The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
The second album of 1973: a full band, and a release with little press and no advertising.
Bruce Springsteen, 1973
- Released
- 5 November 1973
- Recorded
- 14 May to 23 September 1973
- Studio
- 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York
- Label
- Columbia
- Producer
- Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos
Sessions began on 14 May 1973 with a song first called Circus Song, which became Wild Billy's Circus Story. The E Street Shuffle was recorded in a single session on 28 June. On the last day, 23 September, Springsteen added a new final verse to 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) and recorded Rosalita and Incident on 57th Street from scratch. The Fever was cut in one take and left off. Peter Ames Carlin describes the record as a renewed passion for full-band rock and roll.
Columbia gave it little press, no trade advertisements and no release party, and John Hammond and Clive Davis had left the label. It sold poorly but won praise, and Ken Emerson called it more challenging and romantic than the debut in Rolling Stone. Rosalita became the band's most-used set closer through 1985. The album reached number 33 in Britain in 1985, and the band played it in full for the first time at Madison Square Garden on 7 November 2009.
Track listing
- The E Street Shuffle4:26
- 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)5:35
- Kitty's Back7:07
- Wild Billy's Circus Story4:43
- Incident on 57th Street7:45
- Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)7:02
- New York City Serenade9:56
Personnel
- Bruce Springsteen vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin
- Clarence Clemons tenor saxophone, backing vocals
- Danny Federici accordion, organ, backing vocals
- Garry Tallent bass, tuba
- David Sancious piano, organ, clavinet, soprano saxophone, Mellotron, string arrangement
- Vini Lopez drums, percussion, cornet
- Suki Lahav choir vocals
- Louis Lahav engineer
More from Bruce Springsteen
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973), Born to Run (1975), Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978), The River (1980), Nebraska (1982), Born in the U.S.A. (1984), Tunnel of Love (1987), The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995), The Rising (2002)