Bruce Springsteen ‘Born to Run’ 50th anniversary main event held in NJ

Not only did Bruce show up , but the whole E Street Band did, too.

A two-song performance of “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run” by Springsteen and the E Street Band capped the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music’s “Born to Run” 50th anniversary main event Sept. 6 at the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.

“I always wanted to say this — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!” said Bob Santelli, founding executive director of the archives.

This was a historic version of the band with David Sancious on keyboards and Ernest “Boom” Carter on drums, playing along with Max Weinberg.

Sancious and Carter left the E Street Band before “Born to Run” was released in 1975.

The two drummers smiled at each other during “Born to Run” and kept the beat going strong. Carter played on the single “Born to Run” and Weinberg played on the album.

Steven Van Zandt, guitar; Garry Tallent, bass; Roy Bittan, piano; and Eddie Manion, sax, composed the rest of the band.

Springsteen and Van Zandt exchanged big smiles after the “I got this guitar and you know I learned how to make it talk” line from “Thunder Road.”

Both played the lines accompanying guitar riff. Springsteen directed the “Born to Run” count out to Sancious and Carter at the end of the song.

“The full E Street Band!” Springsteen said.

The performance capped a day of panels on all aspects of “Born to Run,” from the album cover — Springsteen’s sister Pamela Springsteen interviewed cover pic photographer Eric Meola — to the writing and recording of the album.

“If the next one didn’t click, I’m back in Asbury Park but with a lot of debt,” Springsteen said of stakes of the album, released on Aug. 25, 1975.

Springsteen producers Mike Appel and Jon Landau joined the Boss on stage at the Pollak , as did “Born to Run” engineer Jimmy Iovine.

“We’d try every crazy thing in the book,” Springsteen said. “I had a cast of true believers when I really needed it.”

“Born to Run” was a hit and it saved Springsteen’s recording career.

“The record sounds exactly the way I dreamed it,” Springsteen said. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The Max Weinberg Jukebox show scheduled for Stone Pony Summer Stage on Saturday has been canceled due to the weather. Instead, two shows, 7:30 and 10 p.m. will take place, with the possibility of a third later in the night.

All tickets have been refunded and attendees much purchase new tickets. Visit stoneponyonline.com for more information.

More Bruce Springsteen highlights

On Sept. 5, Springsteen filmmaker Thom Zimny showed a packed Pollak Theater “Jungleland: 1975,” composed from rare footage by Barry Rebo of Springsteen and the E Street Band in the studio and performing “Jungleland” at the Bottom Line in New York City.

The studio footage was filmed over one day in January 1975 at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York, while recording “Jungleland.” The process was intense and tedious but open to some comic relief, such as Springsteen and the band breaking into an impromptu version of the ’50s pop hit “The Glory of Love.”

Zimny was joined on stage by Weinberg and journalist Erik Flannigan after the viewing.

“That was a typical evening, and it was one evening, only one evening, working out those sections,” Weinberg said. “In the 50 years, I must say, after seeing this, we sounded pretty damn good.”

The Springsteen Archives hosted an opening reception for the “Born to Run 50: Photographs by Eric Meola,” featuring 25 outtakes from the “Born to Run” cover photo shoot, at Monmouth University’s Rechnitz Hall DiMattio Gallery on Sept. 4.

Meola addressed the crowd, which included fellow Springsteen photographers Pam Springsteen (the Boss’ sister), Nicki Germaine, Rob DeMartin and Danny Clinch. E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent and Zimny also attended.

“I’d like to say something more logical than it’s fantastic,” said Meola of his reception at the Jersey Shore.

The iconic cover image of “Born to Run” features Springsteen and Clarence Clemons

“I had a pretty good sense that I had it but I didn’t know how well I had it until I developed the film myself that day,” Meola said. “I made prints that weekend and I realized that I had gotten some really important shots.”

On Sept. 3, the Born to Run: A Jersey Shore Celebration Concert took place in the Pollak, where noted area talent performed “Born to Run” in its entirety and original songs inspired by the album.

Gordon Brown, one half of the Williams Honor duo with Reagan Richards, remarked on the evening’s legacy building effect.

“I figured out that ‘Born to Run’ was written two houses down from where I was writing songs (in the West End section of Long Branch) for my (previous) band Highway 9,” Brown said. “I had no idea I was walking in the footsteps of giants! We are so proud of our neighborhood and we are so proud of Bob (Santelli) and Eileen (Chapman, both of the Springsteen Archives) for making all this happen for everybody and preserving our legacy for years to come.”

Other performers included Pat Roddy, Jake Thistle, Pat Guadagno and Richard Blackwell, who played on “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,” and Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, a founding member of the E Street Band.

Lopez’s poetic street jive rendition of “Meeting Across the River” drew a standing ovation from the packed theater.

A “Born to Run” academic conference on Sept. 7 in Monmouth’s Pozycki Hall will conclude the week. Footage of the week’s programs will be available to view when the Springsteen Archives moves into its permanent location on the Long Branch section of campus in the spring.

The Springsteen Archives, currently located in a house on campus, preserves and promotes the legacy of Springsteen and his role in American music while honoring and celebrating American greats like Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra and more.

There are more than 40,000 items from nearly 50 countries, ranging from books and concert memorabilia to articles and promotional materials. The collection serves the research and informational needs of music fans, scholars and authors from around the world.

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