When Bruce Springsteen was originally signed to a record label, it was because they were fans of his Bob Dylan-like style, and he certainly wouldn’t have complained about that.
Springsteen himself has admitted that Bob Dylan was one of his major inspirations when he first started making music, as he was deeply drawn to ‘Zimbo’s’ ability to hold a mirror up to the world using the power of his lyrics.
Of course, the extent of his influence spread far and wide, and you couldn’t just wear his impact on your sleeve and expect to break through in the music business; you had to create something more cutting-edge than that. Springsteen realised this a couple albums in and so decided to divvy up a record that he could call perfect. It was this bold decision which gave rise to what many (rightly) consider a classic: Born to Run.
“When I did Born to Run, I thought, ‘I’m going to make the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made’,” said ‘The Boss’ when reflecting on the writing process of his album. While many would argue he did, Springsteen managed to bury his head so deep into the creative process that he ended up resenting what he made, such that “after it was finished?” he recalled, “I hated it! I couldn’t stand to listen to it. I thought it was the worst piece of garbage I’d ever heard”.
Luckily, Springsteen did end up releasing the album, and the world was grateful to him for it. Afterwards, he needed some time away from music following such a stressful process, but then had to learn the hard way to be careful what you wish for, as that gap ended up being over two years long. No, this elongated period wasn’t because he resented Born to Run, but because he found himself in legal bother.
When Springsteen first signed record deals and contracts with his manager, Mike Appel, they were written out so that he would never see the full benefits from his work. Following the success of Born to Run, the singer wanted to get a handle on who actually owned the property, so he sued the axed Appel with his future manager, Jon Landau. In response, Appel sued Springsteen and subsequently stopped him from working on any future music with Landau.
The whole legal stint put Springsteen’s career on hold, and he was only able to perform live, rather than make any studio recordings. Given Born to Run had been such a success, there was a large Bruce Springsteen-shaped hole in the music business, one that other artists tried to fill. However, it wasn’t until he came back onto the scene with Darkness on the Edge of Town, having settled his lawsuit, that he showed everyone why he was called ‘The Boss’. In the end, he found a silver lining in the derailment the legalese brought as it helped him gather his thoughts.
“I was very frightened at the train and how fast it was going when we got on,” said Springsteen when reflecting on the success of Born to Run, “In a funny way, the lawsuit was not such a bad thing. Everything stopped, and we had to build it up again in a different place.”
