Bruce Springsteen’s forgotten heavy metal band: “I had a whole other career”
Over the past five decades, Bruce Springsteen has continually redefined the face of rock and guitar music. From the brash rock of his 1973 debut Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, right up to the soulful R&B of 2022’s Only The Strong Survive, Springsteen is a musical chameleon, bravely and confidently traversing an ever-growing sonic palette. And that includes the odd sprinkling of heavy metal.
While the bulk of Springsteen’s staggering career has focused on rich heartland rock, he’s no stranger to a raucous metal riff. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, the musical legend reflected on his life before finding success as America’s heartland hero. Prior to his E Street Band, Springsteen played a key role in an unruly prog metal project.
“I had a whole other career as a heavy-metal guitarist that never came out on record anywhere,” he laughed. “I had a prog band, basically. Steel Mill was a heavy-metal, prog-rock, blues-based classic, sort of late-1960s, early 1970s four-piece unit. We made a lot of music.”
Springsteen’s stint in Steel Mill spanned from 1969 up to 1971. The unit was also made up of Robbin Thompson and Vinnie Roslin, with future E Street Band members Vini Lopez, Danny Federici, and Steve Van Zandt rounding off the sextet. And they really did make a name for themselves, even opening for the likes of Ike and Tina Turner and Black Sabbath
The origin of Steel Mill stems back to a quaint battle of the bands competition in 1966. Roslin was a judge, while Springsteen and Lopez were competing. At the time, Springsteen was just 16 years old. While Steel Mill never released any official tracks, YouTube has a slew of live recordings that perfectly capture the band’s eccentric, dense riffage. Despite calling it quits in 1971, live recordings of tracks like The Wind and the Rain absolutely ooze prog perfection.
Understandably, a younger Springsteen was enraptured by the charms of metal’s chaos. In another interview with Rolling Stone in 2016, the musician admits that, as he matured, he began to doubt Steel Mill’s future. “I learned,” he explained. “I went some place I hadn’t been. I went into a bigger environment musically, and I learned that we were very good, but not quite as good as I thought we were. I had to think what I was going to do about that.”
However, that doesn’t mean he has forgotten his metal roots. In fact, he still holds a fond spot for his Steel Mill days. “I never close the door on any of it,” he said. He also encourages people to seek it out for themselves: “[It] never came out on record anywhere, but there’s tons of music. If you go on YouTube, there is actually quite a bit of it there.”
While there’s a certain charm to Springsteen’s first serious musical endeavour, he’s got his sights set on the future. There aren’t any plans to re-master or re-work any of his Steel Mill metal magic – but he does imply that perhaps a collated release could be on the cards. “I suppose it would be nice to get some of the classic concerts that have kept people’s interest over the past 20, 30 or even 40 years and maybe formalize them in some way. That’s not off the drawing board either. It’s all there.”
