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''Born to Run'' is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
, released on August 25, 1975, by
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. Co- produced by Springsteen with his manager Mike Appel and the producer
Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received that institution's Ahme ...
, its recording took place in New York. Following the commercial failures of his first two albums, the album marked Springsteen's effort to break into the mainstream and create a commercially successful album. Springsteen sought to emulate
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
's
Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...
production, leading to prolonged sessions with the
E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...
lasting from January 1974 to July 1975; six months alone were spent working on the
title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...
. The album incorporates musical styles including
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
,
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
, R&B, and
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
. Its character-driven lyrics describe individuals who feel trapped and fantasize about escaping to a better life, conjured via romantic lyrical imagery of highways and travel. Springsteen envisioned the songs taking place over one long summer day and night. They are also less tied to the
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
area than his previous work. The album cover, featuring Springsteen leaning on E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons's shoulder, is considered iconic and has been imitated by various musicians and in other media. Supported by an expensive promotional campaign, ''Born to Run'' became a commercial success, reaching number three on the US ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart and the top ten in three others. Two singles were released, "Born to Run" and " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", the first of which became a radio and live favorite. The album's release generated extensive publicity, leading to backlash from critics who expressed skepticism over whether Springsteen's newfound attention was warranted. Following its release, Springsteen became embroiled in legal issues with Appel, leading him to tour the United States and Europe for almost two years. Upon release, ''Born to Run'' received highly positive reviews. Critics praised the storytelling and music, although some viewed its production as excessive and heavy-handed. ''Born to Run'' was Springsteen's breakthrough album. Its success has been attributed to capturing the ideals of a generation of American youths during a decade of political turmoil, war, and issues facing the
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
. Over the following decades, the album has become widely regarded as a masterpiece and one of Springsteen's best records. It has appeared on various lists of the greatest albums of all time and was inducted into the
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...
in 2003 by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". ''Born to Run'' received an expanded reissue in 2005 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, featuring a
concert film A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. Ea ...
and a documentary detailing the album's making.


Development

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
's first two albums, '' Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' and '' The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle'', were released in 1973 through
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. While the albums were critically acclaimed, both sold poorly. By 1974 his popularity was limited to the
East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...
, and the label's confidence in him began to wane. Management at Columbia had changed and they began to favor the then-upcoming artist
Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...
. Low morale plagued Springsteen's team, including both his manager, Mike Appel, and his backing group the
E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...
. After Springsteen rejected CBS Records' suggestion to record in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
with session musicians and a brought-in producer, the label agreed to finance one more album on the agreement that if it failed, they would drop him. Appel successfully negotiated a slightly larger budget for the album but limited recording to 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York, the studio Springsteen used for the recordings of his first two albums. The phrase "born to run" came to Springsteen while lying in bed one night at his home in
West Long Branch, New Jersey West Long Branch is a Borough (New Jersey), borough situated within the Jersey Shore region, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,5 ...
. He said the title "suggested a cinematic drama I thought would work with the music I was hearing in my head". Inspired by the musical sounds and lyrical themes of 1950s and 1960s
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
artists such as
Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...
,
Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...
,
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
,
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
,
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
, and
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, Springsteen began composing what became " Born to Run". He later wrote: "This was the turning point. It proved to be the key to my songwriting for the rest of the record." He anticipated that sound he was seeking would be a "studio production". The album became the first time Springsteen used the studio as an instrument rather than simply replicating the sound of live performances.


Production history


914 Sound Studios

The recording sessions for the album began at 914 Sound Studios in January 1974. Springsteen and Appel acted as co-producers; ''Greetings'' and ''Wild'' producer Jimmy Cretecos had departed Springsteen's company in early 1974, citing low profits. Louis Lahav, the
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
from both albums, returned for these sessions. The members of the E Street Band were Clarence Clemons (saxophone), Danny Federici (organ),
David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tr ...
(piano), Garry Tallent (bass), and Ernest Carter (drums); Carter had replaced Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, whom Springsteen fired in February over poor personal behavior. The band went back and forth between studio recording and live concert performances. Springsteen used the latter to develop new material, and he spent more time in the studio refining songs than he had on the previous two albums. The album's working titles included ''From the Churches to the Jails'', ''The Hungry and the Hunted'', ''War and Roses'', and ''American Summer''. Recording for "Born to Run" lasted six months. Springsteen's perfectionism led to grueling sessions: he obsessed over every syllable, note, and tone of every
texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Image texture, the spatial arrangement of color or intensities in an image * Surface texture, the smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface c ...
, and he struggled to capture the sounds he heard in his head on tape. His aim for a Phil Spector-type
Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...
production meant multiple instruments were assigned to each track on the studio's 16-track mixing desk; each new
overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...
made the recording and mixing more difficult. As he kept rewriting the lyrics, Springsteen and Appel created several mixes containing electric and acoustic guitars, piano, organ, horns,
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s, and a
glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...
, as well as strings and female backing vocalists. "Born to Run" reportedly had up to five different versions. According to Springsteen, the final song had 72 different tracks squeezed onto the 16 tracks of the mixing console. Springsteen was pleased with the final mix, completed in August 1974. CBS/Columbia refused to release "Born to Run" as an early single, wanting an album to promote it. The same month "Born to Run" was completed, Sancious and Carter departed the E Street Band to form their own jazz-fusion band,
Tone Tone may refer to: Visual arts and color-related * Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory * Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color * Toning (coin), color change in coins * ...
. They were replaced by
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 synth ...
on piano and
Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' an ...
on drums. Bittan had a background in symphony orchestras while Weinberg had experience with various rock bands and Broadway productions. Bittan had previously known of Springsteen's music but Weinberg had not. The two meshed well with the rest of the band, offering new musical insights and relaxed personalities that eased tensions that had built up over years of recording and performing. On the album Bittan mostly replaced Federici, whose sole contribution was the organ part on "Born to Run". Bittan later said he believed this was due to both men's different performing styles and Bittan wanting to "prove himself" as a new member of the group. Recording at 914 continued into late October 1974. The band made attempts at " Jungleland", " She's the One", "Lovers in the Cold", "
Backstreets "Backstreets" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album ''Born to Run'', which was released in 1975. In the original vinyl release, it concludes side one of the record. Structure "Backstreets" begins with a minute-long instrumental introduc ...
", and "So Young and in Love", but faulty equipment and Springsteen's lack of direction halted progress. The music critic
Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born ) is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of '' Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published num ...
suggested that Springsteen remained at the subpar 914 Studios because studio costs built up, even though superior ones were available. In November, Appel sent "Born to Run" to various radio stations around the United States, which CBS executives viewed as professional misconduct. The stunt generated interest in the track and anticipation built toward the album's release, prompting Columbia to fund further sessions. "Born to Run" became frequently requested on radio and at shows. By January 1975, the band had been working for over a year with one finished track. Production continued to be plagued by faulty equipment, false starts, and Springsteen's desire for more takes. A new track, "Wings for Wheels", debuted live in February. Springsteen felt he lacked direction, and he requested production advice from the writer and producer
Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received that institution's Ahme ...
, who had criticized the production on ''Wild'' in an article for '' The Real Paper''. The two met in Boston in April 1974 and developed a close friendship after. In February 1975, Landau was invited to a session, where he suggested moving the saxophone solo on "Wings for Wheels" to the end rather than in the middle. Springsteen liked the change and hired Landau as co-producer of the album.


Record Plant

In March 1975, Landau moved the recording sessions from 914 to the superior
Record Plant The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. Landau helped Springsteen regain focus and direction with a fresh perspective. Springsteen told ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' in 1975: " andaucame up with the idea, 'Let's make a rock and roll record.' Things had fallen down internally. He got things on their feet again." Appel and Landau had disagreements on production choices, which Springsteen had to resolve. Like the band, the two helped Springsteen complete already devised ideas, not think of new ones. Louis Lahav was unavailable due to family commitments so these sessions were engineered by
Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...
. Sessions at the Record Plant lasted from March to July 1975. Apart from a few live performances, Springsteen spent most of these months working on the album. The sessions were grueling, dragging on despite increased professionalism brought by Landau and Iovine. While the backing tracks and vocals were recorded with little difficulty, Springsteen struggled with his overdubs and completing the writing of the lyrics and arrangements. Springsteen obsessively labored over and sometimes spent hours revising single lines or taking days to figure out the song arrangements. Springsteen later said: " he sessionsturned into something that was wrecking me, just pounding me into the ground." Weinberg called it the hardest project of his career, and Federici said " eate, drank, and slept hat album. Work was mostly done between 3 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning. "Wings for Wheels", now called " Thunder Road", was finished in April. Springsteen reportedly took 13 hours to complete his guitar parts. " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "
Night Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...
" followed in May. For "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", Springsteen hired the
Brecker Brothers The Brecker Brothers were a jazz fusion music duo consisting of siblings Michael and Randy. Michael played saxophone, flute, and EWI, and Randy played trumpet and flugelhorn. The brothers attended Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylva ...
( Randy and
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
),
David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...
, and Wayne Andre to play horn parts. Springsteen and Bittan failed to write proper horn parts by the time the players arrived to record, so Springsteen's friend and former
Steel Mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...
bandmate
Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...
conceived them on the spot in the studio. Van Zandt joined the E Street Band shortly after. Springsteen used lyrical ideas from "She's the One" to complete "Backstreets", originally "Hidin' on the River". " Meeting Across the River", originally "The Heist", featured Richard Davis on
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
. Davis had previously contributed to " The Angel" on ''Greetings''. "Jungleland" featured
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
from Suki Lahav, wife of Louis Lahav, and a long saxophone solo from Clemons, which he spent 16 hours replaying to Springsteen's satisfaction; the latter dictated almost every note played. Clemons played several different solos, bits of which were then edited together into one piece; he then reproduced the final result.


Mixing

According to Iovine, the album was mixed in "nine days straight". The final days were hectic; the band worked vigorously between recording for the album and rehearsing for an upcoming tour scheduled to start on July 20. Springsteen wrote in his 2016 autobiography '' Born to Run'': "In a three-day, 72-hour sprint, working in three studios simultaneously, Clarence and I finishing the 'Jungleland' sax solo, phrase by phrase, in one, while we mixed 'Thunder Road' in another, singing 'Backstreets' in a third." Springsteen was demanding and refused to compromise, saying at the time that he could "only hear the things that were wrong with it". Appel and Landau fought to keep certain tracks on the finished album. Appel succeeded in leaving "Linda Let Me Be the One" and "Lonely Night in the Park" off and keeping "Meeting Across the River" on. Mixing lasted until the morning of July 20, just before the tour began. ''Born to Run'' was mastered by the engineer
Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...
while the band were on the road. Springsteen was furious about the initial acetate, throwing it into the swimming pool of the hotel he was staying at. He contemplated scrapping the entire project and re-recording it live before he was stopped by Landau. Springsteen was sent multiple mixes as he was on the road and rejected all but one, which he approved in early August.


Outtakes

The seven known outtakes from the album are "Linda Let Me Be the One", "Lonely Night in the Park", "A Love So Fine", "A Night Like This", "Janey Needs a Shooter", "Lovers in the Cold", and "So Young and in Love". "Linda Let Me Be the One" and "So Young and in Love" were released on the '' Tracks'' box set in 1998. Rough mixes of the unreleased songs "Lovers in the Cold" ("Walking in the Street") and "Lonely Night in the Park" surfaced in 2005, when they made their debut on E Street Radio. "Janey Needs a Shooter" was later re-worked by Springsteen and
Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All t ...
into the track "Jeannie Needs a Shooter" for Zevon's 1980 album '' Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School''. A 2019 recording of the original "Janey Needs a Shooter" was released on Springsteen's 2020 album '' Letter to You''.


Music and lyrics

The music on ''Born to Run'' includes styles such as
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
,
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
, R&B, and
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
. The author Peter Ames Carlin states that the album captures "the essence of fifties rock 'n' roll and the
beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the mid-20th century, who subscribed to an anti- materialistic lifestyle. They rejected the conformity and consumerism of mainstream American culture and expressed themselves through various forms ...
poetry of sixties folk-rock, projected onto the battered spirit of mid-seventies America". Springsteen wrote most of the songs on piano, which Kirkpatrick felt gave them "a particular melodic feel". Springsteen later said Bittan's piano "really defined the sound" of the album. The record's production is similar to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, in which layers of instruments and complex arrangements are combined to make each song resemble a symphony. Springsteen said that he wanted ''Born to Run'' to sound like "
Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...
singing
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, produced by Spector". He used Orbison's style for his vocal delivery and
Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...
as inspiration for his guitar parts. The writer Frank Rose emphasized Springsteen's homage to girl groups from the 1960s, such as the Shirelles, the Ronettes, and the Shangri-Las, ones who embellished themes of heartbreak and
doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...
sounds produced by Spector. The songs feature musical introductions that set the tone and scene for each. Springsteen envisioned the album's songs as taking place during one summer day and night. According to the writer Louis Masur, the album is centrally driven by "loneliness and the search for companionship". The characters are regular people who are lost and feel trapped in their lives; different places, such as streets and roads, offer a way out but are not ideal places. Described by ''Treble'' Hubert Vigilla as a "four corners approach" to album sequencing, both sides of the original LP began with songs that were optimistic and promised hope and ended with songs of betrayal and pessimism. Across the album's eight songs, Springsteen writes about the night and the city ("Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", "Backstreets", and "Meeting Across the River"); an irresistible real or imaginary woman ("She's the One"); the enslavement of the working class ("Night"); and the highway as a means of escape and coming-of-age journey ("Thunder Road", "Born to Run", and "Jungleland"). The journalist Veronika Hermann noted the album is mostly driven by actions such as running, meeting, hiding, and driving. ''Born to Run'' was written during a time when the idea of the American Dream was unobtainable to many Americans in the aftermath of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
,
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...
, and the
1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
. Carlin writes that Springsteen's hopeful songs, containing ideals such as that a road can take you anywhere, were "stunning" during a period marked by assassinations, war, political corruption, and collapse of the
hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
subculture. Hermann analyzed the lyrics as experiments in
nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek language, Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word me ...
, arguing that the "heroes and heroines of ''Born to Run'' are facing the loss of security and stability, ndfacing the consequences of a lost war", leading to the choice to run away from the "American dream". Springsteen worked a "very, very long" time writing the lyrics because he wanted to avoid tropes of "classic rock 'n' roll clichés", turning them instead into fully developed and emotional characters: "It was the beginning of the creation of a certain world that all my others would refer back to, resonate off of, for the next 20 or 30 years." The songs are largely autobiographical, inspired by the noir-like
B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...
s Springsteen enjoyed at the time; he wanted to experience and capture new ideals based on his life experiences at the time. Like his first two albums, ''Born to Run'' includes religious imagery, specifically the idea of "searching", although it is undercut by a darker, apocalyptic landscape. Unlike ''Greetings'' and ''Wild'', however, most of the songs on ''Born to Run'' are not specifically tied to New Jersey and New York, instead shifting to all of the United States in an attempt to be more accessible to a wider audience. Springsteen has said that "most of the songs are about being nowhere".


