With “Born To Run” Bruce Springsteen wanted to make the greatest rock record he had ever heard.
Photo: Redferns, Fin Costello. All rights reserved.
Bruce Springsteen was hard on himself early in his career. The rock icon was particularly dissatisfied with one album – his third studio album “Born To Run”. What bothered him about it? his own voice.
When Born To Run was released 48 years ago on August 25, 1975, Springsteen was just 24 years old. On the “Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, the now 71-year-old revealed that he would have liked to throw the album into the pool in a high arc.
“When you start making music, you’re not used to hearing your own voice, even after the second or third recordings. I couldn’t relate to the sound of my voice and very often it sounded awful,” Springsteen said of his early days.
Luckily there was Jimmy Iovine
At that time, his sound engineer Jimmy Iovine convinced him of the quality of the recordings. He brought the edited version to Springsteen’s doorstep in Richmond, Virginia. Together they went looking for a record player and found themselves in a local music store. There they heard the album together for the first time.
Jimmy Iovine is said to have talked Springsteen into it. He wanted to get him to give his okay to the planned release. Bruce Springsteen snorted at him: “Into the pool at the hotel it goes!” After some back and forth they finally released the record. Luckily for her, one would think so. Upon release, the album rocketed to number 3 on the Billboard charts and stayed in the top 100 for more than two years.