50 years ago, the final touches were added to a historic album

Next year is a big anniversary for one of the most prolific and influential albums in rock and roll history.

"Born to Run," Bruce Springsteen’s best single, was released in August 1975. The album "Born to Run" that followed the single was tedious to produce and almost ended Bruce Springsteen’s faith in making future music.

It was in 1974 when the final changes were made to the verse, chorus intro and outro of what would be one of the top fifty songs ever written.

According to Bruce in a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, this prolonged process almost made him question his future in rock and roll and making records.

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The amount of support for his first two albums (The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle, and Greetings from Asbury Park) was not what Bruce had expected. Only a few radio stations were aware of the second album and left Bruce scratching his head. Couple that with the fact that Bruce had originally signed with record and hit maker Clive Davis and Columbia Records.

Clive left while Bruce was working on the "Born to Run" album and Bruce questioned his future with Columbia and recording music.

Bruce and the band worked hard on the album and the writing and setting of the songs were composed on a spinet piano in a tiny house on West End Court in Long Branch, NJ.

Bruce had the piano in the front room so he could look outside the tiny window. When called upon the bandmates, particularly Stevie Van Zandt, would come over listen and add to the songs.

Photo by Dolo Iglesias on Unsplash

It was in May 1974 when the process of laying down the tracks began at the 914 Studios in New York. The process was completed at the Record Plant studios in New York.

Columbia did a smart thing and released the Born to Run single before the album. Radio stations and music lovers began to play it frequently and by the time the album was released they could not wait to get it.

Bruce was candid about his future, if "Born to Run" did not work, he would not go into the private sector, he has stated many times, “what else am I going to do.” And the rest they say is history.