Bruce Springsteen won me over forever in 1973 with this album. I went to see him perform as an opening act for Dr. John in Santa Monica as a result of this album. My college roomate had a big quadrophonic stereo system that he'd use for dorm dances, and the one demand I made on him for helping him carry his stuff downstairs was that we could play "Rosalita" and "Kitty's Back" at every dance. All the kids at first would stop dancing, because it was the only unfamiliar stuff we'd play, but by the last dance, I had people lining up to find out who made this great music.

Bruce took the expansive, poetic, musical pastiche style of this album forward with "Born To Run," but then after that album, he decided to focus his artistry on shorter songs with tighter lyrics and clear, understandable points of view. So in many ways, this album represents the road not taken. But it exists, it's still in print, and it's a classic.

Some have objected to how it was recorded, and also to the relatively weak playing of the old drummer, Vini Lopez. Points conceded, but they don't mar the brilliance and enjoyability of this album. The pianist, David L. Sancious, more than makes up for any deficiencies by playing the most outrageous piano backup I've ever heard. As fine as Roy Bittan is, Sancious' departure from E Street for a career in jazz-rock fusion was a musical tragedy. Listen to his opening for "NY City Seranade"--Chopin meets Gershwin, easing into a beautiful duet with acoustic guitar that is otherwordly. Elsewhere, he provides Bruce with all the rhythmic support his drummer couldn't.

It is unbelievable that this seemingly inarticulate kid was able to pack so much American musical heritage into one inexpensively produced album, and in the process create new musical molds. And, as romantic and poetic as some of this album is, most of it is very lighthearted and fun, capturing better than any of Bruce's other albums the spirit of the great entertainer that his live shows have always displayed. This album is Bruce's cheeseburger deluxe--greasy and sizzling, with smoke rising into the summer ocean air, spreading delight everywhere.

My fondest hope would be that, one day, Bruce would return to this style, adding a few musicians who could help him bring it off, maybe even bringing Sancious back into the fold. On Nightline, it sounded like he was trying to write a few in that style when "The Rising" was in the works.

Failing that, if he would just do us the favor of one day performing "New York City Serenade" live on TV...then he'd really impress people.

