Bruce Springsteen Book

Even though I'm reading Marsh's Two Hearts, which includes both of his Springsteen books and a fair amount of new material, I wanted to review Born to Run on its own. In the intro to Two Hearts, Marsh writes about having set out to create a new genre, the "Rock Book," incorporating biography, fan's notes, photos (sadly not reproduced in Two Hearts), music biz book, discography, and tour chronology. BTR did/does all that, but most importantly, it captures the energy of Springsteen's emergence, the reasons why he mattered then, which have been the foundation of why he matters now. I'm teaching the book to a class full of freshmen, only a few of whom were real fans when they signed up; most are there because their parents are fans and/or they're interested in music more generally or the 70s and 80s in historical perspective. Three weeks in, most of them get it. That's partly listening of course (and tonight we're watching a full concert video from 1975), but it's also because Marsh frames things so deftly. BTR, like the record its named for, communicates the vision of rock and roll (and the soul which is so much a part of Bruce's sound and sensibility) as something that can save your life. Jungleland and Backstreets got me through some very difficult times and BTR knows how and why. If you're a Springsteen fan and haven't read it, do. Upgraded my review from the four stars it was in memory to the five it deserves for being a crucial point of reference.