Side one

"Thunder Road" is an invitation to travel on a long journey, taking inspiration from the 1958 film of the same name. The song's narrator pleads with a romantic partner to join him in leaving their life behind to start anew, believing there is no time to wait and they must act now. Masur argues the song "lays out hopes and dreams, and the remainder of the album is an investigation into whether, and in what ways, they can be realized". Kirkpatrick believes the track to be a rewritten version of ''Wild'' " Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" with a "less innocent, more realistic perspective". Described by ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' Kenneth Partridge as a "five-minute pop opera", the music builds throughout the runtime; the instruments join in as the narrator's vision solidifies.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's James Gerard characterizes the tone as more melancholic than uplifting. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" follows a character named Bad Scooter who is "searching for his groove" and "a place to fit in". Part autobiographical and part mythological, the song tells Springsteen and the E Street Band's story as they struggle to find commercial success up to that point; they find success after the "Big Man" (Clemons on saxophone) joins the band in the third verse. Musically, it is a funky R&B song led by brass horns; the authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon compared it to the sound of a
Stax Stax can refer to: * StAX, (Computer Programming) Streaming API for reading and writing XML in Java * Stax Ltd, a Japanese brand of electrostatic headphones * Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, ...
record. In his 2003 book ''Songs'', Springsteen described "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" as a "band bio and block party". "Night", the shortest song on the album, follows a man who is a slave to the working life. He dreads working his nine-to-five job, but his love for drag racing motivates him to work so he can live for the night. Similar to other album tracks, it uses the highway as a means for escape. Musically, the song contains various minor and major key shifts in the music; Masur argues the minor key "condemns the monotonous world of daytime work" and the major key "offers the possibilities of screeching off into the night". Margotin and Guesdon highlight the wall of sound production and compare its rock-and-roll sound to
Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
. "Backstreets" features a long piano-led intro. Described by Masur as "operatic and theatrical", the band took inspiration from various Dylan and Orbison songs for the instrumental parts. The song tells the story of the narrator's friendship with an individual named Terry, using both realistic and poetic imagery. The two become close until their relationship is broken after Terry leaves the narrator for someone else, after which the narrator "reflects that he and Terry did not turn out to be the heroes 'we thought we had to be". Terry's gender is unclear, leading some reviewers to interpret the relationship as homosexual. The song contains autobiographical elements related to Springsteen's youth, with cinematic references.


Side two

"Born to Run" uses the automobile as a means to escape from a depressing life. The characters, described as "tramps", include the narrator and a girl named Wendy. The former works a dreary job, "sweating out" the "runaway American dream", and joins a car community at night. He tells Wendy the town they live in is a "death trap" and they need to leave "while hey'reyoung" because "tramps like us... were born to run". Reviewers have analyzed the song's anthemic message as containing both an "underlying sadness" and "a feeling of desperation", as the narrator promises Wendy they will one day reach the promised land, but he does not know when. He simply wants to run away with her to "help him discover if his youthful notions of love are real", and "pledges his desire to die with her in the street" and love her "with all the madness in issoul". The song's music combines rock and roll and hard rock with rockabilly, jazz, and Tin Pan Alley, complete with a Wall of Sound production. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny described the song as "a celebration of the rock & roll spirit, capturing the music's youthful abandon, delirious passion, and extraordinary promise with cinematic exhilaration". "She's the One" is about the narrator's complete obsession for a girl. The girl, however, is a liar and bad for him, yet he keeps returning to her. Springsteen never revealed the song's inspiration, although Margotin and Guesdon suggest it was Karen Darvin, Springsteen's girlfriend at the time. The song musically incorporates a Bo Diddley beat. The jazzy "Meeting Across the River" musically and lyrically departs from the previous songs, utilizing piano and trumpet to create what Margotin and Guesdon describe as a "film noir jazz ambience" that "clashes with the other tracks". In it, the narrator and his partner Eddie are small-time gangsters who plan an illegal deal across the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
, striving for a big score that will earn him a large amount of money to impress his girlfriend. With themes of despair and hopelessness, the song ends before a narrative resolution, leaving whether or not the gangsters succeeded ambiguous. "Jungleland" takes place in the titular location, where a meeting between gang members at midnight is interrupted by the police. With a dark atmosphere, the track observes a New Jersey gang member known as the Magic Rat, who escapes law enforcement in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
with his unnamed partner referred to as the "barefoot girl". Towards the end, the Rat and the girl's relationship has broken apart; she leaves him, and he is killed in the streets. The Rat is gunned down by his "own dream", symbolizing, in Masur's words, that "the runaway American dream will kill us in the end, and the dream of escape is just another version that entraps us". Following his demise, destruction continues across the streets until they are left in complete devastation. Over nine minutes in length, the track is led by Springsteen's vocal, Bittan's piano, and Suki Lahav's violin, and features an extended saxophone solo from Clemons that lasts for over two minutes.


