Why he was Born to Run

The Boss has returned and this time he’ll be hanging out on the top two floors of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as part of their latest exhibit, From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen.

By: Jay Minkin
Date: 03/27/2009
“My father wants me to be a lawyer, my mother wants me to be an author, but I got this guitar, you see,” said Bruce Springsteen during his storytelling portion of “Growing Up” on Aug 09, 1978 at the old Cleveland Agora. The Boss has returned and this time he’ll be hanging out on the top two floors of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as part of their latest exhibit, From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen.  CLEVE-LAND boys and girls get to witness the first major artifact-driven exhibit about Springsteen’s legendary career and possibly the most extensive of any artist featured at the museum.

The exhibit’s first section is dedicated to Bruce’s early days before E Street through the release of Born To Run. Scrapbooks holding photos and press clippings from The Castiles include Bruce’s 19th birthday party. The upper floor of the exhibit will touch on his songwriting manuscripts, stage props, posters from his many tours, and several guitars, along with instruments from the E Street Band. One of those items includes his beat up custom Fender Esquire that is on the cover of Born to Run. Many of the songs, like “Born in The USA” show several versions as Springsteen fine-tuned the lyrics until he was satisfied with the final version.

One of the coolest parts of the exhibit is hearing Bruce discuss some of the items you’ll be viewing. There will also be audio recordings of The Castiles, the 1974 Boston show where Jon Landau first saw Springsteen and wrote in his review “I saw rock-and-roll’s future and its name is Bruce Springsteen,” demo recordings sent to John Hammond at Columbia Records, and the legendary 1978 Agora concert. There’s also a video highlight station of rare Springsteen performances that will take you back to those days of yesteryear. 

So pony up and become a member of the Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame at www.rockhall.com, because this is one time you’ll enjoy spending quality time with The Boss.

Reach Jay at blues4bird@aol.com.

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