The Rolling Stones song that saved Bruce Springsteen’s career: “It was a very important record for me”
“I would use my mother’s hair clips to pin my hair down,” said Bruce Springsteen when talking about how he carried his love for The Rolling Stones around with him, “Then I would sleep on it exactly right, because I had Italian curly hair so I would pin it down until it was as straight as Brian Jones’s”.
Bruce Springsteen has never hesitated to talk about the Rolling Stones’ huge influence on him. When he recalled the moment he got to play on stage with the iconic rock band, he said he felt particularly enamoured as he was performing with the people he credited with creating his job. However, his love for the band stretched far deeper than just enjoying their music.
An artist’s life is spent constantly influencing and developing creatively in the face of said influence. Springsteen can attest to this, as there are a number of specific moments throughout his life, both as a child, a teenager, and a budding rock star, when he heard a song or a band and found himself going in a different direction because of it.
It was The Beatles who drew him towards guitar music in the first place. When he was in the car with his mother and ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ came on the radio, he told her to stop so he could run to the nearest phone booth and tell his girlfriend to listen. It was Bob Dylan who gave him direction as far as narrative was concerned, as he wanted to write lyrics that moved people like Dylan’s moved him. However, The Rolling Stones had an even greater influence, and it’s safe to say we may have never been blessed with the talent of Bruce Springsteen were it not for them.
Trying to become a musician is a difficult task. It takes a lot of work, and artists need to prepare themselves for a lot of rejection. The Rolling Stones were there to help Springsteen pick himself up once he had been knocked down one too many times. Just after being kicked out of his first band, Springsteen listened to the Rolling Stones and was reminded how much fun music could be. It gave him a much-needed kick when he felt tempted to fall behind.
“’It’s All Over Now’ held a special place for me because when I got thrown out of my first band, I went home that night and I was pissed off, so I said, ‘All right, I’m going to be a lead guitar player’. And for some reason, that solo felt like something I might be able to manage,” said Springsteen, “I put the record on, and I sat there all night until I was able to scrape up some relatively decent version of Keith’s solo. It was a very important record for me as it was the first solo I ever learned.”
Bands can’t just inspire; becoming a musician is more than a series of life-changing epiphanies. Bands also need to remind people why they spend so much time around music in the first place: It’s a lot of fun. Springsteen was reminded of the enjoyment that came from learning and playing music during a period when he felt betrayed by it. If not for the Rolling Stones, we may never have experienced the magnitude of Springsteen and the E Street Band.