Artwork and packaging

The
cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...
of ''Born to Run'' was taken by the photographer Eric Meola at his personal studio on June 20, 1975. Springsteen's busy recording schedule meant he kept missing shooting dates. When he finally showed up, he brought Clemons, whom he wanted on the cover. Meola shot 900 frames in the three-hour session, some of which showed Springsteen under a fire escape, tuning a radio, and with a guitar; unused shots were used by Columbia for advertising. In the chosen black-and-white shot, Springsteen is holding a guitar while leaning against Clemons. Springsteen is wearing a black leather jacket, and Clemons is in a white shirt with a striped pattern and wearing a black hat. Meola said the shot was a clear standout: "I wanted something that was nearly impossible to print, but beautiful to look at if printed perfectly—somehow innocent yet street-smart." An Elvis Presley pin appears on Springsteen's guitar strap, which he wore to display Presley's inspiration on him as a musician. His guitar, a
Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...
with an
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
neck, later appeared on the covers of '' Live 1975–85'' (1986), '' Human Touch'' (1992), and '' Greatest Hits'' (1995). The ''Born to Run'' cover was included in a ''Rolling Stone'' readers' poll of the best album covers of all time in 2011. Masur called it "classic" and "one of the most iconic images in rock history". The image covers both sides of the LP sleeve; the inside features lyrics and a portrait of Springsteen. Columbia's art director John Berg created the fold-over sleeve, and Andy Engel was responsible for the typography. Berg stated that "it probably took a week of negotiating" with the label to create the fold-over cover because "it was breaking the code; we didn't do that unless we had two records". Landau's name was misspelled as "John" instead of "Jon" on the initial pressings; Columbia printed stickers to cover up the error—reportedly up to 400,000. A few original pressings have "Meeting Across the River" billed under its initial title "The Heist", and the original album cover has the title handwritten with a broad-nib pen. These copies, known as the "script cover", are very rare and among the most sought after of Springsteen memorabilia. Springsteen and Clemons occasionally remade the cover pose onstage during their concerts. The pose has since been imitated by other singers and musicians, including
Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...
on the 1983 album ''
Next Position Please ''Next Position Please'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Cheap Trick, produced by Todd Rundgren and released in 1983. The title track was originally demoed for the band's 1979 album '' Dream Police'', which had lead singer Robi ...
'', Mai Kuraki on the cover of her 2001 single " Stand Up", Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the cover of the 2003 '' Car Talk'' compilation ''Born Not to Run: More Disrespectful Car Songs'', and Los Secretos for their 2015 album ''Algo prestado''. Outside of music, the
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...
strip '' Kevin and Kell'' imitated the pose on a Sunday strip entitled "Born to Migrate", featuring Kevin Dewclaw as Springsteen with a carrot and Kell Dewclaw as Clemons with a pile of bones, and the ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'' characters Bert and the
Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating catchphrases, such as "Me want cookie!" As ...
imitated the pose on the cover of the ''Sesame Street'' album ''Born to Add''.


Release and promotion

Springsteen and the E Street Band went on a tour of the US East Coast on July 20, 1975, immediately after mixing on ''Born to Run'' was completed; Springsteen approved the final master recording while on the road. The tour continued into August, including an all sold-out five-night, ten-show stint at the Bottom Line nightclub in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
. Columbia purchased one-fifth of the venue tickets for rock journalists and media for promotion. Expectations were high. Clemons remembered: "We were right on the verge. If we had flopped at the Bottom Line, it would have been very detrimental to us emotionally." The shows were a major success, receiving praise from both critics and from Columbia's former president
Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...
. Kirkpatrick stated they "showed rock fans and media alike that Springsteen was no creation of industry hype; he was the real deal". ''Rolling Stone'' later included the shows in a 1987 list chronicling 20 concerts that changed rock and roll. ''Born to Run'' was accompanied by a $250,000 promotional campaign by Columbia/CBS, directed at both consumers and the music industry, led by the executive Glen Brunman. In the buildup to the album's release, CBS spent $40,000 on advertisements that utilized Springsteen's first two albums and Landau's "I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen" quote, which had been published in ''The Real Paper'' after Landau witnessed Springsteen perform "Born to Run" for the first time live in May 1975. The ads increased sales of both albums significantly enough to chart on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart, barely above number 60, two years after their original releases. Preorders for ''Born to Run'' were upwards of 350,000 units, more than twice the sales of ''Greetings'' and ''Wild'' combined. Released on August 25, 1975, ''Born to Run'' peaked at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart, topped the ''
Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...
'' chart and reached number 36 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. Elsewhere, ''Born to Run'' reached number 7 in Australia, the Netherlands, and Sweden, 20 in Ireland, 26 in Norway, 28 in New Zealand, and 31 in Canada. By the end of 1975, it had sold 700,000 copies. By 2022, ''Born to Run'' was certified seven times platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) in the US. The album was supported by two singles. The first, "Born to Run" with "Meeting Across the River" as the
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
, was released on August 25, 1975, reached number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and proved popular with radio stations and live audiences. The second, "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" backed by "She's the One", appeared in January 1976 and reached number 83.


