The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle - Springsteen, Bruce (CD 1986)

The day I picked up Born to Run at a Tower Records store in Chicago last summer I barely knew a thing about Bruce Springsteen. Oh sure, he was the guy who wrote Secret garden - the cool song from Jerry Maguire , one of my then favorite movies with Tom Cruise. But last summer I came to where the streets had no name, and I wanted to get a little more insight on who was called the Boss.


Now if there s ever going to be as many as 10 genuinely influential albums in my life, whatever happens, Born to run has secured a top 3 place. I was so impressed I went on and bought all Bruce records through Born in the USA , which to me marked the point where the E Street Band had finally run out of steam.


It never crossed my mind to try out the two albums that were before Born to run (1975). And who if not my British mate were to clue me in on the fact that the Boss had a record every bit as great already in 1974. The name of that album was The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle.


If one were to write a review that d do this album justice, it would have to take pages. Every song on WIESS deserves a separate review. A part of Asbury Park scene for three years at the time, Bruce reflects on a community according to his words partly imagined and partly real . Nostalgic and affectionate, each song here tells a story blending Bruce s own life experiences, memories of people he had met and legends of Asbury Park to form a stunning collage of the early 70s Jersey shore. The WILD, the INNOCENT... what better way to put a title?




One of the standout songs Bruce wrote for his sophomore album was 4th July, Asbury Park (Sandy). All of you who have heard it will agree: he never had a song like this again. Lyrically Sandy foreshadows the "let's-get-away-from-it-all-you-and-i" Born to run theme, but the music is so unpretentious and simple, with that chorus so beautiful, it s light years ahead of anything Bruce has written since. Not better, but different. He later said Sandy was a composite of some of the girls he d known along the Shore, while the closing down of the town served as a metaphor for the changes Bruce was experiencing in his own life.


Another obvious highlight is Incident on 57th Street. It all comes off perfectly here: his sense of humor, his gift of storytelling, of course his musicianship. And the band is just awesome, David Sancious s piano can anytime send those shivers down my spine. The most stunning thing, however, are Bruce s vocals: he s a natural born storyteller and he's able to make an ordinary line in what could be an ordinary song sound like nothing you ve ever heard before.


Well like a cool Romeo he made his moves, oh she looked so fine
Like a late Juliet she knew he d never be true but then she didn t really mind
Upstairs a band was playing, the singer was singing something about going home (and it s all about that something in his voice on going home )

She whispered Spanish Johnny you can leave me tonight but just don t leave me alone


And who, tell me who having heard this song once, was ever able to forget the chorus?


Oh good night, it s all right... Jane
I ll meet you tomorrow night on Lover s Lane
We may find it out on the street tonight baby
Or we may walk until the daylight maybe




Rosalita (Come out Tonight) is another song you can t bypass in a review of The Wild the Innocent... . Clemons s sax just shines, the funny lyrics are some of Bruce's wittiest (with another bit of a preview for Born to run ), and the bridge... that bridge is an artistic statement. And how bout the following verse:


Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
Closets are for hangers, winners use the door
So use it Rosie... that s what it s there for!!




Take these songs, add the early 70s mixture of blues, R & B and soul (The E Street Shuffle, Kitty s back), throw in an acoustic number for very good measure (Wild Billy s Circus Story), make every song clock in at six/seven minutes and always leave the listener gasping for breath, and you ll get a good idea of what this album is like. With only six songs it would already be worthy of five stars. But Bruce was on a creative high in 1974, as a result The Wild the Innocent... gets an epic closer, perhaps only rivaled in Boss s catalog by the majestic Jungleland - a year later. I m honestly finding it hard to pick one. New York City Serenade is not merely an artistic statement of rare strength, it is one of the greatest songs ever written.




So yes, Bruce Springsteen, he the Boss, went on to write plenty of albums over the course of the next 30 years and most of them range from good to great. But the fact remains he never again had an album quite like The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. It could be his early combination of unpretentiousness with pure artistic talent. It could be his vocals, it could be his stories. Heck, it could be his band. I think it's something that only happens in a musician's career once.


And if you ve never heard this album, and I m aware we music reviewers use this phrase often, YET if you ve never heard this album, you can t really comprehend what that something is. I call it magic. See Born to run may go down as my personal favorite... The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle will be remembered as one of rock & roll's greatest.


Thanks for reading.





And here's to everyone who made me stick around for another 100. You know who you are. Thank you.