Springsteen’s Born to Run
Springsteen’s Born to Run
Brian Johnston, Asbury Park Press
- “Down in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run” will be on sale Tuesday, Aug. 5.
- Peter James Carlin has also written books on Warner Bros. Records, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and R.E.M.
Bruce Springsteen fans like to celebrate milestones in the Boss’ career.
So does Springsteen. The Freehold rocker has a unique ritual to mark the Aug. 25, 1975, anniversary of the album “Born to Run,” each year.
“You know, I’m very, very fond of [the album],” Springsteen said to Peter James Carlin, according to a Doubleday press release announcing the Carlin’s new book, “Down in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run.”
“And on its anniversaries,” the Boss continued, “I get in a car and I play it from start to finish, and I end up at West End Court (in the West End section of Long Branch) where I wrote it. Right before the end, right before ‘Jungleland.’ And I sit there by the curb and I let ‘Jungleland’ play, as I sit outside the little house I wrote it in.”
Springsteen, who now lives in Colts Neck, lived at the bungalow at 7½ West End Court in Long Branch in 1974 and ’75. Fans, and apparently the Boss himself, still make a pilgrimage to the house to this day.
Carlin’s “Down in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run” will be on sale Tuesday, Aug. 5.
Carlin is the author of the landmark 2012 “Bruce” biography, which included interviews with Springsteen and his family.
The upcoming “Tonight in Jungleland” presents an “intimate, behind-the-scenes account of the writing, recording and making of one of the most iconic records in rock history, ‘Born to Run.’ A must-read for any music fan, the tell-all takes us inside a hallowed creative process and lets us experience history,” according to Doubleday.
Carlin’s other works include “Sonic Boom: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records”; “Paul McCartney: A Life”; “Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon”; and “The Name of This Band is R.E.M.”
The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University is located a few blocks from 7½ West End Court. The Archives contain a letter Springsteen wrote to his then-landlord Marilyn Rocky.
“Sorry the rent is late this month but I forgot to tell the office in N.Y. that they were gonna send it out,” Springsteen wrote to his “Landlordess.” “If you don’t have it now it’s in the mail and should arrive tomorrow or the next day. Your ever gracious tenant, Bruce Springsteen. P.S. do you like this classy writing paper? P.S.S. I’m practicing my auto-graph, whadya think?”
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com