When Mike Apple – Bruce Springsteen’s first producer and manager – heard the 22-year-old baby boss in November 1971, he wasn’t surprised.
“He sang two songs on the piano … and it was just two songs, nothing,” Appel told the Post about Springsteen’s audition. “’Is that all you have?’ I told him. He says, ‘Well, that’s all I’ve got right now.’ And I said, ‘Well, if you’re going to make an album, you’re going to have a lot of songs – and they’ve got to be better than these.’
Three months later, Springsteen returned to Appel’s Laurel Canyon Productions office in midtown Manhattan, armed with a guitar and several new tunes. “The first one to play is ‘It’s hard to be a saint in the city,'” Apple said. “That crushed me. It was love at first hearing because the words are so special. And I said, ‘You have to sing that again, because I want to make sure you mean what you say.’
“It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” would be a true godsend for Springsteen, who recorded the lyric for his debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ” — released 50 years ago on January 5, 1973. For the 73-year-old New Jersey native, who is still running a strong 20 LPs And Roll Fame has begun.
But on “Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ,” you’ll hear the genesis of a young genius showing his age and passion on songs ranging from the youthful “Grow Up” to the nostalgic “For You.” “The best thing is not too much, and not too little,” says Apple. “That’s where you rank, Bruce. you are.”
The LP’s title was inspired by the Long Branch-born, freehold-bred beach town where Springsteen was schooled in rock as a teenager, playing at clubs like Student Prince, the Sunshine Inn and the Upstage Club. The latter was where Springsteen reunited with some of the “Hello” players — keyboardist David Sancius, bassist Gary Tallent and drummer Vinny “Mad Dog” Lopez — who would go on to become members of the original E Street Band.
Indeed, Sancius played a key role in bringing about the band’s legendary moniker. “That was the way I grew up in Belmar, New Jersey,” Sancius told the Post. “It was very mixed race and religion, but it was very peaceful. My mother let us practice there. [at home] Occasionally. And I think he liked the sound of it.
After playing in Steel Mill (called First Boy) in a band with Lopez and other future E Streeters Steven Van Zandt (guitar) and Danny Federici, Springsteen was signed as a solo artist to Apple’s Laurel Canyon Productions and then to Columbia Records – the legendary music man. Clive Davis – in 1972
“I was given carte blanche,” Appel said. “And I thought what we could do is have Bruce’s music written where the lyrics are, so that the arrangements are a little more sophisticated, more original and more distinctive.”
Springsteen was initially billed as “the next Bob Dylan,” but Davis suggested they step it up. “Clive said, ‘You’ve got a lot of songs here with just Bruce’s acoustic. There’s no reason we can’t have a little band behind Bruce,” Appel said.
Enter the E Street Band. Lopez remembers getting the call from Springsteen to play at his first concert. “I used to work at the boatyard,” Lopez told the Post. “And the owner comes in one day, and he says, ‘Hey, this guy Bruce is on the phone’… and he says, ‘Hey, I got a record deal. Now we record. Well, do you want to do it?’ ‘Of course!’ I told him.
But longtime sideman Van Zandt hasn’t changed on guitar. “Stevie Van Zandt was small at first,” Apple said. But he thought Bruce would play the lead, and Stevie wouldn’t be important….
Lopez recalled doing double duty with saxophonist Clarence Clemens. It was me and Clarence.
Apple tricked the big man into calming his nerves at 914 Sound Recording Studio in Bluevelt, New York, where the album was recorded over a five-month period. “His saxophone was blaring everywhere,” he said. “I identified Clarence where everyone else was. [else] He was in the control room and so I said to myself: ‘He might be one of those guys who has to play his part with the other guys. So leave all the other people off the mic, and you’re just opening his mic.’ “
However, Apel, who went on to produce 1973’s “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” and 1975’s “Born to Run,” says Apel “never panicked in his life.”
“He was the boss,” he added.
In fact, it was his boss who got Apel to sing on the first single, “Blinded by the Light.” “He stopped the session: ‘Mike, why don’t you come out here and sing it with me?’ And we’re both singing in the choruses.”
Springsteen was in such control that he even came up with the iconic album cover design. “He walks in the office one day and has a postcard from Asbury Park,” Apple said. “He gave it to me and said, ‘What do you think of this cover?’ I was like, ‘This is nice and cheap and tawdry and boardwalk-y. This is rock and roll.'”
And “Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ” helped give New Jersey a more prestigious place on the music map.
“This is the spirit of the Jersey Shore,” said Eileen Chapman, director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University, at the 50th Anniversary: Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ symposium on Saturday. “I think so [inspired] It’s not just Jersey pride, we know it’s pride that someone has the opportunity to do what they love. There was a lot of pride in Bruce.
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