Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll

by Marc Dolan

Overview

A vibrant biography of one of the greatest rock 'n' rollers, the America that made him, and the America he made.

This smart, incisive biography traces Bruce Springsteen’s evolution from a young artist who wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to an acclaimed musician with a distinctive vision for a better society. Brilliantly analyzing and evoking Springsteen’s output, Marc Dolan unveils the pulsing heart of his music: its deep personal, political, and cultural resonances, which enabled Springsteen to reflect on his experiences as well as the world around him. The book is now updated with a new chapter on The Promise, Wrecking Ball, and the 2012 tour.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393345841
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/10/2013
Edition description:	Updated
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Marc Dolan is a professor at John Jay College and the City University of New York, where he teaches English, American studies, and film. A New Jersey native, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Walk-In Music: Seven nights to rock xi

Part 1 I Cookman Avenue

1 I'm quick to learn (1964-1968) 3

2 I pushed B-52 and bombed 'em with the blues (1968-1971) 24

3 Dethrone the Dictaphone, hit it in its funnybone (1971-1972) 52

4 Endless juke joints and Valentino drag (1972-1975) 78

5 Tonight's gonna be everything that I said (1975-1976) 122

Part 2 I the Power Station

6 I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost (1976-1979) 137

7 Ain't nobody like to be alone (1979-1982) 167

8 This gun's for hire (1982-1986) 198

Part 3 I Thrill Hill

9 What I need is some proof tonight (1986-1992) 239

10 I'll keep movin' through the dark (1992-1995) 278

11 Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me (1995-1997) 309

Part 4 I The Fairgrounds

12 Baptized in these waters, and in each other's blood (1997-2005) 339

13 A million different voices speaking in tongues (2005-2008) 386

14 Come tomorrow, none of this will be here (2008-2009) 420

15 So, let's go to work tomorrow (2009-2012) 439

House Lights Up: Meet me in a dream of this hard land 163

Acknowledgments 469

Sources and Notes 472

Permissions Credits 521

Index 523

Editorial Reviews

Readable and engrossing.

Booklist

Dolan makes a point of telling more than just the Boss’ personal history, putting his putting his musical contributions in context with the country’s political state.

radio.com

The definitive Springsteen biography/musical analysis, finely written and meticulously researched... by an academic who can write for a popular audience.... For fans, Dolan’s book is a necessary addition to the Springsteen library. For more casual listeners, who often wonder just what the fuss is all about, this volume is a good place to start.

Michael Riley - Asbury Park Press

Those who are interested in the shaping of an American icon—and, more significantly, the creation of some lasting American music—may be directed safely to this book.

Tim Page - Washington Post

Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock ’n’ Roll endeavors to get to the heart of its subject by viewing him through the economic, social, political, religious and family turmoil that formed a musician who found out early on how to make his guitar talk but spent painful decades refining what he needed to make it say. Springsteen’s creative evolution and endurance as a populist American rock ’n’ roll hero is, according to Dolan, "a slantwise way of telling the history of our times, how we have come together and divided over the last half-century, how we have changed what we think of ourselves as a people."”

Robin Finn - New York Times Book Review

Marc Dolan has written a book of rock criticism at its finest. He brings to the story of Bruce Springsteen an encyclopedic knowledge, a clean, fast-moving prose style, and an irrepressible love of his subject. The Boss deserves no less, and he could ask for no better.

John Matteson

With the notable exception of Bob Dylan, no other singer-songwriter still active in the 21st Century has spawned as many academic studies as The Boss, and Dolan’s book is among the very best. As a chronicler of our times, Springsteen has few equals... and the author’s examination of an extraordinary body of work is as clear-headed and accessible as the music itself.... By necessity, his book also serves as a history of America, outlining a nation’s political conflicts, class disparity, prejudices and shortcomings.... [T]he author is especially evocative in his descriptions of working class New Jersey in the 60s and early 70s. Where he scores his most emphatic bullseyes, however, is in his assessment of how Springsteen handled his wealth and stardom; of how his conscience and politics adapted to being one of the most famous men in the world without losing sight of the struggles of his core audience, the ‘little’ man on the street.

Terry Staunton

A unique biography of a great rock ’n roll artist drawn from 40 years of thrilling performances. If you’re a Springsteen fan, this will deepen your appreciation. And if you’re not a fan, what the hell is wrong with you?

William McKeen

A riveting profile of New Jersey’s great bard. Dolan, the ultimate Springsteen fan, has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject. And his infectious love of American popular music is nothing short of awesome. The best book on Bruce ever written!

Douglas Brinkley

The definitive Springsteen biography/musical analysis, finely written and meticulously researched... by an academic who can write for a popular audience.... For fans, Dolan’s book is a necessary addition to the Springsteen library. For more casual listeners, who often wonder just what the fuss is all about, this volume is a good place to start.

Asbury Park Press - Michael Riley

Those who are interested in the shaping of an American icon—and, more significantly, the creation of some lasting American music—may be directed safely to this book.

Washington Post - Tim Page

Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock ’n’ Roll endeavors to get to the heart of its subject by viewing him through the economic, social, political, religious and family turmoil that formed a musician who found out early on how to make his guitar talk but spent painful decades refining what he needed to make it say. Springsteen’s creative evolution and endurance as a populist American rock ’n’ roll hero is, according to Dolan, "a slantwise way of telling the history of our times, how we have come together and divided over the last half-century, how we have changed what we think of ourselves as a people."

