Maps of Music

The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973)

Where the lyrics of The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle take you, and where it was really made.

The back cover was shot in a doorway of an antique store whose building has since been demolished; the spot is now a parking lot.

Key places

Recorded at 914 Sound Studios (1973)

Recording site 914 Sound Studios — The album was recorded with the E Street Band at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York. Sessions ran from May to September 1973 before the album was released in November. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Back cover doorway on Sairs Avenue (1973)

Album cover Antique store on Sairs Avenue (demolished) — The back photo shows six E Street Band members in a doorway of an antique store on Sairs Avenue in Long Branch. The building was later demolished and the site is now a parking lot. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Second studio album by Bruce Springsteen, recorded with the E Street Band
• Recorded at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York
• Released 5 November 1973 on Columbia Records
• Includes "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)", the band's most-used set-closing song through 1985
• Follows Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., the debut released earlier in 1973

Background

• Like the debut, it was well received by critics but had little commercial success at the time
• Locally it sold well and got regular play on Northeast album-oriented rock stations, making Springsteen a local phenomenon
• Springsteen's nationwide popularity came with Born to Run (1975); several songs from this album then became FM radio airplay and concert favorites
• Played in its entirety for the first time at Madison Square Garden on 7 November 2009

Recording

• Recording began on 14 May 1973 with "Circus Song", later re-titled "Wild Billy's Circus Story"
• "The Fever" was recorded in one take, then discarded and left off the album
• 23 September 1973 was the final day of sessions
• The album moved toward full-band rock 'n' roll, leaving behind the folk influences of the debut

Cover

• Back photo shows six E Street Band members standing in a doorway of an antique store on Sairs Ave in the West End section of Long Branch, New Jersey

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey; grew up in Freehold, New Jersey.
• Inspired by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, began playing with local bands in the 1960s, including the Castiles, Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band.
• Formed the band that became the E Street Band in October 1972; the name came into use in September 1974.
• Signed to Columbia Records in 1972 by John Hammond; debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. released January 1973.

Members

• Performs solo and with the E Street Band, his backing band since 1972.
• Long-time members include Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Steven Van Zandt, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg and Patti Scialfa.
• Clemons died June 18, 2011; Federici died in 2008.

Career

• Born to Run (1975) brought worldwide fame; Born in the U.S.A. (1984) became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• Won an Academy Award in 1994 for "Streets of Philadelphia"; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
• Has sold more than 140 million records worldwide; holds 20 Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award.
• The 2023–2025 tour with the E Street Band was among the highest-grossing tours in history.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Sold poorly when first released in 1973 but drew acclaim from critics
• Rolling Stone's Ken Emerson said the lengthy, vividly written songs make a more challenging and romantic album than the debut, while keeping its ebullient music through the band's masterful playing
• Robert Christgau, writing for Creem, was less enthusiastic: he said the album does not cohere as a whole, though its livelier songs make it worth returning to

Reappraisal

• The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992) called it a masterpiece, cinematic in its sweep and densely poetic
• Goldmine's Rush Evans gave it five stars and called it Springsteen's most overlooked album
• AllMusic's William Ruhlmann said it epitomized Springsteen's romanticized songwriting and called it his best work
• Hot Press's Pat Carty said it is the Springsteen record he puts on to recall why he fell in love with music
• Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot was less enthusiastic and remarked only on the three-song suite that ends the album
• Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981) said Springsteen dropped the limiting folk conventions of his first album for a vibrant, quirky rock and roll style

Records

• UK: first entered the British albums chart on 15 June 1985, peaked at number 33, and stayed in the Top 100 for 12 weeks
• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: number 132 in 2003, number 133 in the 2012 revised list, number 345 in the 2020 edition
• Little press coverage, no trade paper advertising, and no release party at first release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's name was taken in part from the 1959 Audie Murphy and Sandra Dee film The Wild and the Innocent.
• The back-cover shop building was across the street from West End Elementary School and was once Tommy Reed's bicycle repair shop and penny candy store; it has since been demolished and the site is a parking lot.
• Manager Mike Appel sent a cassette of "The Fever" to about forty disc jockeys across the US without telling Springsteen or Columbia Records; the song then spread through bootlegs.
• Eight tracks left off the album were mixed in November 1997 for the Tracks box set, and five of them were included there.
• The official website gives a release date of 11 September 1973, but the final recording session was on 23 September 1973 and the album came out on 5 November 1973.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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