Media hype and backlash

The album was highly anticipated and publicized. In October 1975, Springsteen became the first artist to appear on the covers of the magazines ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' and ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' simultaneously. ''Time''
Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.Maureen Orth focused on Columbia's promotional campaign and the hype surrounding Springsteen, insisting that he was an industry-made pop star. The question of hype became a story in itself, as critics wondered if Springsteen was legitimate or the product of record company promotion. The journalist John Sinclair of the '' Ann Arbor Sun'' claimed that Dave Marsh and Jon Landau were "co-conspirators on a massive Springsteen hype". Examinations on the hype continued after the album's release with articles by ''
BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...
'' and England's ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'', the latter arguing that Springsteen was "no hype" at all because he "is really good", and hype' only services artists who do not deserve the attention". In retrospect, Masur stated: "Most of the backlash against Springsteen came in the form of disgust with the hype, not the music, even though writing about the hype only fed the publicity machine." Springsteen was hurt by the media backlash, particularly an article by Henry Edwards in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that slandered both himself and ''Born to Run''. He felt that the publicity got out of his control and Columbia's campaign that labeled him the future of rock and roll was a mistake. He also reportedly felt a loss of innocence after the album's release, claiming to have reached a low point in the immediate months. When the backlash subsided, sales tapered off and ''Born to Run'' was off the chart after 29 weeks. In his 1999 book ''Flowers in the Dustbin'', former ''Rolling Stone'' and ''Newsweek'' writer James Miller wrote that the "mass-marketing" of Springsteen in the US and
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
's Ziggy Stardust in the UK led to the notion that "the age of innocence in rock was well and truly over—probably forever".


Critical reception

''Born to Run'' received highly positive reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
, particularly for its cinematic storytelling and Wall of Sound production.
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...
wrote in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' that Springsteen enhances romanticized American themes with his majestic sound, ideal style of rock and roll, evocative lyrics, and an impassioned delivery that defines a "magnificent" album. In ''The New York Times'',
John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to ''Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ki ...
described ''Born to Run'' as a masterpiece of "punk poetry" and "one of the great records of recent years". In ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'',
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
felt that Springsteen condenses a significant amount of American myth into songs, and often succeeds in spite of his tendency for histrionics and "pseudotragic beautiful loser fatalism". Several critics expected ''Born to Run'' to lead to Springsteen crossing over into mainstream success. Reviewers praised the vocal performances, music, and production. Compared to Springsteen's earlier albums, critics felt the lyrics were more accessible and possessed a "universal quality that transcends the sources and myths he drew upon".
Lester Bangs Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist and critic. He wrote for ''Creem'' and ''Rolling Stone'' magazines and was also a performing musician. The music critic Jim DeRogatis called ...
remarked in ''
Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...
'' that he is "no longer cramming as many syllables as possible into every line". The performances of the E Street Band were also highlighted, particularly Clemons. Some critics, including Bangs and Cocks, hailed Springsteen as a visionary destined to save the rock genre from, in
Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
's words, "its present state of enervation". Bangs said Springsteen "reminds us what it's like to love rock 'n' roll like you just discovered it, and then seize it and make it your own with certainty and precision".Lester Bangs, ''
Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...
'': .
Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As music critic and editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays, and profiles have appeared in publications worldwide ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' called ''Born to Run'' an "essential" album, stating: "It has been a long time since anyone in rock has put so much passion and ambition in an album." In '' Circus Raves'', Holden placed ''Born to Run'' amongst the decade's great albums with '' Layla'' (1970), '' Who's Next'' (1971), and '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), and David McGee placed Springsteen amongst rock greats such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry,
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
,
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
, and Bob Dylan. ''Born to Run'' received negative reviews from a few critics, who found the production excessive and "heavy-handed", the songs "formulaic", "an effusive jumble" and "undistinguished", and felt Springsteen himself lacked a definitive vocal personality. Langdon Winner argued in ''The Real Paper'' that, because Springsteen consciously adheres to traditions and standards extolled in rock criticism, ''Born to Run'' is "the complete monument to rock and roll orthodoxy". Mike Jahn of ''
High Fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...
'' complained about the songwriting, believing Springsteen was becoming typecast as a "character composer" after three albums.
Roy Carr Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the ''New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and ''Melody Maker'' magazines. Biography Born in Black ...
of the ''NME'' unfavorably compared Springsteen to David Bowie, believing he lacked the latter's "breath of vision". Carr also found the music uninspired and argued Springsteen himself "often tries too hard, going right over the top on many occasions as a result". More moderately, Jerry Gilbert of '' Sounds'' believed ''Born to Run'' was not as "essential" as ''Greetings'' and ''Wild'', but had enough "distinction" from the two albums to stand on its own: "I have grown to love it but newcomers to Bruce's music would be better advised to check out what the critics have been raving about in the past. Old fans will need to persevere." ''Born to Run'' was voted the third best album of 1975 in the
Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
, an annual critics poll run by ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'', behind
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and
the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...
's '' The Basement Tapes'' and
Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
's ''
Horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...
''. Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it 12th on his own year-end list.


