The song that Bruce Springsteen hid behind his record label

The roots of the album were all there, but it was just a matter of getting everyone into fighting shape. In designing the record, Springsteen’s vision of bringing the styles of Roy Orbison, Phil Spector and Chuck Berry under one roof was no easy task, but looking at the first mixes of songs like “Thunder Road” or the title track, it didn’t seem impossible either.

There was just one problem, time and money. While working on the record, Springsteen spent long hours in the studio, working his E Street Band to the bone to finish the record. Before he even finished, Springsteen mentioned that he was devastated and thought it wasn’t going to come out.

Speaking about the problems in Classic Rock Stories, Springsteen’s manager Mike Appel recalled how disappointed everyone was when the company rejected the record. He said, “We were pretty desperate. I mean, six months of work on a single that nobody at the record company liked!”

Springsteen came dangerously close to giving in and releasing a live album, but Appel eventually found the best way to get around the label, explaining, “I suggest we take the tape directly to some DJs we’ve built up good relationships with. ‘Born To Run’ went straight to number one in Cleveland on radio play alone. CBS wanted to put me on the road and kick my scrawny little ass all over town.”

Despite being made in the days before the Ramones, this is probably one of the punkiest moves a musician has ever made. Since the record label was starting to become the enemy after a while, getting a song on the air before the record was even in stores was an incentive for Springsteen’s label to help him finish the album.

While the rest of the album capitalized on the promise of “Born to Run,” it almost didn’t matter if the other songs were good or not. Springsteen endeared himself to people by going after them, and as long as fans could sing along to the tune, that was all he needed.

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