The Boss's long-awaited autobiography finally appeared in 2016. It explores in the first person the same kind of personal and emotional territory as was covered in the Tom Petty biography Petty, which I previously reviewed.
In fact, Springsteen and Petty, the two most beloved and iconic American rock stars of our age, have similar stories in so many respects: growing up poor, surviving abusive and neglectful fathers, youths spent in 1960s garage rock bands, struggling with depression throughout their careers, and tending to the difficult process of building and managing extraordinarily tight-knit bands of gifted musical subordinates and collaborators over long periods of time.
They
both experienced the incredible highs of performing live in front of huge
adoring audiences, writing hundreds of popular songs, creating great records in
the studio, and working with many of the other luminaries of the rock music
world over their respective 40+ year careers.
Yet at the same time, in both these books, we see them going through many of the same kinds of personal and family ups and downs that we all have in our own lives.
Fortunately for the millions of fans worldwide of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, he's still here, and still making great music, as he demonstrated last year with the release of his first rock album and accompanying movie in seven years, Letter to You, also previously reviewed here. Highly recommended.
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