man.. if songs like Born to Run or Thunder Road or Rosalita do nothing for you you need your pulse checked...For me I like Springsteen a lot up to about 1982 but I think he fell of a cliff after that.....I love his first album but it is admittedly a very good Dylan forgery....
Springsteen in DC used to play at the old Childe Harold when he first started coming down.. its hard for me to imagine that having been at the place (RIP).. .one of my dream shows if I had a time travel machine would have been the College Park show in the mid 70s.. probably 73 or 74.. the date is on the net but I can't be bothered.. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened up for I think Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry closed with Bruce and the E Street Band backing him.. there is a very funny video of Bruce talking about the experience included in the movie Hail Hail Rock and Roll (and I'm sure on youtube).... unfortunately no audio exists
Curiously enough his first band- Steel Mill- had a HUGE following in Richmond, VA but didn't make it anywhere else....Springsteen decided to break it up .. I have a Steel Mill bootleg cd somewhere around here but am scared to listen to it..
John Hammond- pardon me a little bit more credibility than Killsally (with all due respect of course)- the greatest A&R man in the history of music then signed him to Columbia and the rest is history.. John Hammond for those unaware is the same guy who first signed Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Ray Vaughan and countless others...