Tours and Appel lawsuit

Springsteen and the E Street Band—Bittan, Clemons, Federici, Tallent, Weinberg, and Van Zandt—continued touring the US throughout the remainder of 1975 to promote ''Born to Run'', performing to larger audiences following the album's success. In mid-November, the band traveled to Europe to perform their first shows outside North America. The first gigs were two performances at the
Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...
in London. Springsteen was displeased with the venue's advertisements, personally tearing down the lobby posters and ordered the buttons with Landau's "future of rock and roll" quote printed on them not be given out. The first show drew mixed reviews from British reviewers. While his stage presence was positively received, others noted the difference in British and American cultures equated to poor audience responses. Springsteen thought the show was a disaster. Upon their return to the US, the band played five sold-out shows at the Tower Theater in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
at the end of December. By 1976, Springsteen had disagreements with Appel over the direction of his career; Appel wanted to capitalize on ''Born to Run'' success with a
live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...
, while Springsteen wanted to return to the studio with Landau. Springsteen was also concerned with the lack of personal revenue given the album's success. Realizing that the terms of his record contract were unfavorable, he sued Appel in July 1976 for ownership of his work. The resulting legal proceedings prevented him from recording in a studio for almost a year, during which he continued touring with the E Street Band. The second leg of the Born to Run Tour, nicknamed the Chicken Scratch tour, ran from March to May throughout the
American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...
. Springsteen wrote new material on the road and at his farm home in Holmdel, New Jersey, reportedly amassing between 40 and 70 songs. He continued performing for nine months between August 1976 and May 1977, dubbed the Lawsuit tour, debuting new songs such as "Something in the Night" and "The Promise" that became live favorites. The lawsuit reached a settlement on May 28, 1977; Springsteen bought out his contract with Appel, who received a lump sum and a share of
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...
from the first three albums. Springsteen and the band immediately entered the studio to record the follow-up to ''Born to Run'' at the start of June, with Landau co-producing. The recording sessions lasted nine months as Springsteen demanded perfection from the musicians and moved between different studios. The album, '' Darkness on the Edge of Town'', was finally released in June 1978, three years after ''Born to Run''.


Legacy

The success of ''Born to Run'' saved Springsteen's career and launched him to stardom. The album established a solid national fan base for Springsteen, which he built on with each subsequent release. According to Kirkpatrick, it "not only gave Springsteen his first hit record, it transformed seventies rock music while pushing the boundaries of what a singer-songwriter could achieve within the rock genre". Hilburn and Carlin compare ''Born to Run'' to albums that "established a sound and identity powerful enough to permanently alter the perceptions of those who heard it", including Elvis Presley's first album (1956) and ''
The Sun Sessions ''The Sun Sessions'' is a compilation album by American singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Records in 1976. The album contains Presley's earliest commercial recordings, made in Memphis, Tennessee, for Sun Records in 1954 and 1955. RCA issued th ...
'' (1976), the Beatles' American debut '' Meet the Beatles!'' (1964), Bob Dylan's ''
Highway 61 Revisited ''Highway 61 Revisited'' is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Dylan continued the musical approach of his previous album ''Bringing It All Back Home'' (1965), usi ...
'' (1965) and '' Blonde on Blonde'' (1966), and
Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
's ''
Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana (band), Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a Record label#Major versus independent record labels, major label an ...
'' (1991). Some critics argued ''Born to Run'' represented an amalgamation of the previous two decades of rock and roll that would push the next two decades of rock and beyond forward. In a 2005 article in ''Treble'', Hubert Vigilla referred to the album as "the Great American Rock and Roll Record". Springsteen and the E Street Band have performed ''Born to Run'' in its entirety on several occasions, including at the Count Basie Theatre in
Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...
, on May 7, 2008, at the
United Center The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, Illinois, on September 20, 2009, and other shows on the fall 2009 leg of the Working on a Dream Tour. It was also partly or entirely performed on certain shows of the 2013 Wrecking Ball World Tour. The full album was again performed on June 20, 2013, at the
Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currentl ...
in
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, England, and dedicated to the memory of the actor
James Gandolfini James John Gandolfini (; September 18, 1961June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007 ...
, who had died of a heart attack the previous day.


Analysis

The success of ''Born to Run'' was tied to the fears of growing old held by a generation of late teenagers. Having missed the 1950s beat era and 1960s
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
and
anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...
movements, teenagers in the mid-1970s felt disconnected in an era of political turmoil with the Vietnam War and the
resignation Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...
of president
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
. The decade was also plagued by
stagflation Stagflation is the combination of high inflation, stagnant economic growth, and elevated unemployment. The term ''stagflation'', a portmanteau of "stagnation" and "inflation," was popularized, and probably coined, by British politician Iain Mac ...
that affected working class Americans, resulting in the loss of the American dream for many. Commentators note that ''Born to Run'' collectively captured the ideals of an entire generation of American youths and "spoke to the cultural shift" between the 1960s and 1970s. Joshua Zeitz of ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'' summarized: "Springsteen embodied the lost '70s—the tense, political, working-class rejection of America's limitations." Springsteen himself stated in 2005:


Retrospective reviews

Retrospective reviewers consider ''Born to Run'' a masterpiece and one of Springsteen's best works. It has been described as a timeless record that set the stage for a career marked by a signature, distinctive sound and lyrics detailing aspirations towards the American dream. Further praise was given to the instrumentation between Springsteen and the E Street Band, and for its improvements over its predecessor, ''Wild''. Lou Thomas of
BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
described the album as "a classic, honest musical expression of hope, dreams and survival". Another writer from ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', Michael Hann, said ''Born to Run'' was "the album where Springsteen starts to make the transition from a musician to an idea, a representation of a set of personal and musical values". Despite its acclaim, ''Born to Run'' has attracted negative attention from writers who feel the production is "too overblown", and presents Springsteen as "more of a synthesist than an innovator".
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's William Ruhlmann conversely argues that "to call he albumoverblown is to miss the point", as doing so was Springsteen's intention, concluding that "it declared its own greatness with songs and a sound that lived up to Springsteen's promise". In a later piece for '' Blender'' magazine, Christgau wrote that the record's major flaw was its pompous declaration of greatness, typified by elements such as the "wall-of-sound, white-soul-at-the-opera-house" aesthetic and an "unresolved quest narrative". Nonetheless, he maintained ''Born to Run'' was important for how "its class-conscious songcraft provided a relief from the emptier pretensions of late-hippie arena-rock". ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' writer Christopher John Stephens argued the album's strengths can be viewed as its weaknesses.


