Bruce+Springsteen

Notes. Bruce Springsteen.

"Bruce Springsteen Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." //Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com//. Web. 06 Oct. 2011. .


 * 1) Born on Sept. 23, 1949, in the town of Freehold, New Jersey
 * 2) Bruce Springsteen played the bar circuit while assembling his famous E Street Band
 * 3) His breakout record "Born to Run" united arena rock with human-size tales of working-class America.
 * 4) Bruce Springsteen was raised in a working-class household in Freehold Borough
 * 5) Father, Doug Springsteen, had trouble holding down a steady job and worked at different times as a bus driver, millworker and prison guard.
 * 6) Adele Springsteen, Bruce's mother, brought in steadier income as a secretary in a local insurance office.
 * 7) Young Bruce and his father had a difficult relationship
 * 8) Bruce Springsteen first fell in love with rock 'n' roll when he saw [|Elvis Presley] perform on // The Ed Sullivan Show //.
 * 9) Springsteen's mother took out a loan to buy him a $60 Kent guitar for his 16th birthday, and he hasn't stopped playing the instrument since then.
 * 10) In 1967, an 18-year-old Springsteen was drafted for military service in the Vietnam War
 * 11) Springsteen failed his physical, largely due to his deliberately "crazy" behavior and a concussion previously suffered in a motorcycle accident.
 * 12) Springsteen's 4-F classification — unfit for military service — freed him from having to go to Vietnam and allowed him to pursue music full-time.
 * 13) By the late 1960s, Springsteen was spending most of his time in Asbury Park on the New Jersey Shore,
 * 14) he forged his unique sound and introduced audiences to the gravelly baritone voice for which he would later become famous.
 * 15) It was there that he first met the musicians who would later form his E Street Band.
 * 16) Around this time, Springsteen also acquired his nickname, "The Boss," because he had a habit of collecting money earned during shows and then distributing it evenly among his band mates.
 * 17) After signing with Columbia Records, Springsteen released his first studio album in 1972. //Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.// garnered critical acclaim but slow sales.
 * 18) alot of people compared him to bob dylan because of his introspective lyrics and poetic style
 * 19) this did not immediately help Springsteen make it big. Springsteen and the E Street Band followed their debut with //The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle// later the same year but found themselves lauded by critics but largely dismissed by the public.
 * 20) Finally, in 1975, after over a year in the studio, Springsteen released a third album, //Born to Run//, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and skyrocketed him to fame.
 * "When I was growing up, there were two things that were unpopular in my house," the singer later recalled. "One was me, and the other was my guitar."
 * Years later, however, Springsteen suggested that his fraught relationship with his father had been important for his art. "I've gotta thank him," Springsteen said upon his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "because what would I conceivably have written about without him? I mean, you can imagine that if everything had gone great between us, we would have had disaster. I would have written just happy songs — and I tried it in the early '90s and it didn't work… Anyway, I put on his work clothes and I went to work. It was the way that I honored him. My parents' experience forged my own. They shaped my politics, and they alerted me to what is at stake when you're born in the U.S.A."

second source.

"Whitman, Springsteen, and the American Working Class." //Frankenschulz.de :: Home//. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. .


 * 1) American author Walt Whitman was known for writing about the working class during mid 1800's
 * 2) Whitman thought working class of future would have better existence
 * 3) Springsteen begins discussion of working class in early songs
 * 4) Springsteen wants the future that Whitman envisoned to come true
 * 5) Springsteen does not go about "romanticing" working class like some say Whitman did
 * 6) Springsteen's songs are not all positive
 * 7) He explores darker side of working class
 * 8) as a member of this working class, his family/friends give him plenty of first hand knowledege of struggles
 * 9) Springsteen sings about escaping the dead-end day jobs but cruising in cars and fantasizing about life
 * 10) //Born to Run// album in 1975 reveals the true side of thw working class better than any artist before
 * 11) Vietnam War issues begin to show up in Springsteen's work
 * 12) //Born in the USA// in 1984 is a huge statement about working class Americans coming home from being drafted
 * 13) Springsteen also writes/sings about working class women
 * 14) "cares enough about future of his country's working class people to bring them attention through popular art"
 * 15) Springsteen "not a poet in the same academic/intellectual sense like Whitman"
 * 16) "important contemporary artist"
 * 17) questions "land of Opportunity" in his songs
 * 18) songs don't often have happy endings
 * 19) unlike Whitman's optimism Springsteen's lyrics are tough to hear sometimes
 * 20) this allows Springsteen to connect with his listeners

third source.