The heart of Rock N Roll can be boiled down to a few chords, a catchy riff, and the right attitude. But if you want the heart AND the soul, the mind, body, and the spirit, and all of its possibilities, THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE is where you'll find it. It rebels against every preconceived notion of what Rock's limitations are supposed to be. Of structure and style and scope. It's Bruce's musical journey from the hangouts of his hometown in Jersey, as a guy with a dream, to the possibilities of what might be just over the river in New York City. Although no song addresses this head on, its implicit in the overall concept, that this story-song album is ultimately Springsteen's autobiography. "The E Street Shuffle" is the opener. As the band warms up, then starts to play, you know this is party time. It's Rock N Roll in the summer. No air-conditioning's allowed. All the windows are opened wide to meld with the sounds and the sights and the sweat of the streets. To mix with the heat and the humidity. To rub elbows with the proud and the profane, the winners and losers, the lovers and loners. It's the preview of coming attractions, and the album delivers on what this song promises. "Kitty's Back", the third song in, opens with a short blistering guitar in heat that gives way to a lazy summer afternoon lament about how dull life is now that the most lascivious creature the boys have ever known is gone from the neighborhood, and what she did to get out. As the mood shifts from shuffle to swing and back again, the song is sneakily building momentum,until hazily, the boys spot her walking towards them from the other end of the alley. "Here she comes, here she comes, here she comes, here she comes," they hungrily whisper, at which point the whole song explodes into a musical, if not literal, gang-bang. "Sandy" is a different creature entirely. She's your first true love. Your lover AND friend. She's the girl you showed your tender side to. She's the one who gave you courage to do so. She's the girl you shared life and dreams with. She's also the girl you probably left behind. Bruce uses an accordian here unashamedly. By this point in the album, you've already expected to expect the unexpected, still "Wild Billy's Circus Story" comes from out of left field, musically speaking. A tuba in a rock n roll record? Yup. This is the color Bruce needed to tell this amusing tale of a boy who ran away to join the circus, the way Bruce leaves his hometown by joining the rock n roll circus. It's a truly offbeat number, but Bruce's wry delivery has a way of making you appreciate this song before you're ready to. This song serves as the bridge to Side Two's N.Y.C. suite. And how sweet it is. "West Side Story" was a big influence on Bruce, as it was on all of us back then, and he uses part of that film's landscape to paint his own story about young love in the city between Spanish Johnny & Puerto Rican Jane in "Incident on 57th Street". Filled with stunning imagery ("Janey sleeps in sheets damp with sweat/ Johnny sits up alone and watches her dream on, dream on/ And her sister prays for lost souls/ then breaks down in the chapel after everyone's gone) "...57th Street" is simultaneously tough and tender and enormously cinematic. "Rosalita" of course is the barn burner. Every yearning in a young guy's soul, every dream come true or not,every 4th of July fireworks display, every gamble of going for broke is encapsulated in this 7 minute rock n roll extravaganza. Any other album would have closed here. This is the money shot. But the best, if that's possible, is what follows: "N.Y.C. Serenade", the album's 11 minute closer, is an amazing achievement. So tight, yet so loose it feels like an improvisation in it's midnight till dawn setting, I can think of no other song as a touchstone for this number. David Sancious' audacious piano intro: part classical,part jazz, part blues, hands off to Bruce's heartfelt acoustic guitar-talk in what has to be one of music's most unforgettable moments, before quietly settling in for this final story of our boy as one of the inhabitants of the cruel city, and a stark contrast to the block party atmosphere of the album's opener, but ending on a determinately optimistic note. Never again would Bruce and the band show such versatility or be this musically adventurous. As time went on, Bruce seemed to straight-jacket himself into tighter and tighter song structures, until he began, literally, writing two chord songs. I guess I shouldn't be angry that he never wrote down this way again. I guess I should be grateful that, at one time, he did.

the wild, the innocent, and the e street shuffle is simply an amazing work...we open with the e street shuffle, which contains a melodic orgy of horns, with springsteen telling tales of the boardwalk and the jersey shore in the summertime...the funky breaks and jazzy guitar work are not often recognized, but show that springsteen is much more of a competent player than most fans realize...next comes sandy, a tale of summer love told by a whispering springsteen, accompanied by accordian, melodic guitars, and the steady beat of mad dog lopez's keith moon-like drumming...kitty's back shows that the "boss" can play ferocious lead guitar, and the organ break in the middle, with the building of the band goes back to springsteen's early days in jersey bands steel mill and the bruce springsteen band...wild billy's circus story is a simplistic tale of the big top, told wonderfully by springsteen with the accompaniement of a tuba and accordian...the remaining 3 songs on the album are springsteen's sgt. pepper, they all tie in together and are not complete without the others...springsteen tells of spanish jonny and puerto rican jane in incident on 57th street, and continues with rosalita, the showstopping footapping rhapsody of guitar, sax, organ, and drums...but the highlight of the album comes in the 7th and final track, new york city serenade...the piano introduction, created by david sancious, is one of the most moving pieces ever laid down on record...the complexity and jazziness of sancious' keys are amazing, and are completed perfectly by springsteen's acoustic guitar lead at the beginning of the song...nyc serenade is purely genius, with a swell of lyrics, congas, acoustic guitar, piano, saxophone, and springsteen's whispering voice telling of billy, diamond jackie, and jazz men...by the end of the tune, you are left crying from its sheer beauty...the wild, the innocent and the e street shuffle is the most underated of all springsteen's albums, and the most genius of them all...born to run, born in the usa, darkness, are all wonderful albums, great works, but the wild and the innocent is springsteen's mona lisa...this album should be studied along with pet sounds and sgt pepper, and it is by far one of the best albums of the 1970's, if not one of the best albums in rock and roll history.