Rankings

''Born to Run'' has frequently appeared on lists of the greatest albums of the 1970s and of all time. ''NME'' Matthew Taub argued that ''Born to Run'' is "probably the single best rock album of the 1970s, and easily one of the finest ever recorded". ''
American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...
'' included it in a 2023 list compiling 10 albums that shaped the 1970s music landscape. In 1987, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 8 in a list of the "100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years" and in 2003, the magazine ranked it 18th on its list of
the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...
, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revision and dropping a few slots to number 21 in the 2020 reboot of the list. In 2000, NPR included ''Born to Run'' in a list compiling the 100 most important albums in the 20th century. A year later, the TV network
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
named it the 27th-greatest album of all time, and in 2003, it was ranked as the most popular album of all time in the first Zagat Survey Music Guide. The album was also voted number 20 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's '' All Time Top 1000 Albums'' (2000), and was included in the book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' (2006). In
Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...
's 2024 list of the 100 Best Albums, the album ranked number 22. In 2003, ''Born to Run'' was added to the
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In December 2005, New Jersey representative Frank Pallone and 21 co-sponsors sponsored H.Res. 628, a bill that would have celebrated the 30th anniversary of ''Born to Run'' and Springsteen's overall career. In general, resolutions honoring native sons are passed with a simple voice vote. The bill failed upon referral to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.


Reissues

''Born to Run'' was reissued in 1977, 1980, and 1993. On November 15, 2005, Columbia reissued the album as an expanded
box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
to mark the album's 30th anniversary. Titled the ''30th Anniversary Edition'', the package included a remastered CD version of the original album, and a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
containing a documentary on the making of the album called ''Wings for Wheels'', and a
concert film A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. Ea ...
of Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on November 18, 1975. ''Wings for Wheels'' features interviews with Springsteen and the E Street Band members, with a bonus film of a 1973 performance in Los Angeles. The ''30th Anniversary Edition'' received critical acclaim, with several praising the remastered sound. ''Wings for Wheels'' won the
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for Best Long Form Music Video at the
49th Annual Grammy Awards The 49th Annual Grammy Awards was a ceremony honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2005, and ending September 30, 2006, in the United States. The awards were handed out on Sunday, February 11, 2007, at the Stapl ...
in 2007. In 2014, a new remaster by the engineer
Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...
was included in '' The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973–1984'', a box set composed of remastered editions of Springsteen's first seven albums. All seven albums were released separately as single discs for
Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...
in 2015.


Track listing


Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes, and Margotin and Guesdon. *
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
 – vocals, guitar (1–6, 8), harmonica (1), horn arrangement (2) The E Street Band *
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 synth ...
 – piano (tracks 1–4, 6–8), organ (4, 6, 8),
glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...
(1, 3),
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
(3, 6), backing vocals (1) * Clarence Clemons – saxophones (1–3, 5, 6, 8) * Garry Tallent – bass guitar (1–6, 8) *
Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' an ...
 – drums (1–4, 6, 8) * Ernest Carter – drums (5) * Danny Federici – organ (5), glockenspiel (5) *
David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tr ...
 – piano (5), Fender Rhodes piano (5), synthesizer (5) Additional musicians * Mike Appel – backing vocals (1) *
Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...
 – backing vocals (1), horn arrangement (2) *
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 music, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was ...
 – trumpet (2, 7), flugel horn (2) *
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 a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...
 –
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...
(2) *
David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...
 –
baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...
(2) * Wayne Andre – trombone (2) * Richard Davis –
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
(7) * Suki Lahav – violin (8) * Charles Calello – string arrangements and conductor (8) Technical *Bruce Springsteen – production * Mike Appel – production *
Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received that institution's Ahme ...
 – production (1–4, 6–8) *
Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...
 – engineering and mixing * Thom Panunzio, Corky Stasiak, Dave Thoener, Ricke Delena, Angie Arcuri, Andy Abrams – engineering assistants *Louis Lahav – engineering (5) *
Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...
 – mastering *Paul Prestopino – maintenance * John Berg, Andy Engel – album design * Eric Meola – photography


Charts


Certifications and sales


See also

* ''Born to Run'' (autobiography)


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Portions posted at * *


External links

*
Album lyrics and audio samples


{{DEFAULTSORT:Born to Run 1975 albums Bruce Springsteen albums Albums produced by Jon Landau Albums produced by Mike Appel Albums recorded at Record Plant (New York City) Columbia Records albums United States National Recording Registry albums United States National Recording Registry recordings Rock-and-roll albums Folk rock albums by American artists Pop rock albums by American artists Contemporary R&B albums by American artists