The Beatles song that made Bruce Springsteen fall in love with rock ‘n’ roll
The Beatles took the United States by storm following their grand introduction on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. It proved to be a vital moment in their career, which led them to become the most successful group in musical history.
There was a universal appeal to the Fab Four that transcended geography and demographics. While the stereotype is that all of The Beatles’ fans were young women, that was just one pocket of their fanbase, albeit the ones capable of screaming the loudest.
Everyone fell for their widespread appeal, which uplifted the spirits of an entire generation, which included Bruce Springsteen. Long before he became ‘The Boss’, Springsteen was just another New Jersey kid who didn’t quite know his place in the world. Then, The Beatles emerged, and suddenly, Springsteen felt a sense of belonging with rock ‘n’ roll.
It’s impossible to imagine one band being able to shake up popular culture in the same way again as The Beatles. Like millions of others from Liverpool to Los Angeles, they made Springsteen believe anything was possible and music could be his ticket out of a monotonous existence.
Although The Beatles were from Liverpool, and Springsteen was from New Jersey, he related to their working-class background, which he found inspiring. Once he understood their history and discovered they were just four ordinary people bonded by rock ‘n’ roll, ‘The Boss’ viewed them as kindred spirits.
For most people, The Beatles have been part of their lives for as long as they can remember. Therefore, pinpointing the moment they were introduced to the Fab Four is an impossible task, but not for Springsteen.
In 1964, Springsteen was listening to the car radio with his mother when The Beatles asserted their way into his existence, changing his life forever.
The track which introduced Springsteen to The Beatles was ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand‘. On the BBC’s Desert Island Discs, the singer-songwriter recalled the song’s earth-shattering impact on him: “This was another song that changed the course of my life. It was a very raucous sounding record when it came out of the radio. It really was the song that inspired me to play rock and roll music — to get a small band and start doing some small gigs around town. It was life-changing. It’s still a beautiful record.”
Springsteen also addressed this moment during an interview with Rolling Stone, where he delved into more detail about the track’s stranglehold on him. “‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ came on the radio in 1964—that was going to change my life because I was going to successfully pick the guitar up and learn how to play,” he revealed.
‘The Boss’ continued: “The keeper was in 1964, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ on South Street with my mother driving. I immediately demanded that she let me out, I ran to the bowling alley, ran down a long neon-lit aisle, down the bowling alley into the bowling alley. Ran to the phone booth, got in the phone booth and immediately called my girl and asked, ‘Have you heard this band called The Beatles?’ After that, it was nothing but rock ‘n’ roll and guitars.”
Thanks to their performance on The Ed Sulivan Show around this time, Beatlemania entered full swing across America. Not only did this make The Beatles more famous than they could have ever imagined, but it also acted as a pathway for the British Invasion, which inspired Springsteen further. However, while he loved those bands dearly, Springsteen is acutely aware that the impact of The Beatles is incomparable to any other group.
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