To get an idea of the impact of these songs, particularly "Incident", just read the concert reviews on springsteen's discussion board at springsteen.net. People write about this song with awe, they say that the solo piano acoustic version was the highlight of some of his acoustic shows. I wonder if Bruce could play a solo piano version of NYC Serenade, now that would blow me away!

I love every song on this album, it's hard to describe how good they all are. Why can't anyone write and perform like this anymore? People go nuts 30 years later when he plays any song from this album, that alone is all you need to know.

The first thing you notice about The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle is that Springsteen has solved his production problems from the debut album. While TWTI&TESS (what an acronym! Eesh!) doesn't have the signature "rock/orchestral" sound that Born To Run has, it no longer sounds like it's being heard through earmuffs-that stifled sound that sometimes made Greetings From Asbury Park so annoying is gone.

As for the album itself, it's the great undiscovered treasure of Springsteen's catalogue. Even less well known than Asbury Park (as that album was hyped beyond all rational belief by Columbia) or Nebraska (which a lot of people have heard of but few own), The Wild's obscurity has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the music inside.

This is because, musically, it's Springsteen's first great album, and it catches him in an interesting transitional period, where he was beginning to sort out his ersatz-Dylan lyrics into something more coherent, as well as beginning to write music that worked to the strengths of the E Street Band, which took shape around the time of this album's recording. As Springsteen himself admitted, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. was comprised of a bundle of acoustic songs played by a band; The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle marks the first time when he began to write music with a rock `n' roll backing in mind. It's because of this that remnants of his early Dylanesque, acoustic period, like "Wild Billy's Circus Story," seem wildly out of place on the album.

Almost everything else fits magnificently, though. "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" is a beautiful ballad, a fond farewell to the boardwalks and carefree life of coastal New Jersey, while "Kitty's Back" is a example of the type of song at which Springsteen excelled during this transition period: lengthy, multi-part epics held together with tight ensemble playing and Clarence Clemons' ebullient saxophone playing. (See also "Thundercrack" or live performances of "Blinded By The Light" and "Let The Four Winds Blow" during this era.) After this album, Springsteen never returned to this kind of writing again (with the exception of Born To Run's concluding track, "Jungleland"), and that's what makes the second side of TWTI&TESS such a rare treat. Almost suite-like in its nature, it consists of three lengthy songs dealing with the nature of life on the streets of New York City. "Incident On 57th Street" is slow and majestic, and while Springsteen strikes a few false notes with the lyrics ("The pimps swung their axes?" Since when do pimps carry axes, Bruce?) the overall effect is flooring. "New York Street Serenade" is jazzy, restrained, and at 10 minutes actually DOESN'T overstay its welcome. Those opening runs down the inner strings of the piano, as well as David Sancious' hot summer squall of keyboard notes, are sound-painting and scene-setting of the highest order.

In fact, as rock critic Mark Prindle once pointed out, The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle succeeds so brilliantly because ALL of its songs take you to a fantasy world of urban lore. Bruce's New York sure doesn't exist in real life (again: "the pimps swung their axes?"), but he makes you believe in his vision for a good 45 minutes straight, inviting you to escape down a dirty sidestreet into a stylized world of magical boardwalks, musical gangs, hookers with hearts of gold, Spanish Johnnies, Puerto Rican Janeys, and spontaneous streetcorner bands. And since musical escapism has all but died in the angst-ridden 90's and 00's, this album is something to cherish.

What? Oh yeah, you're waiting for me to mention "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)," aren't you? Why? If you know the song already, then you know it might be the best thing he's ever done in his career. (Do you really need me to confirm your taste for you?) If you don't know it, then I'm going to say nothing more about it and let you discover its joys on your own.

But hoo boy, is it a great song.

Could be the best of his career. Man, go get it now! You're only going to find it here.