"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" is the second song on Bruce Springsteen's breakthrough album ''

Born to Run ''Born to Run'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records. As his effort to break into the mainstream, the album was a commercial success, peaking at number three ...

'', released in 1975.

Content

The song tells the story of the formation of the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

. The meaning of the title is unclear. Even Springsteen himself says in the ''Born to Run'' documentary ''Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run'': "I still have no idea what it means. But it's important." The song's protagonist, "Bad Scooter", is a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

for Springsteen himself (as indicated by the initials they share). In the third verse, "Big Man joined the band" refers to

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for The E Street Band. Clemons released several s ...

, the band's long-time

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

. As stated by Springsteen in the ''Wings for Wheels'' documentary, the idea for the composition of the horn intro was

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandoli ...

's. Despite all of this, the single was a chart dud, getting no higher than #83 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1976. However, it has always had a strong following on

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

radio and amongst Springsteen's fan base.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: * Bruce Springsteen – vocals, electric guitar, brass arrangements *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

– bass * Max Weinberg – drums *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synthe ...

– piano *

– tenor saxophone *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

– trumpet, bugle *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

– tenor saxophone * Dave Sanborn – baritone saxophone *

Wayne Andre Wayne Andre (November 17, 1931 – August 26, 2003) was an American jazz trombonist, best known for his work as a session musician. Andre's father was a saxophonist, and he took private music lessons from age 15. He played with Charlie Spivak in ...

– trombone *

Steve Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

– brass arrangements

Live performance history

"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" has become a staple of Springsteen's

concert tours, with regular appearances from the 1975 and on the

Born to Run tours The Born to Run tours were the unofficially-named concert tours surrounding the release of Bruce Springsteen's 1975 album ''Born to Run'' which occurred between 1974 and 1977. The album represented Springsteen's commercial breakthrough, and was ...

through the 1984 legs of the

Born in the U.S.A. Tour The Born in the U.S.A. Tour was the supporting concert tour of Bruce Springsteen's '' Born in the U.S.A.'' album. It was his longest and most successful tour to date. It featured a physically transformed Springsteen; after two years of bodybuil ...

, with one of the latter documented on the later '' Live/1975–85'', and the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express. It then returned with a featured regular spot on the 1999–2000 Reunion Tour, often used as an introduction of the band. An extended 20-minute version was captured on the subsequent '' Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live in New York City'' release, and was frequently played during most of the legs of the 2007–2008 Magic Tour and during the 2009

Working on a Dream Tour The Working on a Dream Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which began in April 2009 and ended in November 2009. It followed the late January 2009 release of the album '' Working on a Dream''. This was the first ...

. It opened the four-song set at Springsteen and the band's high-profile half-time appearance at

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, which included Springsteen pointing out that the verse about "the Big Man" joining the band was the important part of the song. A slower version of this song was played during the

, on December 31, 1975, in Philadelphia. After Clemons' death, Springsteen used the song as a memorial/tribute to both him and the late

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as the organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player and a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 2014, Federici was posthumously induct ...

on the

Wrecking Ball Tour The Wrecking Ball World Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, ''Wrecking Ball'', which was released on March 5, 2012. It was the first tour for the E Street Band with ...

, the first E Street Band tour without Clemons. During the song's third verse of "Big Man joined the band", Springsteen paused the song where Clemons' sax solo would traditionally be performed while a video of Clemons and Federici played on the stage screens. On the High Hopes and River 2016 tours, Springsteen removed the pause from performances of the song, but kept the video tribute. Springsteen joined his longtime friend Billy Joel on stage at Madison Square Garden on July 18, 2018 to perform the song (along with "

") for Joel's 100th appearance at MSG.

References

External links

Official lyrics
{{Authority control 1975 singles 1976 singles Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Song recordings produced by Mike Appel Columbia Records singles 1975 songs Songs based on actual events Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen