Springsteen's perfect album side

Hard to beat Side Two of "The Wild, The Innocent, The E Street Shuffle"

EDITOR’S NOTE: As a Catholic boy, I have to admit that as time goes on, the posts mount and I realize that I haven’t written a word about Bruce Springsteen since, what, October? Hard to believe! Bruce and I go back — the first time I saw him ended up being the day he completed the “Born To Run” album (didn’t know that at the time, of course) and I was so excited after the show, I called (and woke up) my dear friend Sean Heaney and played him the entire “The Wild, The Innocent, The E Street Shuffle” over the telephone! Really! So, am I a Springsteen fan? Yeah, you could say that…

We don’t really ever know how recording artists assemble their records. The first song The Who recorded for what ended up being “Who’s Next” was their greatest song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” How do you follow that?

When Bob Dylan went into the studio with Mark Knopfler to record his first non-religious album in several years, the first cut he recorded was the magnificent “Blind Willie McTell” and he left it in the can.

For the longest time, it seemed to me Tom Petty would always lead off his albums with his best song. From what we know, Bruce Springsteen records so many songs, he creates problems for himself (and his producer) trying to decide what to keep, what to leave off, what sequence he should use.

On his second album, however, “The Wild, The Innocent, The E Street Shuffle” which came out in November of 1973, he couldn’t have sequenced it better. In fact, you might argue that Side Two of this album is as good as any single album side you can think of.

Heck, I once assigned my AP Literature class to listen to the entire side in my class and asked them to write their responses. (Crazy teacher, yes!)

What’s so great about Side Two? To me, it was the first sign that Springsteen wasn’t just a Dylan imitator, a clever, thesaurus-aided, over-enthusiastic singer of delightful miniatures and clever tunes but instead, a genuine, ambitious artist who was going to knock our collective socks off with what he had coming.

Look at the cover. A thoughtful, reflective pose, a wiry little mustache, wrinkled forehead. He was SERIOUS. He MEANT BUSINESS. No jokey little postcard, as cute as that was.

As we were to hear on Side Two (22:29 minutes into the attached YouTube link) this was someone with a vision, an imagination verbally and musically, someone who wanted to share what HE saw in that big bad world out there, where the wild and innocent clash each and every day and night, learning and re-learning the same lessons that we all gather through the ups and downs of our collective lives.

It starts with a love story, of course. With a softly tinkling piano, haunting organ and mystic guitar, we meet Spanish Johnny. “With bruised arms and broken rhythm and a beat-up old Buick but dressed just like dynamite…”

Well, we have a writer here, don’t we?

“And from out of the shadows comes a young girl’s voice, saying “Johnny don’t cry!”

We meet Puerto Rican Jane and right away, we have visions of West Side Story, an updated Romeo and Juliet tale of love and hurt and passion and regret and of course, we know immediately where this is going but Bruce’s confident, all-knowing vocal draws us in.

“She whispered ‘Spanish Johnny, you can leave me tonight but just don’t leave me alone…”

Oh, can’t you hear that? As the music swells, can’t you see them on some fire escape, the darkened city surrounding them, car horns beeping, somebody’s radio blaring in an open window. And we know what’s next, but we listen anyway…

And then, the tinkling piano that opened the song leads us into an utterly irresistible guitar lick that absolutely had to have the little 914 Sound Studio in Blauvelt, New York jumping with excitement. And if it DOESN’T get you dancing, why TURN IT UP!!!

Another love story, this time with an obstacle; two of ‘em really. Rosalita’s Mom AND Dad don’t like him. But Bruce is IN LOVE and he has to find a way. The music captures the excitement of young love, the desperation, the glee, the you-ain’t-gonna-stop-me sense that overwhelms a would-be suitor who knows this is crazy, knows that it might not even work, but dammit, I HAVE to HAVE HER.

“I’m coming to liberate you, confiscate you…someday, we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny…”

Then the delightful taunt. “But now you’re sad, your Momma’s mad and your poppa says he knows that I don’t have any money…” and the killer line, the phrase Bruce has been waiting all this time to burst out and say, arrives as the music swells, “Well, tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance because the record company, Rosie, gave me a big advance!”

He wins! He wins! He wins! And the off-the-charts music winds up to a dramatic and perfect finale. Then a pause, a zither (?), some elegant classical piano, gentle guitar and somehow, the entire city of New York unfolds before us. It really is beautiful, Bruce’s music is telling us, don’t miss it. Bruce is not going to miss it. And neither is Billy or Diamond Jackie who are, what else, in love.

“Together, they’re going to boogaloo down Broadway. It’s midnight in Manhattan, a mad dog’s promenade.”

And as the strings swell, Bruce gives us his benediction: “So walk tall or baby, don’t walk at all.”

As you hear that, you might think of Chief Dan George in “Little Big Man” - “My heart soars like a hawk”— what a message, what a line from a guy here trying his damndest to stand up and stand out and capture a world he insists on sharing with us. He draws us another mysterious, miraculous evening unfolding in the Big Apple and Billy and Diamond Jackie are there to take it all in, as we are, captives of Bruce’s magical vision.

“Hey, Jazzman, play a serenade…”

Bruce Springsteen would move on to different styles of music; some more terse, crisp, potent, insightful, brilliant. He would never again be quite the romantic, the visionary, the magician that he was here on Side Two.

Sure, there was lots of wonderful music ahead but this was one helluva coming attraction.

START AT 22:29 TO HEAR SIDE TWO - BRUCE’S MASTERPIECE