Bruce Springsteen fans are trying to figure out why Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., was not as big a hit as it could have been.
The Boss’ dedicated online listeners appear to have found the reason why, and it provides another link between Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Fans had already spotted a venue in A Complete Unknown which both Dylan and Springsteen had played, but now their attention has turned to The Boss’ first two albums. A post in the Springsteen subreddit saw a fan ask why Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle did not chart as well as they should have. They asked: “Are there any specific reasons why Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J, and The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle were commercial failures?
“I’ve been a Bruce fan for a few years but I’ve only really known his most popular work (Born in The USA, Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town…) and recently I’ve been trying to listen to more of his discography. That’s how I discovered his first two albums and absolutely loved both of them. Almost every single song from those two albums is amazing in every way.”
Fans have since suggested it could be because Springsteen was, at the time of his first two albums, pitched as a “New Dylan”. They wrote: “It’s hard to really predict. But with the benefit of hindsight, we can speculate. Bruce at the time was marketed as a ‘New Dylan’ by his record company: basically, a solo acoustic singer-songwriter. If I remember correctly, Radio DJs were sceptical of the hype and the aggressive push, refusing to play the songs from the album.
“The critics saw a promising talent but also rather derivative of Dylan at the time. Bruce himself wanted to emphasize that despite his singer-songwriter side, he really got his start as a bandleader. The big draw of Bruce was his live shows. But Bruce’s studio albums at that point arguably didn’t capture the full personality and breadth of that appeal. Kitty’s Back on the record is about seven minutes. Live, it stretched over fifteen minutes.
“While a number of fans like early Bruce the best, the first two albums have a more niche appeal. Quirkier characters and narratives, very local settings (Jersey Shore), unusual song structures. That’s often how it is; the quirkier you are, the more your appeal becomes an acquired taste. I’m not saying it’s worse, but the reach is different.
Born To Run was an attempt to condense many of Bruce’s influences into more compact songs. Plus, he was actively evoking an earlier era of rock n’ roll and pop music: Phil Spector, Roy Orbison, Duane Eddy, Elvis Presley. The album is like a rocket, where nearly every song has a sense of momentum.”
Are there any specific reasons why Greetings and WIESS were commercial failures?
byu/OpticNinja937 inBruceSpringsteen
Another agreed, adding: “The extremely verbose storytelling in each of these first two albums garnered him lots of comparisons to Dylan, but didn’t have as much mainstream pull as his later works. Definitely niche like others on here have stated so wasn’t for everyone.
“One of my favourite anecdotes about this time in Springsteen’s discography is how Bob Dylan joked something to the extent of: ‘He [Springsteen] better be careful or he’ll use every word in the English language.'”
A third added: “The ‘new Bob Dylan’ was trying to define him too much. Hence the lacklustre inclusion of some songs that, even among fans, are hard to listen to – Wild Billy’s Circus, Mary Queen of Arkansas. He got into a more rock sound and brought the band in more during The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle, but it’s also an album of just 7 songs, where 4 are over 7 minutes. Longer songs always struggle for radio airtime.”
I was a Bruce fan before we knew his last name. He played in Richmond,VA several times during my first years at VCU. I didn’t understand the obstacles he faced to try to get a record contract but after hearing his stories over the years I understand it better. He’s only a few months older than me so as 19 year olds we both had a long way to go in understanding how the world worked. I never really picked up that guitar but wanted to be like what I saw in him for a few years. I got over it and started a different kind of life. It still took him a few hard years of work to get where he wanted to be and where he is today. I don’t envy the road he took but watched from a distance as he finally figured out a few things. Life takes resilience and he has survived the ups and downs. He seems pretty happy for an old man!
My brother(we grew up in Jersey) attended VCU, and attended Bruce’s Steel Mill shows there. He raved about how great and wild the shows were, and eventually dragged me to a show at a swim club on the Jersey shore. The first album, which I loved, weren’t quite what I expected to hear. But I was completely blown away by The Wild, the Innocent. So much energy and so much borrowed from so many musical styles. I’ve loved most of what Bruce has recorded over the decades, but I don’t think any of it has matched up to that album in terms of sheer energy.