New York Times Book Review - Robin Finn

The definitive Springsteen biography/musical analysis, finely written and meticulously researched... by an academic who can write for a popular audience.... For fans, Dolan’s book is a necessary addition to the Springsteen library. For more casual listeners, who often wonder just what the fuss is all about, this volume is a good place to start.”— Michael Riley

Asbury Park Press

Those who are interested in the shaping of an American icon—and, more significantly, the creation of some lasting American music—may be directed safely to this book.”— Tim Page

Washington Post

Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock ’n’ Roll endeavors to get to the heart of its subject by viewing him through the economic, social, political, religious and family turmoil that formed a musician who found out early on how to make his guitar talk but spent painful decades refining what he needed to make it say. Springsteen’s creative evolution and endurance as a populist American rock ’n’ roll hero is, according to Dolan, "a slantwise way of telling the history of our times, how we have come together and divided over the last half-century, how we have changed what we think of ourselves as a people."”— Robin Finn

New York Times Book Review

A well-researched, comprehensive analysis of Springsteen's life and work to date, with an emphasis on the music.

Backstreets.com

Marc Dolan's Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll is more than pulp for fans: It provides both social and political context to the songs and albums in the Jersey boy's canon.

Time Out New York

[Dolan’s] approach is at once academic and unapologetically enthusiastic. Classic songs and albums are deconstructed at length, along with their back stories and reception. Springsteen's personal evolution is measured in similar depth, from his tense relationship with his working-class father to the political consciousness reflected in his work, and how it's been variously interpreted (and misconstrued).... Devotees will delight in Dolan's account of the superstar's salad days playing Jersey clubs. (3 out of 4 stars)”— Elysa Gardner

USA Today

This intelligent examination of the career of Bruce Springsteen traces the rock icon's ability to balance two disparate identities.... An intelligent fan book written by a sophisticated admirer.”— Darryl Lorenzo

Christian Science Monitor

…[a] smart new critical biography…[Marc Dolan] knows the music, the milieu and enough about the man to present a balanced portrait of a brash, gifted kid from Freehold, N.J., who went from making $750 for three weekend shows at a Dupont Circle bar in 1973 to the covers of Time and Newsweek—simultaneously—two years later…Those who are interested in the shaping of an American icon—and, more significantly, the creation of some lasting American music—may be directed safely to this book.
—Tim Page

The Washington Post

[Dolan’s] approach is at once academic and unapologetically enthusiastic. Classic songs and albums are deconstructed at length, along with their back stories and reception. Springsteen's personal evolution is measured in similar depth, from his tense relationship with his working-class father to the political consciousness reflected in his work, and how it's been variously interpreted (and misconstrued).... Devotees will delight in Dolan's account of the superstar's salad days playing Jersey clubs. (3 out of 4 stars)

Elysa Gardner - USA Today

This intelligent examination of the career of Bruce Springsteen traces the rock icon's ability to balance two disparate identities.... An intelligent fan book written by a sophisticated admirer.

Darryl Lorenzo - Christian Science Monitor

Bruce Springsteen began his long, successful career in the late 1960s, writing songs for the masses about cars, New Jersey's boardwalks, chasing girls, and escaping from small-town America. As he has grown older, his music has become both more personal and more political (and liberal). Rather than a biography, Dolan (English, American studies, & film studies, John Jay Coll., CUNY) here presents a historical review of Springsteen's musical and political influences. Those seeking dirt on his first marriage and subsequent relationship with Patti Scialfa may be disappointed. However, Springsteen's frustrations with Presidents Reagan and the Bushes are well covered. VERDICT With 30 pages of notes and a tone characteristic of music criticism, this book may not be ideal for the casual fan. Readers seeking a more personal and biographical approach to Springsteen's life should turn to Dave Marsh's Born To Run. Dolan's book is recommended for hard-core Springsteen fans and those who have more than a passing interest in his influences and music. [See Prepub Alert, 12/5/11.]—Todd Spires, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, IL

Library Journal

The Boss' canon receives trainspotting treatment via his concert appearances and recordings. Dolan eschews original research in this uncomfortable hybrid of biography and criticism. The rocker's life has been scrutinized in previous bios by Dave Marsh, Marc Eliot and Robert Santelli, and their work provides the structural backbone of this book. The contours of the tale will be familiar to Springsteen enthusiasts: Jersey Shore bar-band roots, early-'70s cult arrival, popular breakthrough with 1975's Born to Run, launch to superstardom with 1984's Born in the U.S.A., etc. Dolan analyzes the musician's progress primarily via close, grueling readings of Springsteen's set lists over the course of 40-plus years on stage, amply documented on bootlegs, with additional attention to the oft-protracted genesis of his albums in studio sessions and home recordings. It makes for arduous reading, and Dolan's conclusions are often suspect. While Springsteen is undoubtedly among the hardest-working live performers in rock history, and his gigs ably combine arena-rock showmanship and a carefully cultivated intimacy and sincerity, his shows and the lengthy raps that stud them only reveal so much about his internal impulses. The author goes to laborious lengths to calibrate minute differences in Springsteen's shows over the course of individual tours. He also makes a great deal of the slow development of Springsteen's political and social consciousness, but most of his divinations are based on contorted explications of his concerts and their attendant spiels. Dolan exhibits a frustrating inability to plumb Springsteen's interior emotional makeup; as in previous tomes, his short-lived marriage to Julianne Phillips and his unexpected metamorphosis into midlife family man with Patti Scialfa remain mystifying. In these pages Springsteen remains, for all his apparent openness, both personally and artistically remote, and Dolan's interpretive methodology sheds limited light.

Kirkus Reviews