Bruce Springsteen The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle

Sparks fly on E Street when the boy

prophets walk it handsome and hot

All the little girls souls go weak

when the man-child gives them a

double shot

So begins one of Springsteen's first albums of his career. This album was released in 1973 at a time when Springsteen was being compared to his direct contemporary Tom Waits. At this early point in their careers both Waits and Springsteen were responsible for a similar musical output; both dealing in songs derived from the folk and blues traditions and with a strong narrative. These songs often dealt with American street characters. Indeed both Springsteen and Waits have had the same criticism pointed at them for revealing an idealistic and fictional attitude in their portrayal of these characters.

However, the respective trajectories of Springsteen and Waits split markedly in the Eighties. Springsteen began to fill stadiums with his popular guitar rock shot through with emotion and Waits began his diverse musical experimentation and became a cult artist, jealously guarded by those in the know.

The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle is a fine album. It has songs with great stories and sure-footed instrumentation. It has driving guitar work accented with crazy horns and a swinging organ. The best synthesis of these elements is played out in the epic Rosalita (come out tonight).

This album is a good listen a great way to hear what The Boss did before he started wearing stars and stripes handkerchiefs in the back pocket of his Wranglers and throwing his fist towards adoring stadium audiences who were drunk on Budweiser.