This one’s for the history books.<\/p>\n
A two-song performance of \u201cThunder Road\u201d and \u201cBorn to Run\u201d by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band capped the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music\u2019s \u201cBorn to Run\u201d 50th anniversary main event Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.<\/p>\n
It was historic, as pre-1975 E Street Band members David Sancious on keyboards and Ernest \u201cBoom\u201d Carter on drums joined in for the performance. They played along with Max Weinberg, drums; Steven Van Zandt, guitar; Garry Tallent, bass; Roy Bittan, piano; and Eddie Manion, sax.<\/p>\n
The performance was a suitable ending for a magical day of memories, revelations and laughs with multiple panels. Springsteen participated in three. Especially revealing was Springsteen and Bob Santelli, founding executive director of the Springsteen Archives, discussing the writing of the song \u201cBorn to Run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eddie Manion (L-R), Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Ernest ‘Boom’ Carter, David Sancious, Steve Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen and Roy Bittan at the Springsteen Archives “Born to Run\u201d 50th anniversary main event Saturday, Sept. 6 at the Pollak Theatre.<\/p>\n
Springsteen wrote the song a few blocks way from the Pollak Theatre in a bungalow on West End Court in the West End section of Long Branch.<\/p>\n
Below are five revelations from Saturday’s \u201cBorn to Run\u201d panel with Springsteen and Santelli.<\/p>\n
1. Wendy Reveled<\/h2>\n
Who was Wendy from \u201cBorn to Run?\u201d Springsteen chose the name Wendy because he had a Peter Pan poster with Wendy on it at his West End Court house.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019m not sure how it speaks to my adult life,\u201d said Springsteen to laughter. \u201cActually, it explains quite a bit about that but I had it up right over my bed and I was writing the song and I said ‘Oh, Wendy!\u201d<\/p>\n
Springsteen added that he still has the Wendy poster in his Colts Neck home.<\/p>\n
2. New York City subway connection to ‘Born to Run’<\/h2>\n
Springsteen found the inspiration for \u201cBorn to Run\u201d in a record store located in the New York City subway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a subway shop that sold repressed singles,\u201d Springsteen said. \u201cDuane Eddy, Phil Spector, I love the Beach Boys — I wanted to write about the basic subjects of rock ‘n’ roll, which were cars and girls. I wanted to tackle those subjects but I don\u2019t want to sound like a retro act so I have to invest in something that\u2019s purely mine and it speaks to the times.\u201d<\/p>\n
The beginning of \u201cBorn to Run\u201d was inspired by the beginning of Little Eva\u2019s 1962 hit \u201cThe Loco-Motion,\u201d Springsteen said.<\/p>\n
3. The ‘dread’ factor<\/h2>\n
Springsteen wanted the song \u201cBorn to Run\u201d to have roots in the classics, but he also wanted to contemporize the setting. This was the time of Vietnam, Watergate, gas lines and a shaky economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I got to put my characters in the car but I got to put all these things in the car with them — loss of innocence, cynicism and a lot of dread, a lot of dread,\u201d Springsteen said. \u201cThat was the way I took those subjects and shaped them to the times.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Origin of phrase ‘Born to Run’ still a mystery<\/h2>\n
\u201cThe phrase Born to Run came into my head,\u201d Springsteen said. \u201cIt must have been a movie or I\u2019d seen it on a car going around the Circuit (in Asbury Park) or something and I picked it up. I still don\u2019t know where it came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music\u2019s \u201cBorn to Run\u201d 50th anniversary main event Saturday, Sept. 6 at the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.<\/p>\n
5. The cinematic origins of ‘Born to Run’<\/h2>\n
Both \u201cBorn to Run\u201d the song and album have a cinematic quality, and that was the intentional, Springsteen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a kid, from the time I was very young, my mother would take us (to the movies) and if you were 13 you had to pay a dollar. If you were 12 you had to pay 35 cents,\u201d Springsteen said. \u201cMy mother said ‘Get down, get down!’ and I had to slump way down. How old are you son? Twelve! Twelve!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBorn to Run\u201d was released Aug. 25, 1975.<\/p>\n
A \u201cBorn to Run\u201d academic conference on Sunday, Sept. 7 in Monmouth’s Pozycki Hall will conclude the week. Footage of the week’s programs, including Saturday’s main event, will be available to view when the Springsteen Archives move into its permanent location on the Long Branch section of the campus in the spring.<\/p>\n