From Sing Sing to the Super Bowl: 36 Years with Springsteen

When I met Bruce Springsteen back in 1972, I could not have imagined that the scrawny kid in the hooded sweatshirt from New Jersey, whose first "record" (as we used to call them) had not yet come out, would one day play the Super Bowl -- let alone be star attraction at the Inaugural of any president, after helping get that first African-American elected. And to think that I met him in... Sing Sing Prison.

As you must have heard by now, Springsteen is doing the 12-minute gig at halftime of the Super Bowl on Sunday, and delivered one tremendously witty performance already--at a press conference yesterday. This follows his high-profile concerts for Obama last fall, and his spot on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for the pre-Inaugural concert. This political activity is not exactly a shock by now, especially since he also sang for Kerry in 2004.

But it continues an amazing evolution I have watched closely since 1972, when I first met "Brucie" -- at Sing Sing -- and helped write and publish the first magazine article about him. But for the first few years I knew him I swear I never heard a "political" sentiment escape his lips. Now he has become a new kind of political "Boss."

Bruce did me a solid last year, writing a brief preface for my book on Iraq and the media, So Wrong for So Long, but his "solid" for Obama -- runnin' on the Barack streets? -- meant much more, obviously.

Now, to Sing Sing, in a nutshell: For most of the 1970s, I worked as the #2 editor at the legendary rock/political magazine Crawdaddy. One day in early December 1972, I got a call from a fast-talking chap named Mike Appel, inviting me to a promo gig for his client, someone named Bruce Springsteen (I presumed it was "Springstein"). Actually, I knew the name somewhat because Billboard had reported that a kid had been signed by John Hammond at Columbia who just might be "the new Dylan" -- a claim that had doomed many before him.

Anyway, the invite was only modestly intriguing until Mike mentioned that the gig was in... Sing Sing Prison, an hour or so up the river from Manhattan. Well, I'd always wanted to step inside The Big House (as a visitor, anyway), and always had a weakness for those "new Dylans," so I accepted, as did my friend and top editor, Peter Knobler.

So we showed up on the morning of December 7, 1972, my birthday, under an overpass of the West Side Highway and climbed into the band's van, where we learned that besides Peter and myself, not a single other member of the New York rock world had accepted the invite.

Off we went. Space prevents a full account of that amazing day at Sing Sing -- for one thing, an inmate jumped on stage and we all feared for our lives as he whipped out a...tiny sax -- but we loved Bruce, the guys and his music enough to go see him that night play his first E Street Band show in NYC at a small club. About 12 others were in the audience.

Then we got a test pressing of Greetings from Asbury Park. We were so knocked out we produced a 10,000-word piece for our next issue titled, "Who is Bruce Springsteen and Why Are We Saying These Wonderful Things About Him?"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Greg Mitchell's new book, "Why Obama Won: The Making of a President 2008," includes a couple sections on Springsteen.

Comments

[carolap]

So I have the same question as SoFlaJet, anyway we can read the article today?
There is no one else like Bruce. He's the best!!!! Such tallent, such charisma, he can control a crowd!!!

[SoFlaJet]

Greg,
Is there anywhere we can read that prophetic Crawdaddy article today?

[RobBlack]

I don't know how many Springsteen articles will be written on this site (this is the 3rd I've seen.) I guess the serious music lovers may have to endure a few more until after the Super Bowl. As I stated after I read the initial article, when I first got wind of Bruce and particularly after hearing Born To Run, I figured he had no chance of a future. Don't get me wrong, he seems like a really nice guy. By the mid 70s, the breadth and quality of music was exploding. There was Marley and Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Gil Scott Heron, the OJays, Curtis Mayfield, and many more. I couldn't believe at that time that anyone would consider Bruce in the class with these geniuses. Despite the Time and Newsweek mag stunt, Bruce's impact on the 70s music scene was inconsequential. But here we are again, a big occasion is at hand and the media is fawning over Bruce. Some nice guys (and ordinary artists) do finish first.

[gavrielle]

sour grapes much?

[RobBlack]

Not really. I don't listen to him so it doesn't bother me. There's too many incredibly talented folks and too rich a history of music to get bogged down with what the mainstream deems as significant. Hey, we all have opinions and I'm just expressing mine. Music's a very subjective thing and if you folks think Bruce can sing and Born To Run is great music, what can I tell you?

[SoFlaJet]

Ok let's see...
Marley? Not with us
Gaye...gon­e but not forgotten
Stevie? still great not as prolific as he once was
Steely Dan? Once upon a timers
Gil Scott Heron? Please
The O'Jays? a nostalgia group
Curtis...t­he big gig in the sky

Bruce is STILL creating and still writing great songs and still playing even those songs FROM the 70's in the right key-unlike so many other aging rockers.

Bruce "ordinary"? Yea OK Rob

[Robert Bell]

you know what's kind of funny about this is Bruce does sound ok when compared to himself in 1975 because he couldn't go anywhere but up (albeit he's never gotten to the levels of the folks I've mentioned and so many more.) I'm not sure of your point though. Bruce just doesn't measure up to the people I'm talking about whether they're alive or not. And Gil Scott is one of the most important artists ever.

[Sherri Houtz]

zzzzzzackl­yyyyyyyy..­...Love ya SoFlaJet

[Dukedraven]

And knowing Springsteen as a fan, he probably played for 4 hours without stopping. When he opened with "Get out of Denver" at Mile High, the crowd rose to their feet and kept on standing. He's incredible--wore me out!

[BetterDays105]

I have been a fan for 35 years and, after family and friends, Bruce Springsteen has brought me some of the most wonderful moments of my life. It is so great that he joined those of us who worked to bring change to our nation and our world. Better days indeed!