, I have to admit I listened to Bruces musicold and newless and less. What first set me thinking along these lines again were the performances Springsteen & the E Street Band gave of the albums they had made between 1972 and 1984 in their sequential entireties at the end of the 2009 tourperformances so fresh and committed that they made me look again at those songs. Hard on the heels of the general circulation of these shows (in what I like to call their hearing aid versions) came Springsteens own 2010 recasting of the Darkness sessions, the 2CD Promise andaltogether more enticing and authoritativethe Darkness On The Edge of Town boxed-set, a triple-DVD, triple-CD extravaganza housed in a remarkably well-executed facsimile of one of Bruces 1977 notebooks. I dived in.

Immediately, I wanted to know more about the sessions, and in particular whatever happened to some of the things he still saw fit to omit from his official oeuvrecould he really have decided Preachers Daughter was less deserving of release than Outside Looking In? What about all those songs he demoed the first night at Atlantic (1 June 1977)? My good friend Glenn Korman, archivist extraordinaire, showed me just how much Darkness material was catalogued in the Sony database. And a book-idea was born. So my first and most fulsome thanks go to Glenn, who once again couldnt have been more generous with his time and expertise, helping me to constructfor the first time, I believean authoritative studio chronology of the E Street era using Sonys own documentation.

The next candidate I wish to put forward for Saint in New York City status is Mike Appel. I had always thought that Appels role in the rise of Bruce Springsteen had been somewhat muddied by the Marsh-man. With no love lost between Springsteens ex-manager and rock scribe Dave Marsh, the latters two-pronged bios, Born To Run and Glory Days, were bound to minimize the Appel contribution to Springsteens climb to the top. And with the field of Brucebiography to himself until the nineties, Marsh lore became rocklore. Marc Elliotts Down Thunder Road (1992) gave Appels side of the story for the first time, but Elliott was himself hamstrung by a poor sense of Springsteens musical graph and the seventies music industrys own workings (despite once writing a book called Rockanomics). Thankfully, Appel graciously agreed to sit down and answer all the questions I couldnt find the answers to in previous tomes. And when, after three hours, the hubbub of the Roosevelt Hotel bar got too much, he allowed me to persevere with my queries via e-mail and even unto the diners of Brooklyn. I found a man as generous with his opinions as he was with his time. Thank you, Mike.

If Mike Appels role in the formulation of the E Street sound and live reputation has gone under-recognized, so has the contribution of Vini Mad Dog Lopez. Though he had been interviewed a number of times previously, again the one man who had been an integral part of Child, Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom, the Bruce Springsteen Band and the first two incarnations of the E Street Band gave up an afternoon to answer my questions and allow me to pry into his painful removal from the band that had been his life. He remains, for me, the most sympathetic stickman Springsteen ever had.

Another aspect of the E Street history that I felt had been lacking in previous accounts was the whys and wherefores of his relationship with label and management, i.e. the general branding of Bruce in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Appel management set-up. Tying the strands together required the unstinting help of the redoubtable Debbie Gold, the urbane Dick Wingate and the garrulous Paul Rappaport, all of them mainstays of Springsteens transformation from Newsweek cover to bona fide rock star between 1975 and 1980, and none of them interviewed in depth before. Between them, they gave me my own golden triangle. God bless yall. Leo Hollis, Andreas Campomar and Kevin Doughten were my estimable E Street editors. Fanx ta-ra.

Others who talked to tape included Lenny Kaye, wearing both his rock scribe hat and PSG guitarist, as he regaled me with his own Bruceian anecdotes; Joel Bernstein, wearing his sometime-rock photographer hat, and equally forthcoming about his brief sojourn in Springsteens inner circle in 197980; and Alan Vega, who recalled his experiences at Power Station in the year he and Springsteen were each engaged on making their first statement of the eighties. Muchas gracias.

Of others who helped, directly and indirectly, connect the dots, one has been this books unstinting cheerleader, Erik Flannigan, keeper of a number of keys and general good guy and solid friend. Been a long time since we risked the slings and arrows of a panel at the Badlands Springsteen Convention, huh, Erik? Another old-time Springsteen stalwart, Dan French, agreed to renew our acquaintance and answered many an impertinent query. And Steve Jump at Badlands was, as ever, his irascibly helpful self. Especial thanks for putting me in touch with Stan Goldstein and Jean Mikle, who gave me their own private guided tour of Asbury Park complete with local coloring.

Scott Curran and Nick Carruthers have allowed me to raid their Bruce archives over the years and kept me up-to-date in all things gray. Music librarian extraordinaire Steve Shepherd, as ever, responded to book requests and used his ILL skills on my behalf. Mitch Blank dug into the David Gahr collection at Getty on my solicitous behalf. Kevin Avery kindly provided me with a transcript of his own 2007 interview with Bruce in memoriam of the late, great Paul Nelson, and put me in touch with Pauls son, Mark, who agreed to allow me access to his fathers audio archives. Brian Magid gave me useful background on the so-called Mike Batlan tapes and the early days. Also, much thanks are due to those who helped me accumulate a Springsteen paper archive of sorts over the years, especially Simon Gee and Craig Wood, whose industrious work in the eighties has gone unacknowledged till now. Pete Russell responded promptly and courteously to queries about information on Brucebase, the online resource which he oversees with remarkable enthusiasm and energy. Finally, thanks to Ed Kazinski, Jeremy Tepper, Robert Duncan, Dan Levy and Chris Phillips for letting me bug you about the tiniest matter. Guys, its been a blast

Clinton Heylin, June 2012

Also by Clinton Heylin

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