"The Religion of Bruce Springsteen, Rock Singer." //World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics//. Web. 09 Oct. 2011. .

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 * 1) Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen born on September 23, 1949
 * 2) both parents devout Catholics
 * 3) scraped money together to send him to Catholic grade school
 * 4) bright but not a good student
 * 5) always in trouble with nuns/teachers
 * 6) attended public high school
 * 7) still loner with few friends
 * 8) "it was like I didn't exist" he says of those days
 * 9) music would provide Springsteen with escape
 * 10) by age of 9 experimenting with guitar
 * 11) listening to Elvis
 * 12) after success of //Born in the USA// he began to become rich
 * 13) starting making contributions to charitable causes
 * 14) participated in "We are the World" effort (donated his time)
 * 15) "The ideas that I sing about in my songs these people put into action in real life. Fifteen percent of the population in this country lives below the poverty line, and for no good reason. It's gotten so we just accept this as a fact of life -- that some people are poor and will stay poor -- and that's not right." Bruce Springsteen
 * 16) "It's been a long time since a mainstream rock star made an album that asks such tough questions and refuses to settle for easy answers -- let along an album that suggests that perhaps there //are// no answers." Dave Marsh 450
 * 1) Catholic Social Justice teachings appear to have become a strong influence on his adult political beliefs and activism
 * 2) Springsteen is not known to have been an active churchgoer as an adult
 * 3) Springsteen made sizable contributions to local food banks, organizations set up to feed the needy. He also made donations to other causes, including medical clinics and strike funds for workers involved in labor disputes
 * 4) Springsteen considered himself an artist, not a politician, and he had no intention of being used as a political football by others who wished to invoke his image

fourth source.

"Bruce Springsteen Fact Sheet - Get a Quick Dose of Springsteen Stats." //Classic Rock Legends of the 60s and 70s - Your Tour Starts Here!// Web. 09 Oct. 2011. .


 * 1) The E street Band members are: Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, David Sancious, Gary Tallent, Vini Lopez
 * 2) Springsteen dismissed the E Street Band in 1989 only to be reunited in 1999 for a world tour.
 * 3) Bruce Springsteen has sold more than **61 Million Albums** in the USA.
 * 4) Grammy Awards - The Grammy's are the only peer-presented award to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position. (won 11 times)
 * 5) Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar; born 9/23/49) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the fourteenth annual induction dinner 3/15/99. Bono (of U2) was his presenter.
 * 6) Bono (of U2) was his presenter.
 * 7) In Freehold New Jersey, USA - 1954 thru 1971 Bruce performed in numerous bands
 * 8) but got his first big break in 1972 after his manager Mike Appel secured an audition with Columbia Records
 * 9) ** Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums ** #18 Born To Run #85 Born In The USA
 * 10) Fans have used the major search engines to find Bruce Springsteen lyrics, tab, discography, stats, CD's etc. over **65,000 times** in a recent one month period.
 * 11) #1 Hits; Trapped - 1985, Brilliant Disguise - 1987, Tunnel Of Love - 1987, Human Touch - 1992
 * 12) #2 Hits; Dancing In The Dark - 1984, One Step Up - 1988, Better Days - 1992
 * 13) #3 Hits; Cover me - 1984, Glory Days - 1985
 * 14) #4 Hits; I'm On fire - 1985, War - 1986
 * 15) #5 Hits; Hungry Heart - Pop Singles - 1980, All That Heaven will Allow - 1988, Secret Garden - 1997
 * 16) #6 Hits; My Hometown - 1986, 57 channels (And Nothin On) - 1992, Roll Of The Dice - 1992
 * 17) #8 Hit; Born In The USA - 1984
 * 18) #9 Hits; I'm Goin Down - 1985, Streets Of Philadelphia - 1994
 * 19) 1984 - **Dancing In The Dark** - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (first Grammy)
 * 20) 1994 - **Streets Of Philadelphia** - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song, Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Song Of The Year/New Song